“There is no worse place … to be than on Page 1, above the fold in your daily newspaper.” Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency When high profile disasters happen, incidents with a lot of media coverage, I’ve noticed that news organizations make a point of reporting how many OSHA citations [...]
“Have you ever noticed when something bad happens, people automatically look for someone to blame?” Amy Roberts I’m not a structural engineer, which means that I’m not qualified to comment on what went wrong when the pedestrian bridge at Florida International University collapsed on Thursday, March 15, 2018. I didn’t work on the design or [...]
“If you put good people in bad systems, you get bad results. You have to water the flowers you want to grow.” Stephen Covey When you think of workplace safety, what comes to mind? We tend to associate safety with hardhats and safety glasses. However, workplace safety is influenced by factors beyond the proper use [...]
“We did not choose to be the guardians of the gate, but there is no one else.” – Lyndon B. Johnson In LOPA, the role of people can be broken down into three categories: Victims, villains, and heroes. Access control serves not only to reduce the number of victims but also restrict access for villains. [...]
“Issuance of this Citation does not constitute a finding that a violation of the Act has occurred.” —from OSHA Citation and Notification of Penalty On October 29, 2011, a grain elevator explosion in Atchison, Kansas killed six men—four employees and two grain inspectors. OSHA cited the Bartlett Grain Company’s facility and proposed a fine of [...]
“The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month.” Fyodor Dostoevsky OSHA does not require fire extinguishers. Not in most work places. The fire extinguishers that are in most work places are there because of insurance requirements. To use a fire extinguisher requires going [...]
On July 31st, the Department of Labor (DOL) submitted seven OSHA sponsored information collection requests (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval titled: "Rigging Equipment for Material Handling," "Hydrostatic Testing Provision of the Portable Fire Extinguishers Standard," "Requirements for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Training Institute Education Centers [...]
Just when you were getting used to the new levels of fines from OSHA, they’ve increased again. The Federal Register just published new fines for the Department of Labor, including new fines for OSHA. The fines for willful violations will increase 1.64%, from $124,709 to $126,749, while the maximum penalty for most citations will go [...]
“Two Nebraska workers have lost their lives in 2016 in the grain handling industry and far too many preventable fatalities and injuries continue to occur.” Jeff Funke, OSHA area director-Greater Omaha Area The Bureau Labor of Statistics attributes workplace injuries and illnesses to one of seven events or exposures. One of the seven, overexertion, is [...]
“If all employers simply corrected the top 10 hazards, we are confident the number of deaths, amputations and hospitalizations would drastically decline.” Tom Galassi, director of enforcement programs for OSHA About this time every year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration publishes its top 10 list of regulatory violations and the Bureau of Labor Statistics [...]
