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News Digest

The News Digest provides daily access to important events in the worker safety arena. We seek out the most interesting and timely stories, compile them in an easy-to-navigate format and give you one-click access to the source.

Quote of the day:

"We want to know about every death, so we can evaluate any patterns with fatalities."

Kitty Gelber, chief epidemiologist, New York Bureau of Occupational Health, as the state launches the first study of World Trade Center rescue and recovery worker deaths

Go to the full story in the New York Post

New York Initiates First WTC-Worker Death Toll Study
With a $165,000 federal grant from the Sept. 11 health czar, the state of New York launches the first study of deaths among World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers with the aim of detecting trends that could help doctors monitor, test and treat ill workers. More than 100 police, firefighters and other workers reportedly have died after searching for survivors and/or helping in site cleanup efforts. By Susan Edelman, New York Post
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Payloader Operated by Son Kills Father at L.I. Recycling Plant
Fed-OSHA investigates the death of a Long Island, N.Y. waste recovery plant worker who was run over by a payloader operated by his son last week. Two immigrant workers from El Salvador—one 16 years old, the other 20—died in work accidents at the financially-thriving facility in 1998 and 2000. By Thomas Maier, Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.)
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BP Safety Report No Shock to Toledo Refinery Workers
A federally-commissioner panel's recently-released findings of indifference to safety concerns at BP's five U.S. refineries came as no surprise to employees at the BP Toledo refinery in Ohio, where workers feared reprisals for reporting safety hazards and reported more strongly than their counterparts at other BP facilities that staffing cutbacks and cost-cutting had endangered them. By Tom Henry, Toledo Blade
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Three Workers Hospitalized in Texas Drill Rig Mishap
Three workers go to the hospital Friday evening following a drilling rig collapse in Gilmer County, Texas. Fed-OSHA is expected to investigate. Tyler Morning Telegraph
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NIOSH Says Mile High City Firefighters' Masks Worked
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health say the masks of two Denver firefighters who collapsed on duty while wearing air masks were working properly. A third firefighter who died fighting a blaze also had a working mask, which apparently was knocked off his face. By AP via KCNC-TV (Denver)
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New NIOSH Materials Cover Flyrock Safety in Blasting Ops
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has new training materials that provide mining and construction employers with information on flyrock safety during blasting. By Josh Cable, Occupational Hazards
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Vegas Worker Killed in Wall Collapse
One worker is dead and two are seriously hurt digging a trench when a long section of block wall collapses at a North Las Vegas construction site. By AP via KESQ-TV (Palm Springs)
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Report: Ohio Atomic Plant Not Monitored for Radiation Exposure
Former employees, some of whom are now battling horrific cancers, of a Miamisburg, Ohio-area atomic plant were not properly monitored or even notified about significant radiation exposures, according to a newly-released independent audit. By Tom Beyerlein, Dayton Daily News
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