What better time than Labor Day weekend to find out what U.S. employees think about safety in the workplace?
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Tags: government standard, National Opinion Research Center, what employees think
On average, about 95 people are killed each year in lawn-mowing incidents. A worker for New Castle County in Delaware is a recent victim.
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Tags: ANSI, consumer product safety commission, killed mowing lawn, riding mower
A commuter rail system and its former operating contractor want to use federal law to limit their liability in a deadly train crash caused by a texting employee.
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Tags: Connex, Metrolink crash, settlement
A jury in Chicago has awarded the largest individual verdict in a popcorn lung disease case.
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Tags: BASF Corp., bronchiolitis obliterans, diacetyl, jury award, popcorn lung
What if you could capture on video the seconds immediately before and after an injury-causing incident in the workplace? One employer hopes to do just that.
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Tags: DriveCam, improve safety, Washington Metro, worker cameras
Ingredients for disaster: flammable materials, confined space, no emergency responders on site.
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Tags: Cabin Creek explosion, Chemical Safety Board, five workers killed, Xcel Energy
OSHA has cited SeaWorld of Florida for three safety violations following the death of an animal trainer who was pulled under the water by a six-ton killer whale in Orlando.
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Tags: Dawn Brancheau, drowning, killer whale, SeaWorld, Tilikum
A fall left a worker submerged in a giant tank of peanuts. Fortunately, he lived to tell about the experience.
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Tags: giant tank of peanuts, grain handlers, self-contained breathing apparatus
A federal agency says it’s overburdened and understaffed, and as a result, other investigations will suffer because of its work on the BP oil rig explosion.
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Tags: BP disaster, Chemical Safety Board, ConAgra Slim Jim explosion, Kleen Energy explosion
The federal government has reported the smallest annual total of workplace deaths since the census of occupational injuries was started.
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Tags: 2009 workplace deaths, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hilda Solis, workplace fatalities
OSHA shows it’s serious about stepping up action against companies accused of firing workers for making complaints about safety.
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Sure, a $16.6 million OSHA fine sounds like a lot of money. But that might be only the tip of the iceberg in the case involving an explosion at a Kleen Energy construction site.
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Tags: explosion, federal lawsuit, Kleen Energy
A cautionary note to pass along to employees who weld outdoors: Hot weather can add to the risk of an explosion.
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Tags: 2 workers killed, explosion, oil vapors
Business groups are lining up against a measure that would legalize marijuana in California.
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Tags: California pot law, California Proposition 19, Chamber of Commerce, impair job performance, marijuana
OSHA administrator David Michaels has called for a new emphasis on the health regulation side of the agency. Recent fines received by one company show the potential impact of this new emphasis.
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Tags: health fines, hexavalent chromium, lead, permissible exposure limit
Once again, BP will pay the largest fine in OSHA history, breaking its own previous record. But, the oil giant also faces a half-billion dollars in additional costs as part of its settlement with the federal safety agency.
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Tags: BP Texas City refinery explosion, failure-to-abate fines, largest OSHA fine
China is on the verge of overtaking the U.S. as the world’s top manufacturer. Some use Chinese competition as a reason why OSHA’s regulations shouldn’t be stricter. However, a recent newspaper article paints a picture of workplace safety in China that no one would want.
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Tags: China, ignore deaths, mine owners, productivity tops safety, safety regulations
Pop quiz: Do workers need to check underneath their vehicles before driving away?
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Oh, the difficult life of a workers’ comp fraud investigator, having to track down comp recipients who are scamming the system. It’s a tough job that includes visiting places such as … strip clubs?
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A February explosion in Middletown, CT, that killed six workers, injured 50 others and ravaged an under-construction energy plant has prompted OSHA to issue its third-largest fine ever.
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Tags: cut corners, explosion, Kleen Energy, natural gas, third largest OSHA fine
No one can blame an employer for trying to reduce workers’ comp costs through a return-to-work program. But an employer might run into trouble if the state workers’ comp board finds the policy to be illegal.
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Tags: cut workers' comp costs, permanent disability, return to work
While BP still works on cutting off the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico for good, another safety matter waits in the wings for the company: settling citations issued by OSHA for two of its refineries.
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Tags: BP, OSHA, Sen. Al Franken, Sen. Patty Murray, Texas City refinery
Two companies face more than a quarter-of-a-million dollars in fines in connection with an explosion that resulted from the combination of flammable vapors and welding.
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Tags: flammable vapors, welding, willful violation
Law enforcement officials say driving under the influence of legal drugs is an increasing problem.
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Tags: driving under the influence, impaired drivers, legal drugs
A worker falls to his death while upgrading a communication tower. An OSHA investigation showed that the worker had, for some reason, detached himself from his fall protection. Is the company at fault?
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Tags: fall protection, unpreventable employee misconduct, worker falls
Uh oh. An OSHA inspector shows up at your business. He uncovers a violation, and you don’t dispute it. How do you limit your company’s financial liability?
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Tags: excavation, lower OSHA fines, OSHRC, willful violation
“Safety needs to come from the top.” You’ve probably heard that one before. However, a federal agency had to remind a public transit provider of that again in its report on what caused a fatal train crash in Washington, DC.
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Tags: National Transportation Safety Board, train crash, Washington DC Metro
It should come as no surprise to a company that it will face a retaliation complaint if it fires a whistleblower who complained to OSHA about workplace safety.
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Here’s a question for employees: If an item falls into a large trash compactor by mistake, is it worth risking your life to try to retrieve the item?
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Tags: crushed, trash compactor, video surveillance
Even though workers’ compensation is supposed to be the exclusive remedy for workplace injuries and death, lawyers will find a way to make someone pay even more, especially in the case of a fatality.
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Tags: gross negligence, hot oil heater, National Fire Protection Association, Workers' comp, workplace death lawsuit
How much do you think federal government employees collected in workers’ comp payments in fiscal year 2009? A. $5.2 million? B. $40.3 million? C. $145 million? D. $1.6 billion.
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Tags: federal government employees, reduce costs, Workers' comp
OSHA policy says it will investigate an incident when there is a fatality or multiple serious injuries. The agency can also use its discretion to look into situations in which there was no bodily harm, but there was significant structural damage.
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You can’t blame any company for being proud of its safety program — perhaps so proud that it wants to put photos about its safety program on its company website. But, as a safety pro, would you allow those photos to be altered? And what if the company we’re talking about is BP?
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Tags: BP, company website, Gulf oil spill, Photoshop, safety program
As Wal-Mart fights an OSHA general duty clause (GDC) fine about retail crowds, the agency has issued another citation under the catch-all regulation involving workplace violence.
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Tags: General Duty Clause, health care, hospital, workplace violence
An employee who suffered from an eye disease had a corneal transplant that improved his vision from 20/200 to 20/50. Then, a workplace incident damaged the transplant, and his vision returned to 20/200.
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