The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has released data following the first weeks of operation of its Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse has detected and identified nearly 8,000 positive substance abuse tests of commercial drivers since January 6, 2020. The clearinghouse now has more than 650,000 registrants.
OSHA has cited Dana Rail Care for workplace safety and health hazards at the facility in Wilmington, Delaware. OSHA cited the company for electrical and explosion hazards, insufficient means of egress, use of defective powered industrial trucks, lack of medical clearance for respiratory protection use, improper use of respirators and inadequate secondary air supply, and lack of signage in a silica-regulated area.
In most countries, hearing protectors are required by law to be tested and labeled in a specific way. The idea is that by using a standardized measurement method and a straightforward, one-number rating, it should help users decide which hearing protector to choose. However, it turns that one number often doesn’t tell the whole story.
To meet the March 1, 2020, reporting deadline and avoid penalties, facilities that have one or more hazardous chemicals covered under OSHA’s Hazardous Communication Standard must soon submit their Tier II forms to local fire departments, local emergency planning committees, and state emergency response commissions.
OSHA has cited DB Custom Carpentry LLC – based in Aurora, Illinois – for exposing employees to falls. The homebuilder faces penalties of $333,968 for three willful and one repeat safety violations.
In August 2019, OSHA inspectors observed two employees sheeting a residential roof without adequate fall protection in Naperville, Illinois. The agency also cited the company for failing to train employees on fall protection, and to provide and ensure that employees wore safety glasses and hard hats.
OSHA has cited Garick LLC – operating as Smith Garden Products – for exposing employees to safety hazards at the Cumming, Georgia, facility. The manufacturer of specialty mulch products faces $148,867 in penalties.
The agency cited Garick LLC for failing to ensure energy control procedures contained clear and specific steps to limit the release of hazardous energy.
Criminal charges for a crane operator in a co-worker’s jobsite death, legislation to prevent workplace violence in the health care industry and the costs of obesity among the workforce were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
The EPA has proposed “regulatory determinations” for two chemicals whose presence in drinking water has raised alarm among the public and health experts.
The agency is proposing to regulate two contaminants perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) – but not six others: 1,1-dichloroethane, acetochlor, methyl bromide, metolachlor, nitrobenzene, and RDX.
A popular and long-running Oregon music festival turned deadly last summer when two a boom lift tipped, killing two workers. That incident at the Pickathon Music Festival, an annual three-day extravaganza outside of Oregon that has been held every August since 1999, led to a state OSHA investigation and fines for the workers’ employer.
OSHA has cited Cleveland Brothers Inc. – doing business as CB HYMAC – for exposing workers to hexavalent chromium fumes and other safety hazards at the company’s shop in Camp Hill, Penn.
The company, which provides hydraulic service and repair, machining and chroming services, was cited for one willful violation and 18 serious and two other-than-serious citations.