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A worker at a Wisconsin cheese factory lost two fingers in an amputation incident in January 2013. The worker was operating an unguarded cheese packing and labeling machine. When OSHA investigated the incident, it discovered that a similar amputation had occurred a year earlier. According to OSHA, the amputations could have been prevented by the […]
Yesterday, we looked at OSHA’s answers to some employers’ questions about training certification and LOTO verification. Today, we’ll look at what OSHA has to say about workers performing maintenance on plug-and-cord-connected equipment covered under an exception in the LOTO rules. Employers often write to OSHA asking for clarifications of its requirements. Sometimes, OSHA writes back. […]
Here’s a question: Your employees carry identification badges that identify the individual employee when it is swiped on an electronic reader. The badges are used for workplace security, documenting time on the clock, and recording attendance in training classes. The badge-swiping system identifies individual employees, but is not equivalent to an “electronic signature.” Is it […]
All forklift operators must be certified through a process of classroom and hands-on training in order to operate a forklift. Once they’re certified, they should be expected to operate the forklift safely at all times. If they don’t, they should be retrained before being permitted to operate a forklift again. What sorts of behaviors would […]
An unqualified forklift operator is a hazard to himself, to coworkers, and to your bottom line. The answer to the question “What makes a forklift operator qualified?” might seem straightforward—“a certified forklift operator,” right? But what goes into that qualification? What does a certified forklift operator know? Here are the basic ingredients that identify a […]
A 48-year-old shipyard welder was welding on a barge that was undergoing renovation, working from an elevating work platform. A pinhole leak developed in the hydraulic lines on the lift, and the escaping hydraulic oil was ignited by sparks from the welding operation. The worker was taken to a burn unit, but later died.
Whether you’re a large, heavy equipment manufacturer with a stable of experienced welders or a small job shop where welding equipment is used infrequently, odds are you use the same type of equipment: a metal inert gas (MIG) welder.
A 26-year-old knitting machine operator needed to make an adjustment to the machine. The machine had interlocks that stopped it when its safety gate was opened—but the interlocks were easily disabled, and the worker simply stuck a needle in the “on” button so that he could open the gates and adjust the machine while it […]
A 52-year-old welder was removing a jammed piece of metal from the hydraulic door of a scrap metal shredder but did not de-energize and lock out the shredder first. He also failed to release the residual hydraulic energy in the system and block the door open.
In July 2014, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) leveled $308,435 in proposed fines against NFI, a warehouse operator in Mira Loma, California. What had NFI done to merit such a stiff penalty? The company had failed to correct conditions at its workplace that put pedestrians and forklifts together in dangerous ways.