A Florida engineering company is facing $185,239 in OSHA-assessed penalties after one of its employees drowned in a water- and mud-filled catch basin at a worksite in Pembroke Pines, Florida. OSHA cited Westwind Contracting Inc. for exposing its employees to excavation and confined spaces hazards. According to the agency, the company failed to:

With the World Series getting underway tonight, drone owners who are eager to get a birds’ eye view of the action should keep in mind that…they can’t. For the safety of baseball fans attending the World Series – and so that batted balls sailing toward the outfield will do so unimpeded - the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has established a No Drone Zone for all games played at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Residents of Merrimack Valley, Massachusetts will learn first-hand about the natural gas explosion that rocked their area last year from the federal agency that investigated the incident. In a community outreach event scheduled for this Friday, Oct. 25, at 3 p.m., the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will discuss the agency’s completed investigation of the Sept. 13, 2018 natural gas fueled explosions and fires.

Employers who are struggling to understand how the evolving cannabis legalization landscape will impact their workplaces are getting some guidance from the National Safety Council (NSC). Regardless of whether cannabis consumption is allowed by their state, the NSC says employers should prohibit cannabis use for those in safety sensitive positions.

Organizational safety climate is defined as shared perceptions among employees regarding what is rewarded, expected, valued, and reinforced in the workplace with respect to safety (Zohar, 1980). It can positively influence employee safety knowledge, motivation, attitudes, and behaviors, as well as reduce injury outcomes (e.g., Clarke, 2010, Probst et al., 2008, Probst and Estrada, 2010, Zohar, 2010).

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and five international associations have formed an Indoor Environmental Quality Global Alliance (IEQ-GA) to promote and advocate for indoor climate and health in buildings. The new association will serve as a global platform to facilitate the exchange of indoor environmental knowledge and information, promoting related education and research for indoor environmental quality and health in buildings.

A new study out of North Carolina State University sheds some interesting light on how employees – some of them, anyway – view their robotic co-workers. They blame them for workplace accidents – if they believe the robots are autonomous. Researchers showed study participants scenarios of several workplace accidents involving both a human and a robot.

ISEA is soliciting interested parties as consensus body participants in the revision to ANSI/ISEA 107-2015, High-Visibility Safety Apparel and Accessories. The widely-accepted standard, incorporated by reference in federal highway regulations, defines the material performance criteria, design requirements, class and type designations (based on material amounts and intended application, respectively) and labeling for high-visibility safety apparel for occupational use.

Citations issued by OSHA to a New York state company after one of its employees was pulled into a wood chipper on his first day on the job have been affirmed by an administrative law judge with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. OSHA’s investigation revealed that Tony Watson - doing business as Countryside Tree Service - directed the employee to feed materials into the wood chipper, knowing that he had not trained the employee on how to do so safely.

California has passed a law that establishes interim standards for the cleanup of fentanyl labs – a measure intended to protect those who live in or near  properties contaminated by the substance. The Methamphetamine or Fentanyl Contaminated Property Cleanup Act provides local health officers with directions on how to provide adequate notice to property owners and renters of property contaminated by fentanyl as well as guidance on overseeing the cleanup of these properties.