The intensive weeklong event, Feb. 14-20, will include more than 50 seminars ranging from one to three days in length on all manner of safety and health topics.
The greatest potential hazard from a leaking underground storage tank is that the petroleum or other hazardous substances might seep into the soil and contaminate groundwater, the source of drinking water for nearly one-third of all Americans, the agency noted.
An agency inspection identified dozens of instances throughout the plant where workers were exposed to possible lacerations, amputation, and crushing injuries from unguarded moving parts of mechanical power presses and other machinery as well as a lack of specific procedures to prevent the accidental startup of numerous machines during set-up, maintenance, and repair.
"It's critical that companies report the storage and release of toxic chemicals--if they don't, public safety is jeopardized in an emergency," said Edward Kowalski, EPA's Director of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement in Seattle.
Company officials announced Aug. 26 that the Institute, W.Va., plant will reduce its average inventory of highly toxic methyl isocyanate by 80 percent.
Consumers who have used the drug, marketed as Xenical and the over-the-counter medication Alli, should consult a health care professional if they experience symptoms possibly associated with development of liver injury, particularly weakness or fatigue, fever, jaundice, or brown urine, the agency says. Other symptoms may include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, light-colored stools, itching, or loss of appetite.
According to the national survey, 30 percent of Americans have not prepared because they think that emergency responders will help them, and more than 60 percent expect to rely on emergency responders in the first 72 hours following a disaster.
Managers at the cited companies in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi "have displayed a systemic indifference to the safety and health of their own employees, resulting in a dangerous work environment," said Cindy Coe, OSHA's regional administrator in Atlanta.
An Aug. 18 Safety Alert warns construction companies and utilities that machines used to cut trenches may be equipped with safety devices that do not function as designed.
Two panel discussions are planned, covering use of broadband applications by first responders and the impact of the technology on issues such as cyber security, pandemics, bioterrorism, and critical infrastructure vulnerabilities.
“Both proposed rules will improve the agency’s ability to obtain safety information more quickly, which will help lead to faster identification of potential safety problems,” said David Buckles, Ph.D., director of the Division of Postmarket Surveillance at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
The new design of Contingency Planning & Management's Web site makes it easy for visitors to find the latest news about schools' and others' preparations for H1N1 flu, along with resources across the full business continuity spectrum.
The complaint alleges, among other things, that untreated sewage has flowed into residential yards, basements, streams, and the Tug Fork River.
The fourth annual event will offer sessions on occupational safety and health management, OSHA compliance, risk reduction, crisis communication, environmental safety, hazards associated with stress-induced sleep deprivation and fatigue on the job, and more.
"A transition to renewable energy generation utilizing sources such as wind and solar could potentially eliminate 1,300 worker deaths over the coming decade,” one of the researchers said.
Construction and general industry vehicles with an "obstructed view to the rear" must have a working and audible backup alarm, or a ground guide must indicate it is safe to back up.
Although BLS' preliminary total of 5,071 deaths in 2008 means the fatal injury rate for U.S. workers dropped to 3.6 per 100,000 from the previous year's 4.0, celebration may be premature: Delayed processing by state agencies may bump the totals more than in past years, BLS said.
Among the citations contributing to the proposed penalties totaling $133,000, the firm is charged with two willful violations for failing to electrically test rubber insulated gloves at intervals not exceeding six months and failing to ensure that workers do not approach energized electrical equipment closer than two feet.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently announced that TGH International Trading Inc. (TGH), of Los Angeles has agreed to pay a $31,500 civil penalty to settle allegations that the company knowingly imported and sold toys that did not meet the requirements of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.
"There is an endless possibility of things that could have gone wrong here," said Petty Officer 2nd Class John Brooks, a boat coxswain at Coast Guard Station Gloucester. "But most likely they could have been run over by their own boats or their vessels could have collided with other mariners."