2010’s Deadliest Workplace Tragedies
A national workplace safety organization has compiled a list of its top 10 deadliest workplace tragedies for 2010.
Welding Cutting Brazing
Bad welding likely led to tank collapse, huge spill
Defective welds likely caused the collapse of a tank last month, spilling about 2 million gallons of liquid fertilizer and injuring four people.
Company agrees to $400K settlement in double worker fatality
An oil refining company has settled a case with New Mexico OSHA over a 2010 fire and explosion that killed two workers and seriously injured two others.
Company faces large fine for failing to fix hazards
A company in Tonawanda, NY, faces OSHA fines for the second time this year. This time, the fines are for failing to correct hazards cited during a previous OSHA inspection.
Court makes it easier to prove retaliation in workers’ comp cases
An employee on light duty was fired when the company owner thought he was goofing off. The employee filed a lawsuit charging this was retaliation after he filed a workers’ comp claim. This case brought about a major change in workers’ comp law.
CSB chief: DuPont has safety culture problem
Have DuPont’s safety programs, which it markets to other companies, just suffered an embarrassing black eye?
Did unpreventable employee misconduct lead to worker’s broken ribs?
A company argues an OSHA fine should be thrown out because of unpreventable employee misconduct. How did a court rule?
Did work aggravate a pre-existing condition? Should he get workers’ comp?
According to his doctor, work aggravated a pre-existing condition that this employee had, causing him serious neck pain. The company saw this differently and contested his workers’ comp claim. What was the outcome?
Employee complaints bring in OSHA: $950K fine
Two co-owned trailer manufacturing companies in Texas face a combined $949,800 in OSHA fines following an investigation that was prompted by employee complaints.
Employee dies at company that received OSHA’s VPP Star
As debate continues in Washington, DC, on how to fund OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), a recent case shows that the program isn’t a guarantee against workplace fatalities.
Fatality follows near-miss: OSHA names company severe violator
Near misses are a chance to learn and improve your safety measures. But this company neglected to heed the warning, and a worker’s life was lost as a result.
Five-ton piece of equipment falls, kills worker; wrongful death lawsuit denied
New York’s Supreme Court has rejected a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the administrator of the estate of a worker who was killed when a five-ton rotor compartment he was welding fell, killing him.
Hexavalent chromium PEL upheld, with one exception
Companies won’t be facing a new, stricter permissible exposure limit (PEL) for hexavalent chromium.
Inspected due to high injury rate: $175K in OSHA fines
This company got snared in OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program which focuses on employers with injury rates that are higher than their industry’s national average.
Investigators issue warnings after finding similarities in recent tank explosions
Citing initial findings from a fatal explosion in July, a federal safety agency has issued a warning to companies with storage tanks.
Is worker really permanently totally disabled?
An employee’s injury rendered him physically unable to do the job he had performed for years. Does that mean he should receive permanent total disability benefits under workers’ comp?
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