Blacksburg, VA — The Virginia Tech Helmet Lab is planning to venture outside of sports and recreation to create ratings for safety helmets.

How can a facility plan ahead for extreme weather events to keep its safety showers and eyewash stations supplied and functional?

About 6,000 office fires are reported every year in the United States, according to the Seattle Fire Department. If your workplace experienced a fire, would employees know how to respond?

Inspections are an important part of any workplace safety and health management system. Described in a video from the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Division of Labor and Industry as the practice of “identifying unsafe conditions through observations and testing of the work environment,” inspections can cover housekeeping, emergency alarms, electrical hazards, machine guarding and chemical hazards.

Darien, IL — Basic employer interventions such as educating workers about the importance of sleep and sharing strategies to improve it may result in better sleep habits, increased productivity and reduced absenteeism, a recent review of research concludes.

Tampa, FL — Job demands that are too low or too high can adversely affect workers’ sleep, say researchers, who instead recommend the Goldilocks principle of “just the right amount” to help obtain optimal sleep health.

Ottawa, Ontario — Just 24 hours of sleep deprivation can significantly impact decision-making processes and may result in risky choices, researchers caution.

Brivo and Eye Eye believe that in the near future, security integrators will no longer be selling a video management system (VMS). Instead, they will be selling a smart video system where potential problems are detected and resolved automatically.

Washington – The Department of Labor should consider alternatives to its proposal that would require federal contractors to provide paid sick leave to their workers, the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy wrote in an April 6 letter.

London — Use of wheeled waste collection bins – instead of bags, boxes or baskets – may reduce musculoskeletal injuries and lost worktime among sanitation workers, according to a recent study out of the United Kingdom.

Silver Spring, MD — The rate of nonfatal, work-related musculoskeletal disorders requiring days away from work in the construction industry has continued to decline, while the median DAFW for such injuries remains on the rise, according to a recent report from the Center for Construction Research and Training – also known as CPWR.

Munster, Germany — Neck and shoulder problems are common musculoskeletal disorders among dentists, leading more than 1 out of 5 to seek medical care, a recent study out of Germany shows.

Itasca, IL — A new white paper from the National Safety Council details effective interventions to help prevent or reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Itasca, IL — Taking simple steps before work begins can help curb job-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Washington — “If it isn’t equitable, it’s not ergonomic.” Paige DeBaylo, research manager at the National Safety Council MSD Solutions Lab, offered that insight during a July 11 webinar discussing a recently published NSC report.

Bethesda, MD – Installing deer-crossing warning signs at common deer-vehicle collision sites increased driver safety behavior and decreased the number of collisions over a one-year period, according to Canadian researchers.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final rule on asbestos intended to keep manufacturers from reintroducing “discontinued uses” of the known human carcinogen into the market without EPA approval.

Cincinnati — A new guidance document from NIOSH outlines ways to reduce the risk of injuries and deaths associated with robbery-related violence at gasoline stations and convenience stores.

Working with cranes can be very dangerous if time is not taken to carefully inspect equipment and follow safety guidelines.

Used in the plastics industry, thermoplastic injection molding machines “produce molded plastic parts by converting plastic pellets into molten material, injecting the molten plastic into a mold and cooling the plastic material,” OSHA says. Industries that use these machines include toy, medical device and beverage container manufacturers.

Commonly used by construction workers, cut-off saws “can be extremely dangerous because unguarded blades operate at very high speeds,” the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations cautions. The agency has created a list of do’s and don’ts.

Washington – Dog bites, falls and vehicle collisions were the leading causes of injuries among U.S. Postal Service employees in 2012, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Sept. 26.

Experts on NIOSH’s Total Worker Health approach hosted a webinar exploring the “opportunities and complexities” of sensor technology.

Los Angeles – Better laws and more resources are needed to protect workers throughout the country, several safety advocates said in an April 23 teleconference sponsored by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

Washington – OSHA needs to issue more regulations that protect health care workers and conduct more inspections of facilities in that industry, according to a report released July 17 by advocacy group Public Citizen.

Brooklyn, NY – Latino and immigrant workers are disproportionately killed in falls at construction sites in New York state, according to a new report from the advocacy group Center for Popular Democracy.

Washington – Certain patient-moving devices and policies can help nurses avoid injuries, according to a report released June 16 by advocacy group Public Citizen.

Not all risks hold equal weight. For example, focusing efforts on reducing the frequency of safety-related incidents doesn’t necessarily lead to a reduction in the severity of incidents.

Workers at height. Stacked materials. Pedestrian, forklift and truck traffic. All in one place. “Loading docks are very dangerous areas for employees,” OSHA’s Reginald Jackson says.

Eleven miners were injured as a result of an arc flash over a recent six-month period, according to a safety alert from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Washington – NIOSH and the National Hearing Conservation Association are accepting nominations for the 2014 Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Awards.

Perth, Australia — Around 1 out of 4 Australian workers experience ringing in the ears – called tinnitus – and those in the construction, automotive, transportation and agricultural industries may be at higher risk, results of a recent study suggest.

Silver Spring, MD — A recent study of older and retired construction trade workers shows that more than half experience hearing impairment – and the risk increases with age.

Albuquerque, NM — Army Lt. Col. Kara Cave and Dow Chemical Co. are the respective recipients of the 2024 NIOSH Safe-in-Sound Innovation and Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Awards.

Pressure washers are used to clean large areas, including buildings, parking lots, vehicles and other machinery. These high-powered tools also are used in disaster cleanup. But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a pressure washer’s intense spray can cause wounds and other serious injuries that may at first appear minor.

Secaucus, NJ — Lyme disease is becoming more common outside the Northeast and more prevalent in the United States overall, a recent study by lab services provider Quest Diagnostics shows.

Washington — The Chemical Safety Board is seeking to better understand why efforts to manage and control combustible dust hazards “have often failed” to prevent explosions.

Read this free white paper from J. J. Keller to learn what to expect and how to handle an inspection with confidence. It covers everything from examining records and interviewing employees to a complete facility walkthrough, the citation process and more.

This newly updated white paper includes valuable safety and compliance tips from J. J. Keller experts on important forklift topics such as equipment design, modifications/additions, operator training and more.

This free white paper contains useful tips and insights from J. J. Keller experts to help you understand the training requirements that apply to your organization. It covers important topics such as OSHA expectations, refresher training, recordkeeping and more.

Parts of the country have experienced record-breaking snowfalls in 2015. With snow, comes shoveling – which can lead to a variety of injuries.

Arlington, VA – More than 40 percent of health care professionals who reported at least one symptom of influenza during a recent flu season did not stay home from work, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Washington — A new video from the Federal Aviation Administration highlights best practices for airport operators, air traffic controllers and pilots to follow to ensure safe operations amid snowy and icy conditions.

Miners who work in cold temperatures are at risk for cold stress, which may trigger hypothermia, frostbite, and other injuries and illnesses.

OSHA’s “Safe Workplace Good Headspace” initiative highlights ways employers can make a difference.

Exposure to high levels of noise can lead to permanent hearing loss. According to OSHA, roughly 30 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise every year.

Carpet layers spend approximately 75 percent of their workday kneeling, according to NIOSH estimates, putting a significant amount of pressure on their knees. Compared with workers who rarely kneel, NIOSH found that carpet layers have high frequencies of bursitis of the knee – fluid buildup requiring knee aspirations, skin infections of the knee and a variety of other knee disorders.

Are you thinking of introducing exoskeletons into your workplace? They can aid workers in lifting heavy objects and carrying large loads, which reduces the risk of musculoskeletal-related injuries.

New York — Nearly three-quarters of remote workers say their employer should provide a general work-from-home stipend to help make their home workspaces more ergonomically correct, results of a recent survey show.

Mill Valley, CA — Seventy percent of workers want their employer to require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before fully reopening the office, according to the results of a recent survey commissioned by job research and review company Glassdoor.