Maine worker fatally pinned under street sweeper
A 57-year-old construction worker was killed Friday in Yarmouth, Maine, when he became pinned under a street sweeper that backed over him. Fed-OSHA is investigating. WABI (Bangor, Maine)
Crane company blames high winds for fatal Dallas collapse
The owner of the crane that fatally crashed through a Dallas apartment building during a June 9 storm maintains high winds caused the collapse and that the crane operator followed proper procedure. Although the crane is supposed to withstand wind speeds of up to 95 miles per hour, a crane expert unaffiliated with the investigation has said that video of the collapse indicates operator error. A 29-year-old woman, who was in her apartment when the crane collapsed, was killed and five other people were injured, two critically. Dallas Morning News
Two Ohio employees electrically shocked by small crane
Two people received electric shocks on Tuesday in Clark County, Ohio, apparently due to an electrical short in a small overhead crane. The first employee grabbed a steel part of a truck and felt the current. The second employee reportedly did not receive the same amount of current. Fed-OSHA was notified. WHIO (Dayton, Ohio) [with video]
Ohio manufacturer fined $106K after machine breaks employee’s arm
Fed-OSHA has cited a cited an aluminum can manufacturing company for one repeat and three serious safety violations, and fined it approximately $106,000, after an employee suffered a broken arm while servicing a machine at its Napoleon, Ohio, facility. Investigators found the company failed to lock out the machine. Richland Source
New Jersey construction worker injured in fall
A 35-year-old man was injured Wednesday in a fall of about 12 feet at a Linden, New Jersey construction site. Fed-OSHA in investigating. MyCentralJersey [with video]
MSHA chief: No fast-track of silica limits, despite black lung
Government research and reports from black lung disease clinics in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky show the incidence of black lung rebounding despite decades-old safety measures that had almost eradicated the progressive respiratory disease. However, on Thursday, David Zatezalo, chief of the Mine Safety Health Administration, said there are no plans to fast-track new limits for coal miner exposure to silica dust. Physician’s Weekly
The growing problem of workplace fatigue
Studies indicate 13 percent of workplace injuries are attributed to fatigue and 43 percent of American workers say they sometimes are too tired to function safely at their job. Fatigue is estimated to cost employers more than $136 billion annually in health-related lost productivity. advantage
Worker killed at Indiana energy plant
IOSHA is investigating after a 42-year-old contractor died Wednesday as a result of of multiple traumatic injuries following an industrial accident at a Valero plant in Bluffton, Indiana. He reportedly was performing maintenance on a large auger at the time. According to documents filed with the agency, the company received two serious safety violations nearly four months prior to the incident. Times Gazette