News

Washington — The Mine Safety and Health Administration has no immediate plans to change its regulation on respirable dust in coal mines, MSHA administrator David Zatezalo said Feb. 6 during a hearing before the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

Washington — The National Transportation Safety Board on Feb. 6 renewed its call for sleep apnea screenings and treatment after investigating two separate commuter railroad collisions in the New York City metro area.

Columbus, OH — Ohio workers in high-risk industries now have access to free health and wellness resources and services through a new program funded by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

Cranberry Township, PA — Personal protective equipment manufacturer MSA has issued a Stop Use notice for certain welding harnesses.

New York — Contractors in the construction industry are increasing their use of emerging technologies to enhance safety, and further growth is likely, results of a recent survey show.

Washington — The National Cooperative Highway Research Program has released a guidebook that “provides practitioners who develop phasing and staging plans for temporary traffic control through work zones with guidance to evaluate the safety impacts of their plan decisions.”

Silver Spring, MD — A recently created database allowed researchers to determine that, in a 33-year period, falls accounted for nearly half of all construction worker deaths – and more than half of the workers killed lacked access to fall protection – according to the Center for Construction Research and Training (also known as CPWR).

The latest agenda, released in December, reflects the Trump administration’s push for deregulation, and details a plan for agencies to put forth “three deregulatory actions for every new regulatory action in 2018.”

Washington — NIOSH, OSHA and the Bureau of Labor Statistics should team up to enhance occupational safety and health surveillance programs, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine states.

Oakland, CA — Hospitality workers are praising the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board for unanimously approving a standard designed to protect housekeepers from workplace hazards.