- AFTER KLEEN ENERGY EXPLOSION: Construction officials look to OSHA to create tougher safety standards
Several Connecticut construction industry officials gathered in an informal meeting last week to review data collected regarding the Kleen Energy Power Plant explosion. Together, the officials recommended that the U.S. Occupational and Safety Administration give serious consideration to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s recommendations in order to truly prevent similar future accidents.
Whistleblower Linda Simons, a previous Director of Health and Safety for SeaWorld Orlando, said that a drill had been carried out just weeks before the tragedy…with reportedly disastrous results. She stated that upon review of the results of the exercise that SeaWorld staff had either not responded, or they responded incorrectly. When the incident occurred with Tilikum and Ms. Brancheau just weeks after the failed exercise… staff were placed at greater risk when they were permitted to jump into the medical pool to try to free Ms. Brancheau from Tilikum’s jaws and thrashing body.
Worker deaths fell in 2009, with a significant drop in forestry-related deaths leading the way, according to a preliminary federal report on workplace safety. And while forestry and logging regularly make the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ list for most-dangerous jobs, the industry saw fatal injuries fall by 50 percent last year.
Apparently, the germs of the sneezer in Seat 24C are not the only contagions you can pick up in the cabin: No one is immune to air rage. Bad behavior in the skies could become an epidemic, in fact. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the total incidents of bad passenger behavior increased more than sixfold between 2007 and 2009.
Ray Beatty is looking for former Fernald workers. Beatty, coordinator of a program that offers free health exams for men and women who used to work at the old uranium foundry in Crosby Township, Ohio, is trying to get the word out about an early lung cancer detection program available to them.
An advocacy group that has been campaigning for more government protections for porn performers plans to file a complaint Thursday against mega-producer Larry Flynt Publications, publisher of Hustler.
Deborah Blum’s new history of forensic medicine, The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York, will appeal to true crime buffs and labor historians alike.
Federal officials investigating a 2007 fire that killed five workers at a hydroelectric plant said Wednesday that Xcel Energy Inc. and its contractor failed to adequately plan for hazardous work that included taking flammable solvents inside a 4,300-foot tunnel.
Two Los Angeles brothers, joint owners of four car washes, were each sentenced to a year in jail for violations of California overtime laws and various other crimes.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued citations to Calumet Shreveport Lubricants & Waxes LLC in Shreveport, La., for 22 alleged serious violations and two alleged repeat violations of federal health and safety regulations. Penalties total $173,000.
