Other alleged violations of the Florida company include not developing lockout/tagout procedures on packaging machines to prevent accidental machinery start-up; exposing employees to electrical hazards; and using high-pressure compressed air for cleaning purposes.
The Food and Drug Administration recently unveiled a new collaboration initiative with the Houston-based Alliance for NanoHealth (ANH) and its eight member institutions to help speed development of safe and effective medical products in the emerging field of nanotechnology.
Included in the penalty amount is one willful violation for the company's failure to appropriately test gas monitors for hydrogen sulfide and combustible gas in the HVAC systems for the control rooms.
To commemorated Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 8-14), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) has offered some simple tips for visitors to health care facilities to do their part in ensuring patient safety.
One in 17 British carpenters born in the 1940s will die of the cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by asbestos, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer.
"Personnel trained to the first responder awareness level may make an effort to identify hazardous substances, but they must do so from a safe distance," wrote Richard E. Fairfax, director of OSHA's Directorate of Enforcement Programs.
I'm disabled becuase of exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas during a welding job in May 2001. Don't let this happen to you.
"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.
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.
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 partners said they will work together to develop and distribute safety and health training materials for warehousing to enable employers and employees to implement and follow best practice standards and guidelines.
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.
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.
Bids to research and prepare a Regulatory Impact Statement for the proposed standard are due tomorrow at the Lansing headquarters of MIOSHA's parent agency, with a contract award scheduled to be made Thursday.
After reviewing the request, EPA has tentatively decided that the additional use of the well will not cause significant environmental harm because the waste will remain separated from drinking water sources, but the agency is seeking comments from the public.