Overexertion injuries – which most often occur when a load is being lifted or otherwise handled – accounted for 22 percent of nonfatal workplace injuries in 2009, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 2011, the back was the body part involved in the largest percentage of injuries involving days away from work, according to the 2014 edition of the National Safety Council’s “Injury Facts.”

Washington — A new resource from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is intended to help employers identify and implement steps to protect workers from heat stress.

Washington — OSHA’s proposed standard on protecting workers from excessive heat is undergoing a final review, according to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website.

Washington — OSHA has released a draft of its proposed rule on heat illness prevention.

Sydney — Need to reset your attention during a complex work task? A five-minute break is all it takes.

Washington — Stakeholders now have until Nov. 29 to comment on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s process for determining whether truck and bus companies are able to operate safely.

Demolition work involves the dismantling, razing, destroying or wrecking of any building or structure. Hazards of this dangerous work, according to OSHA, may include materials hidden within structural members (e.g., lead, asbestos, silica, and other chemicals or heavy metals requiring special material handling), as well as unknown strengths or weaknesses of construction materials, such as post-tensioned concrete.

This past summer, the Midwest and much of the East Coast experienced an unprecedented decline in outdoor air quality. Smoke from wildfires in Canada regularly sent air quality ratings well into to the unhealthy range – an Air Quality Index for the smallest particulate matter – PM2.5 – in excess of 151.

All Encon showers can be fitted with automatic freeze or scald protection valves for use during temperature extremes. Automatic Freeze Valves open automatically when the internal water temperature reaches 35° F (2° C) and close at 40° F (4.5° C). Automatic Scald Valves open when the internal water temperature reaches 105° F (41° C) and close at 95° F (35° C).

Encon Safety Products

The Fendall 2000 delivers 100 percent sterile eyewash solution from a completely sterile delivery system. Features include easy-view side windows to check the sterile solution’s expiration date and an alarm system that sounds when the unit has been activated and when the required 15-minute flush is complete. The Fendall 2000 meets ANSI’s Z358.1-2009 15-minute flush requirement for primary eyewash stations.

Honeywell Safety Products

Arlington, VA – The Mine Safety and Health Administration has extended the comment period for a proposed rule that would require underground coal mine operators to equip coal-hauling machines and scoops with proximity detection systems.

Washington — The Mine Safety and Health Administration has no immediate plans to change its regulation on respirable dust in coal mines, MSHA administrator David Zatezalo said Feb. 6 during a hearing before the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

Washington — Coal miners soon will have access to a series of free, confidential health screenings through the NIOSH Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program.

Arlington, VA — The Mine Safety and Health Administration is seeking input on a study of its respirable coal mine dust rule, as outlined in the 2014 regulation, according to a Request for Information published in the July 9 Federal Register.

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.

Washington — The Mine Safety and Health Administration is extending to July 2022 the deadline for comment on a Request for Information concerning a retrospective study of the agency’s respirable coal mine dust rule.

Washington — Surface coal miners, especially those who work in drilling, may be exposed to higher concentrations of respirable dust or quartz. This puts them at elevated risk of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis – a deadly but preventable disease known as black lung, results of a recent NIOSH study show.

Washington — A new software training module from NIOSH is intended to assist mine operators, miners and industry stakeholders with emergency decision-making during coal mine rescues.

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.

The Siemens Building Technologies Division’s Beltsville, Md. branch office was recently awarded LEED® for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (EB: OM) certification by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art’s academic facility at 41 Cooper Square in New York, attained LEED Platinum certification. ASSA ABLOY supplied door and hardware products.

Energy-saving light control manufacturer Lutron Electronics announced that its Washington, D.C. Commercial Experience Center was awarded LEED Gold Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED is the USGBC’s leading rating system for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy-efficient and high-performing buildings.

The Johnson Controls headquarters campus at Glendale, Wisconsin has the largest concentration of buildings on one campus to ever receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification.

With a nearly 10,000-foot perimeter to secure at its newly constructed solar farm in the Midwest, an independent power producer turned to SmarterFence and SmarterBeam solutions from SmarterSecurity Inc. Systems integrator MidCo Inc. took on the task of installing the solutions to help secure the owner’s investment and operations from intruders to allow the site to be routinely unmanned.

While most people like the idea of conserving energy and going green, moving from theory to practice in their daily lives requires more than just a philosophy. “Everybody likes being green if it’s not too much work,” explains Gene Jordan, president of Advanced Security Engineering, an Alarm.com dealer located in Pleasanton, Calif.

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.

Innovative Electronic Systems (IES), an electronic systems contractor in Hurt, Va. partnered with Custom Structures, a Central Virginia architectural design and build firm, to build the first LEED-certified home in the central Virginia area.

For Thomas Marino, president of Advanced Technologies, Baton Rouge, La., “green” projects were nothing new. He had done projects that involved low-power, solar or other green elements. But when he ran into local attorney Joe Simmons at a trade show, the extremely environmentally conscious lawyer asked him to do the security and home automation for the custom home he was building. The home was new construction in a community of older homes and would feature as many green elements as possible, from the material in the countertops to the security and audio elements.

The intelligent building automation technologies market is anticipated to reach more than $118.7 billion by 2026, according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research. 

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?

Cleveland – Health care workers frequently contaminate their skin and clothing when removing gloves or gowns, and researchers from the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center are recommending additional education and redesigned personal protective equipment.

Groningen, Netherlands – The experience of being on-call is a major factor in worker fatigue, increasing the need for shift workers to recuperate, indicates a study from the University of Groningen.

Uppsala, Sweden – A study of current and former shift workers shows that shift work may contribute to cognitive difficulties that take years to recover from, according to researchers at Uppsala University and Malmö University.

College Station, TX – The lack of a consistent eating and sleeping schedule may disrupt the circadian rhythms of shift workers and make them more likely to suffer a severe stroke, according to a recent study from Texas A&M University.

Cincinnati – Night-shift workers have the highest risk for sleep problems compared with all other workers, according to a recent study from NIOSH.

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.

Corvallis, OR — For construction workers, “the chance of getting injured or getting more severe injuries are related to the hours of your work,” a researcher from Oregon State University says.

Darien, IL — In an effort to balance “the need to meet operational demands with the need to manage fatigue-related risks” related to shift work, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society have issued guidance on designing optimal work shift durations.

Wuhan, China — Shift work is linked to two kinds of mental health issues – and lifestyle factors can play a role, results of a recent study out of China suggest.

Genea offers a cloud-based access control and visitor management platform built on non-proprietary hardware that empowers users with the ability to monitor their buildings and provision credentials from anywhere.

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.

San Diego – Immigration reform can directly improve the safety and health of Latino workers, the only demographic group to experience an increase in fatalities in 2013, according to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

Washington – A recent blog post by NIOSH sheds light on the thought process that goes into choosing the most effective art for safety materials.

Washington – The Environmental Protection Agency once again has extended the comment period for a proposed rule that would create stronger standards for workers who handle “restricted use” pesticides.

Washington – The Environmental Protection Agency and the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative have released a guide intended to help agricultural pesticide handlers, workers and managers comply with 2015 revisions to the federal Worker Protection Standard.

Washington — Immigrant construction workers employed by small companies do not receive the same amount of safety and health training as their counterparts at larger companies, according to a recent study from NIOSH and the American Society of Safety Engineers.

Houston — Filipino seafarers often delay or completely avoid medical care – despite their rights to it under maritime law – for fear of retaliation from employers, including potentially losing their jobs, results of a recent study show.

Washington — Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) has reintroduced legislation that would provide temporary protection from deportation to immigrant workers who are victims of, or witnesses to, unsafe working conditions and other labor rights violations.