July 2, 2010 by Jim Burger
April 16, 2010 by Fred Hosier
A woman is suspected of bilking construction companies in California out of $500,000 by posing as an OSHA inspector.
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Tags: CAL-OSHA, construction companies, posing as OSHA inspector
April 5, 2010 by Fred Hosier
A worker reports an injury. An investigation shows the injury was caused because the worker ignored a safety rule. Under company policy, the employee is disciplined. Now, other workers aren’t reporting injuries because they don’t want to be disciplined. What do you do?
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Tags: disciplining workers, OSHA cracking down, reporting workplace injuries
February 26, 2010 by Fred Hosier
Members of Congress should have some idea about how difficult it is to comply completely with OSHA standards: Only 28% of their offices do so.
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Tags: Congress, Congressional offices, OSHA standards
February 22, 2010 by Fred Hosier

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
December 29, 2009 by Fred Hosier
As the economy changes, OSHA has signaled it intends to keep up with the times by focusing on new industries as they emerge.
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Tags: David Michaels, green jobs, NIOSH
October 7, 2009 by Fred Hosier
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
September 23, 2009 by Fred Hosier
September 1, 2009 by Fred Hosier
New York City will begin monitoring its building inspectors via department-issued cell phones and GPS.
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Tags: Edward Marquette, monitoring building inspectors, New York City
August 18, 2009 by Fred Hosier
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
July 31, 2009 by Jim Burger
OSHA isn’t going to wait around for the next big chemical release or explosion. Companies covered by the agency’s process safety management (PSM) standard shouldn’t be surprised to see inspectors on their doorsteps in the near future.
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Tags: inspections, Jordan Barab, process safety management
July 24, 2009 by Jim Burger
July 1, 2009 by Fred Hosier

For the last eight years, OSHA has de-emphasized recordkeeping inspections. That’s about to change.
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Tags: ASSE, Hilda Solis, Jordan Barab, OSHA NEP, OSHA recordkeeping
June 30, 2009 by Fred Hosier
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis had two messages for attendees at the American Society of Safety Engineers’ annual conference: We’re here to help companies provide safe workplaces, but we’ll also crack down on those who don’t.
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Tags: American Society of Safety Engineers, Hilda Solis, Jordan Barab, Safety 2009, Texas construction fatalities
April 7, 2009 by Fred Hosier
OSHA fines increase with the categorization of the violation. A new agency document spells out what inspectors have to find to issue the higher fines.
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Tags: OSHA Field Operations Manual, OSHA fine, serious OSHA violation
April 2, 2009 by Fred Hosier
For the first time in 15 years, OSHA has revised a manual that guides its field officers in making inspections. It may have been written for inspectors, but the document contains a lot of useful information for companies, too.
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Tags: OSHA Field Inspection Reference Manual, OSHA Field Operations Manual, OSHA inspections
March 11, 2009 by Fred Hosier
When companies fail to correct violations found during inspections, they can expect OSHA to hit them with heavy fines after a re-inspection.
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Tags: audiograms, combustible dust, failure to correct violations, heavy fines, re-inspection
February 27, 2009 by Fred Hosier

Since we started SafetyNewsAlert.com several months ago, we’ve heard from many readers that OSHA needs to hold employees as well as employers accountable for safety to reduce injuries and fatalities. Now, OSHA has taken steps with one company to do just that.
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Tags: employees accountable, OSHA fine, reduce injuries, reduce supervisor salaries, settlement
February 18, 2009 by Fred Hosier
Besides injuries and employee complaints, another reason why OSHA may choose to inspect a company is a referral from another government agency.
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Tags: blocked exits, fire inspection, referral
February 6, 2009 by Fred Hosier
Perhaps you’ve heard advice about what to do during and after an OSHA inspection, such as follow the inspector and challenge things you think the OSHA rep is getting incorrect. Here’s a good reason to take that advice seriously.
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Tags: citations, construction, inspections, OSHA