Tag: manufacturing

Tips for Greening Small Manufacturers

Small manufacturers tend not to have the staff or resources that larger manufacturers do when it comes to bowing to pressure to make products and processes greener. We at the Advisor are always on the lookout for tips and suggestions to help small companies and manufacturers make their operations more environmentally friendly. Today we offer […]

Understanding OSHA’s Temporary Enforcement Policy for the Confined Spaces in Construction Standard

On July 9, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a 60-day temporary enforcement policy for its Confined Spaces in Construction standard, which became effective on August 3, 2015. The administration is postponing full enforcement of the new standard to October 2, 2015, in response to requests for additional time to train employees […]

OSHA Postpones Full Enforcement of Confined Spaces in Construction Standard

On July 9, OSHA announced a 60-day temporary enforcement policy for its Confined Spaces in Construction standard, which became effective August 3, 2015. The agency is postponing full enforcement of the new standard to October 2, 2015, in response to requests for additional time to train and acquire the equipment necessary to comply with the […]

Preventing Amputations: Securing Objects and Materials

At a storage system manufacturing facility in Georgia, two workers suffered finger amputations in two separate incidents within a 3-month period beginning in November 2014. Yesterday, we looked at the first incident; today, we’ll look at the second incident, in which a worker was standing up a fabricated metal rack. The 353-pound rack tipped over […]

Preventing Amputations: Machine Guarding

At a storage system manufacturing facility in Georgia, two workers suffered finger amputations in two separate incidents within a three-month period. The first worker was using a power press to stamp small parts for metal racks in November 2014. The employer had not ensured that the press was guarded, and the worker’s hands entered the […]

Prevent Employee Exposure to Silica

OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently issued a joint hazard alert about protecting workers from significant crystalline silica exposure during manufacturing, finishing, and installing natural and manufactured stone countertops. Protect workers in this and other industries from silica exposure with the safety measures outlined below. Preventing Silica Exposures Because […]

High-Tech Safety: Traffic Management Systems

June 24, 2015, was a muggy Wednesday night in north Alabama. At the Federal Mogul manufacturing facility in Athens, 25-year-old Allen Michael Brown was outside the plant, trying to secure an empty barrel when he walked in front of a forklift. Brown was run over and killed by the forklift. Any time you have heavy […]

How Soon Can a Worker Return to Work After Heat Illness?

Protecting workers from the heat is a critical issue during the hot months of July and August—so critical that OSHA is ramping up its awareness and enforcement efforts around heat illness prevention this year. Ideally, employers are supposed to prevent workers from suffering heat illness in the first place, but what happens after a worker […]

Be Inflexible About Flexible Cord and Cable Safety Measures

In October 2014, OSHA reinspected Wood Fibers, Inc., a wood pellet manufacturing facility in Niagara, Wisconsin, for the fifth time in 3 years. The employer had been cited for serious hazards in 2012, but late last year, conditions had not improved much. Wood Fibers was cited for four repeat and eight serious violations, including serious […]

Repeat and Willful Violations: A Cautionary Tale from the Furniture Industry

In early February, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) slapped Ashley Furniture Industries with nearly $1.8 million in proposed fines for repeat and willful violations. The furniture manufacturer stands accused of exposing workers to amputation hazards, electrical violations, training deficiencies, and other violations at its Arcadia, Wisconsin, manufacturing facility that led to more than […]