Articles Tagged with ''Combustible dust''

In a public meeting yesterday, members of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board declared the response by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to seven longstanding recommendations – on combustible dust, fuel gas and the Process Safety Management standard – to be “unacceptable.”

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will hold a public meeting in Washington, D.C. on July 25 in Washington, to decide if OSHA has adequately implemented seven regulatory recommendations it issued.

The safety rumour mill is buzzing about the probability that governments are about to target a hazard that many of us really haven’t given much thought to: dust.  I can’t tell you how many times I have been on audits where the merest mention of poor housekeeping send eyes rolling and smirks crackling like lightning strikes across the faces of both leadership and the rank-and-file alike.

An explosion at an Indiana grain bin Monday afternoon claimed the life of 67-year-old James Swank, news sources report. Police believe Swank was on top of a tower when the blast – which may have been a grain dust explosion, caused him to fall approximately 175 feet.

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."

There are certain subjects and/or standards in occupational safety and health that are “untouchable.” They should be aired out, discussed, addressed. But among regulators and lawmakers, particularly in Washington, they are “toxic.” Politics is not the only culprit here. The U.S. has certain cultural “boundaries” surrounding some issues that make them less accessible to discussion and plans than say in Europe.

With Agency requested funding in FY 2014, OSHA projects that it will issue four Final Rules (Infectious Disease, Recordkeeping Modernization, Beryllium, and Vertical tandem Lifts), seven Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (Standards Improvement Project Phase IV, Infectious Disease, Injury and Illness Prevention Programs, Combustible Dust, Backover Protection, and 2 consensus standard update actions), and initiate SBREFA reviews for five rules (Combustible Dust, Backover Protection, one chemical standard, and two other new initiatives).

From hearings on President Obama’s choice to head up the EPA to NIOSH targeted for a massive budget cut to eye and vision health, here are the week’s top OEHS-related stories as featured on ISHN.com:

OSHA has cited Nuway Tobacco Co. for 22 alleged serious violations of workplace safety and health standards at its South Windsor manufacturing facility. The tobacco sheet manufacturer faces $59,869 in proposed fines following an inspection by the agency’s Hartford Area office.