The settlement between DOL and Pilgrim's Pride Corp. involves overtime back pay for 798 workers at a Dallas facility and also their pay for time putting on and taking off protective gear. Whether donning and doffing are compensable work has challenged federal courts for some time.
In the past, cut-resistant gloves were treated as a commodity, with little training and education of wearers. Now, the emphasis is on information and communication.
Safety directors have good intentions when determining the types of safety eyewear to provide for their programs. After all, program managers are truly interested in protecting the eyes of their employees.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tells us that proper hand washing is the single most important action each of us can perform to help stop the spread of diseases.
In today's fast paced and ever-changing manufacturing environment, the "personal" aspect of personal protective equipment (PPE) is more important than ever. The process of researching, developing, and manufacturing new products must go full circle, beginning and ending with the workers who wear PPE to perform a variety of tasks day after day.
A common failure of these programs is doing nothing, because it is easy to put this topic off during a tough economy.
The eyewear company, part of Sperian Protection, says the tips, articles, and tools available there will help companies improve their cultures.
OSHA agents found workers were exposed to dangers from the company's failure to first de-energize live electrical parts before having employees work on them, resulting in the issuance of a willful citation.
The state fire marshal and a task force announced the campaign Jan. 21 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where they said 24 fire deaths and seven firefighter injuries have occurred in such fires since 1997.
Currently, USCG members must walk -- carrying all of their equipment -- to any ice rescue scenes, which can take valuable time in rescue efforts. With the airboat, which goes over ice and water, rescuers will be able to reach more incidents and get there faster.
Requirements for exposure limits, exposure monitoring and determination, protective work clothing and equipment, medical surveillance, communication of hexavalent chromium hazards, and recordkeeping are described.
Breakout sessions during the March 2-3 stakeholder meeting in Pittsburgh will detail current research on protective clothing performance and help NIOSH do better at warning end users about counterfeit respirators. Dr. John Howard will be the keynote speaker.
The society cited growth and interest in these sectors' safety for launching them. The Utilities Branch will address EHS issues in solar and wind power generation, water and wastewater, and telecommunications, among other areas.
Woodworking is a popular hobby, with table saws being owned and used by an estimated 6 to 10 million people in the United States. A recent study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that from 1990-2007, an estimated 565,670 non-occupational table saw-related injuries were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments, averaging 31,500 injuries per year. Although a 27 percent increase in the number of injuries was found over the 18-year study period, there was no change in the rate of injuries per 10,000 U.S. population.
Tim Fisher, ASSE's director of Practices and Standards, said ASSE is developing technical briefs for ANSI/ASSE A10.47-2009, "Work Zone Safety for Highway Construction," and ANSI/ASSE A10.16-2009.
An IOM committee's report outlines a national strategy for preventing and controlling Hepatitis B and C, calling them "important public health problems" and noting 5.3 million Americans have the diseases in chronic form. They are more common in this country than HIV/AIDS, but awareness is low.
The videos also explain how workers can perform a user seal check to test whether a respirator is worn properly and will provide the expected level of protection.
Endocrine disruptors may be addressed this year, but comprehensive action on combined chemicals as a whole probably is two years away, according to the EU.
Just write a short essay (100 words max.) explaining your biggest fall protection challenge and submit it online by Jan. 29 for a chance to win a brand-new ExoFit NEX™ from Capital Safety. No more than one entry per person will be accepted. We'll announce the winner here by Feb. 12.
Click here for a link to the entry form in a Q&A with Capital Safety-North American Product Manager Nate Bohmbach.
NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard has informed OSHA's assistant secretary that NIOSH and NIEHS research on the alternative butter flavoring 2,3-pentanedione "suggests that, in rats, 2,3-pentanedione causes airway epithelial damage similar to that produced by diacetyl."