OSHA has cited Maryland-based contractor Power Factor LLC for exposing workers to electrical hazards after an employee was fatally electrocuted while installing solar panels on a building in Fort Riley, Kansas. Inspectors determined that the employee was hoisting a metal rail that came into contact with energized overhead power lines.

Outfitting employees with appropriate footwear reduces injuries. Making sure workers have the right footwear for the job is a real, ongoing challenge for safety managers. Here are five ways you can overcome it and take advantage of all the benefits of high-quality safety footwear.

OSHA has cited Franklin County Construction LLC – based in New Haven, Missouri – after an employee suffered fatal fall injuries when a roof truss collapsed. The employee was part of a crew installing prefabricated roof trusses onto a commercial building under construction in Bowling Green, Missouri.

Although the partial shutdown of the federal government continues to affect many agencies, the U.S. Department of Labor – of which OSHA is a part – is open and funded as a result of spending bills that were previously passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump.

According to OSHA, an injury or illness is considered work related if an event or exposure in the work environment caused or contributed to the condition or significantly aggravated a preexisting condition. Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses resulting from events or exposures occurring in the workplace, unless an exception specifically applies.

OSHA's Respiratory Protection Standard applies to general industry, construction, shipyards, marine terminals, and longshoring. The OSHA respirator standard applies to all occupational airborne exposures to contaminated air where the employee is.

This occupational safety and health standard is intended to address comprehensively the issue of classifying the potential hazards of chemicals, and communicating information concerning hazards and appropriate protective measures to employees, and to preempt any legislative or regulatory enactments of a state, or political subdivision of a state, pertaining to this subject.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries reported 54 fatalities in 2009 from scaffold staging. In a BLS study, 72 percent of workers injured in scaffold accidents said either the planking or support gave way, slipping, or being struck by a falling object. All can be controlled by compliance with OSHA standards.

Foodborne illness prevention, what’s ahead for NORA and the value of wearable technology in preventing workplace injuries were among the top health and safety stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Exits at a Ohio United Parcel Service (UPS) distribution center weren’t just temporarily blocked, according to the OSHA inspectors; some were permanently locked. The company was cited for repeatedly putting workers at risk by obstructing exit routes at its Sharonville, Ohio, distribution center and faces $208,603 in proposed penalties for those violations.