Facility Safety


Alaska Labor Commissioner: Focus on Crane Safety

It is critical for employers to ensure employees assisting with the lift are properly trained--including signaling, load limits, and rigging techniques--and are aware of the hazards of operating a crane.

Grocery Distributor Cited for Similar Hazards in '04, '05, '06 & Now '08

An inspection opened in January 2008 also identified new hazards including unguarded pulleys, lack of auxiliary lighting on pallet jacks, and exposed live electrical wiring.

Step Change from the Bottom Up

Looking for a solid way to boost worker involvement? If you’ve read any of my other writings or attended my presentations, you’ve likely heard me extol the paybacks of training workers as peer Safety change catalysts. I know this from worldwide experience—we’ve trained more than 20,000 such “Instructor-Catalysts” in our injury- prevention systems and have seen results that one senior manager called “miraculous” in both Safety performance and cultural turnarounds.

Plutonium Spill at NIST Unit Prompts Promises of Safety Improvement

An internal NIST committee found that a failure in the safety management system, exacerbated by a "casual and informal research environment that appears to have valued research results above safety considerations," is the most probable root cause of the incident.

Wood Pellet Plant Cited for Willful Dust, Machine Guarding Hazards

The investigation and subsequent citation followed a Jan. 23 incident in which an employee was caught in an unguarded conveyor.

Journal Unit to Pay $200,000 to Settle Clean-Air Violation Claims

EPA's Region 5 alleged that the printing plant violated national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for the printing and chromium electroplating industries.

Unsafe Crane Conditions Result in $159,000 in Fines for Rebar Firm

An investigation of the Philadelphia facility resulted in three willful and 51 serious violations.

Imperial Sugar's Operations VP Had Port Wentworth Manager Fired

Hired eight weeks before explosion, he toured the mill and found it "the most dangerous manufacturing plant that I had ever entered," then warned management.



Hormel Food Division Self-Discloses Violations, Has Penalties Waived

At its San Joaquin County facility, at least 16,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia used in the refrigeration system mandated a risk management plan, which the company quickly provided to EPA officials.

Big Increase in Chillers' Efficiency Seen from Nano Additives

NIST said July 25 that its research shows heat transfer can be improved by 50 to 275 percent. "We were astounded," researcher Mark Kedzierski said. This photo shows the double-bubble effect.

EEOC Adds to Compliance Guidance on Religious Discrimination

Religious discrimination charge filings with the agency have risen substantially nationwide over the past 15 years, doubling from 1,388 in Fiscal Year 1992 to a record level of 2,880 in FY 2007.

CSB Safety Videos Viewed More than 1 Million Times

More than 75,000 DVDs resulting from CSB investigations have been distributed to industry and labor groups, government agencies, safety trainers, educators, emergency responders, and individual requesters throughout the world, the agency said.

Health Care Outscores Other Industries in Energy Efficiency Study

"It takes a lot of energy to run a hospital," said Dale Woodin, executive director of ASHE. "As health care organizations look for ways to control costs and improve patient care, they are engineering energy efficient solutions that will pay off handsomely in three or four years."

Defective Cranes, Scaffolds Part of $78,100 Fine for Mississippi Manufacturer

Inspectors found serious safety violations with employees operating cranes with broken, missing, and leaking parts, and the agency determined that monthly safety inspections were not being performed.

AAOHN Conference to Focus on 'Relationship Economics,' Persuasion

Nurses interested in updating their clinical skills also can choose to attend one of the two three-day preconference workshops slated for Sept. 8-10.

Hospital Infection Control Survey Highlights Hand Hygiene

Many respondents indicated that their hospital had achieved hand hygiene compliance of 70 percent or higher before as well as after patient contact.

AHA: Health IT Bill will 'Adversely Impact' Quality Initiatives

"[T]he sheer volume of information generated in direct care activities, payment and health care operations, and the storage capacity needed to hold the information and make it accessible and intelligible to patients, would divert already-scarce resources away from patient care," AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack wrote in a letter to Congress.

NAHB Accuses ASSE of Subverting ANSI Process

"In effect, ASSE has created its own version of consensus and has adopted an unworkable program, despite strong objection from the construction industry," said NAHB President Sandy Dunn.

Seattle-based Health System Agrees to Pay $100,000 HIPAA Fine

As part of its Resolution Agreement with HHS, the not-for-profit health system also has agreed to revise its policies and procedures regarding physical and technical safeguards (e.g., encryption) governing off-site transport and storage of electronic media containing patient information.

Cal/OSHA Applies Heat on Employers to Prevent Heat Illness

The agency has issued more than 242 citations since the summer began, primarily for failing to have written heat illness prevention plans. During heat waves, special compliance teams are dispatched to outdoor work sites to ensure workers are being properly protected.

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