Monthly Archives: April 2012

Is OSHA Too Slow to Implement Regulations?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Larrimer & Larrimer

According to federal auditors, the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)is too slow to enact new policy and rule changes concerning workplace safety. The Washington Post reports that OSHA takes up to 50 percent longer to approve new regulations than other government agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation. Some critics claim that the additional response time in action is due to OSHA being overly cautious in setting new rules. “We have created barriers based on false alarms, and the need now is to lower them so that worker protection can proceed again without delay,” said Michael Silverstein, former Washington state OSHA director. “It is no exaggeration to say that lives are at stake.” According to OSHA officials, rules are in place that slow down the proves. Rule changes have to go through approval and sometimes even legislators. President Barack Obama…
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Delta Air Lines and OSHA Sign Seat Belt Compliance Agreement

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Larrimer & Larrimer

Delta Air Lines announced they will install seatbelts on their airport vehicles as part of a settlement agreement with the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). A bag handler died in a workplace accident in August 2010 on one of these vehicles, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The worker was ejected from the vehicle, which had no seat belt, and died on the scene. OSHA investigated the accident and inspected the scene. It determined that Delta was in violation of safety regulations, notably failing to provide workers with personal protective equipment (PPE) (in this case, a safety belt). Delta sent a memo to employees following the accident, warning the employees that many of the carts do not have safety belts. Delta averages approximately 14 ejections from these carts annually, half of which result in “serious employee injury.” “OSHA’s corporate-wide settlement agreements are highly effective tools…
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OSHA Fines Kansas Grain Facility after Six Workers Killed in Blast

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Larrimer & Larrimer

An explosion at a Bartlett Grain Co. LP facility in Kansas in October 2011 claimed the lives of six workers and injured two others. The blast destroyed much of the facility and shot a fireball into the sky of Atchison, Kansas that was visible from miles away. The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspected the facility following the accident and has since wrapped up its investigation of the grain processing facility. OSHA cited Bartlett Grain with 13 safety violations that are either “serious” or “willful.” The violations include allowing grain dust to accumulate, removing the dust without shutting down the ignition sources, repeatedly starting and stopping ignition sources, and using inappropriate electrical equipment. The proposed fines total $406,000. Grain dust is extremely flammable and hazardous—the dust ultimately caused the explosion in an elevator shaft. “The deaths of these six workers could have been prevented had…
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