Several heat-related illnesses can affect workers. Some of the symptoms are non-specific. This means that when a worker is performing physical labor in a warm environment, any unusual symptom can be a sign of overheating. Heat-Related Illness Symptoms and Signs Heat stroke ConfusionSlurred speechUnconsciousnessSeizuresHeavy sweating or hot, dry skinVery high body temperatureRapid heart rate Heat…
Safe + Sound Week is a nationwide event held each August that recognizes the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offers information and ideas on how to keep America’s workers safe. Why Participate? Successful safety and health programs can proactively identify and manage workplace hazards before they cause injury or illness, improving sustainability…
The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced a funding opportunity for $11.7 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to support the delivery of training and education to help workers and employers identify and prevent workplace safety and health hazards. Administered by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the grants will target disadvantaged, underserved, low-income,…
OSHA and West Texas Safety Training Center Inc. have renewed a three-year alliance putting continued emphasis on construction hazards, and the overall safety and health of workers in the oil and gas industry. Specifically, the alliance will ensure information, guidance, and training resources are provided to students sent to the center by the industry and…
The construction industry has the second-highest rate of suicide in the United States at 53.3 per 100,000 workers according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). In the U.S. there are approximately 123 suicides per day that breaks down to one death every 12 minutes (SafeBuild Alliance). In 2020, a mission-driven group of volunteers from…
By Cal Beyer, VP of Workforce Risk and Worker Wellbeing, CSDZ In September 2021, the Center for Workplace Mental Health released the results from the Pulse Survey on Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Construction Industry. This pulse survey focused on opportunities to continue moving forward in effectively addressing worker mental health and wellbeing in…
As temperatures rise in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration reminds employers and workers not to ignore the dangers of working in hot weather – indoors and out – and remember “Water. Rest. Shade.” can be the difference between ending the workday safely or suffering serious…
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration held a stakeholder meeting on May 3, 2022, to provide an overview of and seek comments on the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect workers from heat-related hazards. As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to workplace safety, OSHA is working to address the threat of…
Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh recently issued the following statement on Workers Memorial Day as the nation remembers those whose work claimed their lives: “In the past year, nearly 5,000 workers left home for work and did not return. None knew that going to work would cost them their lives. While each life lost is…
By Subcontractors USA News Provider Today the American Petroleum Institute (API) published an important first-edition document focused on improving the safety of onshore drilling and production operations. API Bulletin 16H, Automated Safety Instrumented Systems for Onshore Blowout Preventer Actuation, is the first upstream document that provides information on existing and emerging technologies to bring a…
By Subcontractors USA News Provider The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently published an interim final rule establishing procedures and time frames for handling employee retaliation complaints under the Taxpayer First Act. The Taxpayer First Act, enacted July 1, 2019, protects employees who report underpayment of taxes or other potential federal…
By Subcontractors USA News Provider The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced the availability of $3.2 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for Susan Harwood Workplace Safety and Health Training on Infectious Diseases, Including COVID-19 grants. The grants will fund training and education to help…
By Subcontractors USA News Provider For two years, millions of the nation’s healthcare workers have been battling the coronavirus. Many have endangered themselves as they care for those who contract COVID-19 while working in high-risk settings that expose themselves and their families. As the nation moves to the next phase of the pandemic, the U.S….
By Subcontractors USA News Provider Increasingly, U.S. industries are using robotic technologies to perform dangerous or repetitive tasks, and these systems are becoming more collaborative and mobile in nature. While these advances add new capabilities to work and the workplace, they also introduce new workplace hazards for those who work with, and alongside them. In…
By Subcontractors USA News Provider The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is withdrawing the vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard issued on Nov. 5, 2021, to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers with 100 or more employees from workplace exposure to coronavirus. The withdrawal is effective January 26, 2022. Background and…
A disparity study determines whether a government entity, either in the past or currently, engages in exclusionary practices in the solicitation and award of contracts to minority, women‐owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises (MWDBEs). This study can help determine if there is disparity between the availability of firms and the utilization of those firms in its…
By Subcontractors USA News Provider OSHA recently announced that it intends to continue to work expeditiously to issue a final standard that will protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 hazards, and will do so as it also considers its broader infectious disease rulemaking. However, given that OSHA anticipates a final rule cannot be completed in a…
By Subcontractors USA News Provider Under the OSH Act, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. As we are still in the midst of the pandemic, employers should continue to engage with workers and their representatives to determine how to…
By Subcontractors USA News Provider As the coronavirus began to spread rapidly across the nation in March 2020, an employee of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of light, medium and heavy-duty trucks told a supervisor of their concerns about exposure to the virus at the Denton facility. In response, a representative of PACCAR Inc….
By Subcontractors USA News Provider A federal whistleblower investigation led the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to order a Houston mobile crane rental company to pay a former employee nearly $24,000 in back wages, interest and damages after firing the worker in June 2020 for refusing to drive in excess of…
