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.
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Tags: Bartlett Grain, grain elevator explosion, Grain Handling Facilities Standard
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
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.
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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
A supermarket is facing OSHA fines after an inspection found night shift employees were locked in and not allowed to leave the building without the employer’s permission.
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Tags: employees locked in, locked exits, Mermaid Meat Co., obstructed exits, supermarket, Triangle Shirtwaist fire
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.
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Tags: BP oil disaster, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, cost saving, Deepwater Horizon, risk management, time saving, Transocean
Bostik, Inc., a manufacturer of adhesives, faces $917,000 in OSHA fines for 50 citations following the agency’s investigation into a March 13, 2011, explosion that injured four workers at the company’s Middleton, MA, plant.
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Tags: acetone, Bostik Inc., explosion, OSHA fine, process safety management
If you watched TV news on Sept. 13, you probably saw video of a group of citizens rescuing a motorcyclist who was trapped under a car while both vehicles burned. TV news anchors gushed about the heroism of the rescuers. Does this send the wrong message to would-be untrained rescuers?
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Tags: Brandon Wright, burning car, Matt Lauer, motorcycle rescue, Today show, trapped under a car
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?
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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.
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Tags: 9/11, cancer, first responders, First Responders Bill, Ground Zero, post traumatic stress disorder, terrorist attack, World Trade Center, Zadroga Fund
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.
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Tags: Black mag, egregious violation, explosion, killed two workers, surrendered license
OSHA has made a link between terrorism and workplace safety in New York City — it may not be what you think.
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Tags: emergency action plans, evacuations, New York City, theaters
A power company has agreed to pay $27 million dollars to settle a lawsuit in connection with a fire that killed one worker and trapped three others atop a 976-foot-tall smokestack for four hours.
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Tags: American Electric Power, defective cable, lawsuit settlement, lift, safety culture, smokestack fire
One year ago today, 29 miners died in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine in West Virginia, owned by Massey Energy. In the last 12 months, what’s been done to make sure a disaster like UBB never happens again?
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Tags: explosion, Joe Main, Massey Energy, MSHA, Upper Big Branch
It’s almost one year since the oil well explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers and caused the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history. A recent news report says the federal government is consolidating its efforts to bring criminal charges against the company and perhaps some of its managers.
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Tags: BP explosion, criminal charges, Deepwater Horizon, involuntary manslaughter, sacrificed safety
On March 25, 1911, 146 workers died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. fire in New York City. It’s been called an event that fundamentally changed U.S. workplace conditions. But have workplace safety attitudes really changed in 100 years?
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Tags: BP, fire safety, immigrants, safety attitudes, safety too costly, Triangle Shirtwaist fire, Upper Big Branch mine, workplace conditions
This much is clear: If a worker contacts OSHA about a workplace safety problem, and the company fires the employee for that reason, that worker is eligible for whistleblower protection. But this case is somewhat different.
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Tags: fire exit, retaliatory discharge, Wal-Mart, whistleblower
It really does matter how safety training is delivered to employees. New research shows the best training contains something called the “dread factor.”
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Tags: cost of safety, dread factor, hands-on training, safety research, Safety training
The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has issued a report on regulatory impediments to job creation. The report lists five OSHA proposals that business groups say would inhibit job growth.
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Tags: combustible dust, i2p2, musculoskeletal disorders, noise standard, on-site consultation
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just give your workplace safety challenges to someone else? BP’s Texas City plant has provided the oil giant with many challenges. BP’s current solution? Sell it.
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Tags: BP Texas City plant, explosion, OSHA fines, safety challenge
Part of workplace safety is identifying risks. However, sometimes it’s difficult to imagine a series of events like this one that left a worker severely injured.
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Tags: bizarre series of events, boom, cutting torch, hydraulic hose
Pressure to resume production was a key factor in an explosion at the Bayer CropScience pesticide manufacturing plant that killed two workers, according to a government report.
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Tags: Bayer CropScience, Chemical Safety Board, explosion, maintenance, production pressure
A government investigation into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill looks at specific factors such as how deep a cement plug was set and whether additional barriers should have been installed. But the root causes of the incident that killed 11 workers focus on common subjects for workplace safety: management, communication, previous near-misses, safety culture and government regulation.
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Tags: BP well blowout, government investigation, government regulation, Halliburton, near misses, safety culture, safety management, Transocean
A national workplace safety organization has compiled a list of its top 10 deadliest workplace tragedies for 2010.
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Tags: deadliest workplace tragedies, Deepwater Horizon, Kleen Energy, Tesoro Refining, Upper Big Branch
OSHA has issued stiff fines against an Eau Claire, WI, company, in connection with a June 29, 2010 explosion and fire at its facility. The agency says WRR Environmental Services Co. didn’t implement an adequate safety program following a 2007 fire that destroyed its plant.
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Tags: explosion, fire, willful violations, WRR Environmental Services Co.
One worker was killed and another injured in an explosion at a company that supplies services for the gas and oil industry.
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Tags: explosion, flammable vapors, propane torch
Occupational safety professionals have weighed in on their top issues for the coming year. See if you agree.
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Tags: AIHA, injury and illness prevention program, material safety data sheets, permissible exposure limits, top safety priorities 2011
General contractors have to make sure their own employees live by the rules set for subcontractors. That’s the lesson from an expensive lawsuit in Texas.
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Tags: general contractors, Hilcorp Energy, jury award, natural gas explosion, subcontractors
The top safety officer for Massey Energy, owner of the Upper Big Branch mine where 29 miners died in an explosion on April 5, has invoked her Fifth Amendment rights and won’t be interviewed by those investigating the disaster.
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Tags: Gov. Joe Manchin, Massey Energy, MSHA, safety officer, Upper Big Branch mine disaster
An investigation into a deadly explosion has resulted in 54 OSHA citations and fines of more than $1.2 million.
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Tags: Black Mag Industries, egregious willful violations, gun powder explosion, two workers killed
This story illustrates that not only do workers need to use their PPE — they need to use it properly. The consequences of not doing so can be fatal.
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Tags: confined spaces, flame-resistant clothing, flammable vapors, Tactical Cleaning Co.
In a recent report, some state safety agencies came under criticism for issuing lower fines than federal OSHA. However, that’s not the case everywhere, as a $2.38 million fine against a Washington company shows.
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Tags: explosion, Tesoro, Washington Department of Labor and Industries
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: In light of the disaster earlier this year, BP says safety and risk management are the company’s “most urgent priority.”
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Tags: BP disaster, BP new safety division, BP Texas City plant, Robert Dudley
It pays to settle safety disputes with employees. Otherwise, they may file a report with OSHA and prompt an inspection. This story involves a difference of opinion over personal protective equipment.
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OSHA is investigating just what caused a flash fire that killed one worker and injured another at a manufacturer of wood molding and doors in Kansas.
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Tags: combustible, dust fire, OSHA investigating, sawdust
OSHA’s latest sweep of facilities shows that the agency is casting a wide net.
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Tags: CVS, emergency action plan, exit routes, retail company, serious violation
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