Mitigating employee’s exposure to chemicals
- NIOSH describes phosphine as a colorless, flammable, and explosive gas at room temperature and small amounts occur naturally in the environment.
- Factory workers that make electronics, workers in plants that make rat poison and pest control workers who use it for the control of rats can be exposed to phosphine.
- Early symptoms of acute phosphine intoxication include pain in the diaphragm, nausea, vomiting, excitement and a phosphorus smell on the breath.
- OSHA has set limits to phosphine exposure and maintains regulatory compliance through testing, monitoring, consulting and training services.
Family Dollar in Ohio fined by OSHA
- Family Dollar was fined more than $1.2 million in penalties related to safety violations at two Ohio stores, OSHA announced.
- Family Dollar stores in Columbus and Maple Heights had blocked exits, unstable stacks of goods, cluttered working areas and inaccessible electrical equipment and fire extinguishers.
- The agency found water-soaked ceiling tiles” had fallen to the floor on at least two occasions in close proximity to employees at the Columbus location.
- The agency found 11 violations between the two stores, adding to more than 300 total violations by Family Dollar and its parent company, Dollar Tree, over the last five years.
Georgia poultry firm faces fines
- Pilgrim’s Pride, a poultry processing company in Canton, Ga., faces fines of $110,000 after an ammonia leak hospitalized two workers.
- OSHA found the uncontrolled temperature and pressure conditions on an ammonia refrigeration system contributed to the release of ammonia.
- Liquid and vapor ammonia were dispersed in the air and engulfed the emergency exit doors that discharged outside. In addition to the hospitalized workers, one worker was treated on the scene.
- OSHA issued nine serious citations for inadequately implementing and maintaining the process safety management program and proposed $110,000 in fines
Teamsters want a safety plan from UPS
- The Teamsters Union wants UPS to provide information on any plan the company has to protect employees, combat heat illness, and install or replace relief equipment for workers amid increasingly extreme weather conditions.
- The 1.2 million-member Teamsters, which represents 350,000 full- and part-time UPS workers, sent the formal request to UPS management.
- The international union’s Safety and Health Department instructed the shipping and logistics giant to provide a heat illness and injury prevention plan.
- The union also wants UPS to address hazard assessments for all job classifications, training materials or procedures the company provides its own managers.