Category: Injuries and Illness

Modern safety management goes beyond covering traditional workplace accidents to now being equally concerned with illnesses caused on and even off the job. This section will explain what you need to know to avoid both injuries and illnesses, and to track your progress in reaching this goal.

Free Special REport: Does Your PPE Program Meet OSHA’s Requirements?

Safety data analysis, hard hats

BLS Notes an Increase in Workplace Fatalities in 2018

There were 5,250 fatal workplace injuries in the United States in 2018, a 2% increase from 5,147 in 2017, the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported December 17 with the release of data from its Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

Amputation

OSHA Revises National Emphasis Program for Amputations

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised its National Emphasis Program (NEP) for enforcement related to amputations in manufacturing, the agency announced December 17. The NEP targets employers for enforcement of machine guarding standards to reduce or eliminate amputation hazards.

EPA Will Review EtO Sterilization NESHAP

Following an evaluation of the carcinogenic risks posed by ethylene oxide (EtO), which the EPA released in 2016, and a follow-up National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) for EtO, the EPA has decided that the health risks posed by EtO air emissions are “significantly higher” than previously believed.

safety statistics and data

ASSP Responds to BLS Fatality Data

The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), the world’s oldest professional safety organization, is urging employers to be more active in adopting voluntary national consensus standards and implementing safety and health management systems in response to newly released fatality data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS reported that 5,250 fatal work […]

NIOSH: Medication Could Prevent Hearing Loss

Medications could one day prevent noise-induced hearing loss, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NIOSH researchers recently contributed articles for a special issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America exploring the potential for “otoprotective” pharmaceuticals to protect ears from noise damage.

Trucks, truck drivers, trucking industry

BLS Says Transportation Occupations Had Most Injuries for 2018

Workers in transportation and material moving suffered more injuries in 2018 than any other occupation, the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported. The BLS released data on the number, incidence rate, and median days away from work for nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in private industry—broken down by occupation.

Safe Patient Handling and Mobility, SPHM

NIOSH Study Finds Health Risks Among Patient Care Aides

Patient care aides have limited access to health care and a high prevalence of some adverse health outcomes such as arthritis that may be related to their occupational tasks, researchers for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found in a recently published study.

Retail Facilities

BLS Notes a Rise in Retail Injuries for 2018

The number and rate of workplace injuries in the retail trade rose in 2018, according to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The retail trade was the only one of 19 private industries in which the rate of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses rose in 2018, the BLS stated.

Workplace health and safety concept

Workplace Safety Trends to Watch in 2020

A worker is injured on the job every 7 seconds. 12,600 workers are injured on the job every day. And, those injuries are costing companies 104,000,000 lost production days. These stats, courtesy of the National Safety Council, paint a sobering picture of the modern workplace. But, it’s a picture most companies are now attuned to […]