Category: Injuries and Illness

Modern safety management goes beyond covering traditional workplace accidents to now being equally concerned with illnesses caused on and even off the job. This section will explain what you need to know to avoid both injuries and illnesses, and to track your progress in reaching this goal.

First responders, ambulance corps

AIHA Launches Site for First Responder Health Resources

AIHA (formerly the American Industrial Hygiene Association) launched a new website—https://www.workerhealthsafety.org/first-responders—with occupational health resources about the long-term health risks faced by emergency responders. The website includes a case study of training to prepare first responders for rail emergencies and a directory of industrial hygienists and occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals.

Office safety and ergonomics

Tips for an Ergonomic Workstation

Many of us spend hours at our workstations every day, and with many of us working from home because of COVID-19, the ergonomic issues have come home with us. Bad habits and incorrect posture can lead to neck and back pain or sore wrists and fingers. Proper ergonomics can help you and your employees stay […]

safety statistics and data

NIOSH Highlights Importance of Occupation, Industry Data to COVID-19 Reports

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) stressed the importance of collecting, coding, analyzing, and reporting both industry and occupation data in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case reports to form better strategies for reducing the impact of the pandemic on workers.

Coronavirus

NSC Says COVID-19 May Become Third Leading Cause of Death in U.S.

On August 18, the National Safety Council (NSC) predicted that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may become the third leading cause of death in the United States for 2020, behind only heart disease and cancer. In 2018, the most recent year of final fatality data, the third leading cause of death was preventable deaths from drug […]

Hearing loss, noise hazards

NIOSH Research Warns of Noise Hazards in Service Industry

A large number of noise-exposed workers within the services industry sector—the largest sector in U.S. industry—have an elevated risk of hearing loss, according to new research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The study of hearing loss in workers across a wide variety of service industries was recently published in the […]

COVID-19 coronavirus

Addressing SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Exposure Risk Using Engineering Controls

Due to increasing COVID-19 case counts across many states, public health officials are recommending source control measures to reduce disease transmission, including mandatory mask use in public places. Unfortunately, these measures rely upon the user’s effective compliance, both in work and in social settings. Growing evidence suggests that aerosols may play a part in the […]

Safety data, safety statistics

BLS: Injuries and Illnesses Have Declined in the 50 Years Since Passage of OSH Act

The rate of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses has declined from 10.9 cases per 100 full-time employees in 1972 to 2.8 cases in 2018, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) noted in its monthly publication, Beyond the Numbers. The July 2020 issue of the BLS’s publication, “Nearly 50 years of occupational safety and […]

incident investigation or safety inspection

6 Steps to an Effective Incident Investigation

No environment, health, and safety (EHS) professional wants to experience an incident at a job site, but the resulting investigation is an opportunity to uncover safety problems and correct them. You must take the right steps to get the right result, however, and the right result is the prevention of incident recurrence. Here are six […]

Motor vehicle accident

NIOSH Releases New Strategic Plan for Motor Vehicle Safety

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released its 2020-2029 strategic plan for its Center for Motor Vehicle Safety (CMVS). The plan implements priorities from the institute-wide strategic plan for fiscal years 2019-2023 with input from other sources.

N95 respirator masks

OSHA: Surgical Masks Not a Substitute for Respirators for Non-COVID-19 Respiratory Hazards

Exceptions from respiratory protection regulations allowing the use of surgical masks only apply to healthcare facilities and emergency medical services, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reminded employers. Other employers must provide respirators, the agency explained in guidance discussing the differences among cloth face coverings, surgical masks, and respirators.