Manufacturing

Washington – Noting that “regulators of high-hazard industries must have an informed and reasoned basis for making their regulatory choices,” a recent report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine states that clarifying design concepts of safety regulations in industries such as transportation, chemical manufacturing, and offshore oil and gas development – and exploring how various circumstances may impact them – can help.

Washington – Citing a “knowledge gap related to robotics and worker safety and health,” NIOSH has launched the Center for Occupational Robotics Research in an effort to evaluate the possible advantages and hazards of robot workers, as well as foster safe robot-human interactions.

Washington – Poultry workers and officials from 13 nonprofit organizations and unions met with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service on Oct. 16 to urge the department to reject an industry petition to allow faster and unrestricted line speeds in production plants, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Redmond, WA – Lifting and material handling manufacturer Genie Industries has issued a safety recall for certain aerial lifts, stating that some mounting brackets on the Operator’s Protective Alarm may loosen and possibly fall from the machine, creating a collision hazard.

Washington – OSHA has released two new fact sheets: one on preventing Zika virus exposure in biomedical laboratory workers and the other on evaluating Shipyard Competent Person programs.

Washington – OSHA is scheduled to lead a public meeting on Nov. 14 in advance of the 34th session of the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals.

New York – Employers can use several strategies to mitigate cost and health issues associated with workers’ musculoskeletal disorders, the Northeast Business Group on Health suggests in a report issued Sept. 21.

Washington – Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) says lawmakers who cite concerns about worker safety when opposing his call to increase poultry-processing line speeds are willfully ignoring scientific data.

Indianapolis – The preliminary list of OSHA’s Top 10 violations for Fiscal Year 2017 remained largely unchanged from FY 2016, except for one new addition: Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1926.503) entered the list at No. 9 with 1,523 violations, just ahead of Electrical – Wiring Methods (1,405 violations).

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board released a set of recommendations Sept. 18 after its investigation into last year’s ExxonMobil refinery fire, which severely burned four workers in Baton Rouge, LA.