OSHA has an explicit new message for the millions of workers who participate in the agency’s outreach training program: We’re on your side.
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Tags: David Michaels, Injuries, OSHA
In the first year of the Obama administration, OSHA was busy handing out fines the likes of which hadn’t been seen for eight years. Here’s our rundown of 10 significant fines from the last 12 months, and what they mean for businesses:
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Tags: BP, Obama administration, OSHA fines, prison time, top 10
The Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association has a message for its members and anyone else interested in OSHA compliance assistance: Don’t worry, it isn’t going anywhere.
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Tags: David Michaels, Hilda Solis, OSHA compliance assistance, VPP, VPPA
As new labor and safety leaders in the Obama administration have shown they would like to require companies to address ergonomics for employees, support for government regulation comes from a safety and health organization.
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Tags: AIHA, ergonomics, Jordan Barab, musculoskeletal disorders
OSHA has proposed $87.43 million in fines against BP for the company’s failure to correct hazards uncovered after the 2005 explosion at its Texas City, TX, plant that killed 15 people and injured 170 others.
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Tags: 2005 explosion, BP, largest OSHA fine, Texas City plant
OSHA has released its preliminary list of the top 10 most frequent workplace safety violations for 2009.
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Tags: fall protection, frequent workplace safety violations, hazard communication, scaffolding, Top 10 safety violations 2009
Now that OSHA is keeping an eye out for incentive programs that discourage workers from reporting injuries, what can you do to encourage safe practices?
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Tags: encourage safe practices, incentive programs, report injuries
The construction industry knows it’s a frequent OSHA target. Now we know that darkness won’t keep OSHA inspectors from their rounds.
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Tags: construction, night construction, silica
A restaurant faces a $50,604 fine in the death of a 17-year-old employee who was parking cars. But this fine wasn’t from OSHA.
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Tags: child labor, death of 17-year-old, FLSA, parking valet death
OSHA has fined a waste processing company $207,800 after an investigation prompted by a fatality at the facility.
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It’s long been a subject of debate among safety pros: Do safety incentive programs reduce injuries, or do they encourage workers not to report when they get hurt? It seems OSHA has weighed in on the issue, buried within a directive for its inspectors.
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Tags: national emphasis program, Recordkeeping, safety incentive programs
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is questioning President Obama’s choice to head OSHA.
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Tags: David Michaels, OSHA nominee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Several business groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, have filed a lawsuit challenging OSHA’s per-employee penalty policy for safety gear violations.
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Tags: lawsuit, National Association of Manufacturers, per-employee violation, PPE, safety gear
Imagine this: Someone finds one of your employees on the ground, conscious but incoherent, in your company’s parking lot. He dies two days later in the hospital. Cause: blunt trauma to his head. Is this death reportable to OSHA?
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Tags: blunt force trauma, OSHA reportable, parking lot, work-related employee death
Conveyor belts and tracks too often prove to be the source of serious employee injuries. Those injuries attract OSHA’s attention and wind up as fines.
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Tags: conveyor, foot injury, repeat violation
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and OSHA interim administrator Jordan Barab have said that a new combustible dust regulation is one of their rulemaking priorities at OSHA.
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Tags: combustible dust regulation, Hilda Solis, Imperial Sugar explosion, Jordan Barab
A retailer faces a hefty OSHA fine for exit hazards. This citation also shows how the safety agency is currently using repeat violations against businesses with multiple locations.
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Tags: exit hazards, repeat violations, Toys R Us
Now here’s a scam: Someone is visiting businesses, posing as an inspector, and requesting immediate compensation for violations.
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Tags: California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, employer's rights during inspection, immediate payment for violations
An employee of a government contractor was laid off shortly after expressing safety concerns to upper management at his company. Now OSHA is getting involved.
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Tags: Bering Sea Eccotech, Camp Pendleton Marine base, whistleblower
Conservative and business groups are expressing their disapproval with President Obama’s choice to head OSHA. David Michaels’ past writings may be used against him at his confirmation hearing.
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Tags: Doubt is Their Product, National Association of Manufacturers, OSHA nominee David Michaels
OSHA has started to update its regulations to match national consensus standards.
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Tags: ANSI standards, consensus standards, eye face head foot protection, PPE regulations
California has been cracking down on farms that don’t provide outdoor workers with enough water and shade on hot days. Indoor workers can suffer from heat stress, too, but you wouldn’t expect libraries to be on the list of places with problems due to hot conditions.
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Recently, a federal agency started to gather information on why Wyoming has the highest workplace fatality rate in the nation.
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Tags: fatality rate, NIOSH, seat belts, Wyoming
Process safety management fines are commonly tied to chemical manufacturers or refineries. But this case shows any company with refrigeration units can be hit with process safety penalties.
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Tags: anhydrous ammonia, process safety management, refrigeration
Two executives and two companies face prison time and huge financial penalties in connection with the deaths of five workers in a workplace fire.
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Tags: RPI Coating, worker deaths, workplace fire, Xcel Energy
Once OSHA finds significant safety violations at one facility, it’s likely to go after other locations owned by the same company.
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Tags: fast moving machinery, OSHA fines, Sims Bark, Sims Stone, struck by equipment
A Tyler, TX, construction company has been fined for the February death of an employee who was electrocuted while working on underground electrical lines.
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Tags: employee electrocution, rubber-insulated gloves, underground electrical lines
Now, if OSHA decides to come to your facility to perform an inspection, it’s much more likely to be comprehensive instead of one just focused on a single problem.
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Tags: construction industry, general industry, OSHA inspections
The head of Oregon OSHA has suggested raising fines for serious workplace safety violations. But some large companies say higher fines won’t make them any safer.
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Tags: ConAgra, higher OSHA fines, Oregon OSHA
OSHA will issue willful violations when it believes a company has ignored well established regulations.
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Tags: ammonia storage, Sinton Dairy Foods, willful violation
California is one of only two states to have regulations that require employers to take steps to reduce employee injuries or deaths due to heat stress. It’s also been issuing fines and even shutting down some companies that have violated the regs. But now a lawsuit says California isn’t doing enough.
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Tags: ACLU lawsuit, agricultural workers, CAL-OSHA, heat stress, United Farm Workers Union
The Transportation Department will require direct observation collections for all return-to-duty and follow-up drug tests for transportation workers in safety-sensitive jobs.
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A construction fatality in Texas has spurred criticism of OSHA’s recent inspection increase. But not all of the criticism is the same.
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OSHA is doing something it hasn’t done in a long time: The federal agency has formed a task force to investigate a state workplace safety agency.
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Tags: Jordan Barab, Nevada, OSHA
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