Several OSHA investigators have been interviewing plant workers to find out what caused a grain elevator in Atchison, KS, to explode. The explosion killed six workers.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bartlett Grain, grain elevator explosion, Grain Handling Facilities Standard
Cal-OSHA is investigating the deaths of two brothers who were working at a compost center in Lamont, CA. They were overcome by fumes in a confined space.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: CAL-OSHA, confined space, overcome by fumes, protective gear
The latest statistics on workplace injuries and illnesses contain good news for U.S. workers and their employers, particularly in these challenging economic times.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction, direct and indirect cost of injuries, illness and injury rate, manufacturing, nonfatal workplace injuries
While some lawmakers in Washington are harping on OSHA for creating too many regulations, a recent report says during the last ten years, there have been fewer new regulations produced by the agency than in any other period in its history.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: diacetyl, OSHA Inaction, Public Citizen, silica, small business, too many new regulations
When a business owner filed an insurance claim to collect benefits for the family of an employee killed in a wood chipper, state authorities discovered alleged fraud.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: tree trimming, wood-chipper death, workers' comp fraud
Did suspension over a safety incident spark a shooting rampage in Cupertino, CA, that left three people dead and six others injured?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Lehigh Permanente, shooting, suspension
Imagine this: A worker at your company is killed on the job. OSHA issues your company a fine. You make changes in your safety program to prevent a similar incident, and OSHA drops the fine completely. Not possible? It is.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: dump truck, Indiana OSHA, INDOT, OSHA drops fine
Following the death of a worker inside a machine used to sort recyclables, OSHA has fined a Marietta, OH, company $186,300 for a total of 21 violations.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: lockout/tagout, Marietta Industrial Enterprises, recycling machine, Severe Violator Enforcement Program
A police investigation into a crash between a tractor trailer and an Amtrak passenger train in Maine says the truck driver was distracted by a cell phone call right before the collision. The crash killed the truck driver and caused $3 million worth of damages to the train.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Amtrak, cell phone, distracted driving, fatal truck train crash, Triumvirate Environmental
Just one U.S. senator is blocking a bill that would strengthen safety rules for oil and gas pipelines. The senator isn’t opposed to any particular part of the bill; he simply doesn’t like any additional federal regulation at all.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: less federal regulation, National Transportation Safety Board, new safety regulations, Pacific Gas & Electric, pipeline safety bill, San Bruno pipeline explosion, Sen. Rand Paul, Tea Party
Was the death of a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando due to a benign act by a killer whale or because of willful disregard for employee safety? That question is being asked in the appeal of an OSHA fine.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Dawn Brancheau, fatal whale attack, General Duty Clause, SeaWorld, Tilikum
One worker was killed, another remains hospitalized in critical condition after the collapse of a zip line tower on Hawaii’s Big Island.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: GoZip LLC, Hawaii, internal injuries, tower collapse, zip line
A new OSHA directive outlines the types of businesses and the reasons why inspectors will review a company’s workplace violence prevention efforts.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: General Duty Clause, healthcare, high-crime areas, OSHA directive, retail, working alone, workplace violence
The final, and most comprehensive, report on the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico points to seven company practices that contributed to the incident. They’re the types of mistakes that could be made by any company, not just an oil giant.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: BP oil disaster, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, cost saving, Deepwater Horizon, risk management, time saving, Transocean
When two separate safety problems combine, the result too often is fatal.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: faulty equipment, forklift, lack of training, reverse beeper
Just how dangerous are the jobs at your company?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: age, agriculture, Bureau of Labor Statistics, dangerous jobs, fishing, transportation, workplace fatalities
Twenty years ago, 25 workers died in a chicken plant fire in North Carolina. The tragedy caused a large upgrade of the state’s occupational safety agency. How is North Carolina OSHA doing now?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: blocked doors, fire, Imperial Food Products, North Carolina, OSHA inspectors
Ten years after the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01, controversy surrounds a fund established to help first responders at the World Trade Center (WTC) with their medical bills. Some are getting help, and some aren’t.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 9/11, cancer, first responders, First Responders Bill, Ground Zero, post traumatic stress disorder, terrorist attack, World Trade Center, Zadroga Fund
Attention, those who believe that OSHA has gone overboard with its workplace safety regulations: You’ve got one less fact to support your argument. When all is said and done, the final count of worker fatalities in 2010 will be higher than in 2009.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bureau of Labor Statistics, California, construction, Florida, homicides, New Hampshire, OSHA regulations, Pennsylvania, Texas, transportation, violence, worker deaths
It’s a safety lesson that needs to be told to workers again and again: If you’re not trained to do so, don’t attempt an emergency rescue at work, especially if it involves entering a confined space.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: confined space, construction employee, emergency rescue, MIOSHA, sewer
Sure, it will take more time for a worker to completely lock out a machine before clearing a jam. But those extra moments could make the difference between life and death, as this story shows.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: lockout/tagout, machine jam, tobacco
A worker was killed after being spun around and mangled by a drilling rig at a construction project near Aspen, CO.
Read the rest of this entry »
Should the federal government use a plea agreement reached in connection with a Colorado worker’s death as a template for similar cases involving fatalities?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: asphyxiation, engulfed by grain, Safety training, Tempel Grain Elevator, victim's family
Investigators are trying to determine how an experienced maintenance worker died while performing a task that others described as “a very routine procedure.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Air New Zealand, Lockheed C-130, routine maintenance, sucked into plane engine
When a fatality or serious injury occurs at a nearby business in your industry, expect OSHA to pay a visit to look for similar hazards.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: immigrant, machine guarding, Spanish, tortilla manufacturer
Indiana OSHA is investigating the death of an employee at an iron foundry. A coroner’s report says extreme heat contributed to the man’s death.
Read the rest of this entry »
Lack of machine guarding can prove fatal in all sorts of businesses.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: bowling, machine guarding, personal fall arrest system
A Colorado grain elevator company is scheduled to plead guilty and be sentenced Aug. 5 in connection with the death of a 17-year-old worker who was buried alive in a grain bin in 2009.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: buried alive in grain, criminal charges, emergency action plan, grain elevator, Safety training
Cal/OSHA has issued 11 citations to a company in the Los Angeles area in connection with the death of one employee and serious injuries to two others who tried to rescue their co-worker.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: atmosphere test, protective equipment, rescue, worker dead
OSHA is investigating the death of a worker at a sausage factory in Lawton, OK.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: cleaning machinery, energized, meat grinder
An eight-month investigation reveals 80 employee deaths at companies in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) between 2000 and 2008. What may be even more shocking: 65% of these companies have maintained their VPP status.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Center for Public Integrity, David Michaels, Government Accountability Office, Voluntary Protection Program, VPP
If we asked you to name a well known corporation with an excellent safety reputation, DuPont is one name that might come to mind. But a new report on three gas leaks and a fatality at a DuPont plant calls the company’s safety culture into question.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Chemical Safety Board, DuPont, phosgene, preventive maintenance, safety reputation
If a state tells its occupational safety and health inspectors that they have to find a higher percentage of serious, willful and repeat violations, has it set up a quota system?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: inspection quota, Las Vegas, Nevada, serious willful repeat violations
Indiana OSHA has agreed to cut almost in half proposed fines to the University of Notre Dame in connection with the death of a student who was filming a football practice last fall. The university has agreed to take a number of steps as part of the settlement.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: IOSHA, Notre Dame, scissor lift, settlement agreement, student death
A company and its owner have agreed not to employ people to work with explosives to settle a $1.2 million OSHA fine in connection with an explosion that killed two workers.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Black mag, egregious violation, explosion, killed two workers, surrendered license
Loading ...
