The March 4 "OSHA Listens" meeting did not lack for out-of-the-box thinking. What OSHA does with the input from ASSE President Chris Patton and others is the crucial part, of course.
Kentucky distribution facility denied jobs to female applicants on a systemic basis, EEOC charged.
"OSHA standards are designed to minimize the risk of exposure and its potential impact on workers' health, but they are effective only so long as employers adhere to them," said Brenda Gordon, OSHA's area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts.
“This bill was a step in the wrong direction,” said Chief Bob McLemore, president of the Kansas State Association of Fire Chiefs. “Instead of denying jurisdictions the ability to better protect their citizens, we need to be working to provide a higher level of fire protection.”
Specifically, the agency found instances of improper transfer and storage of flammable liquids; lack of specific lockout/tagout procedures and training to prevent the unintended startup of machines during maintenance; lack of hearing protection; inadequate respirator training, fit-testing, medical evaluation, inspection, and maintenance; unguarded grinders; and more.
Think that companies only suffer cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) to their workers' backs, arms, and shoulders? Arguably, most professionals think of CTDs as physical problems — usually, strains and sprains. We explain in our injury-prevention work these ergonomic issues are like metal fatigue, akin to repetitively bending a piece of steel. One or a few creases may seem insignificant, but multiple bends can weaken, then eventually break, even the strongest superalloy. In the same vein, strawthat- broke-the-camel's-back leadership problems can contribute to organizational breakdown.
Flying in icing conditions remains a "most wanted" safety improvement on the agency's list with a "red" classification indicating an unacceptable FAA response. NTSB investigated 69 accidents involving U.S.-registered aircraft and runway or surface icing in 1998-2007.
Vernon F. Betkey, Jr., chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association, predicts a combination of education, policy, enforcement, and technology will solve the problem, starting this year.
The Orlando Sentinel reported last week that a combination of factors brought about the crash, with the root cause being failure by an overworked electrician to activate a track switching command, although he radioed that he had done so.
According to the government's lawsuit, the tax preparers allegedly sold interests in the fictive facilities to thousands of customers in at least 14 states across the country and prepared income tax returns for customers claiming tax credits based on the concocted methane sales.
"This facility has not experienced an injury resulting in lost time in the last four years," noted Richard S. Terrill, OSHA's regional administrator. "Their outstanding efforts have included significant management commitment and employee involvement."
Some 1,300 of the Model Year 2010 Arctic Cat 500 Sno Pro vehicles were sold at the company's dealerships nationwide from October 2009 to February 2010 for between $7,800 and $8,200.
"Out of sight does not mean out of mind when it comes to underground petroleum storage tanks, and it is critical that facilities monitor their tanks and make sure they are not leaking," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck.
The company's location in Lenexa, Kan., generates hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste as a result of ordinary breakage, leakage, and spillage from the approximate 400,000 packages workers handle at the facility each day, EPA said.
EPA estimates that Cummins’ failure to install pollution control equipment in engines resulted in approximately 167 excess tons of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbon emissions, and 30 excess tons of particulate matter emissions over the lifetime of the engines.
Cynthia L. Attwood is only the fourth woman to be named as a member in the agency's 38-year history.
Specifically, OSHA found blocked exits, workers lacking safety glasses and gloves while working with acid, unlabeled containers of hazardous chemicals, unmarked electrical equipment, exposed live electrical parts, and moisture in electrical equipment.
The industry giants, which mine all over the world, are reporting they achieved record earnings and higher production in 2009. Some don't break out safety performance in their results, but one of them, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, said its lost-time injury rate improved 7 percent in the year's fourth quarter.
About 16,000 contested cases await a decision at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, a number that has grown significantly since 2006, according to the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee.
The willful violations cited address the inappropriate location of an air material separator that lacked explosion venting, an inadequate housekeeping program, and allowing combustible dusts to collect at depths greater than one-eighth of an inch.