Salem, OR – A new comprehensive guide from Oregon OSHA intends to help small-business owners and managers develop respiratory protection programs.

Geneva – As the largest Ebola outbreak in history spreads across West Africa, the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization have issued guidelines to help keep workers safe.

Elk Grove Village, IL – Two worker health groups have published guidance intended to help employers respond to marijuana use among the workforce.

Washington – All of OSHA’s training requirements can be found in a newly updated guidance document.

Washington – OSHA has published new guidance intended to help small businesses comply with the agency’s Confined Spaces in Construction Standard.

The X-Viz Confined Space Monitoring System meets OSHA requirements during plant turnarounds.

Home Automation Inc. (HAI), New Orleans, a manufacturer of integrated security and home automation products since 1985, announced that its wireless energy management suite was certified as a golden unit for ZigBee® Smart Energy Profile 1.1.

Washington – The Mine Safety and Health Administration needs to provide better oversight of coal mine operators’ emergency response plans, according to a recent audit conducted by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.

Arlington, VA – A recent rise in fatalities and injuries among less-experienced coal miners has prompted the Mine Safety and Health Administration to launch a training assistance initiative.

Arlington, VA — The Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued a safety alert in response to five fatal incidents that occurred when miners situated between a longwall face conveyor and coal face were struck by falling sections of the face or roof.

Washington — Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is among five Senate Democrats who have expressed opposition to any rollback to the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s respirable coal dust rule, in a letter sent Dec. 22 to Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta.

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.

Washington — A “fundamental shift” is needed in the mining industry’s approach to coal dust exposure to help mitigate a surge in black lung disease among underground coal miners, according a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

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 — 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.

Blacksburg, VA — Researchers at Virginia Tech have launched a project aimed at boosting the effectiveness of dust scrubbers in underground mining to enhance dust control and improve miner safety.

Washington — The Mine Safety and Health Administration has determined that the annual training requirements outlined in its Refuge Alternatives for Underground Coal Mines rule supply “an experience sufficient to enable miners to apply their knowledge, other training and available written instruction to effectively use the refuge alternative in an emergency.”

Arlington, VA — Criteria for the certification of coal mine rescue teams will “remain in effect, without changes,” the Mine Safety and Health Administration announced Sept. 1, after completing a requisite review under the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act of 2006.

Washington — Proposed legislation that would ease access to health care and other benefits for coal miners who have black lung disease is advancing in the House.

Arlington, VA — In response to a number of fatalities and serious injuries involving miners working near highwalls in recent years, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued a safety alert on the associated hazards.

Arlington, VA — The “collective effort” of mine industry workers and stakeholders in 2022 contributed to a 21.6% decrease in worker deaths over the previous year, Mine Safety and Health Administration head Chris Williamson said during a recent conference call.

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.

Customers never have to come home to a dark house when the lighting is turned on by this wireless controller.Widely perceived as a residential crime deterrent, lighting is a natural

Panasonic in partnership with the Seattle Mariners announced the installation of a solar panel system comprised of 168 Panasonic HIT® Double solar panels at Safeco Field, the Seattle Mariners' home ballpark.

The Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter partnered with CoastalCOMS to install digital cameras networked with Milestone XProtect® Corporate to monitor wave breaks and sand lines.

Download a free white paper to learn more about OSHA’s role in ensuring workplace safety and how the J. J. Keller Safety Management Suite can help you stay fully compliant with OSHA requirements.

Springfield, IL — New guidance issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health is intended to help staffing agencies and employers protect temporary workers from exposure to COVID-19.

L’Aquila, Italy — A recently released study has linked sleep disorders and burnout to certain aspects of shift work among nurses.

Spokane, WA — Individual organs in the digestive system contain separate biological clocks that may influence the metabolism of people who work the night shift and help explain a link to shift worker health problems such as obesity and diabetes, a recent study from researchers at Washington State University suggests.

Toronto — Middle-aged and older shift workers are more likely to be considered frail – particularly women who work rotating shifts, a recent study out of Canada suggests.

Chicago — If you’re unable to get more than six hours of sleep a night in the week before and after getting a vaccine, researchers say its effectiveness may be reduced – something shift workers should keep in mind.

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.

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.

Olympia, WA — Pesticide spray tanks are considered confined spaces if they’re big enough to enter (through a manhole cover or access port) and occupy, and require a permit for full or partial entry, emphasizes a new hazard alert from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

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.

Richmond, CA – The Richmond City Council in California recently adopted a resolution to implement recommendations from a Chemical Safety Board interim report on the August 2012 Chevron refinery fire and explosion.

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.

Washington – A corroded pipe that had not been inspected for years was the source of the hydrogen release and subsequent explosion at the Silver Eagle Refinery in 2009, according to a new analysis from the Chemical Safety Board.

Washington – California should strengthen its process safety management regulations for refineries, the Chemical Safety Board stated in a final report on a fire at a Chevron refinery in 2012.

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 is warning employees and employers about the dangers of falling from pallets raised by forklifts in its latest edition of Fatal Facts.

Tumwater, WA — A new guidance document from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries is intended to help grocery store employers protect workers from contracting – and potentially spreading – COVID-19.

Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa signed a bill today, June 30, which prohibits alarm companies from having to pay fees associated with false alarms, emergency response to false alarms or permits.

Washington – The American Industrial Hygiene Association has published a fact sheet that aims to improve safety for workers in the nanotechnology industry.

Geneva, Switzerland — The World Health Organization has released evidence-based guidelines intended to help protect workers from potential health hazards posed by manufactured nanomaterials.

The next and final GHS deadline is June 1, 2016. What does that means for me as an employer?

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

With the COVID-19 outbreak and various levels of lockdown, I’ve had a lot of time to read books and watch television. One of the technologies being heavily advertised is the 5G wireless technology, which is supposed to revolutionize cellular and internet connectivity.

But what is it going to do for our industry?