The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and
Health Administration (MSHA) has announced the creation of two high-level
positions within its Mine Emergency Operations division. The new job
assignments will be based at MSHA's Safety and Health Technology Center in
Bruceton, Pa.
OSHA, ASSE and the Canadian Society of Safety
Engineering (CSSE) will kick off the annual North American Occupational Safety
and Health (NAOSH) Week 2007 with ceremonies today at 10 a.m. and noon.
A BP internal report on the deadly 2005 Texas
City plant explosion recommended the firing of four executives and managers for
failing to perform their jobs and poor judgment.
As part of construction safety week, the City of
New York is distributing safety information to day laborers to teach them about
workplace safety. The pamphlets, which
come from both federal and local agencies, contain information on the hazards
of construction work and tips on how to stay safe. They also inform the workers
of their rights.
A poll released last month by the San
Francisco-based Employment Law Alliance, found that workplace safety was the
top reason given by respondents for organized labor, narrowly edging benefits,
wages and job security. Of those polled, 63 percent listed workplace safety as
a major factor driving them toward unionization.
The legislation would apply federal safety
standards to workers who are not currently covered, including federal, state
and local employees, and some private sector employees; increase penalties for
repeated and willful offenses; and allow OSHA to apply felony charges for
repeated or willful violations that result in a worker death.
ASSE
recently announced the approval of the new American National Standard Institute
(ANSI)/ASSE Z359.2-2007 standard. The standard, Minimum Requirements
for a Comprehensive Managed Fall Protection Program, is the first
approved in a series of standards that focus on fall protection and related
systems.
OSHA is reminding employers that they must
provide cave-in protection whenever their employees work in excavations five
feet or deeper. The warning follows an investigation into the Jan. 10, 2007,
death of an employee at the Tamarack Country Club, Greenwich, Conn., who was
killed in a cave-in while installing drainage pipes in an unprotected six-foot
deep trench on the club's golf course.
ASSE Governmental Affairs committee chair Thomas
F. Cecich, CSP, CIH, of Apex, N.C., testified today on the benefits of OSHA's
cooperative programs before a Senate subcommittee.
RSS