At one of the sites, the farmer-owned company failed to test the atmosphere before entry and to have an employee entering wear a safety harness and lifeline. It also failed to post an employee to observe the entry. Both facilities failed to turn off and lock out power to the auger before workers entered the grain bins, investigators said.
Many of the alleged violations concern the nationwide food distributor’s process safety management program, which was also the case in April, when a sister facility in Nampa, Idaho, roughly 180 miles away, was charged with penalties totaling $153,000.
The 24 alleged serious violations that resulted from a site-specific targeting program investigation included a failure to have at least two suitable gas masks available and accessible; lack of developed confined space procedures; and grinding wheel, compressed air, and electrical shock hazards.
"If OSHA's standards regarding proper trench sloping, shoring, and shielding were followed, it is possible this tragedy could have been avoided," said Michael Rivera, OSHA's area director in Corpus Christi.
By focusing proper cleaning on surfaces in the office that get more hand attention, health-based cleaning services target potentially contaminated surfaces that can harbor MRSA and other harmful pathogens.
It cautions, however, that this case study of its use in disinfectant sprays, now released for public comment, does not draw conclusions about potential health risks.
The company also agreed to spend at least $500 million on safety measures at its Texas City plant. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis today said "The size of the penalty rightly reflects BP's disregard for workplace safety."
Between June 2004 and September 2007, approximately 6,510 barrels of crude oil were discharged from various pipelines and one tank owned and operated by Plains into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines, according to EPA.
“Controlling the mosquito vector can work, but it is very expensive and difficult to sustain,” says Anna Durbin, M.D., who is leading the study at Johns Hopkins. “In the long run, vaccination would be a more efficient and cost-effective approach.”
The company received repeat citations for failing to make a reasonable estimate of employee exposure to hazardous chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide; it received willful citations for failing to implement confined space entry procedures.
According to the Department of Justice, the amount of the civil penalty is “precedent-setting” yet “appropriate in light of the unacceptable risk” created by the underground storage tanks at the defendants’ 17 gas stations in Maryland and Delaware.
Rather than be deflated by the news that drivers in Dallas, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Antonio, and Birmingham are the worst in the country at keeping their tires properly inflated, hundreds in those areas can get free RMA tire gauges today, if their vehicles can get them there.
The company's "refusal to honor the requirements of this agreement reflects an irresponsible approach to worker safety and health, leaving workers vulnerable to injuries and possible fatalities," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "This situation is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."
According to Dr. James Muntz, drinking water before outdoor activities is good, but if you plan to be active in the heat for an hour or more, sports or electrolyte drinks are a good supplement as drinking too much water in a short period of time can drop the body's sodium levels, causing a condition called hyponatremia.
A report released Aug. 2 by Safe Work Australia evaluates two possible approaches for using control banding to ensure safety when working with nanomaterials but admits workplaces there have little knowledge of it.
With kids going back to school soon and football practice already underway in many communities, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is issuing an injury prevention message about football and cheerleading.
More than 50 public meetings are in the books for this project of CDC and ATSDR about chemical exposures and public health. An action agenda is scheduled for release in December.
Recent FDA testing has found Listeria contamination throughout the defendants' facility and in a sample of its finished product. Although the company promised to address and correct deficiencies following inspections in 2006, 2007, and 2009, a 2010 inspection confirmed that the company continued to operate without adequate controls, the agency said.
Among the wide range of dangers inspectors listed were the risk of laceration, amputation, or crushing injuries; electrical hazards; fire and explosion hazards stemming from combustible dust; improper storage of flammable liquids; and insufficient monitoring of exmployees’ exposure to hexavalent chromium.
The agency’s latest action, with penalties of $420,000 against the mail facility in White River Junction, Vt., follows its citations against five individual postal facilities in June in various parts of the country -- all centering around insufficient electrical safety practices -- with fines adding up to more than $1.3 million for the month, plus DOL's filing on July 6 against USPS for enterprise-wide relief.