Workers' compensation is just one of the challenges during economic hard times. There are many others leaders must manage in their organizations.
According to OSHA, A-1 Excavating has received 38 citations from the agency since 1982, including at least eight citations for hazards associated with potential cave-ins, and seven citations for having the spoil pile too close to the trench edge.
The Workplace Safety Awareness Council begins a series of electrical safety and arc flash training classes on March 2 that includes stops in 33 cities. A Susan Harwood grant from OSHA funded the development and presentation of the series.
One of the most important things any safety professional can do upon being terminated is to take a few hours to reflect on the job he or she has done.
"The sizable fines proposed here reflect the fact that this company knew several of these critical safeguards were necessary yet chose not to provide them," said Arthur Dube, OSHA's area director in Buffalo, N.Y.
"Anyone involved in the energization of electrical equipment should consider this document a must have," says Al Peterson, president of Utility Service Corporation.
The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that a facility owned by India-based Ranbaxy Laboratories falsified data and test results in approved and pending drug applications. The facility, Paonta Sahib, has been under an FDA Import Alert since September 2008.
In addition, one of the plant's maintenance providers has also been cited, in part for failing to adequately train employees to fight fires, which it contracted to do at the site.
Copper theft has become a serious public safety issue in recent years as the price of copper in the U.S. has increased.
Eight of its workers were treated for exposure to the organic chemical para-nitroaniline (PNA) in powder form. The penalty is based on 21 alleged willful citations, 20 of them cited on a per-employee basis.
"The committee decided to develop this standard because of the national emphasis on green energy, recognizing that thousands of these 'green' structures are going to be built and, as such, present challenging safety and health issues," A10 Committee Chair Richard King said. "The purpose of the new standard is to sort out the safety and health issues and provide practical solutions to constructors."
The company was issued one willful citation, with a proposed penalty of $35,000 alone, for not providing employees with confined space rescue training at least every 12 months.
Making and keeping the workplace safe and healthful will be the focus of the 18th Annual Downstate Illinois Occupational Safety and Health (DIOSH) Day slated for March 4 at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Ill. Workplace safety and health issues will be discussed and information made available to employers, employees and the general public.
A 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on Monday rejected all but one claim against the 5 micrograms per cubic meter PEL set in the February 2006 final rule. The judges told OSHA to state its reasons for requiring employees to be notified when monitored exposures exceed the PEL, rather than being notified of all monitoring results as the agency originally proposed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just launched RSS feeds for two of the most popular sections of its emergency.CDC.gov Web site.
An investigation found alleged willful violations in the construction company's failure to provide training in avoiding hazards associated with working in trenches eight feet deep or more and failure to provide a means of egress while employees are working at excavation worksites that are four feet deep or more.
A free, one-hour safe handling CE webinar on the subject is planned for April 20--the inaugural Safe Handling Awareness Day--and all health care professionals are invited to participate.
The two-day workshop begins tomorrow in Bethesda, Md. Researchers will discuss current science on Human and Environmental Exposure Assessment, which is one of the five EHS categories identified in the Strategy for Nanotechnology-Related Environmental, Health, and Safety Research.
Members attending the annual conference will be asked to individually pledge to make 100 percent tie-off a reality in the industry. They also will be asked to sign a petition to stop further delays in the DTV transition.
The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a two-day public hearing as part of its ongoing investigation into the ditching of a US Airways Airbus A-320 into the Hudson River in New York City in January.