An employee of one of the firms fell 20 feet when the second floor balcony he was standing on collapsed as he was attempting to jack up the third floor balcony. An inspection by OSHA's Manhattan area office found that the second floor balcony was overloaded, improperly constructed, and incapable of supporting its weight load.
Before the ANSI/ASSE Z359.7 standard, there was no person or entity an end user could turn to for compliance testing information on any piece of fall protection equipment.
An investigation found structural deficiencies on one of the crawler cranes the company maintained and operated, as well as electrical hazards throughout the shipyard; in all, the facility received 19 serious citations in areas of fall protection, machine guarding, plant maintenance, and fire safety, plus citations for repeat and other-than-serious offenses.
"This employer had no business conducting work inside the grain bins without taking protective measures to ensure that its employees were working in a safe environment," said OSHA Regional Administrator Charles Adkins.
Violations found at both stores include the company's failure to maintain exit routes, as well as walking and working surfaces that were free and unobstructed, to implement a hazard communication program, and to protect employees from electrical hazards.
A van from the Health and Safety Executive is making a two-week safety tour of major construction sites in the South East region through June 21.
Aston Villa, a top soccer club, has been assessed a total of $4,360 in fines and costs after admitting it violated Regulation 9(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
"The company's intentional disregard for its safety and health responsibilities put its workers at risk, and more egregiously, led to an unnecessary loss of life,” said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.
The inspection was initiated under the agency's Construction Hazards Emphasis Program when an OSHA inspector observed employees working at heights of more than 14 feet without the use of fall protection.
"Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work, and employers must take all required steps to prevent and minimize this potentially deadly hazard," said Brenda Gordon, OSHA's area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts. "Safe working conditions must not and can never be a matter of luck."
The agency is seeking comment on, among other things, whether it should include an explicit reference to combustible dust or other hazardous material in the regulatory language of the final rule.
The agency needs nominees with experience and expertise in construction-related safety and health issues to fill two employee, two employer, one state safety and health agency, and two public representative seats to advise DOL on developing standards affecting the construction industry.
The Connecticut-based metal finishing company also was cited for not establishing a regulated work area and ensuring contaminated protective clothing remained in the work area, and for not conducting cadmium exposure sampling.
The company announced today that its $1.4 billion bid has been approved by Sperian's board. This will vault Honeywell into the lead position among PPE manufacturers worldwide.
During an inspection that was part of a regional emphasis program, investigators observed employees working without adequate protection on platforms as high as 20 feet.
One of the largest safety blitzes ever conducted by the province's Ministry of Labour resulted in 784 stop-work orders and 121 summonses issued for fall hazards on hundreds of construction sites.
"This facility has been inspected previously and received citations for various workplace hazards," said Darlene Fossum, OSHA's area director in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "Management cannot delay taking action any longer to improve its safety and health program in order to protect workers."
"While it's fortunate that no collapse occurred, excavation safety cannot rely on good fortune," said OSHA Area Director Brenda Gordon. "Required safeguards must be in place and in use at all times."
Among other violations, the company failed to provide workers with a fall arrest harness with a lanyard and did not adequately plank scaffolding during masonry work that reached as high as 24 feet, OSHA said.
In its fifteenth OSHA inspection since 1974, the company was charged with nine willful, four repeat, and 17 serious violations, including hazards of confined space entry and combustible dust.