A New Bedford-based manufacturer of rubber products has been cited by OSHA for 34 alleged safety and health violations at its plant. An inspection last November found mechanical, electrical, fall, burn and other safety hazards at the plant. The company now faces $44,250 in proposed fines for violating health and…
A Fall River man who works for the Department of Public Works was critically injured after falling off the back of a truck. According to accident reports, the garbage truck was on its usual pick-up route when the worker fell and hit his head. The workplace accident occurred on Nichols…
A Massachusetts manufacturing plant has received citations for 29 alleged serious safety violations. OSHA conducted two safety inspections between fall last and last month. The first inspection was conducted under its Site-Specific Targeting program and identified damaged support frames for large metal dies, slipping and tripping hazards, and missing access…
A recycling company in New Zealand has received a record fine for failing to prevent a workplace accident last year that cost an employee both his legs. Ben Hekenui, 37, was trapped in an automatic baler press in April of last year. Last week a judge fined the company $100,000…
According to preliminary data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the gas and oil industries account for almost two-thirds of the 2007 deaths in the private mining sector. In those industries, the death rate was 24.8 per 100,000 workers. The construction industry also has a high rate of…
Last Thursday marked the third house explosion in Massachusetts in the past three months. The gas explosion occurred in Somerset, where a utility crew responded to reports of a gas leak and told firefighters the leak was under control. Firefighters were knocking on doors that evening checking for elevated gas…
In Easthampton, Massachusetts, a 19-year-old car wash worker nearly died when her scarf got caught in a rotating scrubber, cutting off her airway. A customer, John A. O’Leary, of Southampton, Massachusetts, saw the worker in danger, jumped out of his car as it moved along the wash rail, and cut…
A volunteer firefighter in Provincetown, Massachusetts has been charged with speeding and operating a fire truck dangerously. The charges are the result of an investigation into a November 9 accident that totaled Provincetown’s only ladder truck. The firefighter, Elias Martinez, 21, was driving the fire truck during a routine test.…
A steel erection contractor in Marshfield, Massachusetts has been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for a total of 14 alleged safety violations. Barco Metal Fabrication faces $55,600 in proposed fines as the result of an OSHA investigation prompted by an incident involving an employee who fell 20…
In Woburn, Massachusetts, Police Chief Philip Mahoney and on-duty officers had to restore order on Tuesday when about 50 off-duty officers from Woburn and nearby towns protested the use of civilian flaggers at roadside construction projects. A new rule went into effect earlier this week which reclassified Massachusetts Highway Department…