Rite-Hite introduces improvements to the Eclipse shelter, the first system to block light and seal gaps where previous enclosures have failed, providing a dark, environmentally-secure dock. “Loading dock enclosures are designed to create a barrier between interior and exterior environments,” says Kyle Justice, Product Manager. “But, even the best seals and shelters sometimes leave gaps. Gaps allow contaminants to enter your facility and expensive energy to escape.”

“Fugitive” natural gas and an error by local authorities were behind the April 17, 2017 explosion that destroyed a home in Colorado and killed two people. Those findings are from a brief recently released by the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigated the incident. The homeowner and a plumber who was working at the house died in the explosion, and two other residents were injured.

A series of workplace incidents in Indiana and Illinois last week claimed the lives of two workers and left another hospitalized. In Mooresville, Indiana, 22-year-old Sean Merrell died of blunt force injuries after being trapped in a machine he was cleaning that was re-energized before he could get out.

An Alabama newspaper publishing company is facing $145,858 in penalties after an OSHA investigation into an employee injury determined that the company has been exposing its workers to amputation hazards. The incident at BH Media’s Opelika, Alabama facility occurred when an employee suffered a finger amputation when their hand was caught in a stacking machine that unintentionally started while being serviced.

An OSHA investigation into the deaths of four employees of an Illinois chemical plant has resulted in more than a million dollars in proposed penalties against AB Specialty Silicones LLC. The company has been cited for a dozen willful federal safety violations in the explosion and fire at its Waukegan facility on May 3, 2019 that claimed the lives of four workers.

The Georgia facility at which a temporary employee was crushed to death by pallets last week has a history of safety violations and citations by OSHA. Fifty-nine-year-old Willie Bonner reportedly died at the Nichiha USA in Bibb County after a robotic arm knocked him onto a conveyer belt. OSHA is investigating the fatality.

A former manager at an Ohio manufacturing plant will be spending some weekends in jail on charges related to an employee fatality. His associate, another former manager at Extrudex Aluminum in North Jackson, Ohio, will have three months of home confinement. The U.S. District Court sentencing of Brian L. Carder and Paul Love came after each man pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice charges.

Residents of Merrimack Valley, Massachusetts will learn first-hand about the natural gas explosion that rocked their area last year from the federal agency that investigated the incident. In a community outreach event scheduled for this Friday, Oct. 25, at 3 p.m., the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will discuss the agency’s completed investigation of the Sept. 13, 2018 natural gas fueled explosions and fires.

An update released yesterday by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) into its investigation of an explosion and fire at a Philadelphia refinery earlier this year says the incident began with a pipe elbow that had corroded to about half the thickness of a credit card.