Falling biggest hazards in the workplace
- OSHA released its preliminary Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards for the fiscal year 2022.
- The top three are: Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501): 5,260 violations; Hazard Communication (1910.1200): 2,424 and Respiratory Protection (1910.134): 2,185.
- Coming in at 4-6 are: Ladders (1926.1053): 2,143; Scaffolding (1926.451): 2,058 and Lockout/Tagout (1910.147): 1,977.
- Rounding out the top 10 are: Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178): 1,749; Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1926.503): 1,556; Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection (1926.102): 1,401; and Machine Guarding (1910.212): 1,370.
Highway Department employee killed
- A Hendricks County, Indianapolis, Highway Department employee was killed in a construction accident Wednesday.
- Emergency responders were called to a fatal accident near County Road 450S, which is close to County Road 675W.
- The Hendricks County Highway Department was working near that intersection with a large piece of equipment used for excavating ditches along roadways.
- While the machinery was backing up, police say 61-year-old David Appleby stepped behind the equipment and was killed.
OSHA postpones safety meeting
- OSHA postponed a stakeholder meeting on possible changes to the agency’s process safety management standard.
- The meeting will be held on Oct. 12. Written comments must be submitted by November 14.
- An OSHA rulemaking to update the agency’s PSM standard to address the risks of major chemical accidents is one of the agency’s six economically significant rulemakings.
- The others are communications tower safety, emergency response, infectious diseases, a tree care industry standard, and workplace violence in health care and social assistance.
Demolition company faces $1.2M in fines
- A heavy equipment operator was on his first day on the job in Boston when the partially demolished floor collapsed, and the 11,000-pound excavator and its operator fell 80 feet.
- An OSHA inspection found that Brockton-based contractor JDC Demolition Company. Inc. failed to adequately train its workers on the demolition plan and safety management system to help them recognize and avoid unsafe conditions.
- The deceased worker never received a safety briefing and was not trained to follow the engineer’s demolition plan.
- OSHA cited the company for eight egregious-willful violations, two serious violations and one other than serious violation of workplace safety standards and proposed a total of $1,191,292 in penalties.