April 15, 2013 by Fred Hosier
A worker’s doctors said exposure to chemicals at work caused occupational asthma and respiratory failure. An expert hired by the company said her breathing problems were due to smoking and morbid obesity. How did a court rule when she sued to get workers’ comp benefits?
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Tags: chemical exposure, occupational asthma, respiratory failure, Workers' comp
April 3, 2013 by Fred Hosier
More than 40,000 workers die each year from exposure to toxic chemicals at work — 10 times the number that die from safety incidents such as falls, fires and explosions. So why isn’t OSHA doing more to curb these health threats?
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Tags: glue, n-proply bromide, permissible exposure limits, toxic chemicals at work
January 11, 2013 by Fred Hosier
How do you test whether PPE creates employee susceptibility to heat stress? Get a Sweating Thermal Manikin (STM).
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Tags: heat stress, NIOSH, PPE, sweating thermal manikin
January 4, 2013 by Fred Hosier
A multi-year fight between government safety agencies and a manufacturer of food flavorings comes to the end with a settlement that lowers a fine but also restricts use of a dangerous chemical.
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Tags: diacetyl, Indiana OSHA, popcorn lung, Sensient Flavors
January 2, 2013 by Fred Hosier
OSHA has issued 12 serious citations to a chemical manufacturer in Nitro, WV, in connection with the asphyxiation death from nitrogen of a worker in June 2012.
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Tags: air line, breathing air, gas systems, nitrogen
October 12, 2012 by Fred Hosier
An Illinois appeals court has reversed a jury’s $30.4 million award to an employee at a flavoring plant where diacetyl was used. The question: When did the worker first know that his breathing problems could have been caused by his workplace?
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Tags: BASF Corp., bronchiolitis obliterans, popcorn lung, statute of limitations
August 28, 2012 by Fred Hosier
OSHA administrator David Michaels has said the federal agency uses news releases about fines against employers to shame the companies into improving safety. Does this bad publicity actually get companies to improve safety? That remains to be seen, but one employer is losing business over bad safety publicity.
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Tags: bronchiolitis obliterans, diacetyl, popcorn lung, Sensient Flavors, Starbucks
August 17, 2012 by Fred Hosier
A New Hampshire company has been cited 62 times for violations of OSHA’s lead standard since 1998. Now it faces $185,900 in additional fines for, you guessed it, new violations of the lead standard.
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Tags: lead exposure, lead exposure monitoring, Severe Violator Enforcement Program, willful violations
July 30, 2012 by Fred Hosier
The former owner of a business where two workers died within a four-month period faces years in prison and hundreds of thousands in fines following an indictment by a federal grand jury.
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Tags: hazardous materials, hydrogen sulfide, owner faces prison, PACES
November 3, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Even without a combustible dust standard, OSHA can fine companies for failing to provide appropriate fire and explosion protection from combustible dust.
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Tags: combustible dust, fire and explosion, hearing conservation program, permissible exposure limits, respirators
