"This employer had been renting a trench box designed to protect workers from cave-ins but returned it to cut down on costs," said Les Grove, OSHA's area director in Tampa, Fla. “Risking the safety of your workers is not an acceptable business decision."
The Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced it has awarded $500,000 in grant funds to six organizations that provide education and training within the mining industry.
Vestas Wind Systems A/S, a Danish company, introduces the V112-3.0 MW with a series of videos from top officials, including Vestas Americas' President Martha Wyrsch discussing safety and environmental stewardship.
The Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration recently announced the publication of comprehensive data regarding safety and health records of the nation's mines. The data sets contain all of the agency's public data from calendar year 2000 to the present regarding mine locations, accidents, injuries, production, violations, and inspections.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration recently issued a safety alert and fatality update to the mining industry to draw renewed attention to deaths that have occurred this year in mines throughout the country.
The board also released a 15-minute safety video titled "No Escape: Dangers of Confined Spaces," which includes a detailed animation depicting the tragedy that unfolded at Xcel's Cabin Creek plant on Oct. 2, 2007, taking the lives of five contractors.
The mining operation, located in Wise County, Va., was cited for five contributory violations in the August 2009 death of an electrician/repairman who was fatally injured when a portion of mine rib collapsed upon him.
MSHA decided to distribute this alert based on testimony delivered during a House Education and Labor Committee hearing in Beckley, W.Va., in May that raised serious questions as to whether or not the Upper Big Branch mine was properly following ventilation standards prior to the explosion on April 5.
At one of the sites, the farmer-owned company failed to test the atmosphere before entry and to have an employee entering wear a safety harness and lifeline. It also failed to post an employee to observe the entry. Both facilities failed to turn off and lock out power to the auger before workers entered the grain bins, investigators said.
The 24 alleged serious violations that resulted from a site-specific targeting program investigation included a failure to have at least two suitable gas masks available and accessible; lack of developed confined space procedures; and grinding wheel, compressed air, and electrical shock hazards.
The company received repeat citations for failing to make a reasonable estimate of employee exposure to hazardous chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide; it received willful citations for failing to implement confined space entry procedures.
In many cases, our training is the first opportunity workers have had to use entry equipment and to understand the potential dangers they could encounter in a confined space.
Two workers were burned while applying primer inside a tanker trailer. One worker died and another remains hospitalized with burns to more than 90 percent of his body. A third worker, the attendant monitoring the confined space in the event of an emergency, was blown off the tank when the vapors ignited.
"The gravity of this type of hazard cannot be overstated," said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA's acting area director in Hartford, Conn. "The collapsing walls of a trench can crush or bury workers in seconds.”
The IT/MIS model has more to do with configuration management and much less with the job at hand, with little thought given to people in the field.
As temperatures rise, humidity and moisture increase underground, making it easier for a mine roof or rib to fall.
The chiefs' Safety, Health and Survival Section issued the request June 1, saying two similar incidents that nearly killed firefighters demand additional training.
The U.S. Coast Guard's National Offshore Safety Advisory Committee will meet by teleconference July 1 to consider forming a subcommittee to study electrical hazards in explosive atmospheres.
Baltimore is known as a "City of Firsts" for good reason. In 1743, its Maryland Jockey Club became the first professional sports organization in the United States; in 1774, the city opened the first post office system in the country; in 1816, it became the first city to illuminate streets with hydrogen gas; and in 1920, its Rustless Iron & Steel Co. became the first factory to manufacture stainless steel. And that's just scratching the surface.
"The company's intentional disregard for its safety and health responsibilities put its workers at risk, and more egregiously, led to an unnecessary loss of life,” said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.