Blog Archives

University Students Invent Remote Disconnect Device For Transformers

Engineering students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., have invented a device that could protect utility workers from arc flashes from transformers by allowing disconnection at a safe distance. The students designed and built the device after the school was approached by Baltimore Gas & Electric to find an alternative to the current disconnection … Read More »

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Scaffold “Surfing” Regulation Rolling Toward Cal/OSHA Action

The Cal/OSH Standards Board is ready to roll with a regulatory change that would allow ceiling and acoustical workers to “surf,” or self-propel their mobile scaffolds while still riding on them. A draft of the proposed revisions was sent to advisory committee members for review. Subsequently, board staff will formally present the rulemaking package to … Read More »

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Petition Seeks To Put The Brakes On Runaway Diesel Engine Threat

Citing the tragic BP Texas City disaster and other deadly incidents, a Houston company has petitioned the Cal/OSH Standards Board to require mobile and vehicular diesel engines operated in and around oil refineries to be equipped with shutoff valves. The valves are designed to prevent engine “runaway” – an engine running out of control from … Read More »

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Construction: Crane Load Safety Includes Operators And Riggers

Construction industry representatives agreed with a Cal/OSHA proposal aimed at improved safety on crane rigging but want to make sure that safety responsibility does not fall solely on one set of workers. Comments on the proposal revisions were part of a July 17 public hearing, which included another proposal to address an outdated consensus standard … Read More »

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Board Adopts Static Electricity Changes

The Cal/OSH Standards Board adopted revisions to the General Industry Safety Orders (GISO) July 17 intended to prevent catastrophic explosions triggered by static electricity. The adoption revises General Industry Safety Orders §5168 and Petroleum Safety Orders §6775 to prevent explosions such as the one that occurred at a Pacific Resource Recovery (PRR) worksite several years … Read More »

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Huge Penalties Proposed In Dust Blast

Fed-OSHA has proposed the third-largest-ever penalties against the owner of a sugar refinery that exploded in February, killing 13 workers and injuring dozens of others. The agency cited Imperial Sugar Co. for 120 alleged violations, including 61 considered “egregious” at the plant near Savannah, Ga., and another in Gramercy, La., that was inspected after the … Read More »

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DOSH Hits Contractor With Willful Allegations, Proposes Big Penalties

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has cited Merced Farm Labor Contractor (MFLC) for three alleged serious/willful violations and proposed almost $263,000 in penalties following the heat illness death of a 17-year-old farmworker in San Joaquin County in May. The action comes after the state suspended, reinstated, then re-suspended MFLC’s license. The state … Read More »

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Standards Board To Dental Petitioners: Mercury Exposure Largely An “Enforcement Problem”

The Cal/OSH Standards Board has rejected two petitions by organizations representing dental workers seeking to end exposure to mercury, as well as a petition decision by the board staff that would have sent the matter to Cal/OSHA’s permissible exposure limit advisory committee. “The concerns that have been raised are largely enforcement issues,” said board occupational … Read More »

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