This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the US. This one occurred on Thursday, February 18 in Hanover, NJ
The fatal work-related injuries that killed Terry Leon Lakey, 51, could have been prevented had his employer followed worker safety regulations.
President Obama is entering the last year of his final term in office, so now we’re all supposed to be panicking over a dreaded phenomenon known as “midnight regulations.” Scared? Well, you shouldn’t be.
Sick uranium miners and their families continue to suffer, while Congress sits on expanding compensation; trade associations push back against a safety reporting rule for federal contractors; Maine residents to vote on raising the minimum wage; and a new app could make it much easier for workers to report safety violations.
Disaster investigation reports can leave victims with an empty feeling. Will any of those recommendations be adopted? A notice on OSHA’s website suggests it may be making progress on recommendations made by the Chemical Safety Board.
Manufacturers who market their products as “BPA-free” aren’t just sending consumers a message about chemical composition. The underlying message is about safety — as in, this product is safe or least more safe than products that do contain BPA. However earlier this month, another study found that a common BPA alternative — BPS — may not be safer at all.
This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the US. This one occurred on Tuesday, February 26 in Seattle, WA.
In the midst of another national debate over gun safety regulations, some argue that higher rates of gun ownership will protect people from dangerous strangers with deadly intentions. Physician and public health researcher Michael Siegel set out to study that argument. He ultimately found no relationship between gun ownership and stranger-related firearm homicides. But he did find that gun ownership levels translated into higher homicide risks for one group in particular — women.
Each year, the U.S. spends $26.2 billion on costs associated with preterm birth — that’s birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Beyond the costs, babies born too early experience immediate and long-term problems, from developmental disabilities to asthma to hearing loss. For years, scientists have been studying possible environmental contributors, with many finding an association between preterm birth and air pollution. Earlier this week, a new study brought even more depth and clarity to this connection.
In a decision issued yesterday, the US Court of Appeals rejected the National Mining Association’s legal challenge to a Labor Department regulation to better protect coal miners from developing black lung disease.