“Hot work around flammable gas or vapor is one of the most common causes of worker deaths that we see at the Chemical Safety Board,” said CSB Board Member William B. Wark.
The agency's investigation substantiated the employee's complaint that his job duties were systematically removed and his paychecks were delayed and ultimately stopped after he questioned the accuracy of several statements made in the company's SEC filings.
Pressure on the industry to achieve a zero risk level is wrongheaded because it is not attainable in the real world, Dale Klein, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission member, told attendees Friday in Raleigh, N.C., at the Grand Challenge Summit 2010.
"One may think that fingersticks are selected more frequently because they cost less; however, that isn't necessarily true," says white paper author Richard Penington. "Likewise, some believe that the venous blood draw gives results that are more accurate because the blood is sent to a lab for testing. That's also not necessarily true."
Under a pair of 50/50 joint ventures with Husky Energy, BP operates the 91-year old Toledo Refinery near Toledo, Ohio, that processes crude from Canadian oil sands into gasoline and other products.
This year's Patient Safety Awareness Week has the tagline "Let's Talk: Healthy Conversations for Safer Healthcare."
The module allows users to create customized, color-coded maps of injury-related death rates throughout the United States. It defines injury-related deaths according to intent (e.g., unintentional, homicide, suicide) and mechanism of injury (e.g., motor-vehicle traffic, fall, fire or burn, poisoning, cut).
The 2009 scores on FHWA's Work Zone Mobility and Safety Self Assessment tool are the highest yet, indicating the state departments continue to make progress on their oversight and management.
The multi-year, records-based study will include about 18,000 current and retired career firefighters. The findings will aid the International Agency for Research on Cancer's review of the carcinogenicity of firefighting.
Among the most significant challenges facing the river is the runoff of excess nutrients from manure and commercial fertilizer, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus.
The Fairfax, Va.-based International Association of Fire Chiefs is conducting an online survey to find out what readers of the newsletter want it to cover.
At issue is the potential negative impact on water quality from incidental discharges such as deck run-off and gray water from fishing vessels, tugboats, water taxis, tour boats, fire boats, and similar vessels less than 79 feet.
The March 4 "OSHA Listens" meeting did not lack for out-of-the-box thinking. What OSHA does with the input from ASSE President Chris Patton and others is the crucial part, of course.
Among the products considered most likely to lead to the danger of an explosion or fire are zinc and other metallic powders, wheat flour and other food products, and certain plastics and resins. In all of these cases, if unprotected, normal processing steps can produce enough static electricity to ignite a dust cloud.
A "catastrophic failure" of a 10-year-old short-bed vehicle lift used in a car repair shop causes HSE to recommend inspection of hundreds of lifts nationwide. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.
"OSHA standards are designed to minimize the risk of exposure and its potential impact on workers' health, but they are effective only so long as employers adhere to them," said Brenda Gordon, OSHA's area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts.
The four-year Hazardcheck campaign unveiled on March 1 builds on the Government of Canada's Chemicals Management Plan and Clean Air Agenda.
Secretary Steven Chu listed them in a Feb. 2 letter to John E. Mansfield, vice chairman of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
Specifically, the agency found instances of improper transfer and storage of flammable liquids; lack of specific lockout/tagout procedures and training to prevent the unintended startup of machines during maintenance; lack of hearing protection; inadequate respirator training, fit-testing, medical evaluation, inspection, and maintenance; unguarded grinders; and more.
Acting in response to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board's recommendations from the ConAgra Slim Jim explosion, NFPA's National Fuel Gas Code Committee proposed an emergency change to strengthen NFPA 54. Expedited public review and comment will follow.