The Food and Drug Administration recently sent a letter to companies and a wide range of other key stakeholders detailing the agency's concern over cargo and warehouse thefts of FDA-regulated products.
If you are responsible for the health of your gas detection program, now is a great time to get it into shape. And if you want to keep your gas detection program healthy and keep your people going home safely at the end of each day, exercise your data analysis muscles by following a routine of reviewing the information stored in your gas detectors.
The majority of employers in the United States would not argue the point that the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) has cost their company an incredible amount of time, money, and grief since its inception. Though it is a great concept, I question whether the HCS, even after more than 20 years in existence, has produced more than a few positive results in the eyes of most employers and employees.
"The most important -- and yet sometimes the most difficult -- thing to do is to keep your composure," said ACEP President Dr. Angela Gardner. "You will be better able to provide critical information to emergency responders and physicians, whether for yourself or someone else."
"One means of preventing hazards is for employers to establish an effective comprehensive workplace safety and health program that involves their employees in proactively evaluating, identifying, and eliminating hazards," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York.
The Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations took effect April 27 and make employers responsible for analyzing visible light hazards, such as from lasers, and protecting and training workers exposed to them.
"Get a grip: Stop slips & trips" includes a comprehensive checklist and advises users to remember the acronym SHOES for Spills, High-risk areas, Over-used signs, Environmental cleanliness, and Shoes.
You'll find it easy to find out about new regulations and workplace safety campaigns in Europe, including the safe maintenance campaign launching April 28.
An additional study on inherently safer process technology may follow this one by the National Academy of Sciences specifically looking at how to reduce the risk of methyl isocyanate at the Bayer CropScience plant in Institute, W.Va.
The bulk of the proposed total penalty involves two repeat violations for failing to provide proper load backrest extensions and to take trucks with safety defects out of service, which together carry a potential fine of $50,000.
"These types of violations show the kind of disregard this company has for the safety and welfare of its employees and why it needs to make the required improvements to prevent needless injuries," said Gei-Thae Breezley, director of OSHA's Atlanta-East Area Office.
"Our inspection found that the blades on this and other saws lacked the guarding designed to prevent just this type of accident," said Diana Cortez, OSHA's area director in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Cited violations against the company include failing to provide safe work practice procedures for hot work in a confined space, failing to prevent cutting operations in the presence of explosive atmospheres, and the lack of procedures for summoning resuce and emergency services.
And in recognition of its 175th anniversary this year, the commercial property insurer is making longstanding clients eligible for a membership credit rate of 20 percent.
"If the employer had implemented the recommended safety procedures by having proper machine guarding on equipment, these needless injuries could have been avoided," said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA's area director in Mobile, Ala.
"There is no excuse for this accident," said Charles Adkins, OSHA's regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. "This worker should not have been allowed to work in the machine without energy sources being locked out."
On April 13, the Food and Drug Administration published guidance for small egg producers to help them comply with a 2009 federal egg safety regulation designed to prevent Salmonella Enteritidis in shell eggs during production, transportation, and storage.
With the exception of three 13-year-olds, the 1,482 minors the company employed were 14 and 15 years of age.
Damaged, inoperable emergency lighting and a lack of hazard assessment certification were among other faults uncovered in a February inspection.
An inspection conducted under OSHA's Chemical Industry National Emphasis Program resulted in $153,000 in proposed penalties.