Don’t Risk Your Safety: News You Might Have Missed This Week

There’s a lot going on in the world, and it can be hard to stay on top of everything. So, here’s five things you need to know that you might have missed this week.

1. Robot Mishap

Two dozen Amazon employees in New Jersey were sent to the hospital on Wednesday, one in critical condition, when a robotic arm punctured an aerosol can of bear repellent at the packing facility.  In total 54 employees were exposed to the spray made from similar ingredients to pepper spray. This isn’t the first time Amazon’s had this problem, and OSHA’s investigating.

2. Pulse Point

Ambulance officers in Western Australia are celebrating a victory this week, as St John’s Ambulance announced they would update the defibrillators in ambulances across the state following widespread safety concerns from paramedics. They say the machines are unreliable and often don’t even work, putting the lives of patients in danger, and making for a stressful workplace.

3. Beef Blues

The USDA announced an expansion of a recall of beef in the United States earlier this week, making the total amount of meat recalled due to concerns about salmonella contamination 12 million pounds. The recall followed the recent recall of romaine lettuce over the Thanksgiving holiday period due to an E.Coli outbreak that caused widespread sickness.

4. Tag Team

In the United Kingdom, the education watchdog, Ofsted, has released its annual report into the system and is warning that health and safety laws could be stifling childhood development because teachers and administrators are too afraid to let them take risks in the playground. “While it is a basic expectation of any institution that cares for children to carry out proper risk assessments, some level of risk is an essential part of childhood,” Ofsted’s chief inspector of schools Amanda Spielman told the Telegraph.

5. Safety Success

In New South Wales a 12 month safety blitz in the construction industry aimed at improving safety up high has resulted in better and safer workplaces across the industry. The campaign, which was instigated after a horror year on construction sites in 2017, saw inspectors make visits to over 1000 sites around the state and issue more than 1200 notices. They also helped small business with more than $86,000 in rebates issued to help improve safety at heights. SafeWork NSW says there’s already been a 9 per cent improvement in compliance around height safety, and the push will continue for two more years.

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