Arlington, VA — Top-ranking Democrats in the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Workforce Protections Subcommittee are questioning the legality of a Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission decision to remove a Sophia, WV, mine from Mine Safety and Health Administration Pattern of Violations status.

As we look ahead to the coming year, it is a good opportunity to reflect on the learning moments of 2017 ― the areas where the security industry learned, grew and shifted thinking to better provide products and solutions for buildings of all types, across all industries.

When a large aerospace manufacturer acquired gas detectors to protect against hazardous leaks, it decided to leverage its Metis Secure Emergency Notification and Communications System.

What environmental, health and safety processes can integrate with the “incidents application” to reduce the number of an organization’s incidents quickly and effectively?

Once you’ve finished an incident investigation, how do you use investigation data to prevent similar incidents from occurring again?

Guildford, England – Women are more likely than men to be affected by the adverse ramifications of shift work, a new study out of England suggests.

Chicago – Medical residents and fellows, including first-year residents, will be allowed to work for up to 28 consecutive hours without sleep as part of revised requirements recently approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Lansing, MI — Service sector workers with irregular schedules often experience greater levels of stress and exhaustion, according to a recent report.

Istanbul — A recent study involving female mice shows that only four weeks of shift work-like light patterns were enough to disrupt their biological clock and reduce fertility.

Los Angeles – Pesticide exposure may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, and individual risk varies based on a person’s genetic makeup, according to a new study from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Washington – The Environmental Protection Agency on Feb. 20 proposed new safety measures intended to protect farmworkers from the harmful effects of pesticide exposure.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s controversial final rule on its New Poultry Inspection System is set to be published and, in response to public comment, will not increase the maximum speed of processing lines.

Cincinnati – Rates of occupational injury and illness from pesticides are much higher among agricultural workers than workers in other industries, according to NIOSH research.

Washington – A new resource from the Environmental Protection Agency aims to help regulators and the public learn more about pesticide exposure incidents among agricultural workers.

Kansas City, MO — OSHA has launched a Regional Emphasis Program addressing hazards stemming from exposure to fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate and agricultural anhydrous ammonia.

Washington – The ruptured steel pipe at the center of the 2012 hydrocarbon release and fire at the Chevron U.S.A. Inc. refinery in Richmond, CA, was corroded and should have been replaced, concludes a report released by the Chemical Safety Board and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board is scheduled to host a public meeting on April 19 in Richmond, CA, to present interim findings and safety recommendations from the investigation of the hydrocarbon release and fire at a Chevron refinery.

Washington – Failure to apply inherently safer design principles, conduct damage mechanism hazard reviews and implement safeguards led to the hydrocarbon release and fire at a Chevron refinery in August 2012, concludes a draft report from the Chemical Safety Board.

Richmond, CA – Agencies tasked with overseeing refinery safety in California need better coordination and stronger regulation, concludes a new report from the state’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety.

Richmond, CA – Chemical Safety Board members unanimously approved a set of recommendations as part of the agency’s third and final report on a fire and vapor release that affected thousands of residents near a Chevron refinery in 2012.

Washington – OSHA will delay enforcing a new interpretation of its Process Safety Management Standard, prompting a bipartisan group of lawmakers to call for the agency to withdraw that interpretation.

Los Angeles – The Los Angeles garment manufacturing industry – the nation’s largest cut-and-sew apparel base – is “plagued by workplace violations and marked by a lack of worker protections,” according to a new report released by the Garment Worker Center, the UCLA Labor Center and UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health.

Secaucus, NJ — The rate of positive drug tests rose by double digits in five of 16 major U.S. workforce industry sectors from 2015 to 2017, according to a recent analysis by lab services provider Quest Diagnostics.

Toronto — Handling receipts may boost cashiers’ exposure to bisphenol A and bisphenol S – two chemicals with possible links to cancer and other adverse health effects – results of a recent study from Canadian advocacy group Environmental Defense shows.

New York — Retail employees injured on the job miss an average of 24 days of work as a result, according to recent report from AmTrust Financial Services Inc., an insurance provider for small businesses.

Washington — OSHA has issued a proposed rule to update design and construction requirements in its powered industrial trucks standards for general industry and construction.

New York — Workers in the manufacturing, warehousing, construction and transportation industries need better support for their mental and emotional needs, results of a recent survey suggest.

Ann Arbor, MI — Most paper receipts at large retailers contain chemicals with possible links to hormone disruption and other adverse health effects, results of a recent study show.

Northampton, England — Prompted by workers’ safety concerns about the quietness of electric forklifts, British researchers are working to develop an audible alert.

Parkland parent Andrew Pollack is launching School Safety Grant, a new organization that awards security technology solutions in school districts across America with the objective of saving response time and lives in an emergency. 

To say that security professionals’ plates are full at the moment would be an understatement. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the industry has stepped up to play a vital role in keeping people safe, secure and even healthy through uncertain and scary times.

Interface Security Systems, a managed service provider delivering business security, managed network, UCaaS and business intelligence solutions to distributed enterprises, announced that El Pollo Loco, one of the nation’s fastest growing restaurant chains that specializes in fire grilled chicken, is relying on Interface's managed video verified alarms and intrusion alarm monitoring to reliably detect intrusions and minimize false alarms.

Is an alarm company responsible for injuries sustained on a routine maintenance call?

Washington – NIOSH on April 24 issued a recommended worker exposure limit of 1 microgram per cubic meter of air for carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers.

Washington – NIOSH has scheduled a public meeting on July 31 in Cincinnati to hear comments on a proposed survey about engineered nanomaterials.

Washington – Designating a single government agency to direct safety, health and environmental research efforts on nanomaterials could help accelerate progress, a new National Research Council report suggests.

Washington – A national strategy implemented in 2011 to provide guidance to federal agencies on nanotechnology and occupational safety has led to the collection of workplace exposure assessment data and exposure control strategy resources, according to a report released June 25.

Washington – NIOSH is seeking comment about its draft bulletin on the health effects of worker exposure to silver nanoparticles.

Washington — NIOSH is seeking scientific information regarding the dangers or safety of engineered nanomaterials as the agency explores the development of occupational exposure limits.

What’s the difference between an incidental release and a hazardous substance release that requires an emergency response?

What are the necessary steps to take if I receive a shipment without a Safety Data Sheet?

Washington – OSHA lacks sufficient controls to ensure worksites in the Voluntary Protection Programs maintain “exemplary occupational safety and health systems,” according to a Dec. 16 report from the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.

Washington – Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez voiced his support for OSHA cooperative programs, as well as the need to increase the agency’s penalty limits, during a March 18 House hearing on the Department of Labor’s budget request for fiscal year 2016.

Washington — OSHA has a new online portal for employers to submit applications to the agency’s Voluntary Protection Programs.

What are the benefits of powered air purifying systems versus negative pressure systems?

Emergency24, an Underwriters Laboratory-listed central station that writes its own proprietary software, and BluePoint Alert Solutions, a company that focuses on hardware installation, training and implementation of Rapid Emergency Response Systems (RERS), have partnered to leverage each companies’ capabilities to minimize the impact of crisis situations, such as an active shooter event or natural disaster.

Keeping video surveillance systems up and running can be challenging — in large part because not everything needed to keep the camera functioning properly is under the control of the security integrator.

Alula announced the launch of its new Alula Pro Training Portal.

Genetec Inc. announced that the company unified security platform has been chosen by Brazil’s Hercílio Luz International Airport in Florianópolis (Floripa), to manage its physical security infrastructure, and provide operational insights.

TouchTone’s partners face a unique challenge: the phasing-out of legacy copper-wire phone lines, informally known as Plain Old Telephone Service or POTS.