NFPA Releases Report on "Fire Loss in U.S. During 2013"

NFPA's report, "Fire Loss in the U.S. During 2013," provides an overall look at fires that occurred in the U.S. in 2013, including civilian fire fatalities and injuries, property damage and intentionally set fires. The report finds that:

• Every 25 seconds, a fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the U.S.
• Fire departments responded to 1,240,000 fires, which is a decrease of 9.8% from 2012.
• There were 3,240 civilian deaths resulting from fires, an increase of 13.5% since 2012.
• There were 15,925 injuries as a result of fire, which is a decrease of 3.5% from 2012. 

The report also includes estimates of fires by type (i.e., outside, structural, vehicle), fires by population size, a definition of terms and NFPA educational resources.

Parents: Download Kids' Activities About Carbon Monoxide Safety

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Back to school is a good time to teach kids about carbon monoxide safety. The Allstate Blog offers some fun activities parents can download to help children learn about CO safety. While there, parents can also learn some basic safety precautions they can take with their furnace and chimney to get ready for winter and keep the whole family safe from CO poisoning.

OSHA Retools Guidelines on Small Farm Regulations

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OSHA has formally clarified that it cannot regulate family farms with 10 or fewer employees and recognizes that post-harvest activities integral to farming operations–including drying and storing grain–are exempt from federal regulation.

The guideline comes in response to controversy over OSHA’s inspection of small farms and levying
high fines based on a memo issues in June 2011. While it was intended to clarify to inspectors where they were allowed and not allowed to conduct inspections, many small farms were levied high fines due to the confusion over the language in the memo.

Since 1976, an appropriations rider has kept OSHA from using appropriated funding to conduct enforcement activities on farms with 10 or fewer non-family employees that have not maintained a temporary labor camp within the preceding 12 months.

The new memo also defines farming operations and explains operations that are not considered a small farm.

Read the updated OSHA memo here.

NTSB Study Shows Upward Trend in Use of Impairing Medications in Aviation

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A new study, adopted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), found an upward trend in the use of both potentially impairing medications and illicit drugs of pilots who died in crashes.

"Drug Use Trends in Aviation: Assessing the Risk of Pilot Impairment," examined toxicology results for 6,677 pilots who died in aircraft incidents between 1990 and 2012. Over the 12-year span, the percentage of pilots testing positive for drugs with impairment potential nearly doubled from about 11% to almost 23%. The most common impairing drug was a sedating antihistamine (diphenhydramine) found in many cold and allergy medications as well as sleep aids. 

According to the study, none of the pilots who died in large airline incidents tested positively for illicit drugs, though some had been using potentially impairing medications. It could not be stated with certainty that more pilots are flying impaired, but the increasing number of incidents involving pilots choosing to fly after taking potentially impairing drugs, suggest that pilots are either unaware of the risks or consider such risks acceptable. 

The study included six safety recommendations. In addition to those recommendations, the NTSB issued a safety alert urging pilots to consult medical professionals about the potentially impairing effects of any drug that they are taking, carefully read medication dosing instructions, and to refrain from flying if they feel impaired in any way.

Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between drug use and incident risk. 

Click here for more information. 

5 Tips for Workplace Wellness

Since most of us spend 8 hours or more at the office, Cleveland Clinic offers five simple tips for workplace wellness.

Do you work in a cubicle? Try a few of these 12 "deskercise" stretches.