Human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection. It is a dangerous infection because it can lead to cancer many years later. The best way to prevent developing HPV-associated cancer is to get vaccinated during preteen and early teen years. Boys and girls should get vaccinated before they start any kind of sexual activity for the vaccine to be the most effective. To be fully protected boys and girls should receive 3 doses over a year and half (one dose every six months). The New York Health department is campaigning for the vaccine as recent statistics show that on average in New York City only 40% of girls 13 to 17 years old and 22% of boys 13 to 17 years old have received the 3 doses. In Staten Island, Central/Southern Brooklyn, and Greenpoint/Williamsburg, statistics show only 5.8% to 25.1% of girls aged 13-17 and 0% to 5.9% of boys aged 13-17 received all three doses of the vaccine.
OSHA issues new communication tower directive to respond to an increase of worker injury and death during the construction, maintenance and repair of communication towers
Nine workers died so far in 2014 while working on the construction or the maintenance and repair of communication towers. Last year there were 13 fatalities, double the two previous years together according to OSHA’s most recent statistics. In order to better protect tower climbers, OSHA recently updated its Communication Tower Directive regarding the use use of hoist systems used to move workers to and from workstations on communication towers. (see OSHA press release).
Tower climbing is one one of the most dangerous job in the US. A Daily Kos article from 2012 estimated that the death rate for tower climbers was about 10 times that of construction workers. Tower climbers are hired through hundreds of subcontractors and are employed mostly by communication wireless carriers to build, maintain and repair communication towers. An investigation by ProPublica and PBS Frontline shows that by outsourcing the jobs to subcontractors cell phone carriers’ have kept their connection to tower climbing invisible.
The most common causes of deaths and injuries are:
After more than 40 employees suffered from head, face and groin injuries, OSHA investigated and fined Brooklyn’s Brookdale Hospital $78K for failing to protect the staff from violent patients and failing equipment
In 2012 there were more than 100 open lawsuits against the hospital including a dozen alleging patients died due to medical malpractice or negligence. The hospital has financial problems and struggles to stay open. The latest report from the federal Labor Department indicates that some employees have been the victims of extremely violent attacks by patients. A 70 year old nurse required brain surgery after a patient repeatedly stomped on her head while beating her and a staffer was punched in the back by a patient. OSHA fined the hospital $78K and recommended the installation of panick buttons and alarm systems at workstations as well as video systems.
Read the complete OSHA News Relase
Read the article in the NY Daily News
To prevent death and personal injury related to subway accidents the MTA is testing several “track intrusion” detection systems
Last year in New York 151 people were struck by subway trains and 53 of them died. There are many reasons why people are being injured or killed by a train: they fall on the tracks after feeling ill, they are pushed by someone else, they loose something on the track and try to go pick it up or they jump in front of the train to commit suicide. To stop the staggering amount of injuries and deaths happening on its tracks, the MTA is testing sensors and video systems that would prevent people who fall on the tracks to be struck by a train. The systems use high-tech devices to alert the driver if someone falls on the tracks. The tests look promising and the MTA executives are planning to install such systems in subway stations between 2015 and 2019.
Read more in the New York Daily News
Surveillance video shows car crashing into a Queens beauty salon at high speed
A car driver miraculously suffered only minor injuries after he crashed his car into a Queens beauty salon last week on Thursday night. According to the NY Daily News the car driver was about to leave the gas station across the street when he mixed up the gas pedal with the brake pedal. The video shows a car flying across the street and crashing at high speed into the store.
Source: NY Daily News
A woman died and two firefighters suffered injury in a fire in Queens, NYC
A 40 year old woman died from third degree burns and cardiac arrest after a fire ravaged her apartment on the sixth floor of a Jackson Heights building in Queens, NYC early Saturday. Two firefighters were also injured and hospitalized but their lives are not in danger. The investigation is ongoing to determine the exact cause of the fire but according to the New York Daily News it may have started in the kitchen.
4 people suffered personal injury after a driver ran a red light and crashed into another car in Queens, NYC
A car accident near the Long Island Expressway in Maspeth, Queens, NYC, left 4 men injured on Sunday morning. Three men in their 20ies were riding in a Nissan Sedan when the driver ran a red light and crashed into a Mercedes Benz. The driver of the Mercedes Benz was critically injured while the three young men suffered serious personal injury. The police found marijuana and heroin in the Nissan. The three men are expected to be charged after their release from the hospital.
Read more in the New York Daily News
Young boy dies after falling from a window in the Bronx, NYC
A two year old boy died after he fell out of a window early Sunday morning on Gerard Ave in the Bronx, New York. The window guards were installed as required by New York Law but the 2 year old boy may have climbed over them. The toddler woke up in the middle of the night and went into the kitchen while his grandmother was asleep in another room. According to ABC news the boy moved a pot and climbed on it to reach the window. He died from severe injuries at the hospital.
Source: New York Daily News
Two New York construction workers injured in elevator accident
Two construction workers were injured in an elevator accident in Greenwich Village on Wednesday after the elevator counterweight snapped causing the elevator to drop half a floor. The two construction workers loaded the elevator with construction material. Some of the construction material which protruded through a hatch in the roof of the lift became entangled with the elevator’s cord and counterweight just before the elevator dropped. The two workers got trapped in the elevator for an hour and half during which they feared that the elevator was going to plummet to the ground. Luckily firefighters were able to shore up the elevator and rescue the two men.
Read more in New York CBS Local
Man dies in Queens elevator accident
A man plunged to his death in the shaft of a broken elevator in an apartment building in Flushing Queens, NYC. The man was moving a small refrigerator and he had called the elevator to bring the refrigerator downstairs. When the doors opened the man didn’t realize that the car wasn’t there and he fell down the shaft with the refrigerator. An elevator repairman found him dead with the refrigerator lying on his chest.
Residents of the building say that the elevator was broken and that people would get stuck in it every two to three days. A resident also mentioned that 3 days before when he was in the elevator, the car started to move down while the doors stayed opened. Since 2005 seven complaints have been issued by inspectors for violations according to city records.
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