Yep, the federal government can shut down some types of businesses if it thinks the company is an imminent hazard.
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Tags: daily driving limit, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Gunthers Transport, shut down, trucking company
As someone in charge of workplace safety, you know it’s possible to create a new hazard by eliminating an old one — an unintended consequence. It appears that’s the case in Nevada where a new ban on using hand-held cell phones while driving went into effect this month.
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Tags: cell phone law, hand-held cell phones, hands-free cell phones, Nevada, unintended consequences
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.
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Tags: dump truck, Indiana OSHA, INDOT, OSHA drops fine
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.
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Tags: Amtrak, cell phone, distracted driving, fatal truck train crash, Triumvirate Environmental
Imagine this: You’re investigating an incident that caused three worker injuries, one of them serious enough to require hospitalization. What are the potential root causes? Lack of safety training? Equipment failure? Sneezing?
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Tags: fire truck, incident investigation, rollover crash, sneezing fit
A transportation advisory board is recommending that all commercial drivers be forbidden from using cell phones while driving, whether the devices are hand-held or hands-free.
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Tags: cell phone ban, Department of Transportation, Kentucky bus crash, NTSB, Ray LaHood, texting ban
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
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.
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Tags: Bureau of Labor Statistics, California, construction, Florida, homicides, New Hampshire, OSHA regulations, Pennsylvania, Texas, transportation, violence, worker deaths
Yes, there are apps for workplace safety, including OSHA’s first one. But overall, there aren’t many that are free or inexpensive.
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Tags: apps, DOT placards, hearing test, OSHA Heat Safety Tool, smart phone
An employee was talking on his company-issued cell phone to a co-worker in his own car when he was shot in the face by someone in a passing vehicle. A ruling says he should receive workers’ comp benefits because he was on the company cell phone at the time of the shooting.
Tags: cell phones, coming-and-going rule, principal shot, school gangs, Workers' comp
Man vs. machine: Which is better at safety? The people at Google think it’s machine, as the company continues to develop its self-driving car. But wait, the self-driving Google car was just in a five-car fender-bender!
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Tags: car crash, Google car, Jalopnik, self-driving car
A researcher thinks he’s found three genes that are linked to being accident-prone. What could this mean for workplace safety?
Tags: accident prone, China, DNA, genes, vehicle crashes
Scenario: A company requires employees to sign an agreement to not use cell phones while driving for business. Despite that, the company dispatcher regularly calls drivers on their cell phones. What’s the company’s liability if there’s a crash?
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Tags: cell phones, crash, liability
Even if your company isn’t in transportation, some items on the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Most Wanted List of 10 safety issues are easily applicable to all sorts of industries.
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Tags: fatigue, i2p2, Most Wanted List, NTSB, safety management systems
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) points the finger at operator cell phone use in its report on the cause of a double fatal crash between a tourist boat and a barge one year ago.
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Tags: cell phone, duck boat crash, NTSB, Ride the Ducks
Truck driver Steven McCormack says his recent workplace injury made him “feel like the Michelin Man.”
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Tags: compressed air, slip and fall, truck driver
State police blame driver fatigue for a bus crash that killed four passengers and injured dozens of others. The crash, and the bus company’s previous record, prompted federal regulators to shut down the carrier.
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Tags: bus crash, driver fatigue, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, four passengers killed
Does your company have a policy that prohibits texting and/or talking on cell phones while employees are driving for business purposes? A recent survey provides some benchmarks.
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Tags: cell phone policy, driving for business purposes, prohibit texting, smartphone apps
Employers may face more restrictions in how they schedule workers now that unions and OSHA are paying more attention to employee fatigue.
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Tags: Continental Airlines, Dow Chemical, General Duty Clause, schedule workers, unions, worker fatigue
A bus driver with several crashes in a short period of time was fired. He took his case to an appeals board. His defense: “I’m not the worst driver.”
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Tags: accident prone employees, accidents will happen, bus crashes, worst bus driver
A train operator caused a crash that resulted in 68 injuries and $9.6 million dollars in damages, according to a federal report.
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Tags: Boston, cell phone, MBTA train crash, NTSB, texting
A major federal and state crackdown has resulted in hundreds of unsafe buses and drivers being removed from the roads.
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Tags: FMCSA, motor carrier, out of service, safety inspection, unsafe drivers
Soon after smartphones became popular, their owners downloaded apps to check traffic reports and avoid tie-ups. Now the phones are providing more real-time traffic information that some say may make driving less safe.
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Tags: Buzzed, DUI checkpoints, PhantomAlert, smartphone apps, Trapster
A railroad employee was injured at work, reported it and filled out required paperwork. Weeks later he was fired.
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Tags: fired for reporting injury, OSHA investigation, retaliation, safety bonus, Union Pacific
Employee injury or death while traveling to or from work is usually not covered under workers’ compensation insurance, due to the coming and going rule. But what if the employee was killed while on the way to pick up a co-worker to go to an employer-required conference?
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Tags: coming-and-going rule, survivor's benefits, Workers' comp
OSHA has fined a tree trimming company under the General Duty Clause (GDC) in connection with the death of an employee who was struck by a train while walking to a job site.
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Federal investigators looking into a fatal duck boat collision last year have provided more evidence that transportation and cell phones don’t mix.
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Tags: cell phone, duck boat crash, fatal collision, National Transportation Safety Board
An investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s office uncovered that UPS had a good internal procedure for inspecting its trucks for safety but failed to use it.
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Tags: cracked frames, inspections, safety plan, truck safety, UPS
A driver raises safety questions about the truck his employer assigns him to drive. The company fires him when he refuses to drive the truck because it was leaking coolant. Does the driver get whistleblower protection?
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Tags: commercial driver's license, coolant leak, Surface Transportation Assistance Act, truck driver, whistleblower
New technology could allow employers to keep workers from answering their company-issued cell phones while driving.
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Tags: DriveSmart, smartphones, T-Mobile, texting, use cell phones while driving
As state governments debate whether to enact bans on using cell phones while driving, some businesses are taking matters into their own hands.
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Tags: cell phones, motor vehicle crashes, National Safety Council
An employee complains about unsafe equipment on the job. He’s fired the same day. Was this retaliation for complaining, or did his behavior justify his firing?
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Tags: insubordination, retaliation, safety complaint, truck driver, whistleblowing
Earlier this year, the federal government banned commercial truck and bus drivers from texting while driving. The crackdown on using cell phones while driving may now go one or two steps further.
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Tags: commercial motor vehicle, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, hand-held cell phone ban
The U.S. Secretary of Transportation recently said he’s considering a push in Congress for a national ban on using cell phones while driving. Turns out a majority of the public thinks that’s a good idea.
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Tags: cell phone ban, hand-held cell phones, National Safety Council, Secretary of Transportation, texting
A Georgia court has ordered a trucking company to pay the heirs of a worker $5.4 million. The worker was killed when he was run over by a dump truck.
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Tags: A & G Trucking, trucking, worker death, workers' compensation audit
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