The costs of occupational injuries, a presidential order to make communities around chemical facilities safer and the most dangerous states for workers are among this week’s top EHS-related stories featured on ISHN:
Firefighting operations can inadvertently increase the chance of a combustible dust explosion if they: Use tactics that cause dust clouds to form or reach the explosible range; use tactics that introduce air, creating an explosible atmosphere; apply incorrect or incompatible extinguishing agents; use equipment or tools that can become an ignition source.
Packaged units ideal for pharmaceutical, other applications
August 1, 2013
Camfil Air Pollution Control (APC) now offers its Farr Gold Series® dust collection systems in a skid package that speeds and simplifies installation. The new Gold Series skid packages incorporate high efficiency cartridge dust collectors and all related equipment onto a single platform that is easy to transport and install.
Our first article — published in ISHN’s May issue — discussed how the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classification for labeling chemicals changed the regulations under U.S. Labor Law, OSHA.
In a public meeting yesterday, members of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board declared the response by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to seven longstanding recommendations – on combustible dust, fuel gas and the Process Safety Management standard – to be “unacceptable.”
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will hold a public meeting in Washington, D.C. on July 25 in Washington, to decide if OSHA has adequately implemented seven regulatory recommendations it issued.
The safety rumour mill is buzzing about the probability that governments are about to target a hazard that many of us really haven’t given much thought to: dust. I can’t tell you how many times I have been on audits where the merest mention of poor housekeeping send eyes rolling and smirks crackling like lightning strikes across the faces of both leadership and the rank-and-file alike.
An explosion at an Indiana grain bin Monday afternoon claimed the life of 67-year-old James Swank, news sources report. Police believe Swank was on top of a tower when the blast – which may have been a grain dust explosion, caused him to fall approximately 175 feet.
Workers allowed to smoke near combustible dust accumulations
May 24, 2013
The large penalties levied against an Albany, NY manufacturer “reflect the breadth and severity” of the hazardous conditions found at its plant, according to OSHA’s Kimberly Castillon. "The fact that a catastrophic incident has not occurred does not absolve this employer of its responsibility to reduce and prevent risk and eliminate hazards that could injure or kill its workers."
There are certain subjects and/or standards in occupational safety and health that are “untouchable.” They should be aired out, discussed, addressed. But among regulators and lawmakers, particularly in Washington, they are “toxic.” Politics is not the only culprit here. The U.S. has certain cultural “boundaries” surrounding some issues that make them less accessible to discussion and plans than say in Europe.