In October 2010, two employees were painting the inside of a water tank when a suspended scaffold device anchored on the outer surface of a roof hole fell through the hole, causing one side of the scaffold to collapse.
MSHA recently announced that federal inspectors issued 377 citations and orders during special impact inspections conducted at 15 coal and seven metal/nonmetal mine operations last month. The coal mines were issued 208 citations and seven orders; the metal/nonmetal mines were issued 148 citations and 14 orders.
Summarizing investigators' findings, the new report includes information that could not be disclosed while the companies involved were being prosecuted. The December 2005 incident is Britain's costliest industrial disaster at more than $1.6 billion.
After a three-week trial, a jury convicted a small company in connection with the September 2008 death of geologist Alexander Wright in a trench collapse. Cotswold Geotechnical was fined $622,000.
This civil penalty is the largest penalty ever assessed against an airline by the Department of Transportation in a non-safety-related case.
OSHA initiated an inspection of the facility in August 2010 in response to a complaint and alleges three willful, 18 serious, and two other-than-serious violations of health and safety standards.
OSHA found that some hospital employees were exposed to potential electric shock, burns, arc flash incidents, and electrocution while changing circuit breakers on live electrical panels.
A button that is not in the locked position can allow the harness adjustment strap to slip back through the adjuster as a child moves around in the seat and results in a loose harness, increasing the risk of being injured a crash.
DOL claims the company failed to pay more than $1 million in overtime compensation to approximately 4,500 current and former workers. "We will vigorously defend our pay practices in court and expect to be vindicated," the company responded.
The new document is sure to help employers because it lists and links to the standards that require them to provide PPE and links to a list of relevant OSHA interpretation letters.
The January 2011 toll of traffic fatalities, 331, was 21.2 percent above the total in January 2010.
Ahead of hearings this week by the U.S. House Education & the Workforce Committee, Labor Department leaders explained the details of the administration's request.
Both were announced Feb. 9. USPS is trying to cut $2 billion in operating costs this fiscal year by cutting 40 million work hours. Since the end of 2007, total employee headcount is down 15.1 percent.
Serious citations were issued for violations that included exposing workers to explosion hazards resulting from inadequate dust control, exposing workers to dust without respiratory protection, and failing to clean up thick dust accumulations.
In the settlement, the company agreed to permanently reinstate the worker to his job at the mine and to pay the full $6,000 in back wages, as well as the full $15,000 penalty.
OSHA's inspection found NER employees exposed to falls of up to 17 feet due to a lack of fall protection while power washing the side of a building and while dismantling scaffolding.
“This rulemaking is another step in incorporating tested transportation technologies and operations from longstanding special permits into the regulations, promoting safety and streamlining our processes,” said PHMSA Administrator Cynthia Quarterman.
North Central Power Co. Inc. faces fines of $199,800 as a result of the investigation, which meets the requirements of OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
Raynor Marketing, Ltd. has agreed to pay the civil penalty in a settlement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission while denying any violation or that the chairs are contain a hazardous defect.
The employee had complained to company management for being required to climb microwave towers, work in manholes, and enter asbestos-filled buildings without safety training or equipment while working at several San Diego military installations.