Today's Safety News - Articles - Page 166

Milliken & Company named to 2019 World’s Most Ethical Companies List

Global manufacturer receives prestigious Ethisphere Institute honor for 13th consecutive year

February 26, 2019

Aligning values-based business practices with an ever-present culture of integrity fuels continued success for Milliken & Company, a global manufacturer with expertise in specialty chemicals, floor covering, and performance and protective textiles. Today, the company was named among the 2019 World's Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

OSHA’s position on incentives

Agency clarifies that rate-based programs OK if reporting is encouraged

Dave Johnson

February 26, 2019

No, OSHA has not banned safety incentive programs. In fact, on October 11, 2018, agency regional administrators received a memo from Kim Stille, acting director of enforcement programs, which walks back the Obama administration OSHA’s more hard line stance on safety incentive programs. Even under former agency head Dr. David Michaels, OSHA never out-and-out “banned” incentive / reward programs. Michaels and his leadership team took a tougher line on incentive / reward programs that retaliated against or punished workers for reporting work-related injuries or illness.

Could a dropped Thermos bottle have caused deadly bus accident?

February 25, 2019

A dropped Thermos bottle lodged between the brake and accelerator pedals could not be ruled out as a possible cause for the fatal 2017 collision between two buses in Flushing, New York, according to a report released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). On Sept. 18, 2017, at 6:16 a.m., a motorcoach operated by Dahlia Group Inc. collided with a New York City Transit Authority bus at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and Main Street in Flushing. The motorcoach was traveling 60 mph — twice the posted speed limit.

A FairWarning Story

Deaths mount from high-speed police pursuits, despite calls to restrict them

Thomas Frank

February 22, 2019

The high-speed chase through residential streets in Evansville, Indiana ended badly, as police pursuits often do. A Chevy Impala, which police mistakenly thought had been stolen, blasted through a stop sign at 74 mph and smashed into the passenger side of a PT Cruiser crossing the intersection. A young family was inside.

ACGIH® Board names Frank Mortl III, CAE as Executive Director

February 21, 2019

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH®) announced today the appointment of Frank Mortl III, CAE as Executive Director of the association. ACGIH® is a 501(c)(3) charitable scientific organization that advances occupational and environmental health. For over 80 years, the group has been highly respected around the world for their dedication to the OEHS community.

safety investigations, root cause analysis

Improve your investigation skills

Recommendations should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely

Ed Perz, PE

February 21, 2019

Good investigators understand what their biases are and work to control them while in investigation mode. Adopt the persona of a sports referee—the neutral arbitrator, without a stake in the outcome.

OSHA trainer caught selling fake training cards

February 20, 2019

A certified OSHA trainer who plead guilty to selling fake OSHA training cards faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. According to the Department of Justice, training agent Mark Dropal sold more than 100 fraudulent training cards for about $200 each to carpenters in New York and New Jersey between Feb. 21 and March 11, 2018.

Inspector with clipboard and hardhat image

What hiring managers are looking for in EHS grads

February 20, 2019

Want to enhance your chances of getting hired as an EHS generalist – also known as an environmental health and safety multidisciplinary professional? In addition to the necessary education, make sure your communication skills – both oral and written – are well developed. That’s one of the conclusions in a white paper just released by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), one that focuses on the hiring requirements and expectations from stakeholders for recent EHS generalist graduates.

CSB IDs cause of 2016 Pascagoula gas plant explosion

February 20, 2019

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has released its final report of the June 27, 2016, investigation of an explosion and fire at the Enterprise Products Pascagoula Gas Plant in Pascagoula, MS. The CSB determined that the probable cause was a phenomenon known as thermal fatigue. The CSB also issued recommendations to two trade associations and local emergency responders.

Company fined for lack of hazardous energy training

February 19, 2019

A 54-year-old worker died after he fell into a vat of sulfuric acid at a South Lyon-based steel manufacturing firm (Michigan) in what is being described as a "serious industrial accident." The man was fully submerged in the 10 percent to 12 percent sulfuric acid solution as his Michigan Seamless Tube co-workers worked desperately to pull him from the industrial container, burning themselves from the at least 160-degree chemical solution, Fire Chief Robert Vogel said.