Crane accident being contested

• The operators of a Harbor Bridge project crane that malfunctioned and burned in Texas last year are challenging four fines totaling $62,500 levied by OSHA.
• The four fines were imposed last month against Flatiron/Dragados, LLC after debris from the accident flowed into a work zone below the tower crane and interrupted a Corpus Christi Hooks minor-league baseball game.
• The accident injured the wife of a visiting baseball player when debris from an 18,000-pound concrete bucket smashed into the ground below as part of the crane caught fire.
• OSHA deemed the incident a serious violation because there was a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from negligence.
  Read more

Safety Board wants more OSHA oversight on combustible dust

• The Chemical Safety Board renewed its call on OSHA to begin rulemaking on a general industry standard related to combustible dust,
• CSB recently released a final report for an explosion and fire at the Didion Milling dry corn mill in Cambria, Wisconsin, where five workers were killed and 14 were injured.
• CSB investigators found that the company neglected to develop and implement a written program on combustible grain dust, and failed to install venting or suppression on a dust filter collector to prevent an explosion.
• However, the agency notes that Didion Milling wasn’t required to enact various safety management systems because OSHA lacks an overarching general industry standard for combustible dust.
  Read more

Auto parts worker suffers burns in Michigan

• An auto parts worker was burned and airlifted to the University of Michigan hospital after an explosion and fire at the Meridian Magnesium Products factory in Eaton Rapids.
• The worker, Mark Gillespie, was reported to be in stable condition after he was burned on 50 percent of his head and body in the incident.
• Meridian — a global manufacturer of die-cast automotive parts with 1,600 employees worldwide based in Strathroy, Ontario — has not stated the cause of the accident.
• The Meridian factory has been cited 18 times by OSHA for safety violations, the majority of which are labeled “serious.”
  Read more

Poultry processor cited in teen worker’s death

• OSHA has proposed $212,646 in penalties to a poultry processing plant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, that has allegedly disregarded safety standards that have led to a worker’s death after he was pulled into a machine.
• Investigators found that a contract worker employed by Onin Staffing, LLC was performing a deep clean of the deboning area at the Mar-Jac Poultry MS, LLC plant. While sanitizing the still-energized machine, the teen was caught in the rotating shaft and sprockets and pulled in, sustaining fatal injuries.
• OSHA found that – despite a manager’s supervision in and around the area before and during the fatal incident – lockout/tagout procedures were not utilized to disconnect power to the machine and a lockout/tagout device was not used to prevent the machine from unintentionally starting during the cleaning.
• The agency cited Mar-Jac Poultry with 14 serious and three other-than-serious violations. It is the second time in just over two years the plant disregarded safety standards that led to a worker’s death,
  Read more