Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Failure by employers to develop and use hazardous energy control procedures as required by OSHA’s lockout/tagout standard (29 CFR 1910.147) is one of the Agency’s annual top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety violations. Perhaps the most demanding compliance obligation is establishment of a written energy control program.
Pneumatic nail guns (PNGs) are formidable machines powered by air compressors that with a single trigger activation enable nails to be completely driven into hardwood floors, framing lumber, plywood sheathing, and roof substrates. When used properly, PNGs boost productivity, particularly in home construction. However, the power and speed inherent in these tools have led to […]
Unloading a dump truck can be a hazardous operation, particularly when the ground is uneven or when the load is being delivered into a pit. This is a common scenario at mining sites. Moreover, dump trucks loaded with coal can face even higher risks because the load can be wet, freeze in the bed, and […]
America’s aging population includes many people over the age of 55 who drive to and from work and have jobs that require driving. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that by 2020, 25 percent of workers will be aged 55 or older, and there will be 40 million licensed drivers. Also, […]
According CareerCast’s 2018 annual survey of the most stressful occupations, firefighting ranks second only to working in the military. The survey found support in an October 2017 report by two researchers with the Health Hazard Evaluation Program (HHEP) of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), who examined many occupational stresses firefighters experienced […]
Working as a flight crewmember can put a pregnancy at risk, particularly during the first trimester, notes the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NIOSH points to three hazards that could imperil a pregnancy—circadian rhythm disruption (jet lag) or shiftwork, physical job demands, and cosmic ionizing radiation.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 95% of drug overdose deaths that occurred in 2016 were among the working age population, persons aged 15–64 years.
Respiratory disease in workers resulting from exposure to occupational contaminants is a major area of research that was recently addressed by the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) in its draft National Occupational Research Agenda for Respiratory Health (Agenda).
Tree care operations are among the most hazardous in the U.S. workforce. Nationally, landscape service workers make up less than 1 percent of the workforce but constitute 3.5 percent of all workplace fatalities, according to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, and 75 percent of all fatalities are related to tree removal or […]
Remarkably, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), better known as black lung disease, afflicting coal miners in Appalachia appears to be on the rise, reports the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).