Labor

Anchorage, AK – Vessel disasters and falls overboard are the primary hazards experienced by workers in commercial fishing – an industry with a fatality rate 29 times higher than the national average – according to a recent NIOSH analysis of four U.S. regions.

Washington – NIOSH is seeking public comment on a draft of the National Occupational Research Agenda for Manufacturing, a document intended to outline the industry’s most important occupational safety and health research needs for the next decade.

Washington – Responding to ongoing damage in the Gulf Coast region caused by Hurricane Harvey, the Chemical Safety Board has issued a safety alert warning oil and chemical facility workers to follow special precautions when restarting in the wake of the storm.

As expected, potential regulatory action from OSHA has been cut by more than half, according to the Department of Labor's most recent regulatory agenda.

Washington – Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta on Aug. 21 appointed Wayne Palmer acting assistant secretary for the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Washington – Two senators are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to “immediately implement” amendments to the agency’s Risk Management Program rule for chemical facilities.

Washington – Heather MacDougall is the new chair of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, sworn in Aug. 16 after being appointed by President Donald Trump.

Toronto – Standing for long periods of time at work may double your risk for developing heart disease, according to researchers from the Institute for Work and Health and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.

Santa Monica, CA – Nearly 55 percent of American workers claim they encounter “unpleasant and potentially hazardous” conditions on the job, according to a study from nonprofit research institute RAND Corp., Harvard Medical School and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Washington – In an effort to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders, NIOSH has released a mobile app based on the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation, an internationally recognized standard for safe manual lifting.