Think about all the objects you use every day that are made with pieces of metal. Before that object got to you, a worker in the metal manufacturing industry used a machine to cut, saw, bend and assemble the metal pieces into the countless products that make our lives easier. But sometimes those machines break. And when they do, a simple and inexpensive procedure helps ensure both worker and machine can return safely to the job.
Government
Not an “accident”: Justin ‘J.D.’ Jorgensen, 30, suffers fatal work-related injury in Altoona, Iowa
This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the US. This one occurred on Wednesday, January 6 in Altoona, IA.
Government
Fatal work injury that killed Gerald Thompson was preventable, MN-OSHA cites DSM Excavating
The fatal work-related injuries that killed Gerald Lyle Thompson could have been prevented had his employer followed worker safety regulations.
ProPublica offers a disturbing look inside the extravagant workers’ comp industry; workers speak up about conditions inside hospital hotels; New York’s governor announces plan to raise minimum wages for state university workers; and a worker is killed at a Ford Motor Company plant in Chicago.
Re-run from August 11, 2015: There are plenty of lawmakers who criticize OSHA regulations. Perhaps some of them might think differently if they realized the importance of workplace safety regulations for children’s health.
Reporters at the Center for Public Integrity investigate the nation’s third wave of asbestos disease; garment workers in Bangladesh continue to fight for safety and dignity in the workplace; Seattle becomes the first U.S. city to allow Uber drivers to organize; and OSHA sends its silica rule to the White House.
Addiction & Substance Abuse
Study: Flavoring chemicals linked to occupational illness found in electronic cigarettes
In a recent study, Harvard public health researchers decided to test a few dozen types of electronic cigarettes for diacetyl, a flavoring chemical associated with a severe respiratory disease known as “popcorn lung.” The researchers found diacetyl in a majority of the e-cigarettes they tested. News outlets jumped on the findings, with some announcing that e-cigarettes could cause the often-debilitating respiratory disease.
Government
California poised to adopt violence prevention standard for health care workers: ‘Violence shouldn’t be part of the job’
In 2010, Donna Gross, a psychiatric technician at Napa State Hospital for more than a decade, was strangled to death at work by a mentally ill patient. While on-the-job violence in the health care sector was certainly nothing new at the time, the shocking and preventable circumstances surrounding Gross’ death helped ignite a new and coordinated movement for change. Now, just a handful of years later, California is set to become the only state with an enforceable occupational standard aimed at preventing workplace violence against health care workers.
Injury Control & Violence
Not an “accident”: Eric McClellan, 55, suffers fatal work-related injury in Chesterfield County, Virginia
This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the US. This one occurred on Wednesday, November 25 in Chesterfield County, VA.
The importance of protecting vulnerable workers in efforts to combat climate change; Dallas officials vote for mandatory rest breaks; University of Chicago’s nontenured instructors vote to form a union; and Cal/OSHA launches investigation into porn production company.