Articles Posted in Workplace Safety

The president of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), Daryl Hill, took part in an international assembly of occupational health and safety professionals in Saudi Arabia Monday and Tuesday, according to WorkersCompensation.com. Hill met with many ASSE members and conducted a presentation on contactor safety management.

The meeting was sponsored by Saudi Aramco and was entitled, “A safer you, a safer me.” It featured presentations from contractor-safety experts from all over the globe, including IOSH president Steve Granger, ARAMCO senior vice president Abdulrahman Al-Wuhaib, and NEBOSH chief executive Teresa Budworth.

ASSE is the oldest professional safety organization. It was founded in 1911 and has more than 30,000 members. In November, several ASSE members met with Chinese authorities from the State Administration of Work Safety and China Occupational Safety and Health Association.

International dialogue like this is an opportunity to gain new approaches to and strategies for occupational health and safety. Unfortunately, in Massachusetts and elsewhere, workers continue to be hurt on the job on a regular basis. If you have been injured at work, call a Massachusetts workers’ compensation attorney today.

Sources:
WorkersCompensation.com, ASSE President Participates in International Meeting on Work Safety

EHS Today, ASSE Members Meet Chinese Officials to Discuss Workplace Safety and Health

IOSH.co.uk, IOSH Saudi Arabia Conference
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Although this blog frequently reports on Massachusetts construction accidents and similar hazards, construction workers are not the only ones to face serious hazards in the workplace. In fact, the service industries account for 70% of all on-the-job illnesses or injuries (that’s 1 in 1.43 incidents). That’s compared to just 1 in 62.44 non-fatal workplace accidents in the information industry and 1 in 32.69 in the financial industry.

The highest proportion of workplace deaths, 1 in 2.46, is caused by transportation accidents such as bus, subway, or trolley accidents. Surprisingly, only 1 in 36.34 workplace deaths are caused by fires and explosions.

But regardless of the industry, workplace accidents can result in serious injuries or death. That’s why it’s important for all employers to take responsibility for workplace safety. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration monitors potential hazards and issues fines and citations to companies that fail to comply with safety standards.

Source: Workplace Safety, Book of Odds, October 17, 2010 Continue reading

While climbing a scaffold at a Brookline, Massachusetts job site, an employee of a masonry contractor fell 30 feet. After the fall accident, when OSHA inspectors visited the job site, they found that it lacked a ladder or other safe means of accessing its upper levels. They also discovered that the contracting company had not provided workers with fall protection while working on the scaffold. Safety regulations require employers to provide fall protection for each employees on a scaffold that is higher than 10 feet above a lower level.

As a result of these alleged unsafe conditions, OSHA issued two willful citations against the masonry company, totaling $56,000 in proposed fines. OSHA also determined that the scaffold was not fully planked and that workers were at risk for electrocution, because the scaffold was located less than 18 inches from uninsulated and energized power lines. The company also received two serious citations in $5,600 in proposed fines.

The Weymouth-based company faces $61,600 total in proposed fines and has fifteen business days from receipt of the citations to comply, contest the findings, or take part in an informal conference with OSHA’s area director.

Source: OSHA Fines Contractor $61,000 Following Worker’s 30-Foot Fall, OHSonline.com, May 27, 2010 Continue reading

Following complaints filed to OSHA by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, Tufts Medical Center has agreed to pay $5,000 to settle issues in record-keeping. OSHA cited the hospital for failing to properly record employee injuries that occurred on the job, including back strains, broken thumbs, needle-stick injuries, and cuts from sharp objects.

The Nurses Association distributed a press release several weeks ago saying the hospital showed a lack of concern for the health and safety of its workers. The union also picketed the hospital earlier this year to protest changes in nurses’ staffing patterns.

In response, the hospital issued a statement saying the incomplete employee injury logs were caused by recent changes in recording requirements. They also say the employee injury logs were corrected soon after OSHA notified them of the omissions.

Source: Tufts Medical Center to pay $5,000 to settle record-keeping issue with OSHA, Patriot Ledger, April 30, 2010 Continue reading

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has compiled data on work-related injuries and illnesses since 1996. Now the agency has made that information public through a searchable online database which allows people to look at company and industry-specific data on injury and illness.

The data is used by OSHA to calculate illness and injury incidence rates. These rates inform OSHA’s strategic plan and allow the agency to focus its Site Specific Targeting (SST) Program. According to the Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, making this information public is part of the presidential administration’s commitment to transparency.

Users can go to Data.gov or OSHA.gov to view an establishment’s name, address, associated Total Case Rate (TCR), Days Away from Work (DAFWII) case rate, and other information. However, the database does not include rates calculated by OSHA for companies submitted unreliable or questionable dadta.

Source: OSHA releases workplace injury and illness data, ReliablePlant.com, January, 2010 Continue reading

A Methuen-based contractor has received 23 citations with proposed fines of $166,950 from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for trench safety hazards at two Massachusetts worksites, one in Quincy and one in Lynnfield. OSHA’s citations include alleged willful, serious, and other-than-serious violations of safety standards.

During inspections, OSHA discovered workers at both locations who were exposed to cave-in hazards while working in trenches more than 6 feet deep. In Quincy, the workers were also exposed to struck-by hazards from material stored at a trench’s edge, and the trench was missing a safe means of exit. In addition, access ladders were damaged or misused, and OSHA found an incomplete injuries and illnesses log.

The contractor has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, contest the findings, or participate in an informal conference with OSHA’s area director.

Source: Contractor Cited for Treacherous Trenching, OHSonline.com, January 29, 2010 Continue reading

Last year, OSHA cited a Framingham, Massachusetts-based company after an aerial lift accident injured one employee and killed an employee for another roofing contractor. This incident and several other roofing accidents highlight the need for better safety training.

That’s why the American Work Platform Training (AWPT) subsidiary of the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) is launching free warning stickers that ask if the operator has been properly trained in the operation of that equipment. The stickers are to be placed on an aerial work platform (AWP) or mast climbing work platform (MCWP), both of which require safety training prior to use.

AWPT also offers free stickers that remind operators to wear a full body harness with a short lanyard in boom type platforms. In addition, the organization distributes Technical Guidance Note H1 that explains the ANSI requirements for personal fall protection in boom-supported work platforms. The hope is that these materials will improve safety awareness and reduce the number of construction accidents related to lack of training.

Source: AWPT stickers could help prevent more accidents, Access International, January 12, 2010 Continue reading