Disposable filtering face piece respirators (FFR), more commonly called dust masks, are the respiratory protection most used by employees in the workplace. Disposable FFRs are not intended for repeated or extensive use; yet, for reasons of expense, convenience, and supply, they often are. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has studied the issue and offers several guidelines.

At BLR’s Safety Summit 2018 in Orlando, Florida, attorney and safety expert Adele Abrams addressed a crowded room of attendees about the implications of OSHA’s 2016 electronic recordkeeping rule for employer safety incentives programs, disciplinary strategies, and post-accident drug testing policies.

Workers opening freight containers can be exposed to harmful levels of pesticides or fumigants that have been shipped to protect or preserve the contents of the containers. The hazard of worker exposure to these gases appears to be slipping under the radar in many nations, notes the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) in a recent report.

In 2017, the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety reported that every 3 days, a child dies in an agricultural-related accident. For working youth, tractors were the leading cause of fatalities.

Can an employer be cited for committing a willful violation of a worker protection standard even if the employer professed ignorance of the standard?