Occupational Safety

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Cal/OSHA Chief Ellen Widess was instructed to attend a meeting at 11 am on September3, 2013 – the day after Labor Day – with California Labor Secretary Marty Morgenstern and Department of Industrial Relations Director Christine Baker at DIR’s Oakland Headquarters.

The head of the U.S. Senate's workplace safety subcommittee has asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to explain its handling of the death a temp worker who suffocated under a pile of sugar at a Pennsylvania plant. The details of OSHA's investigation were reported Sunday by ProPublica and Univision.

Every summer thousands of workers--particularly those in agriculture, landscaping, construction, utilities and support activities for oil and gas operations--spend long days working in the hot sun. Excessive heat and sun pose many dangers: sunburn, dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Every year, many become ill or lose their lives due to heat exposure.

A company whose workers were “free climbing” – climbing without safety lines has earned citations from OSHA for one willful and eight serious safety violations. Proposed penalties total $52,500.

Fall protection (1926.501) was the most frequently-cited OSHA standard in fiscal year 2013 – specially the period October 2012 through September 2013. OSHA conducted 7,900 inspections involving the fall protection standards, a very high number compared to almost any other agency rule, and due to the fact OSHA devotes about half of its inspections to construction sites.

Ensure that personal fall arrest systems will, when stopping a fall: Limit maximum arresting force to 1,800 pounds. Be rigged such that an employee can neither free fall more than 6 feet nor contact any lower level. Bring an employee to a complete stop and limit maximum deceleration distance to 3½ feet.

Wind turbines generate electricity from wind, and are being manufactured and installed all across the nation. Wind energy employers need to protect their workers from workplace hazards and workers should be engaged in workplace safety and health and need to understand how to protect themselves from these hazards.

The June 2-6, 2014 National Safety Stand-Down was a resounding success, according to the Center for Protection of Worker Rights (CPWR). Here are three case studies:

OSHA stresses in a fall prevention fact sheet that falls from roofs can be prevented. Here’s how: DO: • Wear a harness and always stay connected • Make sure your harness fits •Use guardrails or lifelines •Inspect all fall protection equipment before use •Guard or cover all holes, openings, and skylights

Hydratight Americas, a global engineering company providing products and services to the oil, gas and power generation industries, has completed more than one million man hours without a recordable injury.