In Rochester, Mass., Covanta has been cited for seven alleged “serious” violations of federal safety rules at its SEMASS waste incinerator by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The citations include an accumulation of fly ash on energy 208-volt electrical equipment and exposing workers to electrical hazards such as…
A North Attleboro, Massachusetts metals refining company has been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 10 alleged serious violations of safety standards. A November 7, 2008 gas lack at the plant prompted an inspection by OSHA’s Boston South Area Office in Braintree. That inspection uncovered several alleged…
Last Monday, a 42-year-old technician was airlifted to the intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston following a wave soldering machine accident. The machine reportedly caught fire and burned the worker from the chest up when he opened a service door on the machine to add an alcohol-based…
A Roxbury man has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against RCN Corp., claiming the broadband company misclassified him and as many as 1,000 other United States installers. According to the lawsuit filed in Boston last week, Fritz Elienberg was employed as an “independent contractor” from 2005 until he was fired…
Last week, a construction accident claimed the life of a subcontractor who was doing HVAC work for a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The 54-year-old worker was applying sealant to a ceiling duct when he apparently fell off the ladder, hitting his head on the concrete floor. There were no witnesses to the…
The parents of a worker who died in a construction site accident on I-495 in Lawrence, Massachusetts are campaigning for rules to improve workplace safety and prevent future accidents. The mother of Robert Augeri says that her son’s death could have been prevented if the truck that ran him over…
Last Thursday, the owner of a construction company was crushed and killed when a large metal silo collapsed on top of him. Ron Samford, 50, was tearing down the silo with two of his employees, according to the county sheriff’s chief. The company was hired to demolish a facility that…
In Peabody, Massachusetts, a transfer machine crushed the legs of a worker who was part of a highway repaving project on Route 128 south. According to Phil Jodoin, the resident engineer for MassHighway who was on the scene to oversee the project, the construction accident occurred at 10:30 on Monday…
Safety and health violations at a residential construction site in Woburn, Massachusetts have resulted in OSHA issuing $79,000 in proposed fines to a North Reading roofing contractor. After an OSHA inspection discovered employees working on a two-story roof without fall protection and with ladders that did not extend at least…
Following an inspection in response to chlorine gas leak at a North Attleboro, Massachusetts metal refining plant, OSHA has cited a Massachusetts company for 10 alleged serious violations of safety standards. The citations carry $46,500 in proposed fines. OSHA inspectors found the plant’s Process Safety Management (PSM) to be lacking.…