Safe Holidays: 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. What to Expect in 2019 in Safety

Bloomberg writes that the big moves in workplace safety in 2019 are likely to include the occupational workplace health and safety commission considering the impact of increased temperatures and heat exposure due to climate change. There’s also likely to be a focus on protecting workers from violent acts, which is an area OSHA doesn’t have specific guidelines on yet.

2. Gatwick Drone Incident a Mystery

Investigators in England are stumped over the drone incident at Gatwick airport last week that shut down operations for 36 hours and inconvenienced 140,000 travellers. One broken drone was found, a couple were arrested and then released without charge and now it’s not clear that there were even any drones in the airport’s airspace to begin with.

3. Train Operators Struggle to Meet Safety Deadline

Strict new safety standards for American trains that involve technology to prevent derailments like the one that killed four in New York in 2013, and three in Washington in 2017, are meant to be in force by December 31, but operators are not yet finished installing the systems. Positive Train Control works to slow down trains that are on course for collision or moving too fast. It’s in place in large parts of the US, but some track owners are looking to get a deadline extension to finish installation, as they won’t be done by December 31.

4. Hot Air Balloon Catches Fire in Victoria, Australia

A Boxing Day hot air balloon jaunt turned to disaster on Wednesday, when the basket of the balloon, recently launched above the Yarra Valley, caught fire. One woman was sent to hospital for observation, and the basket was completely destroyed after the ballooners made an emergency landing. An investigation is underway, but a spokesman for the ballooning industry said the pilot was very experienced and handled the disaster appropriately.

5. Rhode Island, New Jersey & New Hampshire Safest States

The federal data on workplace injuries in 2017 was released this month and the rate of injury at work was lowest in Rhode Island,  New Jersey and New Hampshire. All three states had a rate of injury of 1.6 per 100,000 workers.  North Dakota and Alaska had the highest rates of injury, at 10.1 and 10.2 per 100,000 workers respectively. Overall the rates are slightly down on 2016.

Important Notice
The information contained in this article is general in nature and you should consider whether the information is appropriate to your specific needs. Legal and other matters referred to in this article are based on our interpretation of laws existing at the time and should not be relied on in place of professional advice. We are not responsible for the content of any site owned by a third party that may be linked to this article. SafetyCulture disclaims all liability (except for any liability which by law cannot be excluded) for any error, inaccuracy, or omission from the information contained in this article, any site linked to this article, and any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.