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Preventing the approximately 43 deaths and 585 injuries and illnesses each year from exposure to hazardous chemicals is the goal of the new Hazard Communication Standard.

Fatal injuries among commercial fishing workers entangled in machinery can be prevented, researchers say. Of eight deaths of workers involved in deck winch incidents between 2000 and 2011, six should have been survivable, says a new report.

Better use of employee assistance programs might help boost the bottom line. That's one of the best practices cited to curb workplace absences.

Intermittent absences can be nightmarish for employers. Essentially, they are preapproved leaves that can occur at a moment's notice.

Strong and courageous action is needed to effectively deal with the problem of cellphone use while driving, said two researchers. Education, legislation, and voluntary guidelines are insufficient.

Injured workers in California who receive repackaged medications directly from their doctors' offices do not appear to have better outcomes than others, according to new research.

More than 180 commercial fishermen died from falls overboard between 2000 and 2011. None was wearing a personal flotation device.

"With the Supreme Court ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act and the president's re-election, employers have never had a better opportunity to re-examine their long term role in providing healthcare coverage," noted PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute in its 2013 annual report on the top health industry issues. "The year 2013 will likely be the turning point for the evolution of healthcare benefits over the next decade."

By digging into workers' comp data, health claims, absence, and biometrics, employers can target the behaviors that most influence their workforces, and thereby drive up costs, according to a recent study by Aon Hewitt, the National Business Group on Health, and The Futures Company.

Workers newly hired in poultry plants may be more susceptible to a particular type of infection, suggests a new study.

A worker removing snow from a rooftop slid off, hit his head on construction materials being stored below the roof, and died. Another worker was laying grid lines and shoveling snow from a second-floor deck when he fell through an elevator shaft opening that was covered with a plastic tarp and temporary guardrails installed around only a portion of the shaft opening. A third worker fell from the roof of a residential construction site as he was shoveling snow and was fatally impaled by a scaffold upright in the course of his fall.

Nearly every state is reporting widespread geographic influenza with outbreaks 10 times higher than at this time last year. Federal researchers are looking more closely into the transmission of flu with an eye toward better prevention techniques.

A federal agency may take the next steps in the battle against opioid abuse. At least, that's what a physicians' group is hoping.

As employers increasingly see the effects of opioid treatment among their workers, many are wondering what, if anything, they can do.

Employers looking to prevent injured workers from misusing opioids for their chronic pain may want to encourage treating physicians to develop agreements with their patients.

Immediate release fentanyl preparations and meperidine, as well as methadone, pose particularly high risks of overdose, substance misuse, or toxicity, according to new research. The drugs warrant "particularly close scrutiny" or should not be prescribed to outpatients, according to the California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation.

Employers that allow sufficient time for breaks and meals, provide a clean eating space, and involve workers in scheduling decisions may see their workers' comp costs decline, suggests new research.

Employers looking to keep their employees off their short-term disability rolls may want to consider predictive analytics and stepped-up interventions. A new report from Cigna suggests the combination may reduce the incidence of STD among employees at high-risk of experiencing a disability in the next year.

Employers considering eliminating prehiring drug tests may want to first ponder one company's 14-month ordeal. Its decision led to staggering statistics and skyrocketing costs for its workers' comp program -- possibly as much as $2 million.

Employers seeking to cut their workers' comp costs might want to ramp up their drug testing programs or implement them if they don't have them already.