Arlington, VA – A new guide from the Mine Safety and Health Administration aims to help metal and nonmetal mine operators comply with the agency’s ladder safety standards.

Lansing, MI – The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration has approved two alternatives for complying with its rules on scissor lifts.

Cincinnati – Employers whose workers are exposed to diacetyl now can obtain guidance from a new NIOSH document.

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

Geneva — A new guidebook from the International Labor Organization is intended to help employers compile data on key performance indicators related to safety and health.

State College, PA — Using a 3D device on a microchip that mimics the behavior of human lungs, researchers from Penn State University will use a $400,000 grant from NIOSH to study the effects of nano-scale coal dust on the lungs of underground miners, the university has announced.

Washington — A new law permanently restores a recently expired excise tax rate increase on coal production, which will help fund health care and other benefits for coal miners who have black lung disease.

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.

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.

Boston – Women who work rotating night shifts face a higher risk of heart disease, indicates a study of nurses from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

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.

Boston – Women who work the night shift as young adults may have an increased risk of breast cancer, according to a study of nurses conducted by the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

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.

Los Angeles – Pesticide exposure may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, and individual risk varies based on a person’s genetic makeup, according to a new study from the University of California, Los Angeles.

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 – 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 – 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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published guidance to help nail salon employers protect their workers from exposure to COVID-19.

This standard takes alarm verification and confirmation to the next level by defining multiple-attempt confirmation, biometric, audio and video confirmation. 

What’s the difference between an incidental release and a hazardous substance release that requires an emergency response?

What is the difference between a “spill” and a “release”?

DMP has released its XT30 and XT50 alarm panels that are approved FirstNet Ready. 

Washington — OSHA has published 2022 injury and illness data submitted by more than 300,000 establishments and says it’s working to identify employers who haven’t complied.

Washington – Funding for OSHA’s whistleblower protection programs would receive a $4 million increase under President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposal for the Department of Labor.

Washington — The adequacy of OSHA’s future pandemic planning and the effectiveness of the agency’s National Emphasis Program on COVID-19 may be evaluated this fiscal year by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.

Because the Hochiki FireNET Comm 5G is a version of the Telguard TG-7FS universal communicator, dealers can still choose to connect it to the panel’s DACT port, if required.

The solution chooses the carrier with the best signal strength and data quality in the area, automatically selecting it as the primary network

Everything online in the industry, from white papers to webinars.

Silver Spring, MD — Recognizing the importance of older workers in the construction industry, CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training has developed a series of resources for them.

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board has released a video on last year’s ExxonMobil refinery fire, which severely burned four workers in Baton Rouge, LA.

New Orleans — A new approach that allows Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement inspectors to access electronic records onshore will increase their physical inspection time at more than 2,200 offshore oil and gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, the agency recently announced.

Washington — OSHA has published COVID-19-related guidance intended to help employers in the oil and gas industry reduce exposure among workers, including personnel in the subindustries and those whose tasks “make up the broader oil and gas industrial sector.”

Washington – Safety efforts involving unmanned aircraft systems – commonly referred to as drones – must improve to protect airline aircraft, according to the Air Line Pilots Association, International.

Washington — The Federal Aviation Administration should relax its “overly conservative” safety rules for commercial drone use to boost continued progress and integration, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concludes.

Washington — The White House is seeking a 17% funding increase for OSHA under the Department of Labor’s fiscal year 2024 budget request.

Washington – Firefighters who work for federal agencies and contract certain diseases on the job would be ensured federal workers’ compensation coverage under newly introduced bipartisan legislation.

Washington – Firefighting exposures “modestly” increase the risk of death from cancer, according to a NIOSH study.

Boston — Flight attendants may be at greater risk of developing several types of cancer, recent research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health indicates.

Washington – Workers can now submit whistleblower complaints electronically, OSHA announced Dec. 4.

Olympia, WA – The Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention Program at the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries has released six industry-specific checklists and summary reports aimed at helping employers identify risk factors that may contribute to work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Washington — A new fact sheet from OSHA is intended to help protect workers from hazards associated with shipboard pedestal cranes.

Fairfax, VA — The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators has published three employer guides on OSHA’s updated crane operator requirements, a final rule scheduled to go into effect Dec. 10.

Columbia, SC — South Carolina OSHA has announced its plan to adopt a standard on infectious diseases in the workplace, including COVID-19.

Washington – A Sept. 24 proposed rule from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration would prohibit hazardous materials carriers and associated companies from further operations if they do not pay civil penalties for violations within 90 days.

Washington — The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration recently published a set of FAQs on training requirements.

San Diego — More than 4,600 coal miners have developed the most severe form of black lung disease since 1970, with nearly half of the cases emerging after 2000, according to a recent study from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Villejuif, France — Frequent use of common cleaning products and disinfectants at work may increase female nurses’ risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by up to 38%, results of a recent study led by researchers from France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research suggest.

Manchester, England — Shift workers, particularly those working permanent night shifts, may be at elevated risk for moderate to severe asthma, according to a study led by British researchers.

Washington — Proposed legislation would create funding for health care and other benefits for coal miners who have black lung disease by extending, for 10 years, a recently expired excise tax rate increase on coal production.