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

Recently, OSHA has cited a certain Prologox Distribution Services company with 14 safety and health violations after an incident in which a worker was found to have gone through an amputation in the company’s Doral, Fla. Facility. The OSHA safety investigations commenced in August 2010 after it was reported that a worker had his arm amputated at the elbow after it got trapped in a machine. In the following months, the agency began to conduct separate inspections that focused mainly on all the health-related issues at the plant. OSHA believes that employees at any work site should not be required to risk their lives just to earn their daily bread and butter. The employee’s amputation could have been prevented if the company had diligently followed all the proper safety and equipment maintenance procedures in the first place. The total penalties amounted to $239,000. Following the inspections, OSHA cited Prologix for 3 willful violations of $210,000. These violations included: exposing w...

In this year’s Illinois Occupational Safety & Health day, new topics will be featured at all the breakout sessions and workshops in the Illinois Occupational Safety and Health Administration Program. The topics range from construction safety to personal protective equipment and green building. This event is all set to be held on March 2nd at Peoria Civic Center. Sessions will be held on fall protection, lead abatements, confined space training and office safety, which have all been designed to help employers keep their offices and workers safe and healthy, while at the same increase productivity at the workplace. This particular event will also feature a unique mini-health fair with free screenings. The conference helps by offering safety professionals from Illinois the chance to learn more, gain more information, and learn about all valuable sources and ultimately networks with hundreds of other likeminded individuals. There will also be many exhibitors present to demonstrate vari...

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...

After the tragic death of the SeaWorld trainer last year, OSHA has cited the marine park in Orlando for knowingly placing its employees in risky situations without providing them with adequate protection. Today, SeaWorld seeks closed hearings before a judge. It has been said that an Orlando judge has been asked to sign a “Protective Order” for the upcoming SeaWorld vs. OSHA hearing, effectively keeping the details of the case away from the public. In the case, SeaWorld will be contesting the OSHA findings, including the citation for a willful act of knowingly endangering its employee’s lives, following the investigation into the death of a killer whale’s trainer last year. In the past, SeaWorld has managed to successfully keep a secret out of all the cases regarding employee injury, like the crippling of trainer John Sillick. It is expected that they will try to do the same for the death of their lead Orca trainer. However, if an order is issued by the presiding judge, then it can ban ...

OSHA called for the arrest of 2 St. Louis employers for not complying with the court sanctions that help to enforce the OSHA citations. Brian Andre who is now the former owner of Andre Tuckpointing and Brickwork, and Regina Shaw who is the owner of Andre Stone and Mason Work were recently arrested for repeatedly failing to comply with the OSHA citations. OSHA has also said that Andre and Shaw even failed to comply with citations ordered by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, right after the court’s initial ruling of contempt that went against them. OSHA believes that employers who deliberately expose their employees to hazards and openly ignore the OSHA citations should not be dealt with leniently. OSHA issued many citations to the original company as well as its successor for repeat, willful and serious violations related to scaffolding erection deficiencies, fall hazards and power tool guarding.

On Tuesday afternoon, a construction worker working on a new home site near Trammel road was buried when a trench collapsed. Sheriff’s Captain, Tim House of Forsyth County, identified the worker as Aaron Banks from Covington. Banks was only 20 years old. Emergency workers were unable to free Banks from the trench, which took place at about 2:30 p.m. at the Waterstone Falls subdivision, in the south of Cumming. The investigation as to the cause of the trench collapse was turned over to OSHA. However, a spokesperson for OSHA has revealed that the investigation could possibly take 6 months. OSHA investigations will be conducted to determine whether any of its safety standards have been violated. It is still unknown what company Banks was working for and what kind of work he was doing on the site.

OSHA has recently cited Doherty, Giannini & Rietz, an underground construction contractor with one willful violation and one repeat citation for failing to protect workers with cave-in equipment during trenching operations in Chicago. The company faces fines of up to $60,000. Reports have shown that cave-ins are one of the major causes for worker fatalities and accidents in excavation projects. In the past few months, this is probably the 4th case wherein OSHA has had to issue citations to this same contractor for violating the cave-in protection standard. Worker safety should be the most important issue on any job site, and OSHA aims to ensure that employers protect their workers. The willful citation came about because it was found that the company’s employees were working in trenches that were as deep as 6 feet but were not given any cave-in protection. A trench box was found on the site but was not installed within the trench. A willful violation is given out if an employer dem...