MSHA officials met Tuesday night with families of the 29 miners killed in the April 2010 explosion to discuss their theory about its cause, with a mining machine being the focus.
The company was issued two willful citations with $42,000 in fines and seven serious citations with $10,500 in fines.
IAFC has submitted a series of proposals via the NFPA code change process to update NFPA 72 with the specific intent to provide solutions to the problems caused by the number of false alarms in commercial facilities.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has estimated at least 28,000 homes must be rebuilt and many more must be repaired. Australia's prime minister on Tuesday established a business task force to spearhead the effort.
"The dangers of scaffolding can be controlled by adhering to OSHA standards, but this company continues to expose its workers to unnecessary hazards," said Darlene Fossum, OSHA area director in Fort Lauderdale.
The explosion shot a ball of flame 50 feet into the sky Tuesday night after residents reported smelling gas.
Saying the problem of excessive occupational noise exposures “requires much more public outreach and many more resources than we had originally anticipated,” Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels says OSHA is going back to the drawing board.
"This is only the second time that the department has invoked the statutory authority to order 'other appropriate relief,'" said Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith. "All available legal tools will be used where necessary to protect workers from future harm."
PureSafety said Tuesday its acquisition of Occupational Health Research, which provides SYSTOC® and StolaSystem® software to hospitals and clinics, creates "the largest occupational and employee health solutions provider."
The company does not expect to begin drilling until 2013 or 2014. It promised "to use the intervening time to fully implement the lessons learned from the investigations into the Montara and Deepwater Horizon incidents."
Of the 71 mining fatalities reported, 23 of those victims were killed in surface mining accidents, while 48 miners died in underground mining accidents, 29 of whom were killed in the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in April.
Proposed by the European Air Safety Agency for adoption in April 2012, the rule is similar to FAA's September 2010 proposed reduction of duty hours. Comments on the EASA rule are due by March 20.
NFPA announced the state has adopted the most recent edition of NFPA 1, Fire Code, effective Jan. 1, 2011.
May 2 is the new deadline, which gives stakeholders two additional months to submit comments.
OSHA's El Paso Area Office initiated this inspection on Oct. 19, 2010, when employees were observed working on a scaffold without the use of fall protection equipment at a worksite.
Several organizations are working with TRANSCAER, the voluntary national program helping responders and communities prepare for hazmat transportation incidents, as it begins a yearlong training effort in Stockton, Calif.
Samples taken from public restrooms and ATMs were found to contain pseudomonads and bacillus, bacteria that are known to cause sickness.