NIOSH Debuts Firefighter Safety Center

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has launched a new Center for Firefighter Safety, Health, and Well-being.
NIOSH said the center provides a central point for a broad spectrum of firefighter-related research and services (e.g. fatality investigations, National Firefighter Registry for Cancer) at the Institute.
It is expected to facilitate faster responses to new and emerging hazards through its coordinating teams and help refine the priority research and service activities.
“Firefighters are vital to the safety of our communities, risking their health and safety to protect our own,” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. “The Center for Firefighter Safety, Health, and Well-being allows NIOSH to bring together our research and knowledge in a way to better protect firefighters from both immediate and long-term risks from their jobs.”
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MIOSHA is inviting Michigan businesses with 250 or fewer employees to apply for a matching grant of as much as $5,000 to enhance workplace safety.
The grant program offers a dollar-for-dollar match.
The initiative seeks to support employers in purchasing essential safety equipment and training, particularly life-saving resources that they may find financially challenging.
The new grant cycle opened on Oct. 1 and will continue until funds are depleted, with priority given to high-hazard industries.
During the 2023-24 fiscal year, MIOSHA awarded $488,353 in matching grants to 132 employers.
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Poultry processor Mar-Jac MS is trying to overturn OSHA citations that followed the death of a worker caught in a chicken-cutting machine, on the question of whether safety guards should be designed based on how workers use them.
According to the filing in the case heard on Tuesday, the main issue is whether the machine should have been guarded based on the daily common practice of workers rather than based on their training.
OSHA determined the company failed to have proper barriers to prevent workers from reaching into an eviscerator machine, and failed to post warning signs about the machine’s dangers.
The Hattiesburg, Mississippi company was listed as one of the most dangerous places in the U.S. to work, following the 2023 death of 16-year-old Duvan Perez.
OSHA cited Mar-Jac for eight safety complaints in the last five years, including three fatalities.
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