Facility Safety

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Echo Lake Foods Inc. has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration with 27 safety violations carrying fines of $150,000. Multiple violations of OSHA's process safety management standards for facilities that use highly hazardous chemicals were found at the company's Burlington and Franksville frozen food production plants.

Seven workers were injured last night – three of them critically – when dozens of explosions and a fire ripped through a propane tank servicing plant in central Florida. Residents living within a mile of the facility were ordered to evacuate their homes.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) are in the process of creating a U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to lead discussions on the creation of a new occupational health and safety (OH&S) standard for global occupational health and safety.

Firefighters continue to battle a burning oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico which broke out Monday night. News sources say the rig has partially collapsed because of a ruptured natural gas well. The 44 workers on the rig were evacuated into two lifeboats and no injuries have been reported.

In the face of international criticism over the dangerous conditions in its garment factories, Bangladeshi has passed a new law aimed at improving conditions – although the export-oriented factories which make up the bulk of Bangladesh’ garment industry are exempted from a major provision.

Worried about the possibility of severe weather striking your area? Wondering how you’ll handle the consequences? The Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) has launched a new collection of severe weather safety resources that will enable people to prepare for storm-related hazards and lower the risk of deaths, injuries and property loss.

A coalition formed to improve California refinery safety in the wake of Chevron’s Richmond refinery fire last August has released a list of recommendations it wants to see enacted.

A worker at a Georgia glass company suffered a finger amputation and crushed hand while removing a glass mold from a bottle-shaping facility – leading to an OSHA inspection and citations.

A proposal unveiled this week by Walmart and the Gap aimed at improving safety for garment factory workers in Bangladesh who make the goods sold by the retailers has been met with jeers by labor and safety activists, who say the plan is badly flawed and puts profits above safety.

Earlier this year I participated in the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Summit on Green Buildings and Human Health. At USGBC’s invitation, I authored a blog that appears on their website. We are co-posting the blog on the NIOSH Science Blog. The Summit was very successful, and USGBC is open to including worker issues into their initiatives. Please share your thoughts on this important issue in the comment section below.