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."

Witnesses say the collapse of a bridge in Washington state last night occurred after an oversized truck struck the metal arches that cover traffic crossing the bridge. There were no fatalities or serious injuries, although three people were rescued after their vehicles plunged into the Skagit River. They were taken to area hospitals.

OSHA has cited Accadia Site Contracting Inc. for alleged willful and serious excavation safety violations found at a water main site at Lewiston Road and McKinley Avenue in Niagara Falls. The Depew-based contractor faces a total of $84,000 in proposed fines after an inspection by OSHA's Buffalo Area Office.

OSHA has announced that it will propose extending the compliance date for the crane operator certification requirement by three years to Nov. 10, 2017. The proposal would also extend to the same date the existing phase-in requirement that employers ensure that their operators are qualified to operate the equipment.

Occupational exposures facing modern workers are more challenging than ever before – and require more from safety professionals.That point was made by L. Casey Chosewood, MD, of NIOSH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the third day General Session at AIHce 2013.

An experimental, inexpensive iPhone application transmitted diagnostic heart images faster and more reliably than emailing photo images, according to a research study presented at the American Heart Association’s Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2013.

After a flurry of legal activity, a miner who was fired from a California rare earth minerals operation after complaining about unsafe working conditions has been reinstated – temporarily. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says the employee, who spoke out about various safety issues at the mine, had refused to work on a sodium carbonate tank until the operator provided him with a material safety data sheet so he would know what to do in the event of overexposure.

Four out of five U.S. adults report having voluntary smoke-free rules in their homes and three out of four report having voluntary smoke-free rules in their vehicles, according to a study published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The White House should move forward immediately on OSHA’s Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2) rulemaking, said Rick Pollock, president of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), in a May 16 letter to President Obama.

Actually OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels did not give a “talk” at Tuesday morning’s opening session at the AIHce. Instead, the packed assembly room was treated to a conversation between Dr. Michaels and one of his predecessors, John Henshaw, who headed OSHA during the Bush II administration.