The Trump administration yesterday repealed an Obama-era rule that requires landowners to obtain federal permits before developing or polluting navigable waterways.
The 2015 rule clarified the Clean Water Act - also known as Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule. It has been the target of lawsuits by farmers, the mining industry and business interests, who claim it restricts development and infringed on property rights. Environmental groups, however, say its expansive definition of navigable waterways is vital in ensuring the safety of wetlands, streams and ponds that feed into larger waterways.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) just got to check off three more items on its 2019-2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements.
The latest three, intended to improve pipeline safety, call for improved inspection programs, better records and documentation of natural gas systems, and procedures to mitigate risks identified during management of change operations.
Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. of Steeleville, Illinois has been cited by OSHA for six safety violations including three willful after two maintenance employees conducting welding operations sustained serious burns to their upper bodies as the result of an explosion within a dust collector at the company's pasta manufacturing plant on Oct. 6, 2011.
The incident occurred as the two employees were repairing a hole in the side of a metal trough.
Preventing falls from heights when performing construction work is a top priority because falls are the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2017, there were 366 fatal falls to a lower level out of 971 construction fatalities.
Although many employees typically provide some or all of their own work attire, it is the employer who will be issued a citation if a worker who is exposed to electric arc or flame hazards is not wearing flame-resistant (FR) clothing.
Traffic signals in the sky? Not quite, but federal agencies are developing a traffic management system that will allow drones to safely fly at low altitudes (below 400 feet) in airspace where Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic services are not provided – without interfering with other air traffic.
In demonstrations conducted recently as part of a pilot program, the FAA, NASA and partners, drones conducted a variety of operations at three test sites.
Today, the National Safety Council and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the preliminary Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety violations for fiscal year 2019. Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, presented the Top 10 on the Expo floor as part of the NSC Congress & Expo in San Diego.
Delivery service UPS, Inc. has been cited for failing to protect employees working in excessive heat after an employee suffered heat-related injuries near the Riviera Beach, Florida, facility. The employee required hospitalization after becoming ill while delivering packages on a day when the heat index ranged between 99 and 105 degrees.
The company faces $13,260 in penalties, the maximum penalty allowed by law for a serious violation.
For operations like oil and gas that involve hazardous processes, change management can be a matter of life and death. Operational failures resulting from insufficiently planned changes can result in catastrophic events.
Safety circuits used in machine guarding applications incorporate devices such as sensors and relays to de-energize equipment if any hazardous condition is detected. These conditions normally involve a machine guard not being closed, a presence sensor detecting personnel in an unsafe area or the triggering of an emergency stop function.