If electrical equipment is used in ways for which it is not designed, you can no longer depend on safety features built in by the manufacturer. This may damage your equipment and cause employee injuries. Here are some common examples of misused equipment.
The agency has proposed $279,000 in fines after finding that the company failed to conduct an incident investigation of a January 2001 anhydrous ammonia leak, certify or evaluate its process safety management program every three years as required, establish and implement procedures to maintain changes in the process, and provide and document employee training, among other citations.
The agency issued a willful violation for the Dallas company's failure to institute an effective hearing conservation program, plus 10 serious violations for failing to protect workers from being struck by flying objects, the unexpected release of energy while servicing and maintaining equipment, and exposure to blood and hazardous chemicals, among other charges.
An inspection found that the company failed to provide adequate guarding on lathes, grinding, and other dangerous machines, and that it did not sufficiently develop and implement training on locking a machine's energy source and alerting others about the state of that power source.
"These citations and sizable fines reflect the Postal Service's failure to equip its workers with the necessary knowledge and skills to safely work with live electrical parts," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. "The Postal Service knew that proper and effective training was needed for the safety of its workers but did not provide it."
All told, the inspections at four of the discount retailer's Connecticut locations resulted in seven repeat citations with $95,200 in proposed fines, 13 serious citations with $38,500 in fines, and 10 other-than-serious citations with $7,000 in fines, for a proposed total of $140,700.
$152,100 in penalties were filed against Enbridge G&P (East Texas) LP, along with two alleged willful and five alleged serious violations, in connection with the death of Nalvester Maxie.
This year's campaign theme, "Smoke Alarms: A sound you can live with," emphasizes the importance of smoke alarms in preventing fire deaths, injuries, and property loss.
For fiscal year 2010, the program offers 28 targeted topic areas including crane safety, combustible dust, maritime, oil and gas, and eye safety.
The National Association of County & City Health Officials holds its annual meeting next week in Memphis with officials worried about 23,000 jobs lost thus far at local health departments nationwide.
The move marks the first time the department has sought enterprise-wide relief as a remedy.
The 36-page document addresses the right way to fight fires in abandoned, vacant, or unoccupied structures, which can present unexpected hazards.
"Implementing a national suspicious activity reporting partnership with Amtrak and expanding the 'See Something, Say Something' campaign strengthens our ability to guard against terrorism and crime," said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
For the HAZWOPER work at hand, the agency requires 40 hours of "rigorous" training, Michaels said, adding that reportedly "some are offering this training in significantly less than 40 hours, showing video presentations and offering only limited instruction."
As part of the settlement, the company agrees that it has corrected all deficiencies at both of its plants or will correct those deficiencies according to a set schedule. Originally, OSHA fined the company $8.8 million following the 2008 explosion that took 14 lives and seriously injured dozens of others at its plant in Port Wentworth, Ga.
Introduced by Mayor Richard M. Daley on July 1 after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling shot down the prior ordinance, this one was passed 45-0 the next day by the city council but denounced by the National Rifle Association.
The half-day event will focus specifically on damage to building contents that can result from airborne contaminants and the ramifications to contractors of EPA’s Renovation, Repair, and Painting rule.
The OSHA Combustible Dust Team's web chat with more than 400 stakeholders also gave some idea of the timetable for the combustible dust standard that will be developed.
Among other things, the society recommends that the proceedings be an “all forward motion” event with planned distances between parade entries, and that there be no stopping along the parade route.
Hirers might be surprised, but sometimes the difference between those who quit after one month on the job and those who stay for 20 years is having the availability of and sharing the right information about shiftwork when they are hired.