Articles Posted in Workplace Hazards

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 safety standards.

Among those hazards identified during OSHA’s inspection were locked exits, excess carbon monoxide levels from forklifts, lack of personal protective equipment for welders, untrained forklift operators, and numerous electrical safety issues. Those findings amounted to 31 serious citations and $43.750 in proposed penalties. The company also received three other-than-serious citations for not having an injury and illness log, dust masks, and forklift data plates.

According to OSHA’s area director for Boston and southeaster Massachusetts, these issues “need to be addressed effectively and continuously to prevent injuries and illnesses, and ensure the health and safety of the workers at this plant.”

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request a conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties.

Lack of Dust Masks, 33 Other Violations Found at Rubber Products Plant, OHSonline.com, April 28, 2009 Continue reading

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 Street in Fall River. The worker is at Charleton Hospital, where police say he is fighting for his life.

The truck accident is under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police truck team and the Fall River Police Department.

Head injuries can be especially serious and can result in permanent, life-altering damage in some cases. Many injured workers are not able to return to work after an accident because of permanently debilitating injuries. The cost of long-term care and the loss of financial support take their toll on the injured worker as well as his or her family.

Worker critical after falling off truck, WPRI.com, May 6, 2009 Continue reading

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 stairs, among other workplace hazards.

The section inspection was conducted in response to a manufacturing plant accident on December 23. Two workers sustained injuries when a 700-pound forging shot up in the air and hit them while they tried to free it from a malfunctioning die on a power press.

OSHA cited the company because it did not develop procedures to prevent the build-up and release of hazardous energy generated by the press. The company faces over $100,000 in proposed fines.

OSHA Proposes Fines for Serious Violations, Safety.BLR.com, March 20, 2009 Continue reading

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 on two charges of breaching health and safety regulations. The maximum fine for reach charge is $250,000. In addition, the company is required to $76,900 to reparation to the injured employee.

According to the Department of Labour counsel, the company’s health and safety policies were “ad hoc.” He claimed the company had inherited a health and safety manual from the company’s previous owner and lacked a process for identifying hazards. The company is about to be voluntarily liquidated but vowed it will make reparation payments to the workplace accident victim.

“I’m not sure how long it will take but it will certainly be made,” said a company director.

Record fine after workplace accident, Taranaki Daily News, March 12, 2009 Continue reading

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 fatalities, because it exposes workers to hazards such as potential explosions, fires, crane accidents, and falls. The death rate across all industries nationwide is much lower: 3.7. So far, there is no data available for 2008.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s website, “Fatality rates are higher when there is an increased number of active drilling and workover rigs. This is hypothesized to be a result of an increase in the proportion of inexperienced workers, longer working hours (more overtime) and the utilization of all available rigs (older equipment with fewer safeguards).”

For this reason, it is crucial that oil, gas, and construction companies make safety a high priority, both in worker training and day-to-day operations to prevent accidental injury or death.

Oil, gas industry has high fatality rate, February 22, 2009, Shreveport Times Continue reading

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 levels, but crews from New England Gas Co. told the firefighters they could leave.

Minutes later, a single-family house exploded, sending debris through the neighborhood and forcing 200 neighbors to evacuate. A firefighter and utility worker were both injured. The gas crews planned to dig into the street to check the leak, but they did not shut off the gas supply to the neighborhood.

According to the United States Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 323 people died and 1,341 were injured because of gas leaks or explosions between 1998 and 2008. In Massachusetts, six people died and 12 were injured from similar explosions during that same time frame. In December, a Scituate man died in a house explosion, and last month another man was severely injured in Gloucester. The recent spike in gas explosions raises concerns about the safety of Massachusetts workers and residents.

“I would say these explosions are early warning flags, if nothing else,” Stephen Connors, director of analysis at the MIT Energy Initiative, told the Boston Globe.

Before explosion, gas crew waved off help, Boston Globe, February 21, 2009 Continue reading

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 her free using a pocket knife. O’Leary also revived the injured worker using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

The worker, Stephani M. Carpluk, of Chicopee, spent three days in treatment for face and neck injuries at Baystate Medical Center before getting released from the hospital.

The Easthampton police have provided the Occupational Safety and Health Administration with pictures and reports of the car wash accident. OSHA said it plans to investigate.

OSHA to Investigate Carwash Choking Accident, ModernCarCare.com, February 12, 2009
Federal agency to investigate accident at Easthampton car wash that nearly strangled Chicopee worker, The Republican, February 11, 2009 Continue reading

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. Investigators say the truck’s front wheel hit a curb and flipped over an estimated four times. Both Martinez and his passenger were treated for minor injuries at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis.

An accident reconstruction report prompted police to cite Martinez for speeding, as well as failure to use caution at an intersection and operating a vehicle negligently, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of two years.

The date for Martinez’s arraignment at Orleans District Court has not been set.

Massachusetts Firefighter Cited in Ladder Truck Crash, CMS.Firehouse.com, November 18, 2008 Continue reading

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 feet at a Pembroke, Massachusetts worksite in June.

During the investigation, representatives from OSHA found construction workers performing steel erection work at heights of 20 feet without proper fall protection. Because OSHA’s standard requires use of an effective form of fall protection, like lanyard and safety belts, the contractor received a willful citation with a proposed fine of $28,000.

Other potential worker hazards included a lack of ladder safety training, damaged welding leads, lack of training on how to operate and recognize hazards related to aerial lifts, and other serious safety violations totaling $27,600 in fines. The contractor has 15 business days to meet with OSHA or contest the citations.

OSHA proposes $55,600 in fines against Marshfield, Mass., contractor following employee fall at Pembroke, Mass., jobsite, HR.CCH.com, November 5, 2008 Continue reading

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 projects into a three-tiered system and allowed for the use of civilian flaggers in lieu of police officers in some areas. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who issued the new rules, said that police officers are not needed at all roadside construction sites and that the old system added unnecessary expense. Police officers earn $30-45 per hour, which flaggers are paid about $15-26 per hour.

The protestors parked on a state highway and entered a posted work zone, which are both illegal. They interrupted the work of a road maintenance crew and heckled the flaggers. One officer went so far as to drive down the street against the flow of traffic, claiming a flagger had misdirected him. The off-duty officers were instructed to stay out of the way of the crews clearing catch basins.

Mass. police officers protest civilian flaggers, Associated Press, October 8, 2008 Continue reading