Personal fall protection systems such as harnesses can be a lifesaver for those who continually or occasionally work at heights. However, if it isn't in good shape, you could be putting your life in a risky situation. It is important to inspect your fall protection gear prior to every use. Always follow the recommendations of … Continue reading “Are You Inspecting Your Body Harness Regularly & Properly?” #FallProtection
OSHA will delay enforcement of the respirable crystalline silica standard for construction until September 23, 2017, to conduct additional outreach and provide educational materials and guidance for employers. See the memorandum. Rule requires engineering controls to keep workers from breathing silica dust The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a final rule to curb … Continue reading “OSHA’s Final Rule to Protect Workers from Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica”
Another thought provoking read and a history lesson on how workers had to fight to remove obstacles to a safer workplace.
by Phil La Duke
Over the past weeks, I’ve gotten a lot of flack from some wonderfully helpful salt of the earth readers who, citing my less than positive tone of my introduction stopped reading. So this week I am making every effort to avoid offending these precious snowflakes so that they can feel at home reading my blog.
Let me begin by saying that all is well in the world of safety. As far as I can tell we’ve climbed the mountain, to quote Walt Whitman “the ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won”. Not only have we eliminated workplace fatalities, no one anywhere in the world is so much as at RISK of being injured. Congratulations all around. Really you’ve all done a top-shelf job.
Okay, I’ll stop. I just had to get one last jab in at the people who, unable to construct…
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OSHA Cites South Dakota Company After Worker Buried in Trench Collapse EMERY, SD – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited First Dakota Enterprises Inc., for failing to protect its workers from trench collapse hazards. The Fort Pierre-based company faces proposed penalties of $95,064. On May 23, 2017, a 34-year-old … Continue reading “OSHA Cites South Dakota Company After Worker Buried in Trench Collapse” #TrenchSafety
Important Update from the Great Folks at “MSHA Law Updates from the MSHA Practice Group at Conn Maciel Carey”
While it remains to be seen whether a formal presidential appointee will be tapped to run the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the Trump Administration finally made an influx of leadership decisions for the agency. 
The Department of Labor announced that Wayne Palmer, former Chief of Staff to Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, is now the acting head of MSHA. Palmer’s replacement at the Department of Labor, Nicholas Geale (who is also the Department’s acting Solicitor), stated that Palmer is from Pennsylvania and has “mining in his family’s background.” However, it is not readily apparent if he has any professional experience working with the mining industry. Palmer’s political experience includes working for Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and George Voinovich (R-OH), as well as lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry.
It is still believed the administration will nominate an appointee to serve as permanent Assistant Secretary for MSHA…
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Theresa O’Hare raged last December at the owner of the Blue Springs plumbing company that employed her son, “D.J.” Relatives held her back from Arrow Plumbing LLC. owner Ricky Smith as firefighters worked for hours to retrieve the body of 33-year-old Donald J. Meyer from the bottom of a 12-foot trench that lacked the required shoring to … Continue reading “Contractor Buried In Trench In Belton, Kansas – Arrow Plumbing Fined $700,000 By OSHA For Continued Violations”
By Phil La Duke
I have written a lot about the danger of safety professionals so convinced in the rightness of their cause that they find any disagreement a threat. Their feelings for their profession have surpassed passion and have drifted solidly into fanaticism. They are safety jihadists, and like all jihadists they are dangerous; they cannot be reasoned with nor can they be swayed from their zealotry. The life a life of singularity of purpose and anyone who dares disagree with them are at risk. One of my readers commented that I rail against these safety extremists and yet here I am week after week the insulation that I too was a fanatic hanging in the air like the victim of a lynching pecked clean by crows, but I am no fanatic.
That having been said, I feel strongly that change is necessary, that safety as a function has…
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Recognizing and knowing how to avoid the OSHA Focus Four Hazards may be the most important thing you learn in your OSHA training courses. These “Fatal Four” are the four most common causes of fatalities in the workplace.To help highlight the importance of recognizing these dangers and having clear workplace safety procedures to avoid them, … Continue reading “Avoid the OSHA Focus Four Hazards” -“Infographic”
eCompliance, a leading provider of safety management solutions, will host the first-ever conference designed to provide EHS leaders with a platform to challenge the status quo and shape the next chapter in EHS management. NXT 2017: The Future of EHS will be held at the Sonesta Bee Cave in Austin, Texas between October 11-12, and … Continue reading “NXT 2017: The Future Of EHS – October 11-12, 2017 In Austin, Texas” #EHS #Conference
A Wisconsin man who came perilously close to death after accidentally shooting a nail into his heart while working on his house calmly drove himself to the hospital and parked his pickup truck in the lot before walking into the emergency room. (Aug. 16) GREEN BAY, Wis. -- A Wisconsin man who doctors say came … Continue reading “Man Accidentally Shoots Nail Into Heart, Drives Himself To Hospital” #NailGun #Safety
