SAN FRANCISCO – Construction laborers work at “dangerous jobs,” according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which compared death rates for laborers’ union members to those for the general population from 1985 to 1988. The mortality study was done in cooperation with the Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund. NIOSH noted that …
SAN FRANCISCO – A reader who is interested in Fed-OSHA’s decision to narrow the focus of inspections at construction sites to the four principal causes of fatalities—falls from elevation, being struck or crushed by equipment operation, trenching cave-ins and electrocution—asked if Cal-OSHA was going to follow suit. (See NEWS p. 00-6071.) Not likely, Deputy Chief …
SAN FRANCISCO – Penalties of $448,000 have been proposed against two Hudson, Ohio, contractors following an accident in June that took the lives of two workers. OSHA alleges that C. T. Taylor Inc. and Esprit Constructors Inc. failed to provide fall protection for two iron workers engaged in steel erection work at a plant addition …
SAN FRANCISCO – Injuries resulting from improperly designed video display terminal workstations and cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) of the hand and wrist are of growing concern in the workplace. The American Industrial Hygiene Association has produced comprehensive guides on these two subjects. An Ergonomics Guide to VDT Workstations examines CTDs, back risks, eye strain, physical …
SAN FRANCISCO – The standards advisory committee that is reviewing Title 8, Unfired Pressure Vessel Safety Orders Articles 2 and 5 for Liquefied Petroleum Gases, will meet again November 29-30 at 2100 E. Katella Ave. in Anaheim. The members have been comparing the LPG orders with NFPA-58 in order to update them. The work has …
SAN FRANCISCO – Sacramento Regional Transit District seeks a journey-level safety specialist to develop, implement and monitor district safety programs for regulatory compliance and performance to district standards. A B.A. in an environmental health or safety field, with two years’ professional work experience in environmental, health and/or safety program development and implementation, is required. The …
SAN FRANCISCO – The fumes that may have been emitted from Gloria Ramirez’ body as she lay dying in the emergency room of Riverside Hospital last February may have resulted from an unusual chemical reaction triggered by her having applied DMSO to her skin as a pain reliever. That is the theory espoused by chemists …
SAN FRANCISCO – Over 1,000 people attended Cal-OSHA’s second conference on workplace security on November 3. They represented a wide array of employers, employees, consultants and lawyers. There seemed to be general agreement that there are no easy answers for issues this complex. In the morning, a number of speakers explained aspects of the problem …