News

Washington – The deadline for individuals and organizations to submit comments on a proposed rule requiring speed-limiting devices on large trucks and buses has been pushed back to Dec. 7, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announced.

Cheyenne, WY – Thirty job-related deaths occurred in Wyoming in 2015, down nearly 12 percent from the 34 deaths recorded the previous year, according to a recent report from the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services.

Washington – The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has expanded its near-miss reporting system to include the confidential collection of equipment failure reports, in an effort to further improve the safety of offshore oil and gas operations.

Dallas – OSHA has launched an enforcement initiative to emphasize the prevention of amputation hazards among workers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, the agency announced Nov. 1.

Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor & Industry has launched a public awareness campaign intended to inform workers and employers about the dangers of being misclassified as independent contractors.

Chicago – A federal mandate requiring commercial motor vehicle drivers to use electronic logging devices in place of paper logs remains on track to go into effect after an appeals court denied an attempt to block the rulemaking.

Silver Spring, MD – Less than 50 percent of the 9 million workers in the construction industry in 2015 rated their workplaces as “very safe,” according to a new report from the Center for Construction Research and Training, also known as CPWR.

Atlanta – Smoking costs the U.S. economy more than $300 billion a year in direct medical care costs and lost productivity, including $5.6 billion in productivity losses related to secondhand smoke, according to the CDC Foundation.

Wuhan, China – Male night-shift workers who do not nap during the day or have worked the night shift for more than 20 years – as well as those who average more than 10 hours of sleep per night – may have a greater risk of developing cancer, according to a study from Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Essen, Germany – Tai chi, a low-impact martial art that features slow and meditative movements, can be as useful as conventional exercises in alleviating neck pain, according to researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen.