"It's been 99 years since the fire at The Triangle Shirtwaist Co. in New York City took the lives of nearly 150 workers. . . . Blocked fire exits can be deadly. It is that simple," said OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels.
Requirements for exposure limits, exposure monitoring and determination, protective work clothing and equipment, medical surveillance, communication of hexavalent chromium hazards, and recordkeeping are described.
"Unfortunately, this incident was a classic example of a multiple-fatality event where would-be rescuers are themselves overcome in their attempt to save the initial victim," said Kay Gee, OSHA's area director for Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.
According to the society, recent studies indicate that approximately 40 percent of work-related fatalities are design related.
The Department of Agriculture requires the heat treatment of wood pallets imported into the United States. The requirement is designed to prevent plant pests that can destroy domestic agriculture and livestock from entering the United States in wood packaging materials.
OSHA has cited Lyons & Sons Inc. with seven serious citations and Cocoa Services LP with five serious citations for workplace safety and health violations following the death of a worker.
The Department of Homeland Security has not agreed to exempt them, and it published a new request for comments today about the models it is using for vapor cloud explosions and pool fires. The industry asked to be exempted.
The colorless, odorless, tasteless gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, behind cigarette smoking, the agency notes.
"Our inspections, and a worker fatality at the Blakely (Ga.) plant, show the need for management to get serious about the safety and health of its employees," said Robert Vazzi, OSHA's area director in Savannah, Ga.
As a result of using data collected from millions of cars and trucks gathered since MOBILE6.2 was released in 2004, MOVES2010 provides increased accuracy in emissions inventory results, the agency said.
The agency has developed a new Web-based tool and interactive map that allows the public to get detailed information by location about the enforcement actions taken at approximately 4,600 facilities.
"This will be the first time code officials, owners, and designers will have an integrated regulatory framework to put into practice that meets the goal of greening the construction and design of new and existing buildings," said Code Council CEO Richard P. Weiland.
The standards are designed for anyone involved in pumps, including users, consultants, contractors, construction firms, manufacturers of pumps, seals, motors, instrumentation, controls, and pump software developers and systems integrators.
According to the society, four factors can contribute to slip, trip, and fall hazards: 1) workers; 2) machines/equipment; 3) work environments; and 4) management.
The settlement is expected to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by almost 35,000 tons per year -- the equivalent to the emissions from 500,000 heavy-duty semi trucks, which is more than all the trucks registered in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio combined.
Among other charges, the company faces citations for six willful violations that address its failure to provide adequate energy control procedures and a hearing conservation program.
Based on more than a decade of research by the National Floor Safety Institute, it is the first step in reducing pedestrian slip-and-fall injuries.
As part of a settlement, an alleged violator may voluntarily agree to undertake an environmentally beneficial project related to the violation in exchange for mitigation of the penalty to be paid. This company chose to donate a RAE Systems gas monitoring system and 42 radiation pagers.
As part of a new consent decree, the Arizona-based company said it will continue to remove nitrate and perchlorate from groundwater and perform long-term groundwater monitoring, in addition to paying $.12 million for EPA's past response costs.
Specifically, the employer did not evaluate permit-required confined space conditions by testing the atmospheric conditions in the boot pit for oxygen and carbon dioxide levels prior to entry, OSHA said.