Author Archives: Site Administrator
Report shows decrease in tree care worker deaths in 2017
According to a new report from the Tree Care Industry Association, 2017 saw a 22 percent decrease in tree care worker fatalities and a 16 percent decrease in worker injuries. Out of 129 incident reports that researchers analyzed, 72 involved fatalities. This is an improvement from 2016, when 153 incidents occurred, 92 of them… Read More »
OSHA publishes tree care safety guidelines
Tree care businesses in Connecticut and across the U.S. will benefit from the new safety guidelines that OSHA has published specifically for them. Its guidance document covers five majors hazards that tree care employers and employees face. The first is lack of car and pedestrian traffic control. The document explains the risk factors and… Read More »
OSHA provides guidelines for silica exposure on the job
Connecticut residents who work in construction or other industries where exposure to silica is a possible danger may be concerned about related long-term health consequences. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a fact sheet to accompany rules that lay out the standards for exposure to respirable crystalline silica, a substance that could… Read More »
Marijuana and workers’ comp in 2018
Marijuana is a “hot-button” issue for 2018 in workers’ comp, according to Property Casualty 360, which frames the issue around the idea of a “potentially impaired workforce.” We should ignore some of the anti-marijuana hysteria that warns of a tremendous influx of employees all high and impaired on the job – considering that employees… Read More »
GAO reports on meatpacking industry safety concerns
The Government Accountability Office issued a report in November 2017 concerning the safety concerns of meat and poultry workers. Workers in this industry in Connecticut should be aware of what the report states as well as what OSHA’s response to it was. The report first of all recommends that OSHA, together with NIOSH and… Read More »
The link between mental health and workplace injury
In Connecticut, the law of workers’ comp includes what’s known as a “physical/mental” injury, in which a claim for an accepted mental health injury can be made in conjunction with a physical injury as the precipitant. With that in mind, we turn to a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine,… Read More »
Workplace safety plans in need of updates
Employee perceptions of workplace safety in Connecticut and across the United States often widely vary from employers’ policies, according to a study by Rave Mobile Safety. Researchers pointed out that the results help reveal employees’ feelings about safety on the job as well as the levels of knowledge and communication currently in place in… Read More »
Fall protection essential for construction worker safety
Falls represent the primary threat to the safety of construction workers in Connecticut, according to an analysis of data from a 33-year period between 1982 and 2015. The Center for Construction Research and Training studied data supplied by the NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program and concluded that 42 percent of construction worker… Read More »
How workers can stay safe when it’s cold
Connecticut workers often have to put up with cold or wet conditions. When a person’s body temperature drops to 95 degrees, a person is said to have contracted hypothermia. If a person is not able to get warm, it could result in significant injury or death. Frostbite occurs when tissue is frozen, and amputation… Read More »
OSHA has fewer workers during Trump era
Connecticut workers may have fewer opportunities to report safety violations than they did when President Trump took office. According to a Freedom of Information Act request, OSHA has lost 40 employees during Trump’s first term. This is part of an overall trend that saw 16,000 fewer federal government workers in September 2017 compared to… Read More »