Massachusetts workers employed in construction and extraction have the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths, according to a CDC-funded study by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is condemning the formal approval of new building safety codes in Connecticut, alleging that changes made to the previous codes will increase the state’s residents’ vulnerability to fire.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 have entered into a consent decree with Ag Processing, Inc. (AGP) to ensure compliance with oil pollution prevention requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA). As part of the settlement, the company has agreed to implement specific preventative measures to ensure future compliance and improve accidental spill response.

In a move that quickly generated controversy, the EPA yesterday unveiled a replacement for the Clean Power Plan that it proposed repealing in October 2017 because it “exceeded EPA’s authority.”

In its place, the agency rolled out what it’s calling the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule which would establish emission guidelines for states to develop plans to address greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired power plants.

Jennifer Homendy was sworn in Monday as a board member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) during a brief ceremony at NTSB headquarters. The addition of Homendy means the agency now has all five board member positions filled.

For the second time in recent months, the U.S. Department of Labor has extracted penalties from a California farm business blamed for the deadly crash of a vehicle transporting migrant field workers to their jobs.

The emerging trend of drug-impaired driving will be paired with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) usual effort to combat drunk driving in a new series of public service announcements that will run through one of the deadliest times on U.S. roads - the Labor Day holiday weekend (Aug. 15-Sept. 3).

Although an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 adults in the U.S. die from vaccine-preventable infectious diseases or their complications each year, the American Lung Association (ALA) says vaccines have helped reduce the rate of death and disease in the United States.

In a stinging rebuke to the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal court has called EPA’s delay in implementing the Obama administration’s chemical disaster rule “arbitrary and capricious” and told the agency to implement the rule.

OSHA has cited ArtiFlex Manufacturing for exposing workers at its Wooster location to amputation hazards after an employee suffered a partial finger amputation. The company faces $213,411 in proposed penalties.