In the latest inspection, employees allegedly were working on scaffolding, in an aerial lift, and on the roof at a worksite in Torrington, Conn., with exposure to falls of up to 22 feet. Also, electrical, overhead, and chemical hazard communication deficiencies were identified at the site.
MSHA levied the fine in connection with an October 2008 incident where methane ignited and seriously burned two miners, the agency said.
Among other things, the agency's new, 51-page guidance document explains how to use Assigned Protection Factors numbers and Maximum Use Concentration limits, per the 2006 revisions to its Respiratory Protection standard.
Another March 31 inspector general audit says OSHA authorized payments to Randy Kimlin that should not have been allowed, and it recommends OSHA try to recover the entire $681,379 paid for his services from April 2006 through July 2008.
Revised in 2008 to target violators with prior fatalities and similar violations, EEP was handled so poorly that no appropriate enforcement action was taken in 29 cases -- and those employers subsequently experienced 20 fatalities.
A safety fact sheet on Lyme disease is among the products developed by the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) through the recently renewed OSHA alliance. The fact sheet describes the causes, symptoms, treatment, and methods for preventing Lyme disease for people who work or spend time outdoors in grassy or wooded areas.
Interviewed by OH&S Editor Jerry Laws by e-mail, OSHA Underground blogger Kane and OSHA Aboveground's Abel answered 30 questions about OSHA's effectiveness, its best leader in recent years and who should now take command, and how employees are affected by the snail's pace of regulations.
OSHA has revised its Field Operations Manual to provide OSHA compliance officers with a single comprehensive resource of updated guidance in implementing the agency's mission to more effectively protect employees from occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.
A new policy that took effect last Friday means mine operators can't schedule settlement conferences until after the penalties are proposed and they've notified MSHA they intend to contest the violations and/or penalties.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced recently that the Department of Transportation has posted the new fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks for the 2011 model year.
"Telemundo KVDA-TV 60 is the nation's first broadcaster of Hispanic programming to earn VPP star recognition," said OSHA's Region VI Administrator Dean W. McDaniel. "The station's outstanding efforts include zero injuries and illnesses over the past three years."
At least until results from sampling activity are known, EPA urged all persons to stay away from the site in Kansas City, Kan., with a special emphasis for parents to keep children off the property.
The effect of the federal economic stimulus package on the construction industry will be the main topic discussed at a meeting of OSHA's Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH), April 14-17, 2009 in Washington, D.C.
Working to boost the economy while protecting human health and the environment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) a $400,000 grant to help retrofit construction equipment that is leased to construction projects throughout the Northeast.
OSHA has cited LandCoast Insulation Inc. for three alleged safety violations following six injuries and one employee fatality last November when a scaffold collapsed inside a boiler at Mississippi Power's Plant Daniel in Moss Point.
The Department of Justice announced recently that it has entered into a consent decree with the City of Portsmouth, Va., that, if approved by the court, will resolve the department's complaint that the City of Portsmouth engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination against black Americans in its hiring of entry-level firefighters, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).
"By complying with these 10 steps, collection site personnel will communicate to employees and employers that their collection site is following DOT procedures for ensuring collection site security," says the agency's Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance.
Judge Harold Baer of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York gave final approval to a sweeping consent decree between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and B & H Foto and Electronics Corp. (B & H), the federal agency.
In a letter released on March 26 by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), Chairman John Bresland urged Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to support worker-safety legislation to protect state, county, and municipal employees in Florida.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, shown here, announced a total of $611 million has been recovered in connection with the partial collapse of the highway tunnel's ceiling, which killed a woman in a car.