Weekly news round-up
Firefighters and an acrobat among the week's tragic deaths
Tragedies in Arizona and Las Vegas, midair near-misses at U.S. airports and the persistent increase in grain bin fatalities are among this week's top EHS-related stories from ISHN.com:
OSHA investigating Cirque du Soleil performer's death
Cause of death determined
Nevada-OSHA investigation is underway into the death of a Cirque du Soleil performer Saturday in Las Vegas. Inspectors are at the MGM Grand, where the accident occurred, conducting interviews and inspecting equipment.
Want to cut your heart disease risk in half?
Manage two key health factors
Controlling your high blood pressure and high cholesterol may cut your risk for heart disease by half or more, yet fewer than one in three people are doing it, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
OSHA offers free webinar on protecting temporary workers
Part of new initiative
OSHA will co-moderate a free webinar with the American Staffing Association at 3 p.m. EST on Thursday, July 18, to discuss best practices for protecting temporary workers.
Worker burned to death at Cincinnati haz waste facility
Second worker suffers severe injuries
Environmental Enterprises Inc. has been cited with 22 safety and health violations by OSHA stemming from a fire and explosion at the company’s Cincinnati waste treatment facility on Dec. 28 that killed one worker and left another with severe burns.
There’s danger in the air at U.S. airports
Five near-misses bring on recommended changes from NTSB
Following the investigation of five incidents in which commercial jetliners came within hazardous proximity of other aircraft while arriving or departing at major U.S. airports, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) modify the rules for air traffic controllers to ensure the safe separation of airplanes during go-around maneuvers.
OSHA, NWA team up to help prevent heat-related problems among workers
OSHA is again partnering with the NOAA National Weather Service to help employers protect workers from the effects of extreme heat.
Nineteen firefighters die in Arizona wildfire
Residents of Arizona are reeling from the deaths of nineteen firefighters yesterday -- members of an elite firefighting team who perished while battling a fast-moving wildfire.
Massachusetts contractor faces $290,700 in OSHA fines for willful, repeat fall hazards
Workers of Twin Pines Construction Inc. exposed to falls of up to 30 feet
On May 28, 2013, OSHA cited Massachusetts contractor Twin Pines Construction Inc. for alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards at its Durham, NH, work site. The wood framing contractor, based in Everett, Mass., faces a total of $290,700 in proposed fines following an inspection by OSHA's Concord Area Office.
Grain bin operators not taking safety seriously, says OSH group
The increase in grain bin deaths – despite a corresponding increase in official efforts to stop them – shows an “unconscionable” failure on the part of employers, according to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), a coalition dedicated to safe work conditions.
The Expendables: How the temps who power corporate giants are getting crushed
It’s 4:18 a.m. and the strip mall is deserted. But tucked in back, next to a closed-down video store, an employment agency is already filling up. Rosa Ramirez walks in, as she has done nearly every morning for the past six months. She signs in and sits down in one of the 100 or so blue plastic chairs that fill the office.
OSHA fines masonry contractor nearly $91,000 for fall, scaffold violations
On June 3, 2013, OSHA cited South River, NJ-based Mr. Concrete Corp. with four repeat and five serious safety violations, including scaffold and fall hazards, found at a Maywood, NJ, work site. OSHA's February inspection was initiated in response to imminent fall hazards observed by an OSHA compliance officer.
What you can do to stop the cost of falls
By Dave Johnson
Last May, 28-year-old Adrien Zamora fell 40 feet from a scaffold while restoring an 11-story building in New York. It was his first day on the job, and he had not been given a fall protection harness or the necessary safety training. He left behind a wife and their two young daughters.
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