Workers at height. Stacked materials. Pedestrian, forklift and truck traffic. All in one place. “Loading docks are very dangerous areas for employees,” OSHA’s Reginald Jackson says.

Are you getting ready to operate an aerial lift? OSHA recommends a pre-start inspection of the vehicle and lift components.

Greenbelt, MD — Law enforcement officials will keep an extra-close eye out for commercial and passenger vehicle drivers who are distracted behind the wheel during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation Safe Driver Week, scheduled for July 10-16.

Greenbelt, MD — Law enforcement officials issued more than 26,000 citations and warnings to passenger-vehicle, truck and bus drivers during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation Safe Driver Week.

Greenbelt, MD — Law enforcement officials will target speeding and other unsafe driving behaviors July 9-15 during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation Safe Driver Week.

Greenbelt, MD — Law enforcement officials issued more than 10,000 citations and warnings combined to passenger-vehicle, truck and bus drivers during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation Safe Driver Week.

Greenbelt, MD — Law enforcement officers will have an eye out for reckless, careless or dangerous driving July 7-13 during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation Safe Driver Week.

This newly updated white paper includes valuable safety and compliance tips from J. J. Keller experts on important forklift topics such as equipment design, modifications/additions, operator training and more.

Washington — A new video from the Federal Aviation Administration highlights best practices for airport operators, air traffic controllers and pilots to follow to ensure safe operations amid snowy and icy conditions.

Arlington, VA — As winter approaches, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has released best practices aimed at reducing hazards related to cold weather.

The Intellia Mini Excavator Simulator Training Pack offers detailed metrics to track safety violations and performance, allowing employers to objectively determine when an operator is ready for the field.

Dallas — OSHA Region 6 has updated and renewed its Regional Emphasis Program focused on transportation tank cleaning operations.

Arlington, VA — A recent string of fatalities involving miners operating bulldozers has prompted the Mine Safety and Health Administration to issue a safety alert.

Arlington, VA — Miner inexperience contributed significantly to what Mine Safety and Health Administration head Chris Williamson called an “unacceptable trend” of industry deaths in 2023.

Arlington, VA — Miners dumping cargo from haulage vehicles should always load trucks or trailers properly and dump only on level surfaces, free of spillage, the Mine Safety and Health Administration says.

Arlington, VA — Miners operating mobile equipment near water should always examine the worksite, remain a safe distance from the water’s edge and wear a seat belt.

“Last September, an operator approached us to help alleviate some labor challenges they were experiencing,” notes Elise Carlson, CFS, King & Prince senior research and development manager. “They were taking frozen, cellophane-wrapped cod, thawing it and then cutting it into pieces. Kitchen staff then cut the cod by hand so not all pieces were exactly the same, which is a desirable attribute."

Co-manufacturer Cascade Coffee adds automation to its secondary packaging operations by adding six cobot palletizing units.

The Dixie Group said it continues to focus on new product launches and cost-saving initiatives to navigate the challenging housing and home remodeling market. 

Green initiatives have shown that raising cold-chain temperatures by 3°C from -18°C to -15°C can save the industry money, but how well can equipment in service support the move?

As companies seek to enhance precision, increase efficiency and reduce costs, AI-driven computer numerical control (CNC) machining is emerging as a game-changing innovation.

The expansion will enable the company to increase its capacity to process and store excess food, handle repackaged goods and increase the number of trucks loading inventory.

Currently operating under the Peerless brand in the U.S., the company will unify its presence under the Beaulieu name.

The post Review into the operational effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission: full report was curated by information for practice.

The Gershwin estate stipulates that "Porgy and Bess" should be performed by an all-black cast. The Hungarian State Opera in Budapest reportedly asked its mostly white cast to say that they are black.

The Minnesota Opera takes the expression "start 'em young" just about as far as it can this weekend with its latest production, "Nooma." It's "an opera for babies," but don't call it that.

The Minnesota Historical Society, which operates the museum, wants to move toward programs more in keeping with its mission.

A Washington D.C. based company announced it will build a $5 billion sustainable fuels production facility in Moorhead. The plant is expected to create 650 jobs and be operational by 2030.

The Z marking, which one may see painted on the Russian military vehicles in Ukraine, has become one of the most talked-about symbols lately. White Z markings on Russian tanks, infantry vehicles, etc, have given the name to Russia's special operation in Ukraine — Operation Z. The day, when Putin ordered to begin the operation was dubbed as Day Z. At first, no one could give a precise explanation to what Z signs on Russian tanks mean. Many assumed that the Russian military decided to paint such markings to be able to distinguish the Russian military hardware from Ukrainian arms as the two countries use the same military technology — the Ukrainian military use same models of tanks or trucks as the Russian military do.

Kent McLellan, a 32-year-old American neo-Nazi who fought in the Donbass as part of the Nazi Right Sector* movement, who then joined Azov Battalion* after Russia launched the special operation in Ukraine, returned to Florida and started sharing his experience with media outlets. Some of his interviews do not fit into the framework of what American propaganda says about the Ukrainian conflict. In a conversation with Juan Sinmiedo, Ken "Boneface" McLellan busted myths about the coup on the Maidan, about today's Ukraine, and about how many neo-fascists Ukraine has actually sheltered.

Texas Workers' Compensation Commissioner Jeff Nelson has announced the appointment of Matthew Posey as DWC's new Deputy Commissioner of Operations and External Relations.

The UFL-2M laser system, which is often called the "Tsar Laser" due to its unique technical specifications and power performance, will be fully operational by approximately 2028-2029, Valentin Kostyukov, Director of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center said in an interview with Russia-24 TV channel. "We have launched the first stage of physical foundations associated with engineering systems," Kostyukov said, admitting that the system will yield results in the next four to five years. The UFL-2M laser system was developed at the Sarov Nuclear Center. The system is needed for modeling and designing new types of nuclear weapons. It is used to study the processes that occur at the moment of explosion. There are only three countries in the world that have such technology: the United States, France, and Russia.

By Philipp Pfister, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Transporeon (a Trimble company)

There’s no denying that the transport sector is a prominent cog across most global industries. As the saying goes, “There is no production without procurement logistics, and no trade without delivery traffic.”

SATO has launched its RAIN RFID1-based asset management solution ASETRA in Europe. The easy to deploy system comprising RFID tags, RFID printers and desktop reader/writers accurately and easily tracks and manages assets through the supply chain.

Within the next twelve months, kiosks will be mainstream in the UK quick service restaurants (QSR), fast food and the casual dining market, according to the first UK research into consumer views and hospitality sector plans.

Russian military social media began to promote the Sever (North) group of troops of the Russian Armed Forces. The group is known for its tactical sign N and its goal is an offensive on Kharkiv. North military grouping created for Kharkiv operation The creation of the group of troops North (N) means that the Russian forces are preparing personnel in the Belgorod region for an offensive on Kharkiv. Ukrainian sources say that the Russian Army does not need to capture Kharkiv, but this is not true to fact. Taking the city will let the Russian forces ensure the collapse of the entire eastern front of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In addition, keeping Kharkiv under control will ensure security for the Belgorod region of Russia that Ukraine has been shelling regularly. The Russian authorities can no longer ignore civilian casualties. There are other signs that indicate preparations for an offensive:

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that Kyiv was not interested in appropriating the territories of the Kursk region of Russia. This means that the march of the Ukrainian Armed Forces "to Kursk and Voronezh" is over with. "Ukraine is not interested in appropriating the territories of the Kursk region" — Ukrainian Foreign Ministry 'Ukraine does not need what is foreign' Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tykhy said that the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region was needed "to protect the lives of our people" rather than to capture Russian territories.

Major General Pavel Klimenko was killed in the zone of ​​the special military operation in Ukraine. He commanded the 5th separate motorized rifle brigade, which was previously part of the People's Militia of the Donetsk People's Republic. No circumstances of the general's death were provided. Pavel Klimenko held the title of Hero of the DPR, had two Orders of Courage, the Order of Alexander Nevsky and the Medal "For Bravery".

GreyOrange Inc. has introduced SoftFence, a virtual shielding technology from its retail software as a service (SaaS) platform, gStore.

[Domestic] :
The transport ministry will restrict the takeoff and landing of all aircraft for about half an hour on Thursday to prevent distractions during the English listening portion of the annual College Scholastic Ability Test. The ministry said Tuesday that the restrictions will be in place from 1:05 p.m. to 1:40 ...

[more...]

[International] :
The operator of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said it retrieved a small amount of melted fuel from one of the reactors for the first time since a major earthquake and tsunami crippled the nuclear facility in 2011. According to Japanese media outlets on Thursday, the Tokyo Electric Power ...

[more...]

[International] :
Ukraine's top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, reportedly said that his country has numerous reports of North Korean soldiers preparing to participate in combat operations alongside Russian forces. Reuters said on Sunday that Syrskyi made the remarks in a Facebook post on Saturday. In the ...

[more...]

Efficient route planning is crucial for businesses to stay competitive and meet customer demands. Thankfully, there are several free routing software options available that can help streamline your business operations. Whether you're a small business owner or a logistics manager, these tools can be invaluable in optimizing your routes and maximizing productivity.

This study proposes an operation optimization framework for impurity-free recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries. Using a hybrid population balance equation integrated with a data-driven condition classifier, the study firstly identifies the optimal batch and semi-batch operation conditions that significantly reduce the operation time with 100% purity of product; detailed guidelines are given for industrial applications.

A plug-flow fixed-bed cell for synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) idoneous for the study of heterogeneous catalysts at high temperature, pressure and under gas flow is designed, constructed and demonstrated. The operating conditions up to 1000°C and 50 bar are ensured by a set of mass flow controllers, pressure regulators and two infra-red lamps that constitute a robust and ultra-fast heating and cooling method. The performance of the system and cell for carbon dioxide hydrogenation reactions under specified temperatures, gas flows and pressures is demonstrated both for PXRD and XAFS at the P02.1 (PXRD) and the P64 (XAFS) beamlines of the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY).

High energy resolution fluorescence detected X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a powerful method for probing the electronic structure of functional materials. The X-ray penetration depth and photon-in/photon-out nature of the method allow operando experiments to be performed, in particular in electrochemical cells. Here, operando high-resolution X-ray absorption measurements of a BiVO4 photoanode are reported, simultaneously probing the local electronic states of both cations. Small but significant variations of the spectral lineshapes induced by the applied potential were observed and an explanation in terms of the occupation of electronic states at or near the band edges is proposed.

X-ray gas monitors (XGMs) are operated at the European XFEL for non-invasive single-shot pulse energy measurements and average beam-position monitoring. The underlying measurement principle is the photo-ionization of rare gas atoms at low gas pressures and the detection of the photo-ions and photo-electrons created. These are essential for tuning and sustaining self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) operation, machine radiation safety, and sorting single-shot experimental data according to pulse energy. In this paper, the first results from XGM operation at photon energies up to 30 keV are presented, which are far beyond the original specification of this device. Here, the Huge Aperture MultiPlier (HAMP) is used for single-shot pulse energy measurements since the standard X-ray gas monitor detectors (XGMDs) do not provide a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio, even at the highest operating gas pressures. A single-shot correlation coefficient of 0.98 is measured between consecutive XGMs operated with HAMP, which is as good as measuring with the standard XGMD detectors. An intra-train non-linearity of the HAMP signal is discovered, and operation parameters to mitigate this effect are studied. The upper repetition rate limit of HAMP operation at 2.25 MHz is also determined. Finally, the possibilities and limits for future XGM operation at photon energies up to 50 keV are discussed.

Transition-metal nitro­gen-doped carbons (TM-N-C) are emerging as a highly promising catalyst class for several important electrocatalytic processes, including the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). The unique local environment around the singly dispersed metal site in TM-N-C catalysts is likely to be responsible for their catalytic properties, which differ significantly from those of bulk or nanostructured catalysts. However, the identification of the actual working structure of the main active units in TM-N-C remains a challenging task due to the fluctional, dynamic nature of these catalysts, and scarcity of experimental techniques that could probe the structure of these materials under realistic working conditions. This issue is addressed in this work and the local atomistic and electronic structure of the metal site in a Co–N–C catalyst for CO2RR is investigated by employing time-resolved operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) combined with advanced data analysis techniques. This multi-step approach, based on principal component analysis, spectral decomposition and supervised machine learning methods, allows the contributions of several co-existing species in the working Co–N–C catalysts to be decoupled, and their XAS spectra deciphered, paving the way for understanding the CO2RR mechanisms in the Co–N–C catalysts, and further optimization of this class of electrocatalytic systems.

Interoperability of crystallographic data with other disciplines is essential for the smooth and rapid progress of structure-based science in the computer age. Within crystallography and closely related subject areas, there is already a high level of conformance to the generally accepted FAIR principles (that data be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) through the adoption of common information exchange protocols by databases, publishers, instrument vendors, experimental facilities and software authors. Driven by the success within these domains, the IUCr has worked closely with CODATA (the Committee on Data of the International Science Council) to help develop the latter's commitment to cross-domain integration of discipline-specific data. The IUCr has, in particular, emphasized the need for standards relating to data quality and completeness as an adjunct to the FAIR data landscape. This can ensure definitive reusable data, which in turn can aid interoperability across domains. A microsymposium at the IUCr 2023 Congress provided an up-to-date survey of data interoperability within and outside of crystallography, expounded using a broad range of examples.

The observation of neutron interference using a triple Laue interferometer formed by two separate crystals opens the way to the construction and operation of skew-symmetric interferometers with extended arm separation and length. The specifications necessary for their successful operation are investigated here: most importantly, how the manufacturing tolerance and crystal alignments impact the interference visibility. In contrast with previous studies, both incoherent sources and the three-dimensional operation of the interferometer are considered. It is found that, with a Gaussian Schell model of an incoherent source, the integrated density of the particles leaving the interferometer is the same as that yielded by a coherent Gaussian source having a radius equal to the coherence length.