2011

Chevron Energy Solutions, Inc., Piedmont Mechanical Inc., and Jim Boyd Construction Inc. have all been cited by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration after a worker received burns at a U.S. Marine Corps Base in Georgia, according to news reports. An inspection found the companies to be in violation of three willful and eight serious… read more

The National Fire Protection Association has issued a reports that names cooking fires as the leading cause of home fires and home fire related injuries. An average of 2,650 people died between the years of 2005 and 2009 from home fires. Injuries averaged at 12,890. Cooking fires caused 40 percent of those fires. The NFPA… read more

The U.S Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited ExxonMobil for 22 violations of exposing workers to unsafe conditions, according to news sources. The establishment fined was the petroleum refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. No one has been injured, but the company will have to pay fines totaling $126,600. The violations include… read more

According to news reports, recent talks to revise window blind industry standards are not up to the expectations of many advocates. The task force discussing the revisions is comprised of manufacturers, federal regulators, and consumer safety advocates, totaling about 30 individuals. The panel, which was created a year ago by the Consumer Product Safety Commission,… read more

In a news release Wednesday, King International LLC, in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, announced a voluntary recall of a self-massage device amid reports of a strangulation death stemming from the device’s use. Subject to recall are approximately 12,000 Shoulderflex massagers sold between 2003 and 2001. The massage devices were sold nationwide… read more

With Labor Day approaching and signaling the end of summer holidays, it is important to remember that warm weather car safety is still important to help keep kids safe and healthy, report news sources. Outside temperatures do not have to be at record highs to put children at risk of becoming overheated; even temperatures that… read more

According to news sources, elder abuse in the U.S. is on the rise, leading to more Americans 65 years of age and older being abused mentally and physically, financially exploited, and neglected. Approximately five million elderly people may suffer abuse in some form of abuse annually, estimates the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder… read more

News sources report, an online safety video game is aimed at preventing collisions between trains and large trucks like the June 24 collision near Reno that involved a big rig and an Amtrak train and killed six. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, in 2010, 70 people died in 511 collisions between large trucks and… read more

According to news reports, four of the five biggest U.S. tobacco companies have filed a lawsuit alleging that new federally mandated warning labels meant to appear on cigarette packaging violate the companies’ free speech rights. The nine new labels at the center of the lawsuit were recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration…. read more

The mother of a blind man killed after falling between cars of Los Angeles’s Metro Blue Line train—having mistaken the gap between cars for a door—was awarded $17 million in a the wrongful death lawsuit, report news sources. The Los Angeles jury unanimously decided that Metro was negligent in the death of 48-year-old Cameron Cuthbertson,… read more

A recent survey found that about 60 percent of individuals in favor of a federal law that sets minimum standards for state graduated driver licensing and that support of the law corresponds to unfavorable opinions of teenage driving ability, report news sources. The survey of 1000 American adults, sponsored by an auto insurer, showed that… read more

A new smart phone app is targeting texting while driving by disabling texting and calling capabilities on phones that are determined to be in a moving vehicle, report news sources. The PhoneGuard app, which runs in the background on Android and Blackberry phones, pings GPS satellites every few seconds to determine how fast the phone… read more