The agency’s latest action, with penalties of $420,000 against the mail facility in White River Junction, Vt., follows its citations against five individual postal facilities in June in various parts of the country -- all centering around insufficient electrical safety practices -- with fines adding up to more than $1.3 million for the month, plus DOL's filing on July 6 against USPS for enterprise-wide relief.
Accident reconstruction experts examined 624 injury accidents in seven European countries involving at least one heavy truck. Truckers caused 25 percent of the ones linked to human error, they concluded.
With criminal penalties associated with safety regulation looming, many corporate safety professionals are opting to spread worker protection more broadly across their workforces.
According to the lawsuit, a class of female farmworkers was subjected to threatening behavior by male coworkers who made lewd and unwanted sexual advances and used a forklift to chase women or block them with their bodies or a broom while they walked down the hall of the processing plant.
“Since Southern California has the worst air pollution in the nation, for the sake of public health we must ensure that all businesses are operating in compliance with air quality regulations and doing their part to help improve our air,” said Barry Wallerstein, executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
More than 17,000 contested mine enforcement cases await a decision by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, while new cases are arriving at an even faster pace.
The 33 serious violations OSHA found in its inspection include improper machine guarding, inadequate PPE, a deficient hazard communication program, electrical hazards, and deficient use of lockout/tagout devices for energy sources that prevent the inadvertent start-up of machines.
Two workers were burned while applying primer inside a tanker trailer. One worker died and another remains hospitalized with burns to more than 90 percent of his body. A third worker, the attendant monitoring the confined space in the event of an emergency, was blown off the tank when the vapors ignited.
The Reportable Food Registry requires manufacturers, processors, packers, and distributors to immediately report to the government safety problems with food and animal feed that are likely to result in serious health consequences.
When a flight is oversold, DOT regulations require airlines to seek volunteers willing to give up their seats for compensation. DOT's investigation revealed numerous cases in which Comair failed to solicit volunteers to leave overbooked flights and provide passengers with the appropriate denied boarding compensation.
OSHA found that the company had not cleaned the vessel thoroughly enough to ensure the absence of flammable materials or vapors, and had not vented it prior to allowing welding to be performed.
By early 2011, nine states will have laws on their books banning use of hand-held cell phones while driving. Twenty-seven states have primary enforcement texting bans in place or will begin primary enforcement this year.
A maintenance worker was seriously hurt in May 2008 when he entered a robotic work cell, even though the fully automated robot had not been switched to manual mode, because he wanted to watch its operating cycle. That had become common practice at the plant, according to HSE.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21.7 percent of people with disabilities were in the labor force in June 2010, compared with 70.5 percent of people with no disability. In addition, the unemployment rate for those with disabilities was 14.4 percent, compared with 9.4 percent unemployment for those without a disability.
"The gravity of this type of hazard cannot be overstated," said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA's acting area director in Hartford, Conn. "The collapsing walls of a trench can crush or bury workers in seconds.”
The last of four public hearings about proposed rule changes by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection takes place tonight, and the U.S. Senate HELP Committee holds a field hearing today about safety – both are in Pittsburgh.
Willful violations were issued for failing to develop specific procedures to protect workers from the unexpected release of electrical energy, and for failing to provide adequate machine guarding for employees working around rotating shafts.
According to complaints issued by EPA, Munce’s Superior and Munce’s Superior Petroleum Products of Gorham, and Ryezak Oil Co. of Rumney failed to fully prepare and maintain spill prevention, control, and countermeasure (SPCC) plans.
An investigation found workers were exposed to potential fire and explosion hazards from combustible dust collected in an inadequately designed dust collection system and several electrical safety deficiencies, including unguarded or ungrounded live electrical parts and equipment, and workers not trained in electrical safety-related work practices, among other things.
A then-61-year-old applicant sought an entry-level loss prevention/asset protection position but was turned down, despite his qualifications and 27 years of investigative experience.