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Cal/OSHA is a state agency that is solely responsible for ensuring and enforcing worker safety. It is now going to investigate into an incident which involved a female giant panda biting its keeper at the San Diego zoo. Krisann Chasarik of Cal/OSHA has said that the agency will go ahead and review the safety practices at the zoo and check to see whether the workers were being sufficiently protected from the pandas and other animals and what the zoo does in case of an injury caused to its employees. An OSHA investigator will also examine the scene where the incident took place and will interview all the other employees. The investigations could lead to civil penalties, but it is expected to take a few months to come to a decision. The incident occurred on Sunday morning when the keeper was trying to coax the female panda into returning to her sleeping area but was bitten and clawed and was taken to the hospital for treatment. The incident has been listed as an “attack” by Cal/OSHA. Howe...

Holly Corp. was recently fined $62,500 for 14 alleged serious violations of federal workplace safety regulations, at its Tulsa unit. The refinery was fined for failing to address a number of workplace hazards including: adequate emergency response, process safety management, ventilation, evacuation procedures and eliminating all potential ignition sources. OSHA began investigating the refinery in September last year. Failure to implement any of OSHA’s regulations to protect employees from all or any workplace hazards is not tolerated by OSHA. The refinery has 15 business days to request a conference and comply or to contest the citations. The refinery employs hundreds of workers who are actively engaged in processing nearly 125,000 barrels of crude oil on a daily basis into diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and other such products. In January last year, a worker was burned when hot water accidentally gushed out of a coke drum.

Recently, it was reported that a man hurtled 30 feet towards the ground when his scaffolding collapsed in Boston. The worker was found to be unconscious and has been since transferred to the Beth Israel Hospital. Work at the scaffolding site was stop until OSHA personnel arrived on the scene for further investigation. The company happened to be a New England scaffolding firm. Steve MacDonald, the man behind Boston Fire, has said that the man actually fell from the 6th floor right down to the 4th floor. The man was reportedly banged up quite a bit, but has however, not suffered any serious injuries. The Boston Fire Department has further commented on the incident, stating that it had occurred on 10 Vining Street. The condition of the worker is unknown as of now. Steve MacDonald also went on to say that he was not entirely sure whether the scaffolding fell on the person or whether the worker was on the scaffolding when it collapsed.

After the death of a maintenance worker, which resulted after a refrigerator, fell on him from a fourth story apartment, OSHA has begun to investigate the incident. The man died while working on a project and was an employee for the building’s owner, Milwaukee-based Wiegand Enterprises LLC. The 33 year old man was a part of a renovating crew working on an apartment and was struck by a refrigerator thrown by his co workers from the building. According to a police officer, four maintenance workers were disposing debris from the building. They were tossing few items over the west end balcony of the building. The staff called out ‘all clear’ before the refrigerator was tossed over the balcony edge. However, the victim had just walked beneath the falling refrigerator and was crushed to his death. It was a very tragic accident as he died on the spot. OSHA is investigating the scene and it is still too early to say whether the accident could lead to any citations. OSHA is quite notorious when...

Recently, an electrical worker was critically injured whereas his co-worker died after they fell 30 feet from a scaffolding setup at a Howard paper company. Al Klimek, the Brown County Medical Examiner said that, “Michael M. Leroy, 41, of Appleton, who worked for Faith Technologies, was killed in the accident, while the other worker is in stable condition”. The Chief Deputy of the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, John Gossage said that, “The accident was reported about 7 a.m. Leroy and his co-worker apparently fell from a “scissors-type”. On the other hand, the president of Hattiesburg Paper, Greg Santaga, prepared a statement that revealed that, “The men were performing routine electrical maintenance at the facility at the time of the incident.” He went on to say that, “Faith Technologies and Hattiesburg Paper are committed to providing a safe work environment and are deeply saddened by the tragedy of this incident. We are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayer...

One of the representatives from the United States, Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA, has been sent to investigate a scene at a factory in Gallatin County, Kentucky. It was here that one man died and four others were left seriously injured in an explosion. This accidental explosion took place at around 3.30 pm, at Harsco Metals on U.S. Highway 42 in Ghent. As per the preliminary investigation that was carried out by the Gallatin County Sheriff's Deputies, it has been revealed that the accident involved a very large tire on a heavy equipment vehicle that exploded while the workers were working on it, inside the facility. Robin Kelley of Madison was only 48 years old when he died at the Carroll County Memorial hospital. He had been an employee at Harsco for approximately four years. David Davanzati of Lousville, the site manager was in a serious condition and he had to be transported by a medical helicopter to the Cincinnati hospital. Harsco is only a contractor f...

The United Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recently descended on the death of a student who was filming the football practice on Wednesday. The boy fell down from a scissor lift that was around 50 feet high in the air with wind gusts of more than 50 mph. OSHA has sent an investigator to the scene of the unfortunate accident. The Notre Dame student, Declan Sullivan, was around 20 years old. An hour and a half before his death, Sullivan wrote “Gusts of wind up to 60 mph well today will be fun at work... I guess I've lived long enough” on his Twitter account. An hour later, probably when he was still up in the lift, he added, “Holy (expletive) holy (expletive) this is terrifying.” OSHA will be finding out who exactly instructed Sullivan to get into the lift in the first place. As per the guidelines from one of the manufacturers of the type of the lift the student was on, the scissor lift must not be used in wind gusts greater than 25mph. As we can gather from his sec...

The Occupational Safety and Heath Organization has now started investigating the events leading up to the explosion that took place at the Merrill manufacturing plant. That very explosion sent 2 workers to the hospital. However, the emergency crews that responded, credit pre-planning and experience for their quick response. The fire Chief of Merrill, Odegard said that, "When a call like that comes in, you don't know what you have until you get there and your mind naturally gravitates toward what is the worst case scenario so when you have experience, it lets you calm down a little bit and take it one at a time until you find out exactly what you have." He further went on to say that they make sure that they co-ordinate at least 2 meetings a year, with local manufacturing plants. These meetings in turn give them a chance to get a good layout of what's inside each and every building. On the other hand, Ken Neff, the Police Captain, credited constant training and communi...

At an apartment complex in Plantation, a 26-year-old Stuart man died, after a bizarre landscaping accident. Battalion Chief Joel Gordon, of the Plantation Fire Department, said that the man was riding an industrial lawn mower next to a man-made lake. His co-workers, six to be exact, were also doing maintenance work at Southern Point, but apparently in different areas. The Battalion Chief Joel Gordon, went on to say that, “Somehow the mower ended up in the lake, with him trapped under it.” he also stated that, “I say `somehow,' because we're not sure how the accident happened, or even when it happened. He even said that, “we don't know how long he was in the water. No one saw him go in. But a resident called 911 at about 10:20 am.'' The Plantation police officers were the first to arrive on the scene. They were even able to find the spot at which the man and mower entered the water. However, the water was too dark and too deep for officers to locate him. Both the Pla...

Roofing fatalities have been on the rise and have doubled in the last few years. Workers involved in this field are at high risk. Last Tuesday, a worker fell from the roof of a commercial building on Stone Castle Road in the Town of Montgomery while repairing it. According to the police, the worker, named Gary Shatlaw, was 26 and fell 40 feet down and died. He was from Beacon and was working for OCS Industries. This fatal accident has caught the eye of OSHA, who in turn has started investigations into the case on the lookout for potential safety violations. On the other hand, OSHA cited C.A. Franc construction company and a proposed penalty of $539,000 for the company was found following an investigation of a roofing worker who fell 40 feet to his death at a Washington work site. The owner Christopher A. Franc was cited for the willful violation of failure in providing his employees with falling protection gear. Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, said, “Mr. Fran...

The Church & Dwight Company Inc. faces citations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 14 serious violations that involves employee exposure to chemical hazards at its plant in North Brunswick, N.J. Proposed penalties total $55,125. Patricia Jones, director of OSHA's Avenel Area Office said "The identified violations could potentially place workers at risk and could result in injury or possible death," she also further "One way employers can prevent potential hazards is by establishing an effective comprehensive workplace safety and health program that engages employees to proactively evaluate, identify and eliminate hazards." OSHA started an investigation on November 18, 2009, as part of its Site-Specific Targeting Inspection Program for industries with great injury and illness rates. And as a result to the investigation, OSHA inspectors have cited the company for its failure to comply with a process safety...

Recalling the two deaths that happened in Jeeffboat in a matter of two days apart, it has raised questions about the safety of the workers in the company. Families of the deceased workers have expressed their disbelieved and unsatisfactory over the whole matter. There has been a record of 7 investigations since 2003 according to OSHA. Out of it, 3 investigations were planned with giving any notice to Jeffboth and the other four investigations were in reponse to complaints. In one investigation dating back in May 2007, there were at 27 violations and 23 were cited as serious. OSHA had also fined an amount of $20,700. Now, following the death of two workers recently, OSHA has two new investigations pending. Jeffboat has been cited by OSHA for fire safety plan, maintenance of safe conditions, general housekeeping and exposure to flammable and combustible liquids. It is the responsibility of the organization to provide a safety and healthy work experience to their employers. They need to c...

The federal government's workplace watchdog continued its investigation on Wednesday into the death of a grain elevator employee that took place in Bloomfield. An employee of the Battle Creek Farmers Cooperative, Rod Hennings, 64 of Crofton, died at the co-op's Bloomfield branch Monday when he went inside a storage structure and got trapped in a pile of corn. Bernard Hauber of Omaha office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA) said it could take monthsto find out the particulars of what happened. According to Evelyn Hennings,her husband who was of more than 40 years was transferring corn out of the bin when the accident happened, but she knew only few details. The Feed Association and Nebraska Grain has been urging greater vigilance about potential of grain entrapment this spring due to the unusually wet condition of much of the 2009 corn crop. Wet corn can cake up against the walls of bins while unloading, forming air pockets under the surface and stoppi...

OSHA requires record keeping and reporting of injuries, accidents, death and other work related accidents by the employers those have more than 10 employees. This regulation is not applicable for the employers who have low-hazard industries like: real estate, insurance, retail, finance and some other industries. Record keeping are divided into two different forms: the OSHA Form 200 and the OSHA Form 101. OSHA Form 200 is known as injury/illness log. It has a separate line entry for every recordable injury or illness. This OSHA 200 Form is limited to the injuries that require only first aid treatment. Employers must post the total of the previous years injury and illness experience in the summary section of the OSHA Form 200 in the month of February. The workers individual detail record of the injury or illness are kept by OSHA Form 101 that helps in getting every information, reason and the cause clear. In stead of this form, workers’ compensation form can serve the same. Employers ...

Osha fined Splash Hand wash a Connecticut based company in Fairfield $62,500 for an injury of an employee at the carwash. OSHA proposed fines for alleged repeat violations by the company. A Splash employee suffered various foot and ankle injuries after he got caught in a conveyer tank. One cannot imagine having carwash as a dangerous place but hazards can be associated anywhere if safety measures do not get implement. On investigating OSHA identified various chemical, mechanical, electrical hazards associated with the equipment being used in the carwash. As a result OSHA cited 11 serious violations to Splash Hand wash. The violations include unguarded conveyeor opening with uncovered electrical outlets in wet areas, misused usage of extension cords, grounded terminals being energized, a locked exit which is generally used for emergency, unmarked exist doors, tripping hazards from uneven concrete and hoses lying in work areas, unguarded bells & pulleys, untested safety valves on air...

The death of construction workers in West Campus, drew a flood of federal inspectors to the state. This resulted in U.S Hispanic Contractors Association who would host a training event in case of health & safety for construction workers. This event will feature consultants from OSHA Administration. In the construction industry 3,4 individuals die daily out of which 2 are Hispanic. The main purpose is to recognize and prevent accidents which has been certified by OSHA. Many people know the standards & regulations but if you do not have to abate that would lead to prevention of hazards when the problem starts. Last year around 120 workers died in the construction jobs in Texas, which is the highest in the nation. This workplace injury represents the family of workers who died on June 10 with a lawsuit against the construction company. With around 5 sections of scaffolding fall they cause three construction workers to fall in death. One survived by jumping from scaffolding to hang...

A fine of $32,700 has been levied upon in April for the death of a worker at Torrance refinery with a criminal investigation opened up by state agency for workplace safety. This cited ExxonMobile for 2 serious violations with one general violation resulting in death of Nelson Tan. This person Tan suffered second and third degree burns with 85 percent body stuck by blast of boiling water shotting 25 feet out of piece of equipment who was working at refinery. We have fully cooperated the OSHA investigation which would comment on individual citations under their review. One would consider an appeal only after they have completed the review of citations. The company has 15 business days within which they can appeal to issue the deadline. The criminal investigation is in very early stages as it does not begin until any potential workplace safety violations which are analyzed. Leading to this, largest fine assessed violations of around $22,500 with a failure to provide clear written instruc...

The inspectors of federal state cited the Griffin Industries rendering plant in Starke with around six safety violations which are proposed for $91,000 in fines as stated by OSHA law. This citation includes a willful violation for not providing workers with fall protection above an industrial blender with a repeat violation for conducting an annual audit of tag out for equipment energy sources. This citation include three serious and one other violation for failing to anchor an machine which provides a lock out for equipment for shutting down equipment during cleaning for not covering floor hole. Griffin has 15 business days from the receipt of citations to request an informal conference with OSHA for its penalties. The company headquartered in this area collects and recycles the poultry related products for use in pet animals for food, leather and petroleum industries.

USG plant in Southland Okla, earned the prestigious VPP Star Status award for outstanding performance in safety processes. The officials from U.S Department of Labor will present an award with a special flag during the ceremony at the plant. The Southard plant manufactures brand gypsum panels with around 250 gypsum plaster products. This plant was started in 1905 and began manufacturing in such panels in 1922 making Southard plant the most operated line. The Star Status which is awarded by OSHA is the highest award any employee, management would work together to implement safety and health programs making them protect the employees. The USG Corporation Plant received this award due to its dedication to safety of employees and management. The VPP Award requires high level of commitment from the employees and support from the company. To qualify for VPP Star Consideration, the Southard employees focus on hazard recognition, improving housekeeping, engineering controls, training and safe ...

OSHA has proposed $148,000 in fines against electrical contractor which is in connection with an electrical fire at Old YMCA in Stamford, Conn. The two electrician were working around energized 480 volt distribution panel when an electrical arc flash blast occurred burning one of the workers. The investigation found that panel had not been the first to de-energize the working with the employees being supplied the required amount of personal protective equipment. As a result OSHA has issued the contractor 2 willful citations carrying $140,000 in penalties. So OSHA has fined a citation which is committed to plain indifference with intentional disregard for employee safety and health. The contractor has been issued one serious violation, with $7000 fine for not training employees on safety related electrical work citing them with incomplete illness or injury. The serious citations are being issued when death or physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew o...