Ladder safety came in for a fair amount of attention during 2014. Federal agencies like OSHA and NIOSH produced ladder safety materials in several languages. Among the resources that can help safety professionals keep workers who use ladders free from injury:
Silica proposal, crane operator standards in the news
December 25, 2013
Construction deaths rose even as overall occupational fatalities in the U.S. decreased. OSHA finally unveils its silica rule. OSHA inspectors kept busy at construction sites around the country. These were among the top construction-related stories featured on www.ISHN.com in 2013.
Construction on half of the dozen stadiums being erected for Brazil World Cup 2014 is behind schedule – and those working on the projects say the pressure to work quickly is affecting their safety. The death of a 22-year-old worker who fell more than 100 feet on Saturday at Arena Amazonia resulted in a strike by the builder’s union and a court order halting all high work on the project, according to the BBC News.
No eye protection for workers using nail guns, either
December 13, 2013
OSHA has cited North Florida Roofing & Repair of Jacksonville with one willful, one repeat and two serious safety violations following an inspection at a job site on Ashbourne Trail in Jacksonville. The agency initiated the inspection in August as part of its local emphasis program on fall hazards.
On August 16, 2007, Master Electrician William Giffen, owner of CAMAND Electrical Services, Ottawa, Canada, and an experienced 17-year veteran of electrical maintenance services, was testing secondary fuses at a high-tech data center (after it was hit by lightning for the second time that day) when he was caught in an arc-flash incident at a 13.8kV switch.
If you’re in the construction industry and you’re making a New Year’s resolution to improve on-the-job safety in 2014, you might want to check out the Center for Construction Research and Training's (CPWR) new library of 52 toolbox talks on common construction hazards, which provides a short safety lesson for every week of the year.
A construction company in American Samoa that routinely neglected to ensure workers were anchored or tied off to body harnesses came in for scrutiny by OSHA after a worker suffered a fatal fall in May.
The fatal June, 2013 collapse of a four-story building in Philadelphia has resulted in OSHA violations against the contractors hired to demolish the building. Griffin Campbell, doing business as Campbell Construction, and Sean Benschop, doing business as S&R Contracting, were cited for three willful per-instance violations, following the incident, which killed six people and injured 14.
Some electrical contacts are instantly fatal, and up to 40% are ultimately fatal, according Brian James Daley, M.D, associate program director, professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Critical Care at the University of Tennessee School of Medicine, Knoxville, Tenn., in his report, “Electrical Injuries.”
It’s been a long time coming. OSHA first proposed updated standards for electrical power transmission and distribution, and electrical protective equipment in 2005. Final rules were scheduled for release early in 2013. There has still been no final publication, but electrical safety experts say the release date is approaching, based on conversations with DC regulators and the Office of Management and Budget.