OSHA has issued its annual inspection plan under the Site-Specific Targeting 2012 program to direct enforcement resources to workplaces where the highest rates of injuries and illnesses occur.

Five out of the six safety violations issued by OSHA recently to a NJ contractor were repeat ones involving fall and scaffolding hazards while employees were applying stucco to a commercial building in Westwood, N.J.

As part of its ongoing efforts to educate workers and employers about hazards associated with cleanup work in the aftermath of weather calamities, OSHA has issued a new fact sheet highlighting the need for employers to provide their workers with appropriate personal protective equipment and the training to properly use that equipment.

OSHA has added Pandrol USA in Bridgeport, NJ to its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) after the company was cited for 25 safety and health violations – including three willful. Proposed penalties total $283,500.

Here are the week's top OEHS-related news stories from www.ISHN.com:

A company in Nebraska that allowed workers to enter grain bins while sweep augers were operating has been cited by OSHA for three safety violations. CPI-Lansing LLC, a grain storage facility in Red Cloud, was inspected in May under OSHA’s grain handling local emphasis program. Proposed penalties total $144,400.

A Kansas grain operation that was experiencing higher-than-national-average injury and illness rates has achieved a sharp reduction in those rates -- with some assistance from the Kansas Department of Labor.

A recently published review by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of hazards related to All-Terrain vehicle use shows that work-related injuries are on the rise. NIOSH estimates that 11 million of these vehicles were in use in 2010 (for both recreational and work-related purposes).