OSHA orders Oak Harbor Freight Lines to comply with federal safety rules
July 27, 2015
OSHA has again ordered Oak Harbor Freight Lines Inc. to stop retaliating against truck drivers who refuse to drive when they feel too ill or fatigued. The order comes after Oak Harbor suspended a 25-year commercial truck operator without pay at its Portland, Oregon, terminal after he did not feel well enough to drive.
Laser pranksters create real danger in the skies, the construction industry gets a little more time for a big new rule and impalement hazards endanger workers in Texas. These were among the top stories posted on ISHN.com this week.
The American Petroleum Institute says it welcomes the federal government’s effort to align regulations for offshore well control with industry standards, but with a caveat: a warning that the unintended consequences of some elements of the proposed rule could make offshore operations less safe.
Hassell Construction fined $424K for egregious safety violations
July 23, 2015
One minute, a man was working in the 8-foot trench below ground. The next, he was being buried in it. His co-workers came to his rescue, digging the worker out with their bare hands. Moments after they pulled the injured man to safety, the unprotected trench collapsed again. His injuries were serious and led to his hospitalization.
Labor Secretary Tom Perez came into office pledging to create good jobs and take on the economic injustice that oppresses blue-collar workers, from raising the minimum wage and restoring unpaid overtime to combatting wage theft.
With the summer vacation season in full swing, millions of Americans are on the road – roads that they must share with some very large vehicles. Through its Share the Road program, the American Trucking Association is using professional truck drivers to let the public know what they can do to stay safe.
OSHA inspectors found that employees of at a Shenandoah, Texas construction site were exposed to a variety of dangers, earning citations for both the company conducting the work and the one that supplied it with temporary workers.
“Everyone has a part to play” to help ensure underground utility safety and damage prevention. That’s the message of a new video and related online and print resources from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).
OSHA says it will postpone enforcing its Confined Spaces in Construction standard in response to requests for additional time to train and acquire the equipment necessary for compliance.
UMass Amherst scientist will investigate role of estrogen-mimicking chemicals
July 22, 2015
A lot of attention has been paid to genetics in breast cancer as disease rates rise, but most women have no family history of the disease, suggesting that there is an environmental risk we don’t yet understand, says environmental health scientist Laura Vandenberg in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.