Austin, TX — The percentage of injured workers who returned to work within six months of an injury steadily rose about 5 points in Texas during a recent 11-year period, according to a recent report from the Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation.

Minneapolis — The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has published a template, instructions and checklist guidelines for a COVID-19 preparedness plan – a requirement for nonessential businesses that intend to reopen during the pandemic.

Washington – Sixty-seven law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty during the first half of 2014 – a 31 percent increase from the same period last year, according to a report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund released July 22.

New York – A new report compiles accounts from 9/11 responders recalling their experiences responding to the attacks and, later, managing their World Trade Center-related health conditions.

Washington – Ambush killings of law enforcement officers have increased more than 366 percent this year compared with the same time period one year ago, according to a report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Washington — At least 155 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty during the first half of the year – a 9.9% increase from the same period in 2020, according to a recently released report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Hyattsville, MD — Workers in protective services had the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths in 2020, according to a recently published report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Longmeadow, MA – A majority of fast-food workers have suffered an injury while on the job within the past year, a new report from the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health indicates.

Washington – A recently released OSHA fact sheet on preventing amputations from food slicers and meat grinders incorporates findings from the agency’s new injury reporting requirements.

Atlanta – Workers in the accommodation and food service industries have the highest prevalence of cigarette smoking, according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Baton Rouge, LA – Service industry workers in Louisiana report a higher prevalence of poor health, chronic health conditions, and risk factors such as smoking and binge drinking than all other workers in the state, according to an analysis conducted by the state’s Occupational Health and Injury Surveillance Program.

Washington – Texas and Wyoming earned the lowest possible scores from the American Lung Association when it comes to smoke-free workplaces, the association states in its annual “State of Tobacco Control” report for 2017.

Los Angeles — Nearly a quarter of the fast-food workforce in Los Angeles County tested positive for COVID-19 during the first 18 months of the pandemic, a likely result of adverse working conditions and shaky compliance with safety measures, a recent report from the University of California, Los Angeles and UC Berkeley suggests.

Washington – A coalition of industry groups has called for OSHA to withdraw a recent letter of interpretation stating that workers at a non-union workplace may designate someone affiliated with a union as their representative during OSHA “walkaround” inspections.

Arlington, VA – The Mine Safety and Health Administration on Sept. 25 issued a new guide for miners’ representatives.

Washington — The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on workplace safety is among the issues explored in the AFL-CIO’s annual report on the state of safety and health protections for U.S. workers.

Washington — The full extent of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the nation’s workforce will likely remain unclear because of the lack of a comprehensive national system to gather such information, according to the AFL-CIO’s annual report on the state of safety and health protections for U.S. workers.

La Grange, IL — Unionized construction worksites may be nearly a fifth less likely to incur OSHA health and safety violations than their nonunionized counterparts, with positive effects on safety even more prevalent in the Midwest, a recent report shows.

Washington — “The nation must renew its commitment to protecting workers from job injury, disease and death, and make this a high priority,” the AFL-CIO says in its annual report on the state of safety and health protections for U.S. workers.

Washington — OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration have scheduled a national Workers Memorial Day ceremony for April 27 at the Department of Labor headquarters.

Philadelphia – Staffing agencies that hire temporary workers need to be regulated more vigorously, and employers that use those agencies should carry a heavier load of responsibility for workers’ safety, a trio of Temple University law students concluded in a recent report examining how staffing agencies and host employers may “pass the buck” to get around proper safety training and other requirements.

Washington — The House Education and the Workforce Committee has advanced a resolution aimed at repealing the Department of Labor’s rule on determining if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

Washington — President Joe Biden has vetoed a Congressional Review Act resolution intended to repeal the National Labor Relations Board’s “joint employer” rule, which remains in legal limbo.

Washington — Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) is threatening acting Labor Secretary Julie Su with a subpoena over her “failure to provide the requested information” on the Department of Labor’s independent contractor rule.

Sacramento, CA – Almost 1 million people in California have work-related asthma, according to a new surveillance report from the California Department of Public Health.

Hopkinton, MA – “Overexertion involving outside sources” was the leading cause of disabling injuries in the United States in 2014 for the third consecutive year, according to the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, an annual ranking of serious, nonfatal workplace injuries based on direct workers’ compensation costs.

New York — Fewer than 10% of the estimated 250,000 employees who contracted COVID-19 while on the job last year in New York state filed for workers’ compensation benefits, and fewer than 1% have received a hearing, according to a recent report from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health.

Boca Raton, FL — A new report from the National Council on Compensation Insurance provides an overview of key legislative, regulatory and other developments affecting the workers’ comp system.

Boca Raton, FL — A new report from the National Council on Compensation Insurance shows that about a quarter of workers’ comp claims involving COVID-19 were for patients who developed long COVID.

Boca Raton, FL — The National Council on Compensation Insurance has released a new report detailing court cases and decisions that may affect workers’ comp.

Austin, TX — In Texas, 69% percent of employees who returned to work within six months of being injured in 2020 remained on the job for at least nine months.

Boca Raton, FL — To help commemorate its 100th anniversary, the National Council on Compensation Insurance has published a list of the 10 most significant workers’ compensation appellate decisions since 1923.

Boca Raton, FL — When implementing safety technologies, the relationship between employers and technology providers and workers’ compensation insurers “is critical to success,” the National Council on Compensation Insurance says.

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London — A new report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers details how industries can adapt to future heat waves and rising temperatures.

Raleigh, NC — The longer the heat index remains above 90° F, the more employers may pay in workers’ compensation costs for missed workdays, a recent study of North Carolina workers shows.

Dallas — A new video from OSHA provides tips on keeping workers safe before, during and after extreme weather events.

Toronto – Leading indicators can be used to help prevent an incident, but little research exists on which ones are actually effective, concludes a new report from the Institute for Work & Health.

Washington – Gauging the effectiveness of federal and state-run OSHA programs is one of the Department of Labor’s biggest challenges, according to the DOL Office of Inspector General.

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.

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What environmental, health and safety processes can integrate with the “incidents application” to reduce the number of an organization’s incidents quickly and effectively?

Once you’ve finished an incident investigation, how do you use investigation data to prevent similar incidents from occurring again?

Lansing, MI — Service sector workers with irregular schedules often experience greater levels of stress and exhaustion, according to a recent report.

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.

Washington – Failure to apply inherently safer design principles, conduct damage mechanism hazard reviews and implement safeguards led to the hydrocarbon release and fire at a Chevron refinery in August 2012, concludes a draft report from the Chemical Safety Board.

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.

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.

Los Angeles – The Los Angeles garment manufacturing industry – the nation’s largest cut-and-sew apparel base – is “plagued by workplace violations and marked by a lack of worker protections,” according to a new report released by the Garment Worker Center, the UCLA Labor Center and UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health.