Tumwater, WA — A new webpage from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries is intended to help employers protect workers – both indoors and out – from the adverse effects of wildfire smoke.

Philadelphia — Drexel University’s Center for Firefighter Injury Research & Safety Trends has created model organizational policies aimed at addressing stress and violence in fire-based emergency medical services workers.

Munich — The International Platinum Group Metals Association has released a guide intended to improve safety for workers who are exposed to platinum group metals.

Las Vegas – Members of the United Steelworkers have unanimously approved a resolution aimed at improving worker health and safety.

Silver Spring, MD — Construction firms that employ at least some union workers are more likely to perform safety best practices and undergo OSHA training than those with no union employees, according to the results of a biennial survey commissioned by the Center for Construction Research and Training – also known as CPWR.

Washington — United Steelworkers is suing the Environmental Protection Agency and its administrator, Andrew Wheeler, over the agency’s recent changes to the Obama-era Chemical Disaster Rule.

Washington — Representatives from two labor unions are bringing attention to resources intended to protect workers in “frontline industries” from exposure to the new coronavirus and are calling on the federal government to provide coordinated guidance.

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.

Washington — Longtime AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka died from a reported heart attack Aug. 5. He was 72.

Washington — The AFL-CIO and National Nurses United are part of a coalition of labor unions and organizations that has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Labor and OSHA, petitioning a federal court to direct the agency to issue a permanent standard on COVID-19 focused on health care workers.

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.

Pittsburgh — A new guide on stop-work authority from the United Steelworkers is aimed at helping workers develop and bargain for programs that allow them to halt unsafe or unhealthy operations and processes until hazards are abated.

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.

Washington – OSHA has launched an initiative to help ensure temporary workers are better protected.

Boston – A coalition of workplace safety groups has released a set of recommendations for OSHA to help improve safety for temporary workers.

Washington – OSHA should consider developing separate guidance for the construction industry on best practices pertaining to temporary workers, stakeholders suggested to an advisory committee workgroup that met May 7.

Temporary and contractor workers should be included in all efforts employers take to ensure the safety of workers, according to National Safety Council recommendations released Dec. 18.

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.

Olympia, WA – Temporary workers file lost-workday claims about twice as often as permanent workers, according to a recent study from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.

Safety remains a challenge for this often-vulnerable segment of the workforce, which may account for at least 15 percent of the nation’s on-the-job deaths.

Olympia, WA — A new Washington state law will require construction and manufacturing employers who use temporary workers to identify and document workplace hazards, communicate those hazards to staffing agencies, and make sure workers are informed and properly trained.

Trenton, NJ — A new law in New Jersey will provide temporary workers with additional rights and protections against unsafe working conditions.

Austin, TX – Shorter words and sentences, clearer headings, and less jargon are among the changes the Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation has made to its form letters for injured employees.

Austin, TX — The Texas Department of Insurance’s Division of Workers’ Compensation has produced a series of educational videos intended to simplify the subject of workers’ comp for employees.

Cambridge, MA — Injured workers who are older, employed by organizations with smaller payrolls and in counties where more people have health insurance are more likely to receive opioid prescriptions, according to a recent study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

Cambridge, MA — More than half of U.S. states have not adopted medical treatment guidelines for workers’ compensation cases, a recent study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute shows.

Using recent data and analysis from NIOSH, the Workers Compensation Research Institute and other organizations, Safety+Health presents an infographic showing the impact of the opioid crisis on the workplace.

Boston — Injury and illness prevention efforts are most needed in Massachusetts’ transportation and warehousing industry, results of a recent analysis of workers’ compensation claims show.

Cambridge, MA — Beginning physical therapy days, rather than weeks, after suffering a low back injury is associated with better outcomes, according to the results of a recent study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

Cambridge, MA — Workers who receive larger quantities of opioids shortly after an injury, as well as those who are prescribed higher doses, are at increased risk of longer-term opioid use, according to a recent study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

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.

Cambridge, MA — Certain programs and policies may help curb the excessive prescribing of opioids and potential misuse, results of a recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute suggest.

Austin, TX — The Texas Department of Insurance’s Division of Workers’ Compensation has published a plain language glossary intended to make workers’ comp insurance easier to understand.

Austin, TX — Women injured on the job have a better chance of qualifying for workers’ compensation disability payments and receiving higher payouts when a female doctor evaluates their claim, according to a recent study.

Washington — The House has passed legislation that would expand the types of medical professionals who can treat injured employees under the Federal Workers’ Compensation Program.

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.

Waterloo, Ontario — Understanding the emotions injured workers experience – and the actions they take – when going through injury and claims processes they believe are unfair can be helpful to everyone involved in the workers’ compensation system, results of a recent study by Canadian researchers suggest.

Lincoln, NE — A corrections worker who was injured during a self-defense training course wasn’t wrongfully terminated after her injury left her with permanent work restrictions, the Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled.

San Francisco — The California Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Workers’ Compensation has suspended 178 medical providers from its workers’ comp system during the first eight months of the year.

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.

Cambridge, MA — The percentages of injured workers who visited an ER – instead of physician offices or urgent care clinics, which are less costly alternatives – for their initial medical treatment varied across 28 states, according to a recent study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

Cambridge, MA — Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, 7% of people who submitted workers’ compensation claims for the disease developed long COVID, according to a recent study.

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.

Waltham, MA — Injured workers are more likely to experience psychosocial risk factors that can lead to “poorer functional recovery,” according to a recent study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

Hartford, CT — More than a third of work-related injuries occur during people’s first year on the job – resulting in more than 6 million missed workdays, according to a new report.

Two 35-year-old workers using floor sanders were killed and two others were seriously burned in a house fire after the lacquer floor sealer they were using ignited.

Carson City, NV — Recently introduced legislation in Nevada would provide outdoor workers with additional protections against extreme heat and poor air quality.

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