"If scaffolding parts had been inspected and replaced or repaired as needed, it is possible that this tragic accident and loss of life could have been avoided," said Eric Harbin, OSHA's area director in Austin.
The company's proactive approach toward safety is a model for others to follow," said Charles E. Adkins, OSHA's regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo.
"The camera footage shows the release and spread of the flammable vapor cloud and the moment when the flammable vapor was ignited. It shows just how severe the release and fire were during this incident," said CSB Chairman John Bresland, adding that one worker was critically burned.
"The need for fall protection was clear and recognized, yet this employer did not provide this basic, commonsense, and legally required safeguard," said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA's area director for Middlesex and Essex counties.
"Few Americans are aware of lead's deadly effects or the fact that lead taken home on clothing and work tools can infect an entire family," said OSHA Area Director Richard Gilgrist in Cincinnati.
OSHA's Philadelphia Area Office initiated the investigation following an ethylene complex explosion in May 2009 at the company's refinery in Marcus Hook, Pa.
The agency began a health inspection in June after receiving information that fires had occurred in the Ohio plant, and that large amounts of dust from the manufacturing process had accumulated throughout the worksite.
During the past 10 million hours, the company has safely completed a number of major construction projects, from replacing a segment of line underneath the Susquehanna River in Maryland to lifting an underwater line in southern Mississippi to replace block valves, to boring a new line under I-65 near Birmingham while traffic continued above.
The accident investigation, which was conducted by OSHA's Puerto Rico Area Office, resulted in citations for exposing workers to the hazards of hot water and steam condensate, not developing and documenting procedures to prevent the unintended release of hot water and steam, and not training workers on the safe application, usage, and removal of energy control devices.
OSHA's inspection identified three packaging machines in the plant that lacked required safeguards to keep employees from becoming caught in their points of operation.
There are no products registered by EPA for use in residential settings that will disinfect or sterilize the air or a room by fogging. Claims for disinfecting carpeting, drapes, and other porous surfaces are also false, the agency says.
The new system will display the risk of extreme heat stress and time to flashover (the point when all combustible materials in a room simultaneously erupt in flames) on the incident commander's screen, along with the firefighters' locations and vital signs.
Packaging designers, converters, consumer good producers, retailers, and equipment manufacturers from around the world are encouraged to enter their new product packaging developments. There is no entry fee, and the deadline is Feb. 12, 2010.
"We want to ensure all construction companies -- big and small -- are prepared to effectively control the workplace hazards their employees may encounter," said Nick Walters, OSHA's area director in Peoria, Ill.
The 2012 edition of the Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace is expected to be issued in August 2011, but it is important for its users to offer proposals now, writes Jeffrey Sargent, NFPA's senior electrical specialist and staff liaison for NFPA 70E.
For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to strengthen the nation's sulfur dioxide (SO2) air quality standard to protect public health.
The revised standard updates references for the provisions addressing piping systems, as well as acetylene generators and filling acetylene cylinders and requires that in-plant transfer, handling, storage, and use of acetylene cylinders comply with Compressed Gas Association Pamphlet G-1-2003, titled Acetylene.
Across the street from the site of OSHA's Dec. 14 meetings in Washington, D.C., John Astad will lead group discussions of OSHA's proposed rulemaking.
Total UK pleaded guilty to charges it failed to adequately manage risks associated with filling and monitoring oil storage tanks at the fuel depot when overfilling caused a powerful explosion in December 2005. MP Mike Penning hopes the pleas will lead to compensation payments to constituents.
The CSB will examine similarities and differences between the two fuel depot incidents in England and Puerto Rico, trying to help the industry understand what went wrong.