Safety Culture Plus

(Source: The Register-Herald)By Mannix Porterfield, The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.

Mar. 21–CHARLESTON — Industrial accidents must be reported to 911 emergency centers within 15 minutes under an administration-sought bill passed Friday by the Senate.

Failure to meet the 15-minute time frame could bring a penalty of up to $100,000, the bill says.

There was no floor debate on the measure, one that Gov. Joe Manchin sought in his State of the State message.

Manchin explained he wanted to broaden the obligation of industrial complexes to get emergency personnel to the scene of an incident as quickly as possible so that current law it isn’t restricted exclusively to coal production.

"Obviously, we tweaked it a little bit from the one the governor initially introduced," said Sen. Mike Green, D-Raleigh, chairman of the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee.

"It’s a good piece of legislation. I think it ensures the public safety as a result of any accidents. It’s going to require corporations and companies to cooperate with 911 emergency personnel to ensure that public safety is a priority."

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Senate Votes to Approve Quick Industrial Accident Reporting

This will be a great presentation that everyone in the safety arena should see/hear.  It will provide a great overview of what the new administration will be expecting from workplace enforcement.  These 3 slides of the 24 slides are just a snippet of the presentation.  Nathan Crutchfield of Crutchfield Consulting and I wanted to highlight 2 particular slides, which are presented here.  I have circled the issues that will be discussed in the Webinar.  You will they have to do with Job Safety Analysis, PPE assessment, and some management accountability.  There are 2 books on the market that can help any safety professional or the newbie just starting out with these issues.  You will see the reference and a link to the book at the bottom of this post.  Enjoy!!! and as always looking for feedback.

RP news wires

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited LandCoast Insulation Inc. for three alleged safety violations following six injuries and one employee fatality last November when a scaffold collapsed inside a boiler at Mississippi Power’s Plant Daniel in Moss Point, Miss.
OSHA is issuing one willful violation with a $63,000 proposed penalty for substituting weaker, horizontal scaffold components in 14 locations. The agency defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

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Contractor cited following fatality at Miss. power plant

OSHA has cited St. Louis, Mo.-based G.S. Robins & Co., doing business as Ro-Corp Inc., for alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of federal workplace safety standards, proposing more than $1.2 million in penalties for numerous violations relating to the handling of hazardous chemicals at the company’s facility in East St. Louis.

OSHA began an inspection at the East St. Louis site after learning that employees had been admitted to several local hospitals following contamination with an unknown powder. The eight hospitalized individuals, OSHA later learned, were exposed to the chemical para-nitroaniline (PNA). PNA is a poison that causes methemoglobinemia, a condition that reduces the blood’s ability to transport oxygen. The employees had been performing a chemical transfer operation at the East St. Louis worksite when chemical dust was released, settling on work surfaces and on the employees.

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OSHA proposes more than $1.2 million penalty to St. Louis area chemical repackaging and distribution company – 03/27/09

By MARGARET BAKER – mbbaker@sunherald.com

JACKSON COUNTY — Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have imposed more than $70,000 in fines against a New Iberia-based contract company for safety violations related to a scaffolding collapse at Mississippi Power’s Plant Daniels in November that left one contract worker dead and six others injured.

In a statement Thursday, OSHA officials said that they were assessing a total $72,000 in fines against the industrial service company, LandCoast Insulation Inc., for three different safety violations.

The contract workers were working on scaffolding in Plant Daniel’s not-yet operational boiler house where coal would typically be used to generate power when the accident happened on Nov. 4. One worker died and six others were injured and treated at area hospitals.

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Company fined $70K for scaffold

In a warehouse, collisions are more than costly, they can even be deadly.

But just how dangerous are they? Lift truck accidents currently account for only about 1% of industrial accidents, but they are responsible for a massive 10% of the physical injuries. ForkLift trucks cause nearly 10,000 injuries a year. Typically, lift truck incidents cost American companies over $135 million a year.

1998 OSHA training standards attempt to rectify the disproportionate number of injuries and damage lift trucks cause with training. Safety authorities agree that better operator training will help, but there are other ways to reduce the potential for injuries, death, and damage.

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Forklift Trucks, Know The Risks And How To Manage Them To Avoid Accidents

Last Update: 3/26 3:04 pm

The scene at Airworks on Shephard Lane on March 26, 2009. (Dan Cavins, WKRC-TV)

A man was hurt an industrial accident in Lockland this morning.
Crews were called to Airworks in the 600 block of Shephard Lane around 10:10 a.m. 
The man was working on the braking system of a semi trailer. The vehicle rolled forward, wedging the man against the wheel, but did not roll over him.

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Man Injured in Industrial Accident in Lockland – :: Cincinnati news story :: LOCAL 12 WKRC-TV in Cincinnati