The settlement resolves litigation that followed citations carrying $589,200 in fines issued by OSHA in October 2011 after OSHA inspections identified widespread fall and laceration hazards at the stores.
"This case starkly shows the grave consequences from unguarded moving machine parts," said Mary Hoye, OSHA's area director for central and western Massachusetts.
"This inspection has identified violations that involve possible amputations by unguarded equipment and electrical shock dangers," said Andre Richards, director of OSHA's Atlanta-West Area Office.
The checklist focuses on household environmental hazards such as tobacco smoke, radon, asbestos, lead, combustion gases, water pollution, household chemicals and pesticides, allergens, and food poisoning.
The employee had reported serious concerns to management regarding rodents and rodent droppings in the office and requested to have these problems corrected.
Additional abatement measures Republic Steel agreed to take at the Lorain mill include providing a two-hour lockout/tagout training program to all affected employees, conducting a fall hazard audit, and developing a fall protection abatement plan.
Two willful safety violations, with penalties of $126,000, include failing to establish a housekeeping program to reduce the accumulation of combustible dust and use approved electrical equipment in the presence of combustible dust.
Willful safety violations are failing to train workers on safe electrical working practices for voltage testing and the use of required personal protective equipment.
Two types of safety and health training grants will be awarded: targeted topic training grants and training and educational materials development grants.
Two repeat health violations, similar to violations cited in 2007, include failing to provide eye protection for workers using aluminum brightener and other corrosives and provide access to an emergency eyewash station.
The study found that an owner of an unsprinklered building received the full benefit of unlimited water through the public water system during a fire without an increased cost.
Martha Johnson, administrator of the General Services Administration, resigned Monday, and two top officials of the agency that manages 9,600 federal buildings reportedly were fired ahead of a critical inspector general's report. A newly released video then sparked more outrage.
OSHA opened an inspection after a worker sustained head injuries while setting up operations on a machine that started up inadvertently.
Experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Geodetic Survey are completing a leveling survey to determine whether an August 2011 earthquake shifted the ground beneath it.
As a first step in looking at indoor air quality, employers would be well advised to examine NIOSH's eight-point plan for improving IAQ.
Follow these steps to develop a comprehensive safety program that fully protects workers on the job.
The second inspection of the Primary Containment Vessel at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 found only about 60 centimeters of water at the bottom of the vessel. Meanwhile, an expert IAEA team delivered its review of Japan's process for assessing nuclear plants' safety.
OSHA's Fort Worth Area Office began its investigation Sept. 20 following a report that an employee's arm was pulled into the rollers of an operating textile machine while the employee was cleaning fibrous material out from under the machine.
The worker's thumb was amputated on Sept. 22 when a forging machine foot pedal, which was not adequately guarded, operated unintentionally.
OSHA inspectors found that workers melting and pouring casts were exposed to mechanical, welding, electrical, and confined space hazards, as well as a lack of machine guarding.