Facility Safety

RSS

A recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) district manager has broad discretion to disapprove a mine operator’s proposed ventilation plan for an underground coal mine, and may do so as long as the decision is not arbitrary and capricious.

A former Massey Energy executive who admitted to helping hide safety violations at the company was sentenced Tuesday to 3 ½ years in prison – a year longer than the term recommended under federal sentencing guidelines.

OSHA has cited St. Louis Cold Drawn for 26 safety violations after a worker was electrocuted May 15 when he reached into an energized electrical panel box to retrieve work gloves stored in the box at the company's St. Louis steel bar manufacturing facility.

A double worker fatality in 2012 and a triple fatality in 2008 did not result in the abatement of hazards at Packaging Corporation of America facilities; seven of the 30 citations issued recently after a worker was injured on the job were for repeat violations.

If OSHA follows through with its recently unveiled new regulatory agenda, employers can expect several changes to the Process Safety Management and Flammable Liquids (PSM) standard that will likely affect their operations, according to Arent Fox, a Washington, D.C. law firm that handles occupational safety and health issues.

Total Building Services Group in Marietta, Georgia was cited for ten safety and health violations after a recent OSHA inspection conducted under the agency's Site-Specific Targeting Program, which directs enforcement resources to workplaces with higher-than-average rates of injuries and illnesses.

Hagel Metal Fabrication Inc., has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 12 safety and health violations after a 23-year-old worker was fatally crushed Feb. 22 by an automated laser-cutting machine.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a formal petition yesterday urging OSHA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to improve worker safety in poultry and meatpacking plants, contending that federal policies allow workers in these facilities to operate in hazardous conditions that often leave them with disabling injuries, illnesses and pain.

The EPA, OSHA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) issued a chemical advisory that provides information on the hazards of ammonium nitrate (AN) storage, handling and management.