Failing Nevada’s workers
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval recently vetoed two bills designed to improve workplace safety in Nevada, siding with business interests instead of protecting workers. Assembly Bill 253 would have allowed the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration to hand out stiffer fines for businesses that willfully violate the rules. Assembly Bill 254 would have allowed Nevada OSHA greater ability to cite businesses that expose employees to hazardous working conditions.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jun/07/failing-nevadas-workers/
Here’s your chance to take shots at OSHA regs
The U.S. Department of Labor has given the public until July 1 — safety and health professionals and employers take note — to comment on its preliminary plan to revise department regulations, including some from OSHA. A new web page has been created to accept comments on the “Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules,” which DOL published on May 26.
http://ohsonline.com/articles/2011/06/05/heres-your-chance-to-take-shots-at-regs.aspx?admgarea=news
NRC: Nuke plants need more training on emergencies
Federal inspectors have found that some nuclear power plants have not properly trained their staff about emergency guidelines intended to protect the public in the event of a severe accident or disaster. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it continues to believe that the nation’s 104 nuclear reactors are safe, but officials say they are concerned that inspectors found many plant operators have not done enough to train their staff on voluntary guidelines or update emergency procedures.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2011/06/06/1631395/nrc-nuke-plants-need-more-training.html
Massey’s Inman resumes claim Upper Big Branch blast was natural disaster
Two days after Alpha Natural Resources bought Massey Energy, the former chairman of Massey’s board resumed promoting the contention that the deadly explosion a year ago at the Upper Big Branch Mine was a natural disaster.
http://wvgazette.com/News/201106031457
Black lung screenings offered in Southern WV
Among the findings of a recent independent investigation into the causes of the deadly Upper Big Branch explosion was a prevalence of black lung disease among the miners killed in the blast. The report calls national attention to this debilitating and deadly disease, and the rate of the disease among those killed in the Upper Big Branch mine is not isolated. In response to more cases of the disease, NIOSH procured a truck and outfitted it as a mobile clinic.
http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=20508
Female journalists face sexual threats abroad, report says
The threat of sexual attack is frequently used as a weapon for silencing female journalists working abroad, according to a report released Tuesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The report, “The Silencing Crime: Sexual Violence and Journalists,” was launched after CBS News correspondent Lara Logan was sexually assaulted by a mob when she was reporting in Cairo’s Tahrir Square during the historic fall of Hosni Mubarak’s government.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/female-journalists-face-sexual-threats-abroad-report-says/2011/06/06/AG1Bl2KH_story.html?hpid=z3
Judge throws out tech executive’s whistleblower claim against Bank of America
A federal judge has rejected a whistleblower claim by a former Bank of America Corp. computer guru who charged that he’d been fired for questioning the effectiveness of the bank’s new money laundering-detection technology.
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2011/06/07/4826/judge-throws-out-tech-executives-whistleblower-claim-against-bank-america
Knoxville Zoo fined after elephant kills worker
Tennessee workplace safety officials have recommended more than $12,000 in fines at the Knoxville Zoo after an elephant killed a worker earlier this year, a television station reported.
http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/Knoxville-Zoo-fined-after-elephant-kills-worker-1411731.php
OSHA buries grain bin operator in fines for machine guarding, fall hazards
OSHA has cited Lakeland Feed and Supply in Hamilton, Mont., for exposing workers to grain bin machine guarding and fall hazards, along with other safety and health hazards. Proposed fines total $122,500.
http://ohsonline.com/articles/2011/06/07/osha-buries-grain-bin-operator-in-fines-for-machine-guarding-fall-hazards.aspx?admgarea=news
Md. man killed in forklift accident at book warehouse
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office says a man was killed in a forklift accident at a book warehouse. Deputies say at about 3 a.m. on Wednesday, 44-year-old Ronald Schlitzer of Hampstead was using a forklift to move pallets of books at Random House Publishing in Westminster. Authorities say the forklift hit a shelving unit, traveled under the lower shelf and pinned Schlitzer between a shelving beam and the forklift.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/2573b97563a74c6ebf10c43e102a8194/MD–Forklift-Fatal/
