BP, the company in charge of the rig that exploded last month in the Gulf of Mexico, hasn’t publicly divulged the results of tests on the extent of workers’ exposure to evaporating oil or from the burning of crude over the gulf, even though researchers say that data is crucial in determining whether the conditions are safe.
BP’s first successful attempt to capture some of the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico has been overshadowed — once again — by reports of safety lapses in its other operations. What’s so striking, and quite frankly scary, is that these safety concerns and violations aren’t isolated, insignificant incidents.
A Democratic senator is demanding answers from drilling giant Transocean about the forms that rescued workers from the Deepwater Horizon rig were given to sign stating that they were not injured and they were not witnesses to what happened.
The Gulf of Mexico oil leak has reinvigorated a nationwide debate about the risks and rewards of offshore drilling. But for the crew and surviving families of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the calculations of risk and reward are much more intimate.
Last month’s explosion of an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico has prompted scrutiny of the U.S. Coast Guard’s ability to carry out even its limited role in preventing disaster on rigs.
In the past six weeks, I have made a number of trips to West Virginia to meet with the families of the 29 men who died at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine. Although there is nothing I can do to eliminate their pain and suffering, I can, as the nation’s top cop on the workplace beat, make sure that we learn the truth about what happened on April 5, and bring those responsible to justice.
For all the talk about alternative energy sources — wind, solar, you name it — the U.S. and the rest of the world still depend on coal. A lot.
In a Missouri food warehouse, 150 workers load and unload trucks, lift boxes, drive fork trucks, and move endless pallets. Each month that no one reports an injury, all workers receive prizes, such as $50 gift certificates. If someone reports an injury, no prizes are given that month.
Kansas workplaces are getting safer according to the 2009 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, which shows a nearly 10 percent decrease in non fatal accidents in private industries in the state from 2007 to 2008.
The Federal Agency Targeting Inspection Program is a nationwide program emphasizing workplace safety and health for federal workers and contractors supervised by federal personnel.
The president of a Charlottesville-based civil liberties group is pushing for a federal investigation into a report of aggressive behavior by a U.S. Census Bureau worker during a visit to an Albemarle County home.
In April alone, Washington pushed for multiple kinds of regulation and legislation aimed at improving safety and environmental records of US industry. Yet — when drafting laws to radically change incentives, overhauling how our industry heads are paid — Congress fails to identify either of these metrics as justification for pay.
A mother whose son died in an on-the-job accident at a Las Vegas hotel is calling for the district attorney or the state attorney general to be called into safety violation cases to conduct possible criminal prosecutions.
Federal health and safety officials are proposing more than $130,000 in fines against a Kia auto supplier in LaGrange, Ga.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined VT Halter Marine Inc. $1,322,000 for a November 2009 explosion and fire that killed two workers and injured two more, the U.S. Department of Labor agency announced.
The Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Feely Elevator for seven violations following the Feb. 4, 2010 accident which led to manager Mark Malecha being partially buried by corn.
Two Jeffboat workers in Kentucky have been killed on the job in less than a week. The latest happened Thursday night when a painter fell from a ladder and landed on a cargo tank.
A man who fell at least 30 feet to his death at Qualcomm Stadium last October was drunk when the incident happened, San Diego city officials said.
A federal advisory panel listened to pleas Wednesday from Western New Yorkers who had family members die of cancer after working in facilities that handled nuclear materials.
More questions than answers surfaced on Friday as OSHA continued its investigation into why a man was crushed to death while moving a 4,500-pound safe inside a bank.
Read Full Post »
