Roof Falls Remain Leading Cause of Miner Injuries, MSHA Says

MSHA data reports that falls from roofs and ribs remain a leading cause of injuries in underground coal mines, despite improvements in roof control technology. Data shows that during 2013, 265 miners were injured in roof and rib falls, which is down from the 377 injuries in 2012. MSHA reports that even though this is a reduction, "too many coal miners are still being hurt on the job in these kinds of accidents."

To help combat these injuries, the agency implemented its Preventive Roof/Rib Outreach Program to increase awareness. The 2014 program runs through September and focuses on conditions specific to the summer months, which includes moisture-sensitive materials in rock formations in a mine roof that require additional control measures.

NIOSH Provides 'Buy Quiet' Web Resources

NIOSH’s Buy Quite initiative aims to prevent work-related noise-induced hearing loss by urging companies buy or rent quieter machinery and tools that could help reduce workplace noise exposure. In conjunction with this initiative, the agency has released new online resources that provide information and support for employers who are considering starting a Buy Quiet program. Resources include a video, posters and links to additional Buy Quiet organizations partnering with NIOSH. 

Humantech Calls for Entries to Its 2014 Find It--Fix It Challenge

Each year, Humantech holds its Find It--Fix It Challenge, which recognizes simple and effective workplace ergonomic solutions that increase productivity and reduce workplace injuries and illnesses. Open to all of the firm's past and present clients, organizations are asked to submit workplace improvements in which they've implemented a creative and sustainable ergonomic solution. Entries to the 2014 challenge are accepted through Sept. 12, 2014. Finalists will be selected in late September, from which two honorable mentions and one first-place winner will be chosen.

Protecting Farm Kids: NIOSH Highlights Ag Injury Prevention Research

NIOSH's latest publication, "Summary of NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Extramural Research: A Quindecennial (1997–2011) of Progress," summarizes 15 years of childhood agricultural injury data and highlights the agency’s extramural research in childhood agricultural injury prevention. The research was funded by grants from Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative (CAIPI), which NIOSH and its partners formed in 1996. Examples of the research conducted include health outcomes and interventions in small-scale operations, risk factors among seasonal farmworker children, and evaluation of school-based and other curriculum, among others.

“Dramatic progress has been made in reducing the number and rate of childhood agricultural injuries since the imple­mentation of the Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative,” says NIOSH Director John Howard. “Appropriate prioritization of childhood agricultural safety and health activities, and the development and implementation of effective prevention efforts, continues to be a priority for NIOSH and its partners in agricultural production and agricultural safety.”

OSHA Delays Enforcement Policy for Electric Power Generation Final Rule

OSHA has issued an interim enforcement policy for the new final rule Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution: Electrical Protective Equipment. The rule becomes effective on July 10, 2014, and with the agency's action enforcement of most of the new employer requirements will be delayed until Oct. 31, 2014. OSHA states that the delay is for "most new requirements for employers who are complying with the existing General Industry rule. As OSHA states in its memorandum the following policy will apply:

• no citations will be issued under 29 CFR 1910.269 or 1926, Subpart V to employers who are in compliance with the version of 29 CFR 1910.269 that was in effect on April 11, 2014, and
• no citations will be issued under 29 CFR 1910.137(b) or 29 CFR 1926.97(b).