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2012 saw Western Australian Mining go fatality-free — the first time in over a century of records.  In fact, the industry fell only a few days short of making it two years in a row.  Sadly there have been four fatalities since that golden run.

A 46-year-old worker at a Boston steel fabrication shop died on Dec. 9, 2013, when a 12,000-pound steel bridge arch beam that he was spray painting fell and crushed him. An investigation by OSHA found that his employer, Boston Bridge & Steel Inc., failed to ensure that the fallen beam and three similar beams were adequately braced or supported to prevent them from falling while workers painted them.

A narrated computer animation recreating the Deepwater Horizon blowout on April 20, 2010 depicts how high-pressure oil and gas from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico caused an explosion on the drilling rig that killed 11 workers and seriously injured 17 others.

Selected articles on the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse.

Only half of employees believe their workplaces are prepared for a severe emergency, according to the third annual workplace safety survey by Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS). Nearly two-thirds of those polled said recent natural disasters have not led to their employers reassessing company safety plans.

The blowout preventer (BOP) that was intended to shut off the flow of high-pressure oil and gas from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico during the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20, 2010, failed to seal the well because drill pipe buckled for reasons the offshore drilling industry remains largely unaware of, according to a new two-volume draft investigation report released today by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB).

Outdoor Furniture Refinishing Inc., doing business as Allied Powder Coating, has been cited by OSHA for 15 serious health and safety violations with a proposed fine of $55,440. OSHA cited the sandblasting and powder coating company for exposing workers to toxic chemicals, including silica, beyond established occupational limits.

OSHA has cited Flambeau River Papers for failing to protect workers from hazards associated with exposure to sulfur dioxide – a substance used to treat wood pulp for paper manufacturing that can cause numerous adverse effects to the respiratory tract when vapors are inhaled.

OSHA in 2012 cited Interstate Electrical Services, a North Billerica, Mass.,  electrical contractor, for alleged willful and serious violations following a November 2011 arc flash blast at an Andover jobsite. Two workers installing electrical service were seriously burned when a piece of equipment made contact with an energized part of an electrical panel, resulting in the arc flash.

The National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beaver, W.Va., played host to the 2014 West Virginia Alliance Mine Rescue Skills Competition May 13-15.