News You Can Use
FAA Fines Airline for Violating Fatigue Rules
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a civil penalty of $153,000 against an airline for operating 17 flights without giving pilots or flight attendants the required minimum amount of rest. Colgan Air, Inc. is alleged to have scheduled flight duty time for two captains, two first officers and six flight attendants on a seventh day after they had been on duty for the previous six consecutive days. The violations are alleged to have occurred between June 14, 2008 and Feb. 23, 2009. FAA regulations require airlines to relieve...
read moreWorksafeBC: Former BC Premier Didn’t Ensure Safety at Worksite
A WorkSafeBC report into a roofer’s fatal fall at former Premier Gordon Campbell’s summer residence in Halfmoon Bay, BC, says the premier, who was prime contractor for a renovation there, failed to provide adequate safety measures. Weather Tight Supplies roofer David Lesko, 40, lost his balance and fell backwards through a skylight opening to a foyer floor some 5 ½ meters (18 feet) below. Co-workers heard a loud thud and found the worker lying unresponsive on the floor. He died from his injuries the next day in hospital. While the victim...
read moreDiesel Exhaust Exposure Linked to Lung Cancer
Researchers have found a link between lung cancer deaths and heavy worker exposure to diesel exhaust in non-metal mines in the United States. Scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) studied 12,315 workers at eight non-metal mining facilities in Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio and Wyoming. They determined that the risk of developing lung cancer among underground miners who were heavily exposed to diesel exhaust was five times that of workers with the lowest diesel...
read moreIndonesia Seeks Outside Window Cleaning Ban for Maids
The Indonesian Embassy is calling for a ban on outside window cleaning by Indonesian maids after eight women fell to their deaths from high-rise towers in Singapore between January and early May 2012. The embassy is also calling for a ban on maids hanging laundry from high-rise apartments because of the potential for falling. “It’s upsetting. These are human beings dying for nothing,” Indonesian Embassy Counsellor Sukmo Yuwono told the Associated Press. Of an estimated 200,000 maids working in Singapore, half are from Indonesia. One...
read moreHelp Your Workers Cut Obesity Down to Size
As workers age, they deal with declining vision, hearing, strength, agility and reduced ability to process information. But there is one more factor that can amplify the deficits relating to aging—being overweight or obese. Drew Bossen, an Iowa City, IA, physical therapist specializing in ergonomics and aging workers, says someone in the US turns 50 every seven seconds and by 2015, about 20 percent of the workforce will be age 55 or older. According to Bossen, about one-third of the US population is obese, that is being more than 20 percent...
read moreTransit Ticket Collector Injured During Robbery Attempt
A Toronto Transit System (TTS) ticket collector suffered life-threatening injuries after he was shot in the neck and shoulder area during a recent robbery attempt. The worker, a man in his 50s, was shot through a glass ticket booth at Toronto’s Dupont subway station. The shooter, who did not receive cash from the worker, fired three shots into the ticket booth before fleeing. Two of the bullets struck the victim, who was expected to make a complete recovery after undergoing emergency surgery. The worker’s wife had expressed concern that...
read moreRail Company Fined Over Level Crossing Deaths
Network Rail in England has been fined the equivalent of nearly $1.6 million and ordered to pay $95,000 in costs after admitting health and safety breaches that contributed to the deaths of two young teenage girls. The two friends, ages 13 and 14, were killed instantly when they were struck by a train while crossing a railway line in southeast England. Although a series of risk assessments highlighting the dangers of the Elsenham Station crossing in Essex had been undertaken, the company had not acted on a recommendation for the installation...
read moreCity Ponders New Bylaws to Curb Airborne Construction Debris
A Canadian city where a young child was fatally struck by construction debris during a windstorm three years ago is reportedly eying tougher building bylaws following another recent incident that involved damage, but no injuries. Michelle Krsek, 3, died after debris from an 18-story condominium/hotel tower under construction in Calgary, AB, became airborne. She was hit by a three-meter (10-foot) long section of sheet metal that came from an improperly secured stack left on the roof of the building. Her seven-year-old brother and father were...
read moreHow Westray Changed Canadian Safety Culture
The Westray Mine disaster of May 9, 1992 forever changed Canada’s safety culture, according to safety training consultant Wilson Bateman. Twenty-six coal miners died 20 years ago this month in an underground methane and coal dust explosion at the Westray Mine in Plymouth, NS. The disaster directly led to the enactment of federal Bill C-45 legislation late in 2003. C-45 allows for the criminal prosecution of anyone who undertakes or has the authority to direct how a person does work or performs a task, who fails to take reasonable steps to...
read moreOSHA Requests Concrete Comments
OSHA is seeking comments from employers regarding how to prevent injuries and deaths among workers involved in reinforcing concrete activities in construction, general industry, agriculture and the maritime industry. It is also interested in hearing about how employers go about preventing injuries and deaths relating to vehicles and mobile equipment backing into workers in those industries. Between 2000 and 2009, more than 30 American workers died while performing reinforcement concrete activities. They were killed as a result of impalement,...
read more
