"Employers must properly apply OSHA's standards for machine guarding techniques and adequately control associated energy hazards to avoid amputations," said Jeff Funke, OSHA's area director in the San Antonio office. "In this case, it is fortunate that no one was injured."
"We found employees working without any form of fall protection at heights up to 15 feet, even though this employer well knows the requirement for fall protection whenever employees work at heights of 6 feet or above," said Patrick Griffin, OSHA's area director for Rhode Island.
OSHA's inspection found USA Demolition employees exposed to falls from 10 to 20 feet while working without fall protection on the building's roof.
The company's Lorain location, which employs about 250 people, has been inspected 25 times and received 59 safety violations since 1999.
OSHA's inspection found that the safety chains designed to hold the scaffold platform bridge in place were no longer on the scaffold. While it could not be established who removed the safety chains, OSHA determined that Apple Roofing did not have a competent person, one with the knowledge and authority to identify and correct such a hazardous condition, inspect the scaffold before using it.
Fatal incidents where rescue capability is not standing by and available are all too frequent.
A long-awaited modernization of the general industry regulations has good elements, as well as some bad features and some omissions.
The new group has created committees representing upstream, midstream/pipeline, downstream, and international, and another committee will evaluate content for upcoming conferences and mini-symposia, Administrator Michael Farris writes in its latest online magazine.
"Falling is the great safety hazard for workers on roofing projects, and B.O.S.S. Construction has demonstrated a pattern of disregard for its workers' safety by failing to ensure fall protection is in place on jobsites," said OSHA Area Director Jule Hovi.
"Falls are the number-one reason workers performing construction work are hurt or killed. There is no excuse for an employer in the construction industry to not provide the necessary equipment and training for workers performing roofing work," said Charles Adkins, OSHA's regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo.
A posted "Stairway to Heaven" video that shows two lighting techs free climbing a broadcast tower is "erroneous and dangerous," the National Association of Tower Erectors said in a statement issued Thursday.
The latest two are dated Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Both concern interpretations of construction standards.
During an inspection at the plant in May, OSHA found the employer failed to conduct training or evaluations for workers operating propane-propelled forklift trucks in the company's warehouse.
"Our inspections identified a broad cross-section of electrical, mechanical, chemical, fire, and fall hazards throughout the workplace," said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA's acting area director in Hartford, Conn.
The 2016 target for federal agencies' rate for lost-time injuries and illnesses is 1.07, which is a 27 percent improvement from 2009's 1.48, according to the DOL plan.
Sixteen companies win top honors in the magazine's second annual contest, with trophies and ribbons handed out Tuesday at the National Safety Council Congress & Expo in San Diego.
Typically, about 85 percent of the loss in slip resistance after 5,000 cycles has already occurred after 500 cycles.
Wind farms are spread across most of the United States, and wind turbine manufacturing operations are spread even more widely, according to maps in a new report posted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The company is being cited with two repeat violations and $56,000 in proposed penalties for failing to inspect a trench after conditions changed. In addition, the company is being cited for exposing workers to engulfment hazards by not having a protective system in place to prevent a trench collapse.
A solid lineup of speakers and sessions cover offshore and land operational safety lessons from Kleen Energy, BP, and more Sept. 21-23.