Is I2P2 the game changer that Dr. David Michaels hopes it will be? And what does the future hold for OSHA rulemaking, enforcement, and cooperative programs?
The rule adds the skin as a covered organ retroactive to Sept. 11, 2001, under the act's schedule award provision, providing up to 205 weeks of compensation for burns, cancers, and other medical conditions that impair the skin's function.
Two serious safety violations related to the fatality include failing to train employees on work safety practices and allowing unqualified employees to work on energized equipment.
After a record low in the number of people killed at work, provisional figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show a rise of 24 fatalities, from 147 in 2009-2010 to 171 in 2010-2011.
Inspectors discovered that spacers in the oxygen delivery system distribution tubing on the aircraft were not installed correctly.
Seventeen serious violations include the company's failure to ensure exits were unblocked, provide eye protection approved by the American National Standards Institute, and provide written energy source lockout/tagout procedures.
Issues on the list include human fatigue, safety management systems, motorcycle safety, and bus occupant safety.
Two willful violations relate to the amputation, including exposing workers to unguarded machinery and failing to have adequate guarding on the hydraulic brake press, which exposes employees to hand amputations.
The Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services has been meeting with several groups as it works to implement NTSB's recommendations following the 2008 bus crash.
The fine is equivalent to $1.6 million in U.S. dollars. The 2008 explosion caused no injuries.
The Web-based tools include the full text of “A Guide to Miners' Rights and Responsibilities,” links to additional information on miners' rights, an electronic form for filing an anonymous hazard complaint, a discrimination complaint packet, and black lung benefits and resources.
Electrical hazards include a damaged flexible metal conduit, electrical panel boxes with unclosed openings, an electrical box with a missing blank, and an electrical conduit that was crushed and pulled apart.
Enforcement efforts include statewide traveling heat sweeps, local district actions when temperatures soar, and workers are at greatest risk, as well as multi-agency enforcement through the Economic and Employment Enforcement Coalition.
OSHA opened an inspection in February after an incident in which a worker had both legs amputated when his foot got caught in a baling machine as he attempted to clear cardboard that had jammed in the machine at MTD Products in Verona, Miss.
In December 2010, OSHA began its inspection at the Cumberland Mall in Atlanta after Peach State Roofing employees were observed exposed to a fall hazard while working along the edge of a flat roof.
The rule requires mine operators to maintain the percentage of incombustible content of the combined coal dust, rock dust, and other dust at 80 percent in all accessible areas of underground bituminous coal mines.
OSHA initiated an investigation following the accident that occurred when two employees were installing storm water pipes in a trench that was approximately 60 feet long and 18-20 feet deep without trench protection, such as a trench box or proper sloping.
Since 1994, OSHA has required employers to report to it, within eight hours, any work-related death or in-patient hospitalization of three or more employees. This proposed rule would make any such hospitalization and any work-related amputation reportable.
An Institute of Medicine report urges all levels of U.S. government to adopt a structured approach to consider the health effects of any major legislation or regulation, while a CDC study found only 10 percent of U.S. high school students meet Healthy People 2020 physical activity goals.
OMB approval is required to continue the data collection for its standards governing sealing of abandoned areas in underground coal mines.