Forcing OSHA to choose between focusing on enforcement or compliance assistance is “a false choice,” according to Dr. David Michaels, former assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health and current professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University in Washington.
New research findings could turn perceptions of the already despised bed bug from nuisance pest into medically important threat. A study from North Carolina State University shows that histamine levels are substantially higher in homes infested by bed bugs than in pest-free homes and that these histamine levels persist for months – even if the bed bugs have been eliminated from the home.
Although efforts to improve occupational safety often focus on industries like manufacturing, mining and agriculture, the arts can be dangerous, too.
Thus, OSHA, United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories and Canada, AFL-CIO, CLC (IATSE) have just renewed their alliance to protect the safety and health of workers in the entertainment industry.
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), a nationwide training and advocacy organization for workers and families, is accepting nominations for its “Dirty Dozen” list of employers who fail to provide safe conditions for their workers.
His fellow workers could hear his voice – at first – then a construction worker buried in a trench collapse fell silent, and died.
The incident occurred at a suburban Detroit worksite at 1:30 yesterday afternoon – although emergency responders were not able to recover the man’s body for four hours, according to news reports. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Survival from cardiac arrest doubles when a bystander steps in to apply an automated external defibrillator (AED) before emergency responders arrived, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s (AHA) journal Circulation. The findings have significant research for workplace safety, according to public health experts, who point out that more than 100,000 of the 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that occur in the U.S. each year happen outside the home.
New York City is considering a law that would require businesses with at least 15 employees to conduct training aimed at preventing sexual harassment. Company owners would have to provide interactive training - either in person, with audiovisual material or some other form approved by the city’s Human Rights Commission - and maintain records of compliance. Failing to do so could earn companies penalties of up to $500 for their first violation, and up to $2,000 for each one after.
The House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections will hold a hearing on Tuesday entitled “A More Effective and Collaborative OSHA: A View from Stakeholders.” This will be the first — and probably the only — oversight hearing held in this two-year session of Congress.
An Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) employee who was viciously attacked last year while on the job has died, according to news reports.
Pamela Knight was attempting to take a 2-year-old boy into protective custody when she was allegedly beaten by 25-year-old Andrew Sucher of Rock Falls, Illinois.
One of the trucking industry’s strategies for trying to make sure long-distance truck drivers get sufficient sleep may be enhanced by new research on sleeping arrangements in truck cabs. Companies often assign drivers in pairs, so that one can sleep while the other drives. However, sleeping in a noisy, moving vehicle, does not provide the same restful sleep as a stationary bed in a quiet room.