Occupational Safety

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A recent agreement between North Suffolk Mental Health Association, Inc. and the U.S. Department of Labor is intended to safeguard employees against the type of workplace violence that claimed the life of a counselor at a group home in 2011.

ISHN Chief Editor Dave Johnson is the subject of a Thought Leaders Project video produced by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). The project highlights the contributions of industrial hygienists – and those who report on them – and captures the stories of influential AIHA members.

Electricians and all those interested in electrical safety have a new online community they can join, thanks to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The new website from the NFPA, necconnect.org, is a resource for installers and contractors, designers and engineers, code enforcers, and policy makers for all things related to the NFPA 70®, National Electrical Code® (NEC®), which sets the standard for safe electrical installations in homes, businesses, industry and institutions.

Fires at an oil tank and a furniture stripping company injured four fighters in two different states yesterday. In one incident, a hydraulic line for a 240-gallon oil tank broke and ignited at the Salt River Project plant in Gilbert, Arizona yesterday morning, according to news sources.

Hurricane season is officially underway – and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting that hurricane activity will be at above normal levels this year. With circulating air and wind speeds that can exceed 155 miles per hour, these storm systems are capable of inflicting tremendous damage on communities, such as the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy last year on the northeastern U.S. and six other countries.

Hebrew Home and Hospital Inc. has been cited by OSHA for 14 serious violations of workplace safety standards carrying proposed penalties of $58,800. The West Hartford health care facility was inspected under OSHA's national emphasis program for nursing and residential care facilities.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is requesting data, comments and information about refuge alternatives for miners in underground coal mines.

OSHA has issued a final rule that will require all federal agencies to submit their OSHA-required injury and illness data to the Bureau of Labor Statistics every year. This data will allow OSHA to analyze the injuries and illnesses that occur among the more than two million federal agency workers and develop training and inspection programs to respond to the hazards identified.

Following a 2012 explosion that killed three workers and three loss of well control incidents since February, federal government officials met with offshore oil and gas industry executives last week to talk about improving safety in offshore operations – particularly in shallow water in the Gulf of Mexico.

OSHA has issued notices to the U.S. Army's Aberdeen Test Center regarding alleged violations of commercial diving safety standards at its facility in Aberdeen.