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Lots of stories from the NSC Congress & Expo, how the government shutdown affects the EHS community and electrical safety topics were among this week’s top EHS-related stories featured on ISHN.com:

A recent investigation into the death of thousands of bees last month in Minnesota revealed that fipronil, a widely used insecticide, was to blame. In mid-September, three colonies of bees in Minneapolis were found twitching and dying on the ground.

On May 17, 2002, Mr. Carl VanDusen, safety manager for Cable Constructors, Inc., Iron Mountain, MI, wrote OSHA asking for an interpretation the following question:
Question: Does the OSHA interpretation letter (June 9, 1999) that provided guidance on training non-electrical workers for entry and work within restricted areas such as generating stations and substation also apply for training employees who open restricted equipment for visual inspection only?

What is hazardous energy? According to OSHA, energy sources including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal or other sources in machines and equipment can be hazardous to workers. During the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored energy could cause injury to employees.

With the Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) website not being updated during the federal government shutdown, CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso used a recent news conference in Washington, D.C. to warn of the shutdown’s affect on his agency.

Many U.S. workers feel that their workplaces are not well prepared for emergencies such as extreme weather or health crises, according to a recent survey commissioned by Cintas Corporation.

These tragic electrocutions, all investigated by NIOSH, show just how widespread and unexpected electrical dangers can be, sometimes involving the most ordinary types of work:

Almost all American workers are exposed to electrical energy at sometime during their work day, and the same electrical hazards can affect workers in different industries. Based on the analysis of these cases, NIOSH identified five case scenarios that describe the incidents resulting in 244 fatalities:

Earlier this year OSHA cited Kamps Inc. for 10 alleged safety and health -- including one willful -- violations at its Versailles wood pallet manufacturing facility. OSHA's inspection was initiated on Nov. 4, 2011, under the agency's Site-Specific Targeting Program, which expands the scope of a routine inspection to cover all hazards associated with the employer's industry. Proposed fines total $101,000.

You would think if workers knew how little electricity it takes to kill someone, they would be more cautious around energized equipment and other electrical hazards. But among most electrical workers there exists the old “it can’t happen to me” attitude of complacency.