This page is dedicated to providing our readers information about OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). We’re tracking regulatory topics and compliance standards like signage requirements and the safe handling of hazardous materials. We’re also writing analytically, posting informative pieces about workplace safety, its relationship to consumer satisfaction and productivity, and considering OSHA’s implications and effectiveness. Our posts aim to simplify technical jargon, explain regulatory contexts, and help both workers and employers understand issues of compliance and federally mandated safe work practices.
OSHA
Injuries in service industry take a toll on New York’s economy
Contrary to the popular belief that the service industry has safer working conditions, Public Citizen’s new report on workplaces in New York reveals that the service sector contributes to a major chunk of injuries and illnesses across all industries. This can be due to lack of regulations, programs, and training for employees in service-based jobs. […]
Dangerous fun: The circus as workplace
In a recent accident at a Ringling Brothers performance in Providence, Rhode Island, the media has turned its lens to show what it really takes to entertain in a circus. A closer look reveals that while acrobats constantly balance between life and death, exotic and non-domestic animals who seem to enact happily, receive endless reprimands to deliver […]
EU-OSHA launches campaign to tackle workplace stress
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has launched a two-year campaign called “Healthy Workers Manage Stress” to address workplace stress, which is often overlooked by companies but has been the subject of recent awareness-raising efforts. According to EU-OSHA’s opinion poll 66% workers confirm that excessive workload stresses them out. Moreover 50% respondents […]
‘No more falling workers’: OSHA raises alarm over cell tower deaths
The average fatality rate of the U.S. cell tower industry is on the rise. Thirteen deaths were reported in 2013 and four communications tower workers have already died in 2014. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has expressed concern over these alarming numbers, and is now urging the industry to comply with strict tower […]
Growing opposition to OSHA’s proposed silica rule
As the public comment period for the proposed crystalline silica rule closes, several big organizations have unanimously disapproved the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) recommended regulations. OSHA estimates that the rule, once implemented, would significantly decrease the number of deaths caused each year due to silica dust hazard. However, industry experts think the proposed […]
How many safety violations can you find in this construction site? #HazardSpotting
#HazardSpotting is a community safety initiative that helps raise awareness about dangerous workplace safety violations. Our audience submits pictures, and we write an article with insight from featured safety professionals. Our fourteenth installment is large-scale construction project. Along with our anonymous tipster, we welcome two construction safety experts, Max Everett and Brian Bennett, who conducted […]
Fall protection leads OSHA’s top 10 violations for 2013
OSHA has released the list of its top ten cited standards for the 2013 fiscal year and once again, the fall protection standard has held onto its top position with 8,241 violations. Fall protection was the top cited standard in 2012 and 2011 list as well. In fact, the order of the first four standards […]
OSHA urges Colorado flood disaster response crews to take precautions
Earlier this month, historic floods caused by torrential rains hit Colorado’s Front Range region, resulting in property loss estimated at nearly $2 billion statewide. Even more devastatingly, there is a confirmed death toll of seven people (as of noon, Sept. 20). 140 people are still unaccounted for, and downed electrical wires, damaged roads and bridges, […]
Safety basics: How do I report a construction hazard?
Infrastructure is constantly going up and coming down around us. Construction projects clutter our streets, sidewalks, hallways, and neighborhoods; if they’re conducted unsafely, every demographic is put in danger, from workers to passersby. All you have to do is take a look at our #HazardSpotting series to see a how common some bad practices are. […]
Ambiguous regulations increase risks for temporary workers
Temporary workers, who are appointed to employers by staffing agencies, inhabit a confusing space in the American workforce: They can have a “first day” at a new job every week. Their day-to-day work is managed by one employer, yet they are paid by another. And they may, or may not, receive training from one or […]
Who is protected? OSHA exemptions to coverage and record keeping
I was recently catching up with some old episodes of The West Wing. One episode addressed OSHA exemptions by featuring an amusing sideplot where Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff to this fictional White house, is being hounded by his assistant about the importance of OSHA funding when it comes to protecting workers from […]
