The “Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety,” which was released on Labor Day, recaps the significant federal policy changes and activities over the past 12 months that affect injury and illness protections for workers.
For the seventh consecutive year, our OHS yearbook presents our choices for the most significant policy changes, advocacy activities, journalism and research over the past 12 months.
It’s not often that epidemiologists file lawsuits. But state epidemiologists who focus on work-related injuries and illnesses have stepped forward into litigation to preserve an OSHA injury reporting rule.
Eleven workers employed in the mining industry have suffered fatal injuries this year. Five of the fatalities occurred at stone and sand quarries, including three in Texas.
Under Texas law, if a firefighter develops cancer it is presumed to be work-related. The City of Baytown doesn’t think the law applies to them and has filed a lawsuit to challenge a 22-year veteran firefighter’s claim for workers’ compensation.
Jordan Barab at Confined Space provides Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s view about workers safety protections.
Houston firefighters don’t think their city is doing enough to protect them from carcinogens they encounter on the job. A newly authorized national firefighter cancer registry could be a place for firefighters to record data on protections provided (or not) by their municipalities.
Recommended heat exposure standards are effective in protecting most workers from serious illness and death, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The latest resource list on articles and reports describing unsafe and illegal working conditions in global supply chains producing consumer goods for the world economy. There are the usual tales of exploitation and woe, but also some about hard-fought victories for supply chain workers over the past several months.
For years the coal industry has been sowing doubt about an air sampling device that is mandated in a regulation to address black lung disease. Last week a National Academies’ panel put to rest industry assertions about the accuracy of the device.