S+H Staff

Canned-air products commonly are used in offices to remove dust from computers, shredders and other electronic equipment.

Fire extinguishers and abrasive wheel machinery

Painters commonly use products such as paint strippers that may contain toxic, flammable or combustible chemicals.

With efforts to strengthen criminal penalties in the Occupational Safety and Health Act so far unsuccessful, safety advocates recommend prosecuting egregious safety violators under other statutes with stronger penalties.

Forklift trucks are powerful equipment, and employees can be seriously injured if safe operating procedures are not followed.

In what Italian Health Minister Renato Balduzzi called a “historic” decision, an Italian court recently convicted two executives of failing to comply with safety rules and sentenced them to serve 16 years behind bars.

As I write this, nearly two months have passed since Safety+Health published an article on ladder safety (featuring incorrect photos), but the dust hasn’t yet settled. A new debate has emerged.

Abuse of prescription painkillers has become a crisis in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and its effect may be beginning to be felt in the workers’ compensation system.

Belt-tightening continues in Washington, as the Obama administration’s fiscal year 2013 budget request provides OSHA with only a modest funding increase.

Although the recession may have caused workers’ compensation costs to decline for employers, experts warn increased rates could be coming up.