Citing that nearly 22 million American workers are exposed to hazardous noise on a daily basis and that occupational hearing loss continues to plague industry, the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) has made a request to OHSA to reduce the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for noise exposures.
Instead of focusing on safety (i.e., the avoidance of employee injury), many safety managers are focused on compliance (i.e., the avoidance of regulatory action taken against them). To put it another way, compliance-first is a mindset that asks, "What do I need to do to stay safe in the eyes of the government?" while a safety-first mindset frames the issue more simply: "What do I need to do to stay safe?"
No two ways about it: Masonry is hard work and stressful on the body. Masonry workers have the highest rate of back injuries causing days away from work among all of the construction trades. The rate is more than one and a half times higher than the average rate for all construction workers.
One of the questions most frequently asked is, "What kind of training do I need to be a Competent Person in regard to fall protection?" Although it seems like a straightforward question, the answer can be a little tricky. Many people believe the singular requirement to achieve Competent Person status is completion of a fall protection course, but it's just not that simple.
Seen by some as OSHA's much bigger brother, EPA waded into several big safety issues this fall.
Many companies introduced new products and initiatives at the Oct. 26-28 expo, and while attendance was mediocre, exhibitors generally were upbeat.
A panicked reaction during one unprotected moment cost a worker his livelihood and more.
"Electricity moves--and can kill or injure--at the speed of light. It doesn't give you a second chance," said C. William Freeman III, OSHA's area director in Hartford, Conn.
The declaration clears hospitals to set up alternate sites to house sick patients. It does not speed up vaccine delivery to the states.
Employees not wearing PPE and the employer's failure to develop, implement, or maintain a written hazard communications program for employees working with mortar or cement were among the 11 repeat violations, which, together with five serious violations, have proposed penalties totaling $146,000.
As many as 16,000 registered nurses are expected to walk out Oct. 30 at 39 facilities to protest how management has protected them against H1N1. But the backdrop is contract negotiations now in their seventh month.
The Health and Safety Executive examined what footwear and flooring suppliers offer to end users in sales literature and online. No indication of slip resistance was given for 47 percent of the 1,304 footwear styles surveyed, and another 36 percent claimed to be slip resistant but provided no test data.
The Acoustical Society of America's 158th meeting next week in San Antonio brings together many of the world's acoustics experts to hear more than 650 talks on such research.
In addition to being able to show that a good-faith effort was made to acquire respirators, an employer will need to implement a hierarchy of controls, said acting OSHA chief Jordan Barab.
In April, a fire at the facility sent three workers to a local hospital. The resulting inspection revealed nine alleged willful, four serious, two repeat, and two failure-to-abate violations.
"Improperly utilized fall protection equipment is just as deadly as failing to use fall protection at all," said OSHA Area Director Rosemarie Ohar. "Workers who lack adequate and effective fall protection are just one slip, trip or misstep away from a potentially fatal plunge."
"Employers should not assume that OSHA will not conduct inspections because much of this work is done at night," said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA's area director for Middlesex and Essex counties. "We will conduct inspections where and when we must to ensure that employers implement and maintain effective controls to minimize this hazard to their workers."
Flu-like cases are widespread in Ireland, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Cypress, with flu activity in Japan continuing above what is usually seen during flu season, WHO reports.
Most of that sum is the result of the company’s failure to correct seven violations identified during a previous inspection that focused on the firm’s lack of an energy control program to ensure machinery would not start up at inopportune times.