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New studies and surveys


Experience, risk-taking major factors in industrial accidents

Although industrial accidents have declined sharply over the past 20 years, a recent survey by The Golden Triangle Business Roundtable, a Texas trade association, found "risk-taking" continues to be a factor in deaths and injuries. Among workers involved in the incidents, 43 percent had fewer than five years in their crafts and 34 percent had between five and 10 years of experience.

Where incidents have occurred in the 20 years of surveys, 42 percent were at refineries and 21 percent were at chemical plants. Men accounted for 96 percent of the incidents, and two-thirds of them involved men aged 18 to 40 years old. Pipe fitters and laborers accounted for 30 percent of the accidents and 77 percent were in their craft for fewer than 10 years.

Takeaway: While an intensive training program for new and young workers is critical, it is not enough. An on-going mentoring program that emphasizes awareness of the surrounding physical hazards, potential dangers, and good decision-making is key, particularly for less experienced workers who are prone to risk-taking.



Emerging trends and challenges: National Safety Survey

Every year, EHS Today surveys its readers to discover emerging trends and challenges. The major findings of the survey of the nearly 1,000 EHS (environment, health and safety) professionals include:

Leading indicators

Leading indicators are where's it at in 2016 and those that are most tracked include:

Others included: participation in safety committees (64.14%), overall employee engagement in safety (60.56%), safety action plans execution (58.17%), equipment/machinery maintenance (51.79%), safety perception surveys and follow up (37.85%), and permit deviation (21.91%).

Top injuries

Cuts, lacerations, and punctures topped the list of most common type of injuries - 53.74%. This was followed by strains, sprains, and tears (52.04%), slips, trips, and falls (47.96%), back injuries (26.53%) and repetitive stress and musculoskeletal injuries (23.47%).

PPE purchases

The two factors most considered when purchasing PPE are certification levels/ratings (55.18%) and price (47.83%). This was closely followed by employee recommendations (41.47%). Hand protection dominates the PPE market, accounting for over 23 percent of the overall protective equipment revenue in 2015.



Untreated sleep apnea deadly for commercial drivers

Research from the National Transportation Safety Board revealed that fatigue was the most frequently cited cause of heavy truck accidents, accounting for 30-40 percent, and was also the cause of 31 percent of the 182 fatal-to-the-truck-driver accidents studied.

Sedentary lifestyles and a tendency toward a high body mass index (BMI) put commercial drivers at a greater risk than non-commercial drivers of developing dangerous sleep disorders. While commercial truck drivers are required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to undergo regular medical exams to spot dangerous medical conditions, many sleep disorders still go undiagnosed, or worse, ignored.

When the human body is deprived of sleep, cognitive performance begins to suffer almost immediately. Sleep deprivation problems can include a decrease in alertness and an inability to perform; cognitive as well as memory difficulties; and an increased risk of involvement in a motor vehicle or workplace accident.

While individuals of all ages can develop sleep apnea, common sleep apnea risk factors include:



Tractor-trailer truck drivers at increased risk of injury, death

According to a recent blog post from the Department of Labor (DOL), one out of six U.S. American workers killed on the job is a tractor-trailer truck driver. A total of 761 tractor-trailer truck drivers were killed in 2014.

Tractor-trailer truck drivers are three times more likely than the typical American worker to have an injury or illness that required days off from work. Injuries from slips, trips and falls were the most common cause of missed workdays, followed by overexertion injuries caused by tasks such as loading and unloading cargo, pushing and pulling containers, and entering and exiting the vehicle.

When truck drivers get hurt on the job it takes them longer to recover. Approximately half of all truck drivers needed at least 20 days away from work to recover from an incident; 42 percent of tractor-trailer drivers required at least 31 days.



Obstructed breathing more common in certain jobs

Airway obstruction, which can signify lung diseases such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), was more common among workers in construction and oil and gas extraction than in other industry, investigators at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported after analyzing results from a nationwide survey. These findings underscore the importance of monitoring the lung function of workers in high-risk jobs. Investigators found that the highest rates of airway obstruction were in jobs related to installation, maintenance, and repair; construction; and oil and gas extraction. More than one-fifth of study participants in these jobs had airway obstruction. In other findings, cigarette smoking, even prior to the study, also correlated with a high risk of airway obstruction.



Michigan survey suggests medical marijuana can aid in decreasing opioid use to treat chronic pain

In "Medical Cannabis Use Is Associated With Decreased Opiate Medication Use in a Retrospective Cross-Sectional Survey of Patients With Chronic Pain," published in the June 2016 issue of The Journal of Pain, researchers from the University of Michigan surveyed users of medical marijuana looking for some insight into the relationship between medical marijuana use and alternatives such as opioids for chronic pain management. While researchers acknowledge limitations of the study and need for more research, their findings suggest that using medical cannabis for chronic pain treatment may benefit some patients with improvement in quality of life, better side effect profile, and decreased opioid use.



Study finds nearly 30 pesticides that make farmers wheeze

More than two dozen pesticides - including the most commonly used herbicide - are associated with respiratory wheeze among male farmers, according to a recent study from North Carolina State University. For the study, researchers defined allergic wheeze as cases in which farmers reported wheezing along with doctor-diagnosed hay fever and non-allergic wheeze as cases in which wheezing with no hay fever was reported. Wheezing indicates airway problems and can lead to more serious health issues.

Among the 78 pesticides listed were 45 herbicides and plant growth regulators and 25 insecticides. Twenty-nine pesticides were associated with at least one type of wheeze, and 11 were associated with both types, including Glyphosate, the world's most popular herbicide.

The study was published online July 8 in the journal, Environmental Health Perspectives