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.
The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety and allied organizations are urging football fans to choose a sober designated driver in advance if they plan to drink alcohol while watching Sunday’s game.
On Sept. 20, flammable vapors ignited in a storage room holding more than 800 gallons of flammable liquids, and a plant employee who tried to extinguish the fire sustained burns that were not life-threatening.
The faster line speeds would be permitted under a new inspection system the agency has proposed.
With federal OSHA planning its own injury and illness prevention program standard, the new report shows effective enforcement is vital to achieving injury and major hazard reductions.
Two willful violations were issued for failing to provide employees working in a trench with an adequate protection system to prevent cave-ins and protect employees by removing them from the unprotected trench.