Tips & Updates about OSHA & Hazwoper Training Courses | Safety Tips

OSHA has recently cited the Best Buy Company on Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth for 5 various safety violations, following an incident where a worker suffered from severe head injuries from a fall. According to reports, the employee was stacking television sets on a storage rack while standing on an elevated industrial truck’s platform, when it suddenly shifted and caused the employee to fall about 12 feet. 2 repeat violations were found for failing to provide the employees with personal protective equipment and for not putting up guardrails for a 12 feet fall hazard. A repeat violation was found as well. 1 serious violation was found for allowing modifications to be made to a powered truck without seeking manufacturer’s approval by shutting the drive limit switch. 2 other-than-serious violations were found for failing to fill out the OSHA 300 log for workplace illnesses and injuries and for failing to certify the log in 2008 and 2009.

With residents just about recovering from the damage caused by the storms that occurred recently in the South, OSHA has begun urging workers and the public in general to be aware of the hazards that they may encounter during the cleanup activities. Emergency response to hazardous situations should not be dangerous to the cleanup workers. Storm recovery activities involve a wide range of safety hazards that can only be minimized if the workers are made aware of these hazards and are taught the right safety practices and how to use personal protective equipment. Cleanup activities involve restoring communications, electricity, food and water, sewer services, removal of floodwater, demolition work, entering flooded areas, trimming trees, cleaning up debris, repairing structures, repairing roads and bridges, using aerial lifts, cranes and lifting heavy equipment. Some of the hazards faced include illnesses caused due to exposure to contaminated food or water, downed electrical wires, expos...

OSHA has released a new directive that updates and details compliance for employers to provide employees and workers with personal protective equipment. This enforcement guidance was issued for the general industry workers. This directive replaces the previous guidelines of 29 CFR Part 1910 Subpart l, which were the revised standards issued in 1995 for the workers of the general industry. The most significant changes made were: The type of personal protective equipment that must be provided at no cost, when employers are required to pay or are required to replace equipment, and when employers are not required to pay for the equipment. The payment requirements for the personal protective equipment that is worn off the job site, for the equipment that must be left at the job site and for the equipment that is owned by employees. Enforcement policies that give details about court and review commission decision with regards to protective equipment. Guidance that helps employers to use equi...

PETA or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have recently filed a petition requesting OSHA to enforce a regulation prohibiting any direct physical contact between employees and elephants where they are kept in captivity, like the zoo, circus, etc. Submitted by PETA’s Captive Animal Law Enforcement section, this petition requests OSHA to start with a regulation and issue enforcement guidance saying that direct contact is prohibited and elephants should be protected. PETA has acted on the same day that the Knoxville Zoo announced that it would switch to “protected contact” after a handler was killed earlier this year. The petition includes 240 pages of appendices, exhibits, articles and other documents that contain extensive information with regards to protected contact and many incidents in which elephant handlers have been injured or killed in direct-contact situations. The petition declares that being an elephant handler is indeed a dangerous job and that has a fatality rate h...

The new guidelines documents will certainly help employers across the country, because it helps them by listing the various standards that require them to provide their employees with PPE and linking the list of relevant letters. If you’re not aware of the latest OSHA news, then you should know that OSHA has recently published a new manual – “Enforcement Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in General Industry”. This document has become effective since Feb 10th, 2011. It has replaced the 1995 directive and reflects 2 major rules – a 2007 rule that requires employers in the general industry, marine terminal; long-shoring, shipyard employment and construction industry to pay for most of the employees PPE, and a 2009 rule that updated the OSHA PPE standards to make them more consistent. The new guidelines can be used as reference by safety personnel. The guidance lists the various consensus standards, the types of PPE that an employer must pay for, what PPE complies with OSHA, types...

OSHA is now investigating an explosion that took place at a copper plant in Leetsdale. The explosion that occurred early Tuesday morning injured three people. It happened at Hussey copper along Washington Street at around 9 30 am. The OSHA officials said that the explosion was minor and occurred when water spilled beneath ingots during the process of making copper. The Leetsdale Police Chief James Santucci said, “We had two other victims who were down in the hole. Once the minor explosion occurred they were burned about twenty per cent of their body”. The three victims are being treated at UPMC Mercy Hospital in the burn unit. The victims' names and conditions have not yet been released. Even after the incident, the plant was not evacuated. Moreover, it continued to run throughout Tuesday. It has been discovered that the plant was fined around $60,000 during the past decade. Most of these fines were for an explosion that occurred in the year 2000 and injured five workers. W...