Hazards

Washington – NIOSH is asking oil and gas workers for information on occupational health hazards experienced during hydraulic fracturing operations, commonly known as fracking.

A poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that many transportation workers whose jobs demand high levels of alertness go to work without a good night’s sleep. What impact does sleepiness have on job safety, including the effects of cumulative lack of sleep, and how does this affect workers across all U.S. industries?

If you work outside, do so safely and know your body’s limits.

In 2011, slips, trips or falls were the cause of 14.5 percent of work-related deaths, according to the 2014 edition of the National Safety Council’s “Injury Facts.”

Washington – Outdoor workers need to get plenty of water, rest and shade this summer, OSHA is reminding employers as part of the agency’s annual heat illness prevention campaign.

New York – Many children working on U.S. tobacco farms have inadequate protective gear and suffer from symptoms associated with acute nicotine poisoning, according to a report released May 14 by Human Rights Watch.

OSHA requires State Plan programs to be “at least as effective” as federal OSHA. Recently, one state allegedly failed to meet that criterion, and it raises an important question that – shockingly – still has no good answer: What is OSHA’s definition of “effectiveness”?

Boston – Workers who are exposed to paint, glue or degreaser fumes may experience cognitive issues such as memory loss during retirement, according to a recent study from the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.

Cambridge, MA – Narcotics are frequently prescribed within the workers’ compensation system to help relieve pain among injured workers, and the prescribing frequency varies from state to state, according to a new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

Arlington, VA – A group of organizations representing the truck and bus industries and law enforcement is petitioning the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to expand the scope of the agency’s proposal for establishing a national database of truck and bus drivers’ drug and alcohol test results.