"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.
Enhancing the week's impact, the event is being held in conjunction with Workers Memorial Day, April 28, which traditionally serves as a nationwide day of remembrance to recognize U.S. workers who die and become disabled each year on the job.
Each of the chemicals is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen," the agency said, noting the additions would be the first program chemical expansion in more than a decade.
A systematic review of nursing handoff literature has determined that minimal research has been done to identify best practices, despite well-known negative consequences of inadequate nursing handoffs. The article was published in the April issue of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN).
"Although it is not possible to give a universal prescription for preventing stress at work, it is possible to offer guidelines on the process of stress prevention in organizations," NIOSH says.
"The investigation team will work tirelessly to evaluate all aspects of this accident to identify the cause of the disaster," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for MSHA.
“The CSB has 18 ongoing investigations. Of those, seven of these accidents occurred at refineries across the country. This is a significant and disturbing trend that the refining industry needs to address immediately,” said John Bresland, CSB chairman and CEO.
During FY 2009, field inspectors conducted 59 inspections of high-hazard federal worksites and found 336 violations of OSHA safety and health standards -- more than twice the number cited in 2008.
The Department of Justice, in an action initiated by the FDA, is seeking a permanent injunction against Chung’s Products LP ("Chung's"), an egg roll manufacturer in Houston; Charlie A. Kujawa, the company's president; and Gregory S. Birdsell, the firm's director of quality assurance.
“Our inspections have shown that the company has not fully addressed ongoing safety issues that expose employees to serious harm,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Len Welsh. “Our actions today continue to send a strong message to this company that they cannot allow such hazards to exist which put the safety of their employees in jeopardy.”
"First, it's easy to understand how valuable and vulnerable our eyes are, so it's an easy platform for starting a persuasive safety conversation," said David Iannelli, senior product manager for Uvex.