In the first case study, an electrician was working on a circuit breaker panel that he thought was deenergized. After completing the work, the electrician was closing one of the enclosure doors when an arc flash occurred.
Electricity can cause two types of burns: electrical burns from direct contact with current and thermal burns from arc flashes and blasts. An arc flash occurs when powerful, high-amperage currents travel, or arc, through the air. This can occur when high voltage differences exist across a gap between conductors.
The fatal explosion earlier this month at a Wisconsin corn mill shows the need for increased enforcement of safety laws and regulations, according to an advocacy group, which points to a history of violations at the workplace.
NIOSH has led a research program focused on small business safety and health for more than two decades because we know workers in small businesses are injured and killed on the job at a higher rate than workers in larger businesses. Over the years, we have expanded our research focus from identifying small businesses in high-risk sectors to understanding how community networks affect worker safety and health.
Do Not Pass go: The New York Times reports that “the owner of two Brooklyn construction companies was charged with manslaughter on Wednesday because the authorities said he ignored complaints about a poorly maintained retaining wall that collapsed at a work site in 2015, killing an 18-year-old laborer and injuring two others.”
Automotive steel manufacturer Republic Steel faces $279,578 in proposed penalties OSHA after agency investigators found workers at its Canton plant exposed to machine hazards and lead.
OSHA has announced that it is not accepting electronic submissions of injury and illness logs “at this time.” The agency also says it intends to propose extending the July 1, 2017 date by which certain employers are required to submit the information from their completed 2016 Form 300A electronically. The effective date for the new rule was already delayed from January 1, 2017.
Last week wasn’t a good one for New York City’s construction industry, which has come under increasing criticism for taking safety shortcuts under pressure from high-end developers eager to capitalize on the city’s building boom.
An administrative law judge with the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has ruled that two Massachusetts contractors - A.C. Castle Construction Co. Inc. and Daryl Provencher, doing business as Provencher Home Improvements - were operating as a single employer at a Wenham worksite when three employees were injured in October 2014.
The personal and economic toll of eye injuries at work is alarming. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 20,000 workplace eye injuries happen each year. Injuries on the job often require one or more missed work days for recovery. In fact, OSHA reports that workplace eye injuries cost an estimated $300 million a year in lost productivity, medical treatment and worker compensation.
