By adapting their sales models, vendor relationships and pricing, the 2023 SDM Top Systems Integrators performed exceptionally well in spite of significant obstacles.

With unprecedented changes in technology and customer expectations driving up demand, the 2024 SDM Top Systems Integrators had a banner year.

Washington — Enhancing California’s workplace heat standard could better protect workers in the state and guide current federal rulemaking on heat stress prevention, a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council suggests.

West Lafayette, IN — At least 83 incidents involving confined spaces in the agriculture industry were documented last year – up 41%, according to an annual report recently released by Purdue University.

Atlanta – Among workers younger than 55, employees in service and blue-collar jobs are more likely to report a history of coronary heart disease or stroke, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Berkeley, CA – Recycling industry employees face “unnecessarily hazardous” conditions on the job, but those conditions can be improved, according to a report released June 23.

New York – Injuries and fatalities are prevalent in the New York City commercial waste industry despite being easily preventable, according to a recent report from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health.

Raleigh, NC — An estimated 781 to 1,484 needlestick-related injuries – a rate of 2.7 per 100 workers – occur annually at solid waste and recycling material recovery facilities, according to a recent report from the Environmental Research and Education Foundation and the Solid Waste Association of North America.

Silver Spring, MD — At least 52 sanitation workers in the United States and Canada died from on-the-job injuries in 2020 – a figure that remained steady from the prior year, according to a recent analysis from the Solid Waste Association of North America.

Washington – The “deterrent effect” of OSHA fines takes a hit when the agency reduces penalties in cases involving willful violations and worker deaths – and OSHA too often agrees to reduce fines in exchange for an employer’s promise to quickly abate hazards, according to a report released June 30 by the Center for Progressive Reform.

Washington — OSHA received 15% more complaints during the first nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic than it did during the same period in 2019 – but conducted 50% fewer inspections, according to a Department of Labor Office of Inspector General audit report released March 2.

Chattanooga, TN — Long-term work disability claims for musculoskeletal issues have climbed 40% overall and 62% among men since 2010, and are especially prevalent among workers in occupations that require heavy lifting, repetitive motion or prolonged sitting, a recent analysis from insurance company Unum shows.

Washington — Reusable respirators could prove a “viable option” for health care facilities’ respiratory protection programs, especially in preparation for a public health emergency, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concludes.

Washington — The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is calling for two separate respiratory protection frameworks – one for workers, and one for the public – amid the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, in a recently published report.

Robust investment growth in target building segments is expected to drive increased spending through 2023, according to the NSCA’s Electronic Systems Outlook report for Summer 2023.  

Anchorage, AK – Vessel disasters and falls overboard are the primary hazards experienced by workers in commercial fishing – an industry with a fatality rate 29 times higher than the national average – according to a recent NIOSH analysis of four U.S. regions.

Washington — Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is among four lawmakers calling for Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta to address their concerns over OSHA’s responses to a Government Accountability Office report, issued in November, on the health and safety of meat and poultry industry workers.

Washington — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising dairy and poultry facilities to take steps to protect their workers and the public from exposure to bird flu.

Boston — Falls to a lower level were the leading a cause of fatal worker injuries in Massachusetts from 2014 to 2015, representing nearly 17 percent of the state’s workplace fatalities, according to a report released Oct. 16 by the state’s Department of Public Health.

Washington – OSHA has released a new guidance document that focuses on how employers of temporary workers can comply with injury recording requirements.

Washington – OSHA has released three new resources to help educate employers and workers on safety tips and forthcoming agency requirements.

Boston — The rate of opioid-related overdose deaths among Massachusetts workers in 2016 and 2017 rose 83.7% over the previous five-year period, with construction and agricultural occupations experiencing dramatic jumps, according to a recent report from the state’s Department of Public Health.

Silver Spring, MD — Of the nearly 225,000 construction worker deaths recorded in 2020, 60% of those workers were at least 65 years old, according to a new report from CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training.

Washington — Although alcohol is a factor in nearly 1 out of 3 traffic deaths, federal and state agencies need to also address driver impairment from cannabis and prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Washington — The opioid epidemic has had a wide-ranging impact on U.S. workers, but employers who support recovery can help, a new policy report states.

Washington — Although initial data suggests that marijuana legalization has “negatively impacted highway safety,” it’s still “too soon to calculate” an overall relationship between the two, according to a new report.

Boston — Workers in Massachusetts who reported a job-related injury in the past 10 years were 35% more likely to have died of an opioid-related overdose, the state’s Department of Public Health says.

Boston — Unintentional overdoses accounted for more than 1 out of 4 workplace deaths in Massachusetts between 2021 and 2022, the state’s Department of Public Health reports.

Belleville, IL – Injury and illness rates may differ greatly between states – even within the same industries, according to a new report from Allsup, a provider of Social Security Disability Insurance services.

Silver Spring, MD – Construction worker fatalities have increased 16 percent since 2011, outpacing an increase in construction employment during the same time period, according to a report released Oct. 26 by the Center for Construction Research and Training, also known as CPWR.

Hopkinton, MA – “Overexertion involving outside sources” remains the leading cause of disabling injuries in the United States, according to the annual Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, which ranks serious, nonfatal workplace injuries.

Chicago – A new report from UL details the health conditions and workplace safety rates in every state, as well as their financial impact.

Washington — A total of 5,190 workers died from on-the-job injuries in 2016 – a 7 percent increase from 2015 and the highest number of fatalities since 5,214 workers died in 2008, according to data released Dec. 19 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The report — fielded in cooperation with Interpret —provides a baseline of the overall smart home market landscape, as well as data collected from a custom quantitative survey of 1,500 U.S.- based smart home device owners. 

HID’s report highlights the significant shift toward flexible and hybrid working arrangements, accelerated by COVID-19, and the resulting challenges for the physical access control industry.

The Avetta "Insights" report takes real-world data from active company programs to share learnings with the industry and empower global risk leaders to make better-informed decisions and create a safer, more sustainable world.

OSHA’s 2023 final rule updating its electronic injury and illness reporting requirements went into effect in January, and the first reports under the revised requirements were already due to the agency on March 2.

A serious injury or fatality event is an incident or near miss that has the potential to, or does, result in a fatal or life-altering injury or illness. By identifying SIFs, organizations can focus injury prevention initiatives where they matter most.

Washington – Threats of physical violence from students can result in teachers becoming discontented with the profession – and sometimes quitting it altogether, according to a newly released report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics.

Columbus, OH — One out of five teachers who experiences physical or verbal violence on the job does not report it to school administrators, according to a study led by researchers at Ohio State University.

Portland, OR — Episodes of agitated student behavior – including verbal abuse of fellow students and teachers, as well as physical acts such as hitting, weaponizing school supplies, and destroying school or student property – may foster a “disrupted learning environment” that puts teachers’ safety and health at risk, according to a recent report from the Oregon Education Association.

Washington – Hispanic immigrants who work for small construction firms are among the most at risk of being injured on the job, according to NIOSH and the American Society of Safety Engineers.

A 28-year-old lighting technician, employed three weeks with a staffing agency and with no electrical trade experience, was electrocuted while working on an energized lighting fixture.

A 53-year-old truck driver was struck and killed when fence pipes fell from a flatbed trailer during unloading at a fence sales company.

A 61-year-old longshore worker operating a forklift died after he was crushed between a forklift’s mast and the overhead guard of the operator’s cab. 

A 52-year-old commercial truck driver was killed after being struck by the tractor-trailer he had been driving.

A 27-year-old laborer was killed while using a compact excavator to excavate an existing crawl space underneath a house.

A 55-year-old boom lift operator died after he fell from the basket of an elevated lift.

A 52-year-old machinist at a manufacturing company was preparing to spot drill the center of a 103-inch piece of round steel in a manual lathe.

A 47-year-old truck driver died after delivering 1,500-pound bales of recycled cardboard to a paper production mill.