Labor

Iowa City, IA – Companies with fewer than 5,000 employees assess their workplace violence programs less often than larger companies, and apply fewer training topics and external resources, according to a report from the University of Iowa.

West Lafayette, IN – Five agricultural dust explosions were recorded in 2016 – the lowest overall number in 10 years – but three workers lost their lives, according to a recently released annual report from Purdue University.

Atlanta – Opioids, including those obtained by prescription as well as illegal forms such as heroin, were involved in more than 33,000 overdose deaths in 2015 – more than any year on record and nearly quadruple the number of overdoses recorded in 2000, according to the latest issue of "Business Pulse" from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Washington – NIOSH is seeking information from facilities that stockpile N95 respirators and high-level protective surgical gowns as part of a research study that will examine how storage conditions affect the deterioration of personal protective equipment.

Arlington, VA – The Mine Safety and Health Administration is proposing to delay until July 24 the effective date of a final rule intended to improve pre-shift examinations of metal and non-metal mines.

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board, targeted for elimination in the Trump administration’s “budget blueprint” released March 16, has published a two-page summary of the agency’s overall merits as well as a video of its 2016 accomplishments.

Washington – President Donald Trump officially has rolled back a regulation requiring prospective federal contractors to disclose labor-law violations.

At a recent Capitol Hill briefing, American Industrial Hygiene Association officials and former OSHA administrator David Michaels made their case to members of Congress about the benefits of OSHA's recent final rule on protecting workers from exposure to respirable crystalline silica.

Washington – Several public health advocacy groups have filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit that aims to undo OSHA’s requirement for employers to electronically submit worker injury and illness data for public view.

Washington – The Senate on March 23 joined the House by voting to overturn a final rule from OSHA that addresses employers’ “ongoing obligation” to make and maintain accurate records of work-related injury and illness data.