OSHA
OSHA Launches Electric Power Safety eTool
Approximately 80 workers die from electric shock each year while working on electrical equipment or related utility operations. To help prevent such deaths, OSHA recently published the Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Standard eTool...
OSHA Seeks Comments on Hex Chrome Rule
In the March 17 Federal Register, OSHA published for public comment a direct final rule requiring employers to notify workers of exposures to hexavalent chromium...
Cal-OSHA Narrows Scope of Internal Employee Investigation
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) issued a clarification to Cal-OSHA employees regarding the controversial questionnaire sent out as part of an internal investigation, stating that the audit was not designed to obtain personal information about employees...
House Hearing Focuses on Protecting America’s Workers Act, OSHA Penalties
In a March 16 hearing, witnesses told the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections that legislation to strengthen and modernize workplace health and safety laws will save lives and hold employers accountable if they knowingly put their workers in danger...
Is Cal-OSHA Violating Employees’ Constitutional Rights?
All professional staff inside the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health have been directed by Len Welsh, chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the state’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), to report any outside “teaching, presentations and training” performed while working for Cal-OSHA...
OSHA Notifies 15,000 Workplaces of High Injury and Illness Rates
OSHA recently sent letters notifying approximately 15,000 workplaces that they have the highest numbers of injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work, restricted work activities or job transfers (DART rates) nationwide...
OSHA Proposes $3 Million in Fines for BP-Husky Refinery Safety Violations
On March 8, OSHA proposed more than $3 million in penalties against BP North American Inc. and BP-Husky Refining LLC’s Oregon, Ohio, refinery, citing various alleged willful and serious violations that exposed workers to hazards that could cause serious injury or death...
AIHA Participates in GHS Public Hearing
The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) participated in a public hearing hosted by OSHA to discuss modifications to the hazard communication standard (HCS) to conform to the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS)...
ASSE Wants Control Banding in OSHA’s Hazmat Communications Standard
Donald Garman, CSP, an American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) professional member and chair of the ASSE Global Hazard Communications (GHS) Task Force, testified on March 5 at OSHA’s public hearing on a proposed rule to align the agency’s Hazard Communications Standard (HCS) with the United Nation’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). Garman said ASSE supports the goals of the proposed rule, and urged that control banding (CB) be included in the standard and that the standard be finalized soon...
OSHA Listens: Stakeholders Weigh in on VPP, Alliance Programs
During the March 4 OSHA Listens public meeting, safety stakeholders defended the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) and implored the agency not to drop the program’s funding or compromise its future...
OSHA Listens: Panel Discusses OSHA Enforcement, Outreach
As part of its March 4 “OSHA Listens” public meeting, OSHA Administrator David Michaels and other agency personnel met with stakeholders from a wide range of groups to discuss key issues facing the agency...
Coalition Seeks Workplace Safety Protections for Florida Public Sector Workers
On March 1, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and its Florida members relaunched efforts seeking occupational safety and health protections for Florida’s public sector workers...
Lockout/Tagout Compliance: Group Lockout and Shift Changes
Part 2 of our three-part series about lockout/tagout compliance examines the challenge of shift changes to safety...
OSHA Cites C.A. Franc Construction Company $539,000 for Willful Fall Hazard
OSHA has fined the C.A. Franc construction company $539,000 following the investigation of a roofing worker who fell 40 feet to his death at a Washington worksite. The Valencia, Pa.-based roof installer owned by Christopher A. Franc, was cited for 10 per instance willful citations for failing to protect workers from falls. In a related criminal case, Christopher Franc pleaded guilty in federal court to a violation of 29 U. S. C. Section 666(e). Sentencing is scheduled for June 18...
Pittsburgh Construction Company Cited by OSHA for Lack of Fall Protection
A worker falling 225 feet to his death has resulted in OSHA citing Mariani & Richards Inc. for failing to protect workers from falls. OSHA began its investigation on Aug. 18, 2009, and found that Mariani & Richards did not provide workers with any fall protection while they were performing maintenance on the Pennsylvanian Building, a historic landmark in downtown Pittsburgh...
OSHA’s Safety Partnership with Skanska USA Focuses on Atlanta Window Replacement Project
OSHA and Georgia Tech’s On-Site Consultative Service are forming a new partnership with Skanska USA in Atlanta. The goal of the partnership is to ensure the highest level of worker safety and health during the replacement of all windows in the 73-story downtown Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel...
Massachusetts Contractor Faces Nearly $167,000 in OSHA Fines
Trenching safety hazards at two Massachusetts work sites have led to $166,950 in proposed fines for a Methuen, Mass., contractor. OSHA cited L. Perrina Construction Co. Inc. for a total of 23 alleged willful, serious and other-than-serious violations of safety standards following inspections at work sites in Quincy and Lynnfield, where the company was installing water mains...
Contempt Orders Issued, St. Louis Employer Ignoring OSHA Citations
OSHA announced that contempt of court orders have been issued against Brian Andre, former owner of Andre Tuckpointing and Brickwork (AT&B), Andre Stone and Mason Work Inc. (AS&MW) and Regina Shaw, owner of AS&MW. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued the contempt orders against the St. Louis-area company and Andre and Shaw for failing to comply with court orders enforcing citations of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC)...
VPPPA: Despite Budget Concerns, VPP Will Continue to Thrive
Following the release of the OSHA FY 2011 budget request, which proposes reduced funding for compliance assistance programs, the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association Inc. (VPPPA) produced a video message stressing that the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) will continue to thrive even as the agency’s focus turns to enforcement...
New OSHA QuickCards Address Marine Cargo Handling Operations
OSHA recently developed three QuickCards addressing worker safety topics in Marine cargo handling operations. These pocket-sized, laminated cards are designed to provide brief, easy-to-understand safety and health information for workers...
ASSE Announces its Top Legislative and Regulatory Issues for 2010
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) says that 12 key issues will dominate announced its legislative and regulatory agenda for 2010, which is aimed at ensuring that advances in occupational safety and health legislation and regulation reflect the experience, expertise and best practices of ASSE’s member environment, health and safety (EHS) professionals...
DOL 2011 Budget Request Includes OSHA Increase, Focus on Enforcement
On Feb. 1, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis outlined President Obama’s FY 2011 budget request for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which is built around the vision of “good jobs for everyone” and includes a $14 million proposed increase for OSHA....
OSHA Imposes Reflective Vests on Construction Industry Without Rulemaking
OSHA recently announced that all highway and road construction workers – not just flaggers – must wear reflective vests. It did this even though no OSHA standard imposes such a requirement and even though its standards only recommend reflective vests for non-flaggers...
OSHA Releases Workplace Injury and Illness Information
For the first time, OSHA has made the work-related injury and illness data collected from more than 80,000 employers from 1996 to 2007 available in a searchable online database, allowing the public to look at establishment or industry-specific injury and illness data...
Updated OSHA Guidance Aims to Protect Late-Night Retail Workers from Workplace Violence
OSHA recently updated its guidance document “Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments” that addresses issues causing late-night retail workers to be killed on the job...
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