Some jobs inevitably put you between one solid object and another. When this happens you may suffer injury by crushing.
Crushing or compression injuries are a horrific class of injuries that can happen in a number of ways:
Crushing injuries, dashed hopes
OSHA standards to prevent injured workers in auto repair shops
As with any other industry, automotive repair shops and mechanics in Colorado are subject to safety regulations as prescribed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Reportedly, the majority of injured workers were denied their right to know specified safety information related to their employment. OSHA rules provide that workers have the right to know the details of any hazardous chemicals they might encounter on the job, along with the regulations related to the labeling, information inventories and storage of dangerous products.
Business owners must provide appropriate safety equipment, including devices to reduce noise, eye protection and respiratory equipment for those in areas where painting takes place. When it comes to tools, OSHA standards require that all tools be well-maintained for safe use. Furthermore, employees must be trained in the proper use of equipment and tools along with safety training to ensure awareness of the potential hazards.
Everyone at an airport is a baggage handler
Around the country, some 400,000 airport and airline employees and vendors must lift heavy luggage every day. This number includes baggage handlers, screeners for the Transportation Security Administration, flight attendants, gate agents, aircraft maintenance, ticket counter personnel, taxi and shuttle drivers all must hoist bags up and down in order to get people places.
That sound you hear is the sound of 400,000 people’s backs giving out.
Working outdoors poses special injury challenges
Many people, choosing careers, opt against indoor work, cooped up in a factory or office. The outdoors calls to them, and they spend their working lives far from a cubicle.
Many then discover that you can be injured out of doors even worse you can be injured inside. They get back and neck injuries. They are involved in collisions and runovers. They are hurt by machines. They are electrocuted. They get poisoned by bad air, smoke, and toxic chemicals. They fall, and things fall on them.
When nurses become patients
It's no secret that one of the most dangerous jobs is nursing.
In terms of career-ending injuries, nursing care ranks up there with construction, mining and the military.
Death benefits can bring relief after fatal workplace accident
Workers in the oil and gas industry in Colorado and other states often risk their lives during every shift they work. Sadly, many lives are lost, leaving surviving families reliant on death benefits from the workers' compensation insurance system. The availability of these benefits may also ease the unanticipated financial burden of the surviving family members of a man in another state who lost his life in a workplace accident on a recent Wednesday morning.
A medical examiner's office investigator reported that a 52-year-old employee at a refinery in another state died in an on-the-job accident shortly after 9:40 on Oct. 4. The only information made available about the incident is that the man fell from a scaffolding structure. The official cause of death is pending a toxicology result, but an autopsy report indicates blunt force trauma to the victim's torso.
Employee fatally injured at work when he falls off man lift
Workers in Colorado who use mechanical equipment such as elevated work platforms do not always realize how hazardous their jobs are. The slightest error in judgment or concentration lapse can result in someone being fatally injured at work. This might have been the cause of an accident that recently claimed the life of a construction company employee east of Durango.
Reportedly, a 23-year-old worker was operating an elevated work platform when the incident occurred. A report by the fire chief indicates that the employee was a member of a work crew contracted to work on the bridge replacement project over Los Pinos River. Apparently, he was locked into the basket of a man lift, but when one wheel went off the road, he exited the basket to assess the problem.
Exposure to diacetyl endangers coffee roasters
The smell of roasting coffee is one of the things that draw people to artisanal coffee shops. People who live or work around large-scale coffee roasting operations also enjoy this smell as they are out and about.
But a hidden chemical in that aroma present a significant risk to people who work in and around coffee roasting operations. It's called diacetyl, a chemical used to flavor coffee. Other chemicals with the potential to harm people working in coffee roasting facilities include 2,3-pentanedione, and 2,3-hexanedione.
A study completed by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) revealed some disturbing news. Workers in coffee processing facilities who routinely inhale vapors produced during the roasting process have an elevated risk for contracting bronchiolitis obliterans, popularly known as popcorn lung. This is a very serious lung disease that can require life-long medical treatment.
Nail gun safety considerations
It's not often that nail guns become a topic of interest in the news. But a recent accident in Wisconsin has put the focus on nail guns. Nail gun safety is a critical issue in the homebuilding and remodeling industry.
On June 25, 2017, Doug Bergeson was using a nail gun while framing a fireplace in his house. The gun misfired and sent a nail ricocheting off some lumber and into his heart. Staying calm, he climbed into his pickup truck, drove to the hospital, parked the truck, and walked into the emergency room. Doctors say that Bergeson came very close to dying. Only about an inch of the three-inch nail was protruding from his chest and it was lodged about 1/16 of an inch from a major artery.
Cleaners face higher risks for lung and heart disease
At first glance, custodial work may appear to be a low-stress and laid-back occupation. Many cleaners find that the work is not overly demanding in physical terms - it just requires diligence and thoroughness. Custodial work performed in office buildings is rarely dangerous. Often, cleaners work in the evening after other workers have gone home and many cleaners work with minimal supervision.
But people working in the cleaning occupations do face hazards, including exposure to cleaning chemicals, mold, and fungus. Regular exposure to these substances may lead to deadly lung and heart diseases.
