A state Fire Marshal published their Top 20 Violations.  Many of these are learning opportunities:   Building Exterior Address – Address numbers should be plainly visible from the street side of the property. Fire Lanes – Fire lanes are designated by the Fire Code Official. Signage for fire lanes must contain the verbiage in the City’s Ordinance: “No Stopping, Standing, Parking, Fire Lane.” Knox...

A useful baseline for any business that is in the charging and storage of batteries.   Storage Batteries Ohio Administrative Code (4123:1) Effective: September 1, 2023 (A) Battery charging areas will be designated for that purpose. (B) Employees will be instructed that: (1) When charging batteries, acid will be poured into water; water will not be poured into acid; (2) When charging batteries,...

It is unfortunate that the phrase “human error” has become virtually meaningless through over-use and that it is usually interpreted to mean that the person at the “sharp end” was at fault by committing some form of error or violation.  It is easy to be misled and to believe that human errors arise because of carelessness, inattention, incompetence, or reckless rule-breaking...

A chicken business processes poultry on two machines called eviscerators at its Mississippi facility. On May 31, 2021, an employee tasked with cleaning chicken parts and viscera from the eviscerators and areas around them suffered fatal injuries when he was caught in one of the machines. Following an inspection and investigation by Compliance Safety and Health Officer Patrick Whavers and Jermaine Davis,...

WOW, my article earlier this week on the flaws of the TRIR formula stirred a passionate debate among several SAFTENG members/clients/friends.  But from that debate, they now can see what their future safety metrics could look like.  I always get the following response (and it is a very legitimate response)… If measuring the TRIR and DART are so flawed, what should we measure in their...

As 2023 draws to an end, businesses across this great nation will be tallying their injury rates for bragging rights compared to other business locations, competitors, etc.  It is a 50+ year tradition for many of these businesses.  However, I wonder if this tradition would continue if they genuinely understood how flawed their calculation is.  Far too many businesses can not explain...

On October 25, 2023, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a proposed rule to establish a safety standard for residential gas furnaces and boilers. In the proposed rule, CPSC announces its preliminary determination that these products pose an unreasonable risk of injury and death. Therefore, CPSC’s proposed rule would require all residential gas furnaces and boilers to, either...

In October 2023, EPA proposed to ban the manufacture (including import), processing, and distribution in commerce of TCE for all uses, with longer compliance timeframes and workplace controls (including an exposure limit) for some processing and industrial and commercial uses until the prohibitions come into effect. The rule would protect consumers, workers, occupational non-users and bystanders from...

The Risk Management Program emergency response coordination activities require the owner and operator of a stationary source to provide to the local emergency planning and response organizations: the stationary source’s emergency response plan if one exists; emergency action plan; updated emergency contact information; and any other information that local emergency planning and response organizations...

If we wish to find out why accidents occurred and find ways of preventing them from happening again, we need a sympathetic attitude towards people who have committed so-called violations, have made slips, had lapses of attention, or not learnt what their training was supposed to teach them. It is a small price and is worth paying. Source: An engineer’s view of human error, Third edition, Trevor...

NOTE:  I totally disagree with this ALJ decision; however, I give him much credit as I listened to the witnesses and followed the evidence he had presented.  This amputation injury was a LOTO violation in my eyes, and I would have argued this case differently.  But here are the facts presented to the Judge: what say you? On the evening of January 23, 2021, one of Respondent’s employees...