Advocacy group wants tighter OSHA enforcement
- Public Citizen based in Austin, Texas, wants OSHA to create an interim rule that would set temporary guidelines for employers regarding such things as water, breaks, and shade requirements.
- Heat exposure is responsible for an average of 2,000 worker fatalities in the U.S. annually, and the dangers of heat stress are absorbed by low-income workers.
- The lowest-paid 20% of workers suffer five times as many heat-related injuries as the highest-paid 20%
- At least 50,000 injuries and illnesses could be avoided in the U.S. each year with an effective OSHA heat standard.
Read more
OSHA’s enforcement of amputations
- OSHA’s National Emphasis Program deals with the enforcement and outreach to address amputation hazards across several manufacturing industries.
- The industries targeted by the NEP include fabricated metal products, food, furniture and related products, machinery, nonmetallic mineral products, paper, plastics and rubber, primary metals, transportation equipment, and wood products.
- OSHA cited United Hospital Supply Corp. of Burlington, New Jersey, after an employee on his first day at work suffered the amputation of three fingers while operating a press brake without required safety guards over the past month.
- During an inspection under OSHA’s amputations NEP, an agency compliance safety and health officer (CSHO) will begin with an opening conference and a review of OSHA 300 logs and OSHA 301 incident reports for the previous three years.
Read more
Personal protective equipment market on the rise
- The market for personal protective equipment (PPE) will capture a CAGR of 6.1% from 2022 to 2030, reaching $94.17 billion by 2030, according to a report by MRFR/Market Research Future (MRFR).
- An OSHA report shows The usage of personal protective equipment is anticipated to increase in end-use industries like chemical, construction, pharmaceutical, and healthcare.
- Workers are now required to wear personal protective equipment in order to safeguard people from workplace risks or fatality rates that are on the rise.
- The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers reports that the number of fatal accidents decreased by 8% and that the number of fatalities in the oil and gas sector decreased from 33% in 2017 to 31% in 2018.
Read more
OSHA investigating scaffolding collapse at hospital
- Three construction workers were taken to the hospital following a scaffolding collapse at the site of the new Sanford Orthopedic Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
- OSHA is investigating the collapse, according to a May 25 report from ABC affiliate Dakota News Now.
- The agency’s compliance officers are interviewing the injured employees’ employers, Minnesota-based Northland Concrete and Masonry Company and general contractor Henry Carlson.
- The investigation could take up to six months.
Read more