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Showing posts from April, 2010

File A Complaint Online with OSHA

Employees have the right to file complaints about workplace safety and health hazards. This right was given to them by the OSHA act of 1970 and they take any complaint by the workers very seriously. One more opportunity here is that if the workers want not to reveal their name, OSHA will not reveal it to the employers. There are many options that you can adopt to file a complaint if you are experienced with some issues of safety and health. Now, there is the the great opportunity to file a complaint online if you recognize that the working site is lacking in safety and health matters and there is fear of danger. Then OSHA will take action and try to resolve the problem informally with the specific employer over phone. The result of online complain comes earlier than the written one. You will have to submit written or signed complaints to OSHA Area or State Plan offices that results on site OSHA inspections. But if you want more confidentiality, you better should make a complaint from

10 Hour OSHA Courses Can Well Assist The Workers

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is the main federal agency in the Department of Labor, US. It aims at ensuring safety and health of the workers at working place. OSHA has radically reduced the death rate, accidents, and diseases of the workers who work with construction and general industries. For it, OSHA has set up OSHA standards that must be complied by the both employees and employers. To make familiar with the requirements of OSHA with the employers and with the employees, OSHA provides two types of OSHA 10 Hour safety training courses: OSHA 10 hour Construction Industry Course and OSHA 10 hour General Industry Course OSHA 10 hour Construction Industry Course provides the general awareness to new construction workers. The course helps the workers to recognize the preventive hazards of a construction site. This course is an orientation training program intended to occupational safety and health for workers. The course teaches the purpose of OSHA Act, the OSH

Two Companies Cited for Serious Safety Violations By OSHA

OSHA has cited two companies for violating workplace safety laws and proposed a total fine of more than $200,000. A food transportation and storage company, Americium Logistics, was cited by OSHA for a total number of seven serious violations. The violations were defined as hazards that could have resulted in severe physical harm or even death according to OSHA. The total violations included lack of adequate respirator for workers and failure for protecting ammonia piping from rupture. The company was also cited by OSHA for four repeated violations and one lesser violation resulting in a total of $153,000 in the proposed penalties. Another company, Fleet pride Inc., a truck parts distributor, was cited by OSHA for three serious violations. The violation included defunct emergency lighting and four repeated violations that included for inadequacy of personal protective equipment. OSHA spoke in a press release that the types of violations show the companies’ disregard for the safety and

30 hours OSHA courses and its benefits

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is the main federal agency of US in the Department of Labor that aims at ensuring the safety and health of the workers along with the working environment. OSHA has been providing two types of courses: 10 hour course OSHA courses and 30 hour OSHA courses. The 30 hour courses has the following types of courses: 1.OSHA 30 Hour Construction Course and 2.OSHA 30 Hour General Industry Course OSHA 30 Hour Construction Course is a safety training for the Construction Industry workers. This course helps the workers providing training on occupational safety and health orientation required by OSHA. OSHA 30 Hour Construction Course is specially designed to help the workers so that they could recognize the hazards on the work site and also could eliminate it safely. It introduces the workers with preventive measures for accidents, personal protective equipments, and requirements for fire protection. OSHA 30 Hour General Industry Course is a compr

Make your work place safe

It is the natural instinct that works with safety measures. How much brave you are, you need safety that makes you aware of the surroundings. In the case of the general and the construction company workers, the situation is quite different. Throughout the annals of the construction and general industries history, workers risk of life has remained as a question though there are so many steps have been taken by government and other organizations. If the workers are not safe at working place, then the whole industry stops development. So, there is great need to maintain the safety and health of the workers at working place. The question is how to make the working place safe. There are so many ways that are developed as time passed and among all OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), the main federal agency of U.S. Department of Labor has marked the way. OSHA has introduced many regulations and OSHA safety training courses for the safety and health of the workers at working

How Can Reliability Based Program Improve Safety

You need not be an accountant or statistician to know that safety is essential for business. The sampling of the annual cost incurred as a direct result of accidents clearly provides a business case – if not an ethical mandate – that safety should be the first thing for every company. Approximately six million workers suffer from non-fatal workplace injuries at an annual cost to U.S. businesses of more than $125 billion. (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) Lost productivity from the workplace injuries and illnesses costs companies about $60 billion annually. (OSHA) The median days away from work because of injuries and illnesses for goods-producing industries is nine days each year, with more than a quarter of days-away-from-work cases at 31 days or more away from work. (Bureau of Labor Statistics) The total annual economic cost of occupational injuries and death is estimated to exceed $142.2 billion, with a total of about 120 million days lost due to occupational deaths an

OSHA proposes $64,000 in penalties against Elk Grove, Ill.-based Ceva Freight for serious and repeat safety violations

OSHA has cited Ceva Freight LLC, a logistics and freight management solutions company for national and multi-national companies in Elk Grove, and found the company full of alleged, serious, repeat and other-than-serious violations of federal workplace safety standards. So, OSHA has proposed with $64,000 in penalties against all the reasons they have found there. In January 2010 inspection, OSHA has already cited the same company with two serious violations and for that OSHA has proposed a $10,000 penalty. The company on that time was cited for not ensuring industrial trucks properly inspected before use and for failing to provide legible name plates on the trucks. According to OSHA regulation, that is a serious violation as because the result of such mistake can take many workers life and at the same time it is a known factor to them. OSHA has found out two repeat violations at Ceva Freight LLC and so again proposed a $50,000. This time their fault was they fail to provide proper load

Terrible explosion and importance of OSHA

At a Massey Energy mine in West Virginia, a terrible explosion has took 29 workers life in last January. To find out the reason why the explosion had taken place, a federal mine safety inspector undertook the responsibility and started the inspection on the site and specially saw the flawed ventilation system of that mine. Finally it is was seen that ignoring some major problem like “Upper Big Branch Mine's airflow -- key to keeping deadly gases and coal dust from rising to explosive levels -- was going in the wrong direction.” is the reason behind such explosion. According to the inspector, " Miners informed me that they questioned management about this condition and they were told it was fine, not to worry about it." The federal group Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) takes these sites over OSHA and there is no such rule and regulation that mine sites must comply with the OSHA compliance. If in any mine site, Mine Safety & Health Administration covers

Personal Protective Equipment

Personal Protective Equipment is defined in Work Regulations as: “All equipment (including clothing affording protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work which protects them against one or more risks to their health and safety.” PPE is one of the most crucial point that every worker should get for their safety at work. There are various types of equipment that the workers use at working site though all can not work to save them on time. But PPE alone can do the favor to the workers. It includes equipment like: hard hats, safety footwear, high visibility waistcoats, goggles, respirators, life jackets, and safety harnesses. Waterproof clothing, weatherproof clothing, or insulated clothing comes to the OSHA safety Regulations, if it is necessary to protect the workers against hazardous climatic conditions where they could be affected. One opportunity that the workers get is on time, the PPE is provided by the employers and not by themselves. N

Now Improve Your Career With OSHA Certification Courses

OSHA certification has significant role in improving any business success. If a businessman does not comply with OSHA compliance, then he may get threats in his business progress. That is the reason why you want to be equipped with all the knowledge regarding OSHA so that you can prepare well for what might happen and able to handle issues of workplace safety. If you are caught violating any OSHA regulation, You may have to face the worst possible condition. You should never count OSHA compliance as an optional one. Though OSHA does not cover some areas, even then too you should go for it for your bright future. If you have OSHA certification of getting OSHA safety training, then this is sure that any company will give you the first chance to join them. The reason is simple. That company will not have to provide OSHA safety training for you and as a trained employee, you can help them in many cases regarding safety and health of the worker. Employers need employees with better skills

Some Significant Benefits of OSHA Safety Training

There is no need to say simply about the benefits of OSHA safety training as it is well known to all. But there is great importance in revealing some great significant benefits that OSHA safety training can offer to all human kind. Though the main aim of OSHA is to ensure the safety and health of the employees or workers, If you peep through the depth, you will find what a great job is conducted by OSHA that involves human values like: punctuality, discipline, responsibility, humanity, hospitality, human rights and many more. All these values together can make the world, the only inhabited planet found till date, beautiful and worth to live on. At a company different types of workers from the top positioned employees to the bottom leveled employees like cleanup crew work and OSHA safety training can help all the employees and the employers directly or indirectly by proving a good and healthy environment and safety as a whole. Safety of both the workers and the work sites over anythin

OSHA Made Safety Training Mandatory

Now, OSHA Outreach training is made mandated by many states and every year more states are seen attentive to grab the opportunity. At this time, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island are the states that have accepted the OSHA Outreach training as a mandatory one. The more attractive point that the these courses offer is that they are available in many convenient ways that can completely suit you or your business. These OSHA safety training courses suit every kind of companies whether it is a larger company, mid-sized company or small sized company. For larger companies, to hire an on site instructor will make sense as he can teach an entire workforce at once. There are so many benefits of these types of learning regarding a unified environment, single instructor cost, and no cost individual fee. A mid-sized company can take the opportunity to get an on site OSHA safety training. They can prefer an online safety school that offers a

Shipbreaking workers will be provided safety measures

Ship-breaking workers have to expose to many difficult and accident prone works that lead to asbestos, electric shock, falls and fires. They have to remove gear and equipment from old and outdated ships and have to break down the vessels for reuse or recycling. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Safe Work Practices in Ship-breaking document now offers effective ways to protect the workers from injury and death that occur at the working site. The Safe Work Practices in Ship-breaking document also offers outlines employers' obligations so that the employers could provide safe work environments for their workers. According to OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels,"Ship-breaking workers' safety and health depend on their employers following the standards meant to prevent work-related hazards.”The Safe Work Practices in Ship-breaking document is available only online like many other OSHA safety training courses. It includes references to OSHA stan

OSHA Orders New Jersey Transit To Pay To Workers For Violation

The U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA after investigating a whistle blower found that New Jersey Transit had retaliated against a worker for reporting a work-related illness thus violating the Federal Railroad Safety Act. According to the investigation, an employee was brought up on charges for missing work by the the railroad after suffering a job-related sickness after witnessing a fatal accident that involved another worker. The worker was also retaliated by the railroad cutting off his pay and suspending him as well. The employee faced financial and personal losses due to the retaliatory acts. The employee then filed a whistle blower complaint with OSHA, alleging about the retaliation by the railroad for reporting the work-related illness. An investigation was conducted by OSHA's Whistle blower Protection Program under the whistle blower provisions of the FRSA. They found merit to the employee’s complaint and ordered a relief. Any employee has the legal right to report work-r

OSHA Safety Program To Protect Federal Workers

OSHA's Federal Agency Targeting Inspection Program 2010 (FEDTARG10) is targeting hazardous federal work sites lately. The OSHA safety program emphasizes work site safety for federal workers and contractors as supervised by federal personal. The FEDTARG10 focuses on the most dangerous federal agency work sites that has experienced a high number of lost time injuries during 2009 fiscal. Some high hazard federal work sites was inspected by field inspectors and from that found out 336 OSHA safety and health standard violations. The top three OSHA standards were respiratory protection, electrical and hazard communications. The number of violations cited were doubled the number cited in 2008 that indicates the necessity for the FEDERATE program. David Michaela, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, said that the right to safe and healthful working environment is not limited to private industry employees only but those people working for the federal government as well. Targeting the fede

OSHA Going Green

The Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs recently hosted an informational session for small occupations titled as the “Green Jobs: Safety and Health Outlook for Workers and Small Employers” at the Department of Labor. The session was conducted with a purpose to describe OSHA’s Green job efforts, to discuss the work site hazards that associate with green jobs, challenges posed by green jobs as well as the opportunities, review the best work practices and the strategies for small scale businesses to reduce safety and health hazards in green jobs. However, the session was that up to the mark. What OSHA can do when it comes to Green Jobs? They can frame the issue within the social, economical,and environmental or occupational health context. They can define the tern Green Industry or Job and Green Manufacturing in terms of the environmental health and safety,workers health and safety, economic drivers, politics and policy, social well-being for workers,quality of life for consume

OSHA deleted serious citations in Washington State

The Testator Anacondas refinery in Washington State was inspected by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries, Division of Occupational Safety And Health or DOSH in 2008. According to the inspection made, they have found serious safety problems in the industry. However, the agency has deleted 14 of the 17 serious citations after a settlement agreement. The penalty was lowered to $12,250 from $85,700. The whole incident started after there was a massive explosion that rocked the refinery in April 2nd killing 5 employees and critically injuring 2 more. The citation should have set as a warning to the problematic system at the refinery. However, it seems Tesoro and Washington State DOSH did not take the matter that seriously and the needed actions to prevent the catastrophic incident was scarp out. It is a known fact that the agency has a reputation of negotiating away citations in the past in refinery disaster. A much likely case would be the fire at Equilibration refinery in 19

Industry Operations will be Inspected with Greater Scrutiny

The effects of the hazardous chemicals in human body is horrible and the workers who expose to hazardous chemicals, many times they have to suffer badly, they lose their body parts like e yes, nose, hands and many more. They remain unable to work farther and their life faces difficulties to live a normal life. For the safety and health of the workers, OSHA has now started with an inspection of the chemical industries so that the industries maintain a protective chemical manufacturing process. This is seem to be the first cause of the accidents that occur at working place while exposing to the chemicals for various purposes. According to Richard E. Fairfax, the director of OSHA enforcement programs, beginning this year, chemical companies will receive a battery of complex 'process safety management' (PSM) inspections conducted by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration.” OSHA will conduct this PSM inspection more frequently than ever before and the inspections will

Now OSHA Outlines The Final Ruling for Recording Work-Related Injuries

OSHA has finally suggested the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements Rule thus ending the time for public comment. Occupational Safety and Health Administration intends to change the per-existing principles to make sure employers that have 10 or more employees would need to keep a record of some work-related musculature disorders in their OSHA 300 Log. The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy was sought by the small business community to voice concern over the potential small business costs as well as the complexity of the proposed rule. The SBA Office of Advocacy filed comments that signify the opinions of small businesses along with OSHA. The OSHA 300 Log is a record of work-related sicknesses and injuries that most employers are duty-bound to keep. Musculature Disorder is defined by OSHA as disarrays of muscles, ligaments, cartilage, tendons, joints and spinal discs. However it does not consist of injuries that are caused due to trips

Delaware City, Del., manufacturing company Cited by OSHA

The latest company to be cited by OSHA is Formosa Plastics Corp. for almost 27 alleged serious work site safety and health violations that include workers’ exposure to combustible dust hazards. The penalty fines could total $133,500. The investigation was performed after a worker complaint regarding the hazards. According to the agency, the violations include the failure to contain polyvinyl chloride dust particles properly, measure contractors' safety programs and procedures, to provide fire retardant clothing for the workers, to inspect process equipment properly, to provide employees proper and adequate eye protector with side shields, to provide proper industrial safety training and provide employees with health facility or a person trained in first aid. Again hazards that involves a lack of machine guarding, poorly processed safety management program, floor holes and walkways as well as deficient lockout procedures for the energy sources and unguarded machinery were identified