Search Results for 'news'
New York CVS to pay $40,000 in fines for not having an emergency action plan in place
Employers have a legal, moral, and ethical duty to prevent physical or psychological injury to their employees at work. As per Standard Number 1910.38, OSHA requires employers to have a written or oral (in case of fewer than 10 employees) emergency action plan (EAP) that is available to employees for review. Not having an EAP […]
How many safety violations can you see in this photo? #HazardSpotting
New York is a busy, bustling city, and sometimes when you stop to smell the roses, you catch sight of some disturbing thorns. One recent morning walk in my quiet residential neighborhood of Brooklyn brought me across the following perilous scene. My first thought was for my own safety; I was walking on that side […]
High worker injury rates in nursing homes trigger possible OSHA inspection
As many as 1000 nursing homes with high worker injury and illness rates in 2011 have now come under OSHA’s radar for a possible safety inspection. Residential care facilities including business homes, nursing homes, and convalescent homes were issued warning letters for a possible inspection by OSHA, the federal agency charged with enforcement of safety […]
Protecting honey bees and humans
We may be the ones who flail and flee when a honey bee comes humming around our picnic table, but their threatened state could present risks for all of us. Honey bees are the prime pollinator of agricultural crops in the U.S., including almonds, cranberries, blueberries, avocados, apples, cherries and pears. Their contribution generates $16 […]
OSHA issues high heat advisory in California
It’s the first day of spring, but many U.S. regions are experiencing prolonged cold fronts. California, however, has the opposite concern: rising temperatures across the state have prompted OSHA to issue a heat advisory, catalyzed by a concern for outdoor workers’ safety. OSHA’s press release states: “While California’s heat illness standards are the toughest in the […]
Railroad whistle-blowers gain a little legal ground
For workers in the railroad carrier industry, blowing the whistle is too often a move that management frowns upon. Just this month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ordered Norfolk Southern Railway Co. to pay over $1 million to three workers who were fired after reporting workplace injuries. In a separate case, OSHA ordered Union […]
Top five Harlem Shake OSHA safety violations
Here at MySafetySign, we’re not immune to the repetitive, head-scratching hilarity and absurdity of the viral “Harlem Shake” phenomenon. For the uninitiated who’ve been happily living under a rock for the past month, the Harlem Shake is a group dance event of dubious origin (and not really related to the original, and respectable, Harlem Shake dance […]
Is OSHA really saving lives? It depends on who you ask
Ever heard the phrase, “correlation does not imply causation”? It’s a favorite of statisticians, who bristle at people’s tendency to draw errant conclusions about data because they conflate the two terms. Here’s one particularly offensive, oft-misconstrued example of that mistake: crime rates are higher in African American communities than in white or Latino populations. Does […]
5 tips to prevent child injuries from frontovers and backovers
As many families prepare for a three-day weekend of fun, there are some safety concerns to keep in mind with extra kids and visitors around the house. Vehicles, in particular, pose a risk to children. Backovers and frontovers account for 64% of non-traffic automobile fatalities among children. Backovers and frontovers are defined as an accident […]
Can Workplace Safety Affect Customer Satisfaction?
Yes, it can: that’s the finding of a new study by the National Safety Council (NSC). The report, which was published in the Journal of Safety Research, studied the connection between customer satisfaction and the safety climate at a Midwestern electricity utility. The findings suggested a “significant correlation” between rates of customer satisfaction and the safety […]
California Refinery Fire Sparks $1M OSHA Fine, Highest Allowed by Calif. Law
Nearly six months after a massive fire at a Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, Calif., the state bureau of the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) has levied a $963,200 fine against the American corporation. OSHA’s report cites 25 breaches of safety regulations leading to the Aug. 6, 2012, blaze, including such “willful serious” violations […]