February 9, 2024
Updates on emergency response rule, NIOSH safety award and more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
OSHA has published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would update an existing standard as well as expand safety protections for emergency responders. These updates seek to address the diverse types of employees exposed to hazards common to fires and other emergencies. The proposed regulation would include changes to protective clothing and improvements to other practices in safety and health, such as requirements for baseline medical screening and medical surveillance for certain responders. Comments are due May 6.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
A recent NIOSH Science Blog article examines how designing out hazards early in construction project planning can increase safety for employees. The agency promotes the concept through its Prevention through Design (PtD) initiative and shares the Port of Portland’s award-winning construction project as an example. Nominations for the 2024 PtD award are due March 1.
The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC)
The risks of not providing OSHA training
According to the National Safety Council, the average cost to employers of a nonfatal injury was almost $42,000 while the cost of an employee death was over $1.3 million in 2021. DWC breaks down eight other costs to employers of not providing OSHA training to employees. These costs include OSHA penalties, workers’ compensation payments, reputation damage and more.
Studies, resources, trends, news
Webinar on improving workplace safety with artificial intelligence (AI)
OH&S is hosting a webinar to examine the uses, benefits and risks of AI in safety. The presentation will discuss use cases for AI such as safety training content, analytics, identifying unsafe conditions and automated translation of safety content. The webinar takes place on February 20.