The department's FY2013 budget request would cut MSHA's funding slightly and raise OSHA's slightly. Continued support for VPP and more funding to investigate whistleblower claims are highlights of OSHA's budget.
OSHA began an investigation Aug. 8 after an employee was struck in the head by the boom of a crane that was being used to unload fish on the Pacific Princess tuna fishing vessel.
The goals of the initiative are to increase enforcement efforts and provide resources, online materials, training, and consultation to prevent injuries and deaths in confined spaces.
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance globally and recent statistics have shown a significant increase in use across the world. Rates of driving under influence have also increased, the paper said.
During an inspection begun in August based on a referral, OSHA found that an employee had been injured and hospitalized as a result of a defective truck-mounted crane.
The rule would require each railroad or contractor with safety-related railroad employees to develop a training program designating the qualifications of each employee and then submit that program for FRA approval.
"Some mines require targeted, enhanced enforcement methods. The formation of OAASEI will enable MSHA to better manage and coordinate its use of special enforcement tools against the most serious violators of the Mine Act," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.
"The sizable fines proposed here reflect not only the seriousness of these conditions but the fact that several of them are substantially similar to hazards identified at nine other Wal-Mart locations in New York and eight other states," said Arthur Dube, OSHA's area director in Buffalo.
An investigation by OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program found reasonable cause to believe that the employee's termination violated the whistleblower provision of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act.
A Manhattan-based masonry contractor was cited following a Sept. 28, 2011, incident in which an employee fell 80 feet to a lower level from the top of a 118-foot-high scaffold.
Public safety workers such as law enforcement, firefighters, and other emergency responders have the option of wearing high-visibility vests specifically designed for their use and compliant with the ANSI/ISEA 207, American National Standard for High-Visibility Public Safety Vests.
As OSHA filed $21,500 in penalties and four serious violations against Zaloudek Grain Co. in connection with the case, one of the victims spoke about his recovery to classmates on Feb. 3, his 18th birthday.
In a speech summarizing activities during 2011, Assistant Secretary Joe Main said the backlog went below 67,000 cases in December. He said coal mining operations have increased since the Upper Big Branch tragedy in April 2010, proving enforcement hasn't inhibited the industry's growth.
Employees of the company’s corn research facility in Olivia, Minn., received the honor Jan. 25.
The initiative will focus on 14 safety standards that were chosen because violations related to each have been cited as contributing to at least five mining accidents and at least five deaths during the 10-year period of Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2010.
Topics include OSHA's Respiratory Standard, respirator use, training, fit-testing, and detecting counterfeit respirators.
OSHA initiated an inspection on Aug. 16, 2011, upon receiving a complaint that alleged a malfunctioning safety pin on the hydraulic shear machine had resulted in the amputation of a worker's hand on July 27.
Requiring offshore operators to submit and then audit a Safety and Environmental Management Systems plan means their training and safety management elements will stay current.
Perhaps to the four current E's of Safety (Engineering, Ergonomics, Education, Enforcement), leaders should add a fifth, "Ecology."
OSHA's Wilkes-Barre, Pa. area office inspected the Scranton facility as part of the Site-Specific Targeting Program for industries with high injury and illness rates.