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A nuclear waste cask is loaded onto a barge during the Sandia National Laboratories "triathlon." (Photo courtesy Sandia National Laboratories)

Sandia Details 'Transport Triathlon' Results

The eight-month test involved a waste transportation and storage cask fresh off the assembly line being loaded with three surrogate fuel rod assemblies from the United States, Spain, and South Korea and then traveling from Spain to Colorado and back again by truck, ship, and train.

Sydney Businesses Checked for Forklift Violations

Between July 2014 and July 2016, 1,355 workers were injured in forklift incidents, a number that included three fatalities. Those incidents cost the New South Wales workers' compensation system more than $30.5 million.

Oregon, Canada, DEA Announce New Steps in Opioids Crisis

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is issuing an executive order declaring addiction and substance abuse to be a public health crisis in Oregon, and Canada’s minister of health announced new research projects and amendments to expand access to treatment options.

Review Finds Fire Service Delayed Two Hours Responding to Manchester Bombing

"The Fire Service was effectively 'outside the loop,' having no presence at the rendezvous point established by the Police, little awareness of what was happening at the Arena, and only a very limited and belated presence at Strategic Gold Command," the report on preparedness and emergency response after the May 2017 Manchester Arena suicide bombing says.

Alere Settles Case About Point-of-Care Diagnostic Devices

According to the government's allegations, Alere received customer complaints that put it on notice that certain devices it sold produced erroneous results that had the potential to create false positives and false negatives that adversely affected clinical decision-making, but the company failed to take appropriate corrective actions until FDA inspections prompted a nationwide product recall in 2012.

Alaskans Marking 1964 Earthquake Anniversary

On March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m., Alaska experienced the most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history and the second-largest earthquake recorded worldwide, with a magnitude of 9.2. The quake and subsequent tsunamis in Alaska, Oregon, and California killed 139 people and caused widespread property damage.

BSEE Raising Inspection Time Offshore

The key is using technology that allowing for access to electronic records onshore, giving inspectors significantly more time to inspect operations offshore and work to ensure safe operations at more than 2,200 facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

CAL FIRE announced that law enforcement investigators concluded a faulty gas water heater sparked one of the fires that merged to become the Rocky Fire, one of 16 active wildfires in the state as of Aug. 19, 2015.

USDA Chief Praises Wildfire Funding Fix

Until the funding solution was achieved, the fire suppression portion of the Forest Service budget was funded at a rolling 10-year average of appropriations, while the overall USFS budget remained relatively flat. Because fire seasons are longer and conditions are worse, the 10-year rolling fire suppression budget average kept rising, consuming a larger percentage of the total Forest Service's budget each year and forcing the agency to take funds from prevention programs to cover fire suppression costs.



State Study of Mohawk River Ice Jams Announced

The study will analyze storm and ice-jam flood mitigation needs in high-risk areas, including Schenectady, N.Y., which experienced ice-jam flooding in February 2018. The study will include recommendations to mitigate future hazards on the Mohawk River and other waterbodies across New York state.

DOT Inspector General Auditing Oversight of FIU Bridge Project

The FIU pedestrian bridge that collapsed March 15 was funded in part through DOT's Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant program, which awards grants to fund infrastructure improvement projects.

Analysis Links West Texas Ground Movement to Oil Drilling

Alarming movement is linked to prolonged oil production and is a danger to residents, roads, railroads, levees, dams, pipelines, and groundwater, the authors concluded.

New Method Shown for Detecting Methane Leaks Inexpensively

As described in their paper, the researchers tested this method successfully on a Colorado well field containing placed methane leak sources.

NIOSH Research Can Help Construction Workers Avoid Injury

Construction workers are at high risk for developing MSDs because they are frequently doing manual lifting and material handling tasks, using repetitive motions, and may be exposed to vibrations and inconsistent working conditions.

HSE: Don't Use Off-the-Shelf Ergonomics Training

"If you do need staff training, and there are many residual risks where this is the case, then this needs to be customized and professionally delivered. Any such training should be based on observations of current working practices and should be informed by the views and experience of the workforce," HSE Health and Work Portfolio Manager Geoff Cox said.

Kinross Gold Certified Under CORESafety System

Kinross is the eighth National Mining Association member company to complete each step of the process.

PennDOT Announces New Motorcycle Training Clinics

"The short amount of time spent in training translates into many safe miles of riding by helping riders sharpen reflexes and hone the split-second decision making required to safely operate a motorcycle," said PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards.

NIOSH Study Shows Association Between Noise Exposure and Heart Disease Risk Factors

"Reducing workplace noise levels is critical not just for hearing loss prevention – it may also impact blood pressure and cholesterol," said NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard, M.D. "Work site health and wellness programs that include screenings for high blood pressure and cholesterol should also target noise-exposed workers."

WorkSafeBC Publishes Bulletin on Preventing Pentane Gas Fires

"Manufacturers should, and generally do, build in a period for off-gassing that will reduce the amount of pentane within the EPS foam before shipping," it says. "Despite this, residual amounts of pentane remain in shipped EPS foam blocks and other products."

Report Warns Some States Falling Behind on Electrical Safety

NFPA noted that from 2010 to 2014, an annual average of more than 61,000 fires in the United States were attributed to electrical failures or malfunctions, causing more than $2 billion in losses and killing an average of 432 people each year.

Volvo's Sales of Electric Buses Top 4,000

Volvo Buses has now sold more than 4000 electrified Volvo buses to customers around the world, the company announced March 14, saying its latest order is for 90 hybrid buses from Brussels.

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