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OSHA is taking a close look at workplace violence in high-risk industries like healthcare and social services. Two employers that were inspected—and cited—for violence hazards agreed to implement changes to protect their employees from workplace violence hazards. Keep reading to learn what these employers have agreed to change and what Occupational Safety and Health Administration […]
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly one third of the world’s population is infected with tuberculosis (TB), which kills almost 1.5 million people per year. In 2013, 9,582 TB cases were reported in the United States, and 383 of those cases were among healthcare workers. On July 13, OSHA updated […]
On just his second day on the job, a 28-year-old man working on a machine to forge parts lost a fingertip in a November 2014 incident. Investigators said it could have been prevented if his employer had trained the man to properly operate the upsetter machine and if the machine had proper safety mechanisms. The […]
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 […]
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 […]
Substitution Is First Choice The EPA and OSHA recently issued a joint “alert” to encourage the use of inherently safer technologies (IST) at chemical facilities. The Chemical Safety Alert: Safer Technology and Alternativesis intended to lay the groundwork for a future guidance document by introducing safer technology concepts and general approaches. According to the Alert, […]
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 […]
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 […]
In response, in part, to the EO, the EPA has: Issued a request for information (RFI) seeking public comment on updating its risk management program (RMP) regulation, and a notice of proposed rulemaking is being prepared. The Agency is looking for specific feedback on whether the list of RMP-regulated substances should be modified by adding […]
Each year, more than 300 American workers die from silicosis, and thousands of new cases are diagnosed. Silicosis is the name given to incurable lung damage that occurs when workers inhale dusts that contain crystalline silica. Silica comes in different forms, but crystalline silica is the type that causes scarring in the lungs. Crystalline silica […]