Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has announced plans to reestablish the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board – a regulation-setting agency that had previously been abolished by his predecessor, former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin.
The newly formulated board will consist of 12 members representing industry, agriculture, labor, and safety and health.
Terrain awareness technology that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been pushing for since 2006 may have helped prevent the helicopter crash that killed nine people on Sunday – including NBA legend Kobe Bryant – but the FAA refused to make it mandatory.
Last year, the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) focus was largely on responding strategically to spikes in particular causes of mining accidents.
That’s according to Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health David Zatezalo, who reviews the agency’s 2019 activity in a post on the U.S. Department of Labor blog.
OSHA has cited Goose Lake Construction Inc. after an employee suffered serious injuries when an unprotected trench collapsed, burying him up to his waist at a Glencoe, Illinois, worksite. The agency proposed penalties of $233,377.
Millions in OSHA fines for one roofing contractor, 2020 is off to a deadly start for the poultry industry and OSHA celebrates its 50th anniversary. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
With 2020 barely underway, the poultry industry has already experienced two workplace fatalities, at facilities in two different states. The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) says those incidents, along with a government-approved increase in line speeds at poultry slaughterhouses, illustrate the need for safety reforms in the industry. The poultry industry maintains that employees are considerably safer now on the job than in the past, and points to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data to back up that claim.
A plumbing contractor who allowed employees to work in a trench that showed signs of water intrusion and possible collapse has been fined $37,318 by OSHA – after one of those workers died in a trench collapse.
Rhobina Electric Inc. in Batesville, Mississippi was cited for exposing employees to excavation hazards after the fatality. The commercial electrical and plumbing contractor was installing sewer pipe to a new concrete manhole when the incident occurred.
When OSHA celebrates an anniversary, it does it up big. The federal agency otherwise known as the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) plans to commemorate its 50th anniversary this year with a yearlong celebration of past achievements, current events and future initiatives.
The Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on December 29, 1970 – that one that created OSHA – gave the federal government the authority to set and enforce safety and health standards for most of the country's workers.
With the increasing popularity of vaping, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working with other federal agencies and organizations to remind airline passengers that electronic smoking devices like vaporizers (vapes) and e-cigarettes are considered hazardous materials when transported on aircraft.
Electronic smoking devices contain lithium batteries that pose a fire risk.
A fire and explosions at a refinery in Pennsylvania have resulted in an energy company being cited by OSHA for serious violations related to process safety management (PSM). Philadelphia Energy Solutions faces $132,600 in penalties stemming from the June 2019 incident at its Girard Point Refinery Complex in Philadelphia.