Archive

Jul 09, 2019
Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is now eyeing July 31 as the publication date for a proposed rule the agency says would add flexibility to hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers, according to a Department of Transportation regulatory update released in June. Previously, DOT indicated June 7 as the target publication date for the proposed rule, whic

Jul 09, 2019
Any kind of environmental release at one of your facilities creates the potential for distracting regulatory investigations, stinging fines and costly litigation. Some of that can be ameliorated by conducting the right kind of internal investigation of a leak immediately after it occurs. Internal investigations may be driven by a company’s desire to identify the root cause of an incident, verify

Jun 25, 2019
Here’s a challenging scenario: A prospective new hire seems perfect for a position in the shipping office, but she is a legal user of medical marijuana. Company policy says employees can use medical marijuana as long as they’re not in a safety-sensitive position, but the policy fails to clarify what such a job is. What would you do in this situation? Manager Mike Kelly couldn’t help but not

Jun 25, 2019
Employers subject to the federal Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) rules should take advantage of the opportunity to comment on planned revisions of the standards or face enormous potential costs down the line, several attorneys warn. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) in May seeking input on the agency’s planned revision of the LOTO standard. OSH

Jun 11, 2019
Have you ever been so exhausted that it hurts? Fatigue, which is a common issue among overworked Americans, is the root cause of an overwhelming number of preventable workplace injuries. Phil La Duke, safety consultant and author, educated Safety 2019 attendees about what they can do to make workers aware about how lifestyle changes can improve sleep patterns and reduce fatigue. “Scientifica

Jun 11, 2019
Operating power tools, vehicles and heavy equipment can take both an immediate and eventual toll on the body. For millions of workers in the construction, maintenance, mining, forestry, transportation, agriculture and automotive industries, the effects of sustained on-the-job exposure to vibration – whether hand-arm or whole-body – may lead to various health problems. So what can be done to he

May 28, 2019
A UPS driver says the padding on the seat in his delivery vehicle was so thin that he was basically sitting on metal for up to 10 hours a day. Did that cause an injury that was eligible for workers’ comp benefits? Jay Hannah, a delivery driver for UPS in West Virginia, claimed he injured his buttocks and hip while driving his delivery van. Vehicle inspection reports on Dec. 4, 2017 and Dec. 8,

May 28, 2019
Despite their small size, our eyes are pretty big targets when it comes to workplace injuries. Every day, 2,000 Americans suffer eye injuries on the job, resulting in about 27,000 days away from work. When you factor in medical bills and compensation costs on top of all this downtime, eye injuries end up costing employers $300 million a year. Given these staggering numbers, it’s clear that many

May 14, 2019
Poor sleep may lead to bad decision-making and distracting thoughts at work, according to a recent study by the Work, Family and Health Network. About 40% of U.S. workers report insomnia symptoms, which can impair middle-aged workers’ daily functioning in multiple ways, including less concentration and the potential for more mistakes while on the job. Previous lab-based experimental studies hav

May 14, 2019
Some of the most prevalent workplace hazards aren’t seen—they’re heard. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports that 22 million U.S. workers are exposed to damaging noise levels at work, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), workplace-related hearing loss is the most commonly reported injury. It’s not surprising, then, that