Fall protection has been the number one most frequently cited OSHA violation for several years now, which means, worksites simply are not understanding the need to keep employees upright. Employers continue to take significant unnecessary “risk” when it comes to workplace slips, trips and falls by not taking the appropriate measures in evaluating their worksites.
When it comes to accidents, manufacturing ranks second highest of all industries. That comes despite OSHA regulations and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. A key culprit is unguarded hazardous machinery.
This is a voluntary consensus standard. It uses recognized management system principles in order to be compatible with quality and environmental management system standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001.
A small mattress manufacturing operation in Puerto Rico has succeeded in updating and improving work practices, improving machine guarding, increasing employee participation in safety and health activities, and improving the safety and health management system already in place at the site with help from Puerto Rico Consultation Services, which performs local assessments and consults as part of federal OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program.
Machine guarding solutions, a chemical tank cover and work boots for women in the trades were the top occupational safety and health products featured this week on ISHN.com.
As defined by OSHA, combustible dust is “a solid material composed of distinct particles or pieces, regardless of size, shape or chemical composition, which can present a fire or deflagration hazard when suspended in air or some other oxidizing medium over a range of concentrations.”
CSB report details how spilled chemical spill explosion killed four workers
December 19, 2019
On May 3, 2019, at a chemical manufacturing facility in Waukegan, Illinois, the operator of a tank in which a silicon hydride emulsion was being made suddenly yelled a warning. Alerted by the “unusual activity,” another operator and the Shift Supervisor – fellow employees of AB Specialty Silicones – ran over to the emulsions area. By the time they got there, the tank was overflowing with foam.
There is no way now to know exactly what chemicals were present in two pieces of equipment that were being decommissioned at the Midland Resource Recovery (MRR) Facility in Phillippi, West Virginia on May 24, 2017. What is known, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, is that dangerous chemical reactions occurred, leading to violent explosions that left workers dead and injured.
Dynatect introduces the ChemTank Cover™, a corrosion-resistant chemical tank cover developed in response to the demand for convenient and space-saving options. The cover is designed to accommodate a wide range of tank applications including chemical and surface finishing, anodizing, etching, plating, cleaning and more. The cover system helps reduce heat-loss and evaporation.
Recent media reports have put a spotlight on machine shop injuries. A newly released study completed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) regarding injuries in the workplace found over 34,000 people sustain a lost-time injury in the workplace annually due to machine accidents.