It’s the time of year when many people do a personal evaluation with the thought of improving themselves during the coming year. This post suggests reviewing how we are practicing the profession of safety by looking at the ghost of …
An OSHA directive on lockout states, “Setting up is not considered utilization of a machine or equipment and is classified as servicing and/or maintenance, rather than normal production operations.” The significance of that statement is that lockout must be applied …
For a good holiday laugh, take a look at the following blog post entitled “How OSHA nearly killed Christmas” spotted on Curtis Chambers’ OSHATraining.com blog. How OSHA Nearly Killed Christmas! Every December, my wife and kids beg me to put …
A major, relatively new OSHA enforcement tool received backing last week from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., and affected employers should make plans to respond if they have not already done so. (Some recommendations are offered …
Jordan Barab, the No. 2 official at OSHA, made a shocking statement at a recent public health conference, as reported by Occupational Safety and Health Reporter: Half of workplaces inspected under a recent national emphasis program were underreporting injuries and …
Recently, I attended two important annual meetings — the American Trucking Associations meeting and the National Safety Council Congress. As a safety professional, both meetings allowed me to catch up with my colleagues while getting updated on new safety developments …
Pointing to what it says is an “unacceptable” level of workplace injuries and illnesses among workers in nursing homes and other residential care facilities, OSHA has announced that it will soon begin a national emphasis program to increase enforcement in …
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics recently announced that non-fatal injuries and illnesses in private industry declined by 200,000 from 2009 to 2010. OSHA hailed that as good news, and rightly so. But to gain a fuller understanding of the …
Is it right for OSHA to penalize an employer for an incident that was completely beyond the company’s ability to prevent? If that seems wrong to you, I agree. But that is exactly where OSHA is heading with a new …
Two controversial proposals by OSHA are becoming entangled with partisan fighting over the federal budget. A spending bill crafted recently by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), chairman of the House Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee, would block OSHA from moving …