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OSHA has recently cited the Tyson Foods’ Jefferson branch with 10 safety violations for failing to comply with the general industry workplace safety regulations. The company faces fines worth $45,000 after OSHA investigated its worksite in October last year. OSHA firmly believes that employers are responsible for identifying the hazards that exist at the worksite and making sure that their workers are not exposed to these risks, as this could result in injuries or even death. The company was initially cited with 9 serious violations after the OSHA inspectors noticed the deficiencies in the company’s process safety management program, the lack of fall protection, deficiencies in the respiratory protection program and lack of adequate hazardous energy lockout/tagout program. What’s more, the company also failed to maintain the powered industrial trucks. In addition, the company also received 1 serious violation for failing to conduct a proper personal protection equipment hazard assessme...

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.

The failure to communicate hazardous chemicals by employers in a workplace has been found to be the leading safety citation in the general industry by OSHA. According to the 29 CRF 1910.1200 regulations, workplaces that use hazardous chemicals must develop an extensive hazard communication program which will notify employees about any or all health risks. The program must include all forms of warning, MSDS and employee training. Chemical importers and manufacturers are also required to evaluate the possible hazards of the chemicals produced or imported by them and information must be provided about the chemicals through labels on packed or shipped containers and more detailed info on material safety data sheets. All employers must prepare and apply a written hazard communication program in the workplace and ensure all employees have easy access to MSDSs and an effective training program must be conducted for all potentially exposed workers. Again, OSHA has also announced a new penalty ...

We can most definitely agree with the fact that a compliance officer cannot be equipped with the engineering factors of each and every piece of equipment that is out there. However, when the burden of proof is not on them, there is absolutely nothing that can stand in their way. Just a month after President Obama became the captain of the White House, he signed a budget blueprint, that primarily seeks to increase OSHA's funding. These funds were aimed to, “vigorously enforce workplace safety laws and whistleblower protections, and ensure the safety and health of American workers." On June 2009, Hilda Solis, the Secretary of Labor, had this to say, "There is a new sheriff in town.” she went on to say that, “Make no mistake about it; the Department of Labor is back in the enforcement business. We are serious, very serious." After reading this statement one often wonders, how much compliance is too much compliance? Absolutely nobody wants to come home in a body bag, bu...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA), a federal agency, recently announced that it would be fining the Porter Road paper mill $75,000, for even after the death of a worker on May 12th, the follow up investigation found, “repeat and serious violations” of workplace safety regulations. Peter Q. Neville, was killed at the Norampac Industries, which is a container board plant. He was crushed between a 5,000-pound roll of paper that was moving on a conveyor belt and a metal wall. His wife Mara, has contacted a lawyer and hence, is now speaking out about the importance of workplace safety. She even wants to let others know, what a wonderful father and husband he was. OSHA had inspected the Norampac plant after the accident. OSHA’s area director in Buffalo, Arthur Dube, said that, “Our inspections found that the area where the moving paper roll and the barrier intersected lacked guarding to prevent employees from being caught between the two objects,” he further went on to ...