Beginning Feb. 1, 2012 employers who are required to keep the OSHA Form 300 Injury and Illness log must post a summary of the log. All industries in agriculture, construction, manufacturing, transportation, utilities and wholesale trade sectors are covered. In the retail and service sec­tors, some industries are partially exempt Also employers with fewer than [...]

A study released by the RAND corporation looking into California’s Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) indicates failures to “look beyond paper compliance with its provisions.” The paper points to training by employers and enforcement by regulators as having the most pronounced impact on injury rates under the program. The IIPP law has required for [...]

We hear a ton of safety myths everyday that have no basis on research or facts. These consist of things that sound great that people say to get our attention. In many instance the people spewing these fantasies may even believe them themselves. However, as safety professionals we can’t live in a fantasy world, we [...]

Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials are looking into an explosion at an Edmond, Okla., piping company that injured four on Thursday. The morning explosion sent three of the injured workers to two nearby hospitals. One victim suffered third-degree burns and was sent to an intensive care unit. The other three, one of whom was [...]

Along with its final report on three accidents that left five dead and three injured in a Tennessee metals plant, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board called on the Occupational Health and Safety Administration to develop and publish a combustible dust standard that includes coverage for metal dusts. The Hoeganaes powdered metal plant in Gallatin, Tennessee [...]

The United States Department of Occupational Health and Safety (OSHA) recently released a white paper affirming their belief that requiring all employers to maintain an Injury Illness Prevention Program (I2P2) will lead to both a decrease in occupational injuries and death and a cost savings for employers. To substantiate these claims the paper pulls from [...]

As part of a new emphasis program the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will begin inspecting Wisconsin dairy farms this winter. The emphasis program originated out of OSHA’s Eau Claire office this past November and plans are to take it statewide, according to Mary Bauer, OSHA compliance assistance specialist. Inspectors from each of the state’s [...]

Investment in workplace safety and health has a direct and measurable cost-benefit potential, according to a recently released study by the International Social Security Association (ISSA). The study on the economic costs and benefits of prevention investments, coordinated by the ISSA, compared data on interventions and analysed practices in 300 companies in 15 countries. The results [...]

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers declined in 2010 to a rate of 3.5 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, down from a total case rate of 3.6 in 2009. Nearly 3.1 million injuries and illnesses were reported among private sector [...]

According to a recent blog post by the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, David Michaels, OSHA will begin to target texting while driving to crack down on employee injuries and death. In 2009, distracted driving accounted for more than 5,400 traffic fatalities, or 16 percent of traffic fatalities. In terms of workplace [...]