OSHA Compliance

PRCS Fatalities (One (1) Entrant and three (3) would be rescuers)

Three workers (30, 35, and unknown age) died while another was hospitalised after a suspected gas leak at a lubricant-manufacturing factory. The accident occurred around 8:30 pm when employees entered a chamber for routine maintenance and were exposed to toxic fumes. The hospitalised worker was stable. Company manager said one of the workers lost consciousness,

Pressure Test Gone Bad (Hydrostatic Test)

WORKER BADLY INJURED: FIFE FIRM BACK IN DOCK AND FINED A worker sustained horrific injuries after being struck by highly pressurised water during hydraulic testing on machinery. His employer has been fined ÂŁ161,250 ($218,460) for breaching health and safety law. A testing booth should have remained automatically locked when it presented a danger to employees

PRCS Fatality (Underground Gas Tank – unknown if it was a HAZ ATM or Medical; Several “would be rescuers” entered)

RIP 🙏 The tank was emptied while the fuel pumps were being remodeled. After the man collapsed, the workers were unable to pull him out of the confined space about 10 to 15 feet below the surface. “The other workers were trying to get down in that hole and take them out. It’s obviously not

Leak Test Gone Bad

Employee #1, a welder, was inside a double-walled, approximately 5.5 ft in diameter steel tank to perform leak tests. A contractor had installed new stainless steel piping to the 1,000-gal blending tank, and initial use of the tank revealed some leakage where the new pipe entered the bottom of the tank. To perform the leak

Golf carts need to be managed as a Powered Industrial Truck (PIT)

It is my professional opinion that “golf carts” need to be managed as a Powered Industrial Truck (PIT). I have seen firsthand three (3) serious accidents resulting in life-altering injuries. We see fatalities like this one several times a year: https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/worker-at-nh-storage-facility-dies-after-being-pinned-under-golf-cart/3803079

Pressure Testing Gone Bad (Fatality – Flange bolts not torqued properly)

On March 6, 2018, a 49-year-old pipefitter was hit in the chest by a pressurized 12-inch diameter polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe during a hydrostatic pressure test of a fire suppression system. The sudden pipe movement was attributed to a pipe joint connection failure in a buried section of the pipeline. The failure was due to

OSHA to revise the medical evaluation provisions for FFRs and loose-fitting PAPRs

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) intends to update the medical evaluation provisions currently required by the Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134) for filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) and loose-fitting powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs). This action will be deregulatory and / or burden reducing to employers whose employees wear such devices. This rulemaking

Looks like OSHA will move forward with the REVISED LOTO standard

OSHA updated its agenda page and is saying it will publish an NPRM for the LOTO standard this December. Recent technological advancements that employ computer-based controls of hazardous energy (e.g., mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, chemical, and radiation) conflict with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) existing lock-out/tag-out (LOTO) standard. The use of these computer-based controls

Storing Acetylene/Oxygen cutting rigs in shipping containers

Upon investigation, it was found that an oxygen–acetylene welding setup inside the shipping container leaked, causing the closed shipping container to fill with the highly flammable mixture of oxygen and acetylene. There was also an upright freezer in use, powered by an extension cord running into the shipping container. This energized equipment provided an ignition

OSHA rescinds and replaces the memorandum dated January 26, 2023, on “Violation Grouping and Discretionary Ungrouping”

This memorandum rescinds and replaces the memorandum dated January 26, 2023, on the same subject. This memorandum further clarifies the policy described in the earlier memorandum. Under this policy, Regional Administrators and/or Area Directors may refrain from grouping violations where the violations are separate and distinct, even if other OSHA policies or directives recommend grouping

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