"Some mines require targeted, enhanced enforcement methods. The formation of OAASEI will enable MSHA to better manage and coordinate its use of special enforcement tools against the most serious violators of the Mine Act," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.
"The sizable fines proposed here reflect not only the seriousness of these conditions but the fact that several of them are substantially similar to hazards identified at nine other Wal-Mart locations in New York and eight other states," said Arthur Dube, OSHA's area director in Buffalo.
As OSHA filed $21,500 in penalties and four serious violations against Zaloudek Grain Co. in connection with the case, one of the victims spoke about his recovery to classmates on Feb. 3, his 18th birthday.
The initiative will focus on 14 safety standards that were chosen because violations related to each have been cited as contributing to at least five mining accidents and at least five deaths during the 10-year period of Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2010.
It was hot, and it immediately became difficult to breathe. The space inside the condenser was, in a word, confining.
Two willful violations were issued for failing to provide employees working in a trench with an adequate protection system to prevent cave-ins and protect employees by removing them from the unprotected trench.
Federal inspectors issued 321 citations and orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and three metal/nonmetal mines last month.
An article in the EPRI Journal describes several robots being used for nondestructive evaluation, collecting data on light intensity, and inspecting transmission lines.
An inspection by OSHA's Hartford Area Office found that the cave-in hazard was intensified by the presence of an unsupported sidewalk and catch basin overhanging the trench.
The handbook's aim is to empower minerals industry personnel to apply state-of-the-art dust control technology to help reduce or eliminate mine and mill worker exposure to hazardous dust concentrations.
OSHA initiated an inspection after the July 20, 2011, incident, in which the employee’s arm allegedly became caught in an energized turkey shackle line while the employee was working alone in a confined space.
An employee claimed that the management's lack of concern over safety complaints raised by mine workers and her unlawful discharge had a chilling effect on the willingness of other miners to raise safety issues at the mine.
On July 25, the employee's thumb was crushed while he was bending a metal part between the unguarded dies of the brake. The thumb had to be medically amputated. The company was still operating the unguarded press brake when OSHA initiated an inspection on Aug. 16 based on a referral from the state of Wisconsin.
"All employers, including federal employers, are responsible for knowing what hazards exist in their facilities and must take appropriate precautions by following OSHA standards so workers are not exposed to such risks," said Mark Hysell, director of OSHA's Eau Claire Area Office in Wisconsin.
American Marazzi Tile Inc. has been issued 25 safety and health violations for exposing workers to excessive noise levels, machine guarding hazards, and other conditions.
OSHA began health and safety inspections in July as a follow-up to inspections conducted in March 2008. The 2008 inspections were initiated based on a referral from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration, after a worker sustained an amputation injury.
The employees were performing maintenance work inside a large rotating drum used to sort scrap material for recycling when the drum activated, injuring them.
OSHA initiated an inspection in response to a referral from New Jersey's Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health Program. Proposed fines total $126,875.
“Eight years of being worse or second-worst in death-on-the-job is proof that there’s a problem in Wyoming that needs to be remedied,” said Wyoming AFL-CIO Executive Secretary Kim Floyd.
"McHugh Excavating & Plumbing has the responsibility of ensuring that its employees are properly protected from known workplace hazards such as trench cave-ins," said Kim Stille, OSHA's area director in Madison.