OSHA posted answers on its Web site to Frequently Asked Questions about its new rule addressing the use of cranes and derricks in construction. The FAQ provides information on subjects such as how the rule was developed; how it will improve worker safety on construction sites; whether it requires crane operators, riggers and signal persons to be qualified or certified; and how it affects states with their own OSHA-approved safety and health plans.

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has upheld OSHA's multi-employer citation policy in a reversal of a decision the Commission made during the previous administration. Under the policy, OSHA inspectors may cite employers on multi-employer worksites for violations that do not expose their own workers to occupational hazards. In reaching its Aug. 19 decision, the Commission agreed with an earlier decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had rejected the Commission's previous contrary view that employers are only legally responsible for protecting the safety and health of their own workers.

As I wrote in this week’s analysis of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new crane rules, the federal requirement that all crane operators be tested to a national, accredited standard barely passed through heated negotiations. But the requirement is there, and under the rules, employers must comply by November 2014. See whole story.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced that it is issuing a new rule addressing the use of cranes and derricks in construction, which will replace a decades-old standard. Approximately 267,000 construction, crane rental and crane certification establishments employing about 4.8 million workers will be affected by the rule published today. See whole story.

AUSTIN, Texas, July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- While U.S. industries struggle to rebuild, today's union ironworkers are preparing to lead the next wave of new business construction. That's because amidst the economic challenges of the past several years the Iron Workers International Union (www.ironworkers.org) -- teaming with the Ironworker Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust (IMPACT) and the Ironworkers National Training Fund (www.ironworkers.org/organization/Apprenticeship.aspx) -- has invested heavily in worksite-ready training programs for union ironworkers. See whole story.

Nevada lawmakers and federal lawmakers are considering whether to enhance workplace safety by raising the penalties for employers who make safety a low priority. If fines are high, then safety awareness will also be high, according to the logic behind some changes Congress is considering. Federal OSHA penalties have not gone up since 1990, despite increases in the cost of living. See whole story.

OSHA posted 26 years of data on a Web page detailing workplace exposures to toxic chemicals such as asbestos, benzene, beryllium, cadmium, lead, nickel, and silica. This Web page has since been enhanced by the addition of a search engine to make the data more accessible and expand its usefulness as a research tool. The page's online form now allows users to search and sort records of OSHA samplings for toxic chemical exposure by categories such as establishment, industry, state, year range, substance and OSHA inspection number. Users can also download sampling data from 1984 to 2009, either in one full set or by individual year. See see web page.

UPS must compensate driver fired for refusing to drive unsafe truck. OSHA ordered UPS to pay an Earth City, Mo., truck driver who was fired after raising safety concerns $111,008 in back wages, benefits, damages and attorney's fees. OSHA investigated the worker's claim that UPS terminated his employment in retaliation for his refusal to drive a truck because lights on the trailer and tractor didn't work. See whole story.

OSHA has cited New York Plank Services LLC, a precast concrete installation contractor, for alleged willful, serious and other-than-serious violations of safety standards following a partial building collapse in Brooklyn. The contractor, also in Brooklyn, faces a total of $125,800 in proposed fines. See whole story.

Good jobs are safe jobs. No worker should have to choose between bringing home a paycheck and his or her life. Yet that is what millions of workers in the United States face: more than 16 die every day from an occupational injury and an estimated 50,000 die annually from illnesses caused by job-related exposures. See whole story.

“Introduction to OSHA,” a new training component emphasizing workers’ rights, is required content in every OSHA 10-hour and 30-hour Outreach Training Program class. OSHA developed the information in support of the Secretary of Labor’s goal of strengthening the voice of workers. See whole story.

OSHA has added a note to its Steel Erection standard informing employers of certain Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requirements in an effort to better protect workers and motorists during highway bridge construction. See whole story.

CLEBURNE, Texas — A natural gas explosion in northern Texas killed one member of a crew installing utility poles, and authorities Tuesday were trying to determine if the gas line had been marked before digging started. The OSHA was among numerous agencies at the scene after a utility crew struck a gas line Monday afternoon, sending a massive fireball into the air. See whole story.

A state legislative subcommittee agreed Monday on new legislative proposals that would increase penalties and make it easier to cite employers for workplace safety violations. The committee said it will propose several draft bills during the next legislative session. The bill drafts will include imposing higher fines, giving state OSHA officials more authority to cite employers and requiring OSHA investigators to forward any findings of a fatal workplace accident to a local district attorney or state attorney general for further investigation. The committee also will ask legislators to require that family members be notified about investigations of any accident resulting in injury or death. See whole story.

OSHA has scheduled a first-ever virtual stakeholder meeting June 28, 2010, to seek input about combustible dust workplace hazards. This virtual meeting format provides quick and easy access to a broader audience such as small businesses who would otherwise not be able to participate. Comments from the meeting will be used to help the agency develop a proposed standard on combustible dust. Further details are available in the Federal Register notice. See whole story.

The Armour System utilizes RFID (radio frequency identification) to alert the driver of the reversing vehicle* that a ground worker is behind them and extra caution is required. Ground workers wearing an Armour equipped Safety Vest and Hard Hat will be detected via the RFID tags discretely installed in the apparel. What makes the Armour System™ unique is that any vehicle equipped with an Armour Antenna will detect any ground worker, on any jobsite, wearing an Armour equipped Safety Vest and Hard Hat. See Armour System PDF.

Federal workplace safety investigators will attempt to determine why a worker at Tier Environmental Services on South Hyde Park Boulevard was severely burned Friday morning by a reactive chemical when it spilled from a tanker truck he was cleaning. The industrial accident closed the Robert Moses Parkway for several hours as hazmat crews waited for fumes inside the building at 33 South Hyde Park Blvd. to subside. See whole story.

The incident, which has prompted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to investigate, is the second fatality on the construction site of the planned terminal in two years. Edgar Rieffel, who worked for D.H. Pace Co., died as a result of the accident, which happened at the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal around 5:20 p.m. Thursday, airport spokesman Al Snedeker said. About 1,100 workers are part of the international terminal construction project, Snedeker said. Rieffel was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital to be treated for his injuries but died a few hours later. See whole story.

OSHA is confirming the effective date of June 15, 2010 for the direct final rule requiring employers to notify their workers of all hexavalent chromium exposures. The rule revises a provision in OSHA's Hexavalent Chromium standard that required workers be notified only when they experienced exposures exceeding the permissible exposure limit. Workers exposed to this toxic chemical are at greater risk for lung cancer and damage to the nose, throat and respiratory tract. See whole story.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced in a notice of proposed rulemaking published in today's Federal Register its plans to require improved worker protection from tripping, slipping and falling hazards on walking and working surfaces. A public hearing on the revised changes will be held after the public comment period for the NPRM. "This proposal addresses workplace hazards that are a leading cause of work related injuries and deaths," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. See whole story.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Monday that it cited a Cowboys Stadium roofing subcontractor for two violations in a December incident in which two maintenance workers slipped on an icy roof and slid until they were caught by a gutter. See whole story.

With federal funding from a Susan Harwood Training Grant awarded back in October 2009, the Construction Safety Council is in the final stages of developing a new train-the-trainer Health Hazards Awareness Program that will deliver a comprehensive curriculum covering the health hazards on construction projects including those that may be found on industrial, commercial, residential, heavy highway, tunnel, and demolition sites. See whole story.

The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced a new program for “severe violators” and an increase in its penalty amounts. The changes, to be phased in over the next several months, are the result of a year-long OSHA study that found current assessed penalties “are too low to have an adequate deterrent effect,” according to the announcement. See whole story.

Healthcare and emergency personnel are workers regularly at risk of contracting diseases from exposures to bloodborne pathogens including hepatitis B and C and the human immunodeficiency viruses. OSHA issued a Bloodborne Pathogens standard in 1991 to protect healthcare workers from exposure to potentially infectious blood. The agency is now conducting a review to determine the standard's effectiveness. See whole story.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching a pilot program seeking to partner with building inspectors in 11 American cities to reduce injuries and fatalities at construction sites. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis has sent letters to the mayors of the selected cities,* proposing that OSHA work with and train local building inspectors on hazards associated with the four leading causes of death at construction sites. See whole story.

Methylene chloride is a volatile, colorless liquid with a chloroform-like odor. It is used in various industrial processes and in many different industries including paint stripping, pharmaceutical manufacturing, paint remover manufacturing and metal cleaning and degreasing. See whole story.

A Calgary alderman says there should be greater vigilance at high-rise construction sites after the latest in a string of incidents where objects have come crashing to the ground. A wrench fell Saturday from the 45th floor of a skyscraper under construction downtown, breaking a window in the city police headquarters. The incident occurred at the Bow building, located on two blocks of Centre Street and 5th and 6th avenues S.E., around 12 p.m. Police said no one was hurt when the two-kilogram hand tool bounced off a concrete apron and smashed a window in the police building across the street. See whole story.

Compliant with OSHA regulation 1926.502(d), Cobra Lifelink(TM) enables 1 or 2 people can tie-off to when they are on elevated job site. Mobile anchorage system provides fall arrest for one worker and fall restraint for second. Able to fit into elevators and pickup trucks as well as through doorways, compact and modular design rolls to where it is needed. No anchorage to substrate is required, and if fall arrest occurs, claw located under unit penetrates substrate to securely hold cart. See whole story.

Washington, D.C.—Senator Jay Rockefeller today outlined his next steps on mine safety, following the Upper Big Branch mine tragedy in West Virginia—including attending a field hearing in Beckley on May 24, at 9:00 a.m. Rockefeller, a longtime fighter for strong mine safety laws and one of the leading authors of the MINER Act of 2006, has been working with state, local and federal officials to uncover more details about the Upper Big Branch accident and determine what needs to be done for the future. See whole story.

OSHA's data on employer specific injury and illness incidence rates is now publicly available on Data.gov and its website. OSHA collects work-related injury and illness data from more than 80,000 employers within specific industries and of a certain employment size. The agency uses this data for its strategic management plan and as a targeting mechanism for its Site-Specific Targeting enforcement program. Data is now searchable from 1996 to 2007 and can be used by interested individuals or groups to look at establishment-specific injury and illness data. The information includes the establishment name, address, industry, and associated total case rate; days away, restricted and transfer case rate; and days away from work case rate. Suspect or unreliable data is not included in this database.

OSHA has produced two new videos that feature training and guidance on respirator safety. The "Respirator Safety" video shows healthcare workers how to correctly put on and take off respirators, such as N95s. The "Difference between Respirators and Surgical Masks" video explains the particular uses for each one and how they prevent worker exposure to infectious diseases. Viewers can watch both English and Spanish versions by visiting the Department of Labor's YouTube site. Videos have proven to be useful and have been viewed 2,153 times in only two days.

OSHA elevated its San Antonio office from district to area office status with increased staffing to address the safety and health of high risk construction workers. A particular focus is being given to Latino construction workers, who are at greater risk of being killed or injured in the workplace. San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the United States with a population of more than two million people. Population and business growth prompted OSHA to make this expansion. Texas sees more construction workplace fatalities than any other state. For that reason, OSHA launched a construction safety sweep in Texas in July 2009, increasing the number of inspectors for a concentrated effort to prevent injuries and fatalities at construction sites. To learn more about the office expansion, read the news release.

Department of Labor officials and U.S. marshals seized a company president's vehicle after he failed to pay $7,500 is back wages as part of an OSHA whistleblower case. The federal seizure order resolved the lawsuit filed after the company violated whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act by terminating a worker whose complaint was suspected of prompting an OSHA inspection. Read the news release for more details. Visit OSHA's Web site to learn more about whistleblower protection for workers.

A 45-year-old worker was killed in an explosion when an altered piece of equipment ignited flammable vapors inside a tank he was cleaning. This was the third worker killed in less than a year at one of CES Environmental Services' facilities. OSHA fined CES more than $1.4 million for allowing unsafe electrical equipment use in the presence of flammable and combustible vapors. CES also stored flammable and reactive chemicals together that posed fire and explosion hazards. "It is unfortunate but true that you need a sizable fine to get the attention of employers who don't respect the lives of their employees," said Assistant Secretary Michaels. Read the news release for more information.

OSHA has revised its acetylene standard by replacing references to outdated consensus standards with updated references reflecting current acetylene industry work practices. Details on the notice of proposed rulemaking and direct final rule are available in the Aug. 11 Federal Register.

OSHA published a final rule Sept. 9 revising the personal protective equipment sections of its general industry, shipyard employment, longshoring and marine terminals standards concerning requirements for eye- and face-protective devices, and head and foot protection. More information can be found in the Sept. 9 Federal Register.

A Ronkonkoma, N.Y., masonry contractor with a history of worksite safety violations again has been cited by OSHA, this time at a Forest Hills, N.Y., worksite. The contractor has been cited for five alleged repeat violations of safety standards and faces a total of $120,750 in new fines. See whole story.

OSHA has proposed seven citations with penalties totaling $136,000 against a contractor for violating federal workplace safety standards. See whole story. See whole story.

The Home Builders Association of St. Louis and Eastern Missouri and the Carpenters' District Union Council renewed their OSHA strategic partnership in August 2006 to reduce injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry. According to the partnership's 2008 evaluation, more than 3,000 employees received at least 32,000 hours of job safety and health training leading to the abatement of more than 1,200 potential job hazards.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is warning the public and electricians, plumbers and other contractors who perform work in attics about the potential risks of asbestos exposure from contaminated vermiculite insulation. Vermiculite from a Libby, Mont., mine containing asbestos was sold from 1919 to 1990 and used in the majority of vermiculite insulation in the United States. EPA's guidance document (English/ Spanish) and vermiculite web page offer ways to help reduce exposure.

OSHA's Kansas City, Mo., Region launched a regional emphasis program focusing on reducing exposure to lead in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska workplaces. The program includes targeted inspections at worksites where there is a potential for lead exposure, and also covers complaints and referrals.

Oil refineries nationwide received letters from OSHA providing them with data on compliance issues found under the Refinery National Emphasis Program and urging the refiners to comply with their obligations under the process safety management standard. To assist in compliance efforts, OSHA recommends that employers review the directive or contact their local OSHA offices.

When a compliance safety and health officer from OSHA's Chicago North Area Office arrived at a jobsite in April to conduct a trench inspection, he observed an employee working in an unprotected 8-foot-6-inch deep trench. The employee had exited the trench and was preparing to re-enter when the compliance officer identified himself. The employee then voluntarily agreed to not re-enter the trench until adequate cave-in protection was provided. The CSHO began identifying signs of cracks and fissures to the employer as indicators of a potential collapse and explaining the dangers of working in such conditions. Within minutes, the wall collapsed in the area where the employee had been working.

The stress of working in hot weather is a concern for many as summer approaches. For the thousands of workers exposed to the oftentimes lethal combination of heat, humidity and physical labor, a few precautions can go a long way to preventing many heat-related injuries or deaths. OSHA's "Heat Stress" QuickCard™ offers a good first step in acquiring prevention information. The card is also available online in Spanish. Copies of the laminated card can be ordered, at no cost, through the agency's publications Web page or by calling 202-693-1888. Visit OSHA's Safety and Health Topics page on heat stress to learn more about this hazard and ways to avoid it.

OSHA issued worker safety and health guidance for H1N1 flu, including fact sheets on "What Employers Can Do to Protect Workers from Pandemic Influenza" (English/Spanish), "Respiratory Infection Control: Respirators Versus Surgical Masks" (English/Spanish), and "Healthcare Workplaces Classified as Very High or High Exposure Risk for Pandemic Influenza" (English/Spanish). QuickCards™ were also released on "Pandemic Flu Respiratory Protection" (English/Spanish) and "How to Protect Yourself in the Workplace during a Pandemic" (English/Spanish).

OSHA will issue an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on combustible dust hazards and convene related stakeholder meetings. The purpose is to evaluate possible regulatory methods and request data and comments on issues related to combustible dust such as hazard recognition, assessment, communication, defining combustible dust and other concerns. Visit OSHA's Safety and Health Topics Web page on combustible dust to learn more about this hazard.

"Controlling Silica Exposures in Construction," "OSHA's Small Business Guide for Ethylene Oxide" and "Pneumatic Nail Gun Safety Tips" QuickCard™ are three new information resources available on OSHA's Web site.

Employers and workers in the tower communication industry have benefitted from OSHA's partnership with the National Association of Tower Erectors to promote safety and health. According to the partnership's 2008 annual evaluation, participants experienced a 40 percent decrease in the average total recordable case incidence rate, and a 37 percent decrease in the average days away from work, job transfer or restriction rate from 2007 to 2008. Outreach strategies including a public service announcement campaign and newsletter stressing the importance of safe work practices contributed to the partnership's success.

Assigned Protection Factors, a new guidance document, provides employers with information for selecting respirators for employees exposed to contaminants in the air. A limited number of copies are available for ordering from OSHA's publications page or by calling 202-693-1888.

The Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin formed an OSHA Strategic Partnership to raise occupational safety and health awareness in the construction industry. During the partnership's first year, the average days away from work, job transfer or restriction rate was 75 percent below the 2007 Bureau of Labor Statistics' national average. More than 5,000 employees, managers and supervisors received safety and health training which led to the abatement of potential job hazards and 100 percent compliance with OSHA standards.