Unanchored tipping furniture can cause children injuries, death

The ABC7 I-Team is investigating dresser dangers and how children can be at serious risk for injury or even death. (WLS)
ABC7 I-Team Investigation

By Jason Knowles and Ann Pistone
Updated 2 hrs 51 mins ago The ABC7 I-Team is investigating dresser dangers and how children can be at serious risk for injury or even death.

Consumer activists said that one child dies every two weeks from tipping furniture and appliances.

Now a local children's safety group is pushing for more federal regulations. On Tuesday, the I-Team saw how dangerous dressers can be.

In a demonstration you can see how easily an unanchored dresser can fall on a child. The test was done by the independent safety certification company Underwriters Laboratories in Northbrook.

"It can happen, it does happen," said Lisa Siefert, the mother of a child who was killed in a dresser accident. "I want people to think of Shane and look at their homes with a new eye."

Siefert's son died in 2011 when a dresser crashed down on him in his Barrington Hills bedroom.

"I said I love you at the door and he said I love you back," she said. "The he turned and rolled over to go to sleep and when I went to wake him from his nap I found him under his dresser."

Siefert, Kids in Danger and UL are raising awareness and asking the Consumer Product Safety Commission to implement tougher standards.

"Our new report today reveals significant risk to children from dressers or chests that top over and finds that current safety standards, which are voluntary, are dangerously inadequate," said Nancy Cowles of KID.

KID said those current voluntary standards do not test on carpet, which is less stable. Current tests use only 50 lbs. of weight, unlike the KID/UL tests, which added up to 70 lbs.

Their testing revealed that 9 of 19 dressers passed current standards while only two passed its enhanced ones.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said she also wants a change.

"All parents deserve the peace of mind that their furniture in their homes is not going to injure or kill their children," said Schakowsky.

UL found that some dressers, which only allow one drawer to open at a time, are safer.

"So a lot of kids will open one drawer and they will try to open the next one to climb up and up, which makes it more dangerous and more likely to tip over, which this one doesn't allow," said a UL official.

Experts also said wider bases and anchors on walls can save a child's life.

"Think of a child under that, my child, could be your child," Siefert said.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said it is reviewing the new tests and will look seriously at the Kid report.

"We're examining the results of this important and timely study closely and will incorporate its findings as appropriate into our enforcement and standards work around this ongoing and unacceptable hazard. I continue to believe furniture tip-overs are a solvable problem. Designing and building more stable furniture must be a core part of any solution. Consumer education efforts, such as the #AnchorIt campaign, remain necessary while the safety work continues. In the interim, I reiterate that anyone producing or selling furniture not compliant with the current voluntary standard should prepare to work with us regarding a recall modeled on similar recent furniture recalls," CPSC said in a statement Tuesday.

The CPSC recently announced a voluntary recall of millions of Ikea dressers, which have been blamed for the deaths of six children.

PG&E guilty of obstructing investigators about how it was identifying high-risk pipelines after a deadly pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Updated 2 hrs 50 mins ago
SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal jury found California's largest utility guilty on Tuesday of misleading investigators about how it was identifying high-risk pipelines after a deadly pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The jury found PG&E not guilty of six of 11 remaining counts that alleged pipeline violations.

The blast of a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. natural gas pipeline six years ago sent a giant plume of fire into the air, killing eight people and destroying 38 homes in the city of San Bruno.

During the investigation, prosecutors say, the San Francisco-based utility misled federal officials about the standard it was using to identify high-risk pipelines.

PG&E pleaded not guilty and said its employees did the best they could with ambiguous regulations they struggled to understand.

The stakes in the case dropped dramatically, however, when prosecutors made the surprising decision several days into jury deliberations not to pursue a potential $562 million fine if PG&E was found guilty of any of the counts.

The decision, which was approved by a judge, reduced the company's maximum liability to $6 million, prompting criticism that prosecutors were not holding PG&E accountable.

According to prosecutors, the standard PG&E used to identify high-risk pipelines violated safety regulations and led to a failure to classify the San Bruno pipeline and others as high risk and properly assess them.

The company also did not subject the pipelines to appropriate testing, choosing a cheaper method to save money, prosecutors told jurors.

"The motive was profits over safety," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Schenk said during his closing argument in the more than monthlong trial.

PG&E engineers did not think the pipelines posed a safety risk, and the company did not intend to mislead investigators, PG&E attorney Steven Bauer said during the trial.

The utility inadvertently sent officials a draft policy about its standard for identifying high risk pipes, not one the company was actually following, he said.

"Nobody at PG&E is a criminal," he said during his closing argument. He accused prosecutors of engaging in an "elaborate second-guessing exercise."

Investigators have blamed the blast in part on poor PG&E record-keeping that was based on incomplete and inaccurate pipeline information.

Children playing with stovetop caused a 4-alarm fire in the Bronx Tuesday that left three firefighters hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

Eyewitness News
Updated 2 mins ago
WAKEFIELD, Bronx (WABC) -- A 4-alarm fire in the Bronx Tuesday left three firefighters hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

The fire was caused by children playing with fire on a stovetop, authorities say.


The fire broke out at about 12:30 p.m. in a two-story occupied private dwelling on East 235th Street off Carpenter Avenue in the Wakefield section.
The FDNY said the fire spread to four other structures. 170 firefighters from 40 units responded.

44-year-old firefighter Patrick Morello was diagnosed with heat stroke.


His job was to cut a vent hole in the roof to prevent the fire from spreading, and when he came down from the roof he collapsed outside, the FDNY said.



Another firefighter, 44-year-old Sean O'Rourke, was hurt in an accident driving the fire truck from Queens to the Bronx.



The third firefighter, 51-year-old Joseph Brady, suffered a heart attack.


All three are in critical but stable condition at Jacobi Hospital



One lieutenant, 54-year-old Joseph Martorell, suffered serious burn injuries but was treated and released.  How is this possible, it is hard to believe.  They cannot possibly release him with serious burns!


No residents in the buildings were hurt.
"When I came out I saw the black smoke coming down the stairs," said Sharon White, who lives in a first-floor apartment. "We ran out, they were trying to get the grandmother out, she's sick. And they were trying to get her out, and they fell down the stairs."

NewsCopter 7 was over the scene of the fire:


The Red Cross is working with eight families to provide emergency housing and other immediate needs

5-alarm fire spread to several buildings in the Wakefield section of the Bronx

Kemberly Richardson has the latest details.

Eyewitness News
Updated 1 hr 25 mins ago
WAKEFIELD, Bronx (WABC) -- Firefighters battled a 5-alarm fire that spread to several buildings in the Bronx Tuesday.

The fire broke out at about 12:30 p.m. in a two-story occupied private dwelling on East 235th Street off Carpenter Avenue in the Wakefield section.

The FDNY said the fire spread to four other structures.

39 units with 168 fire and EMS personnel responded.

Three firefighters were injured. One suffered minor burns, while the other two injuries were heat-related. No residents in the buildings were hurt.

"When I came out I saw the black smoke coming down the stairs," said Sharon White, who lives in a first-floor apartment. "We ran out, they were trying to get the grandmother out, she's sick. And they were trying to get her out, and they fell down the stairs."

Fire marshals are investigating the cause of the blaze.

Investigators say it appears to have started in the back of the building in a porch area.

NewsCopter 7 was over the scene of the fire:


East 235th Street is closed from White Plains Road to Carpenter Avenue.

At least three people were injured when an out-of-control car slammed into a bus stop on Long Island

Kristin Thorne reports from New Hyde Park, where a car struck three pedestrians.

Eyewitness News
Updated 3 mins ago
NEW HYDE PARK, New York (WABC) -- At least three people were injured when an out-of-control car slammed into a bus stop on Long Island Tuesday.

The incident happened at around 5:15 p.m. at a bus stop on Union Turnpike in front of the Lake Success Shopping Center in New Hyde Park.

There is no word on the conditions of the victims or the circumstances of the crash.



Witnesses did say that the victims were talking and responding at the scene.

160 gallons of the undiluted Perasafe FC-100 Chemical spill at Case Farms threatens fish in Nimishillen Creek in Canton, Ohio

160 gallons of the undiluted Perasafe FC-100 Chemical spill at Case Farms threatens fish in Nimishillen Creek in Canton, Ohio

Plant evacuated after roughly 160 gallons of the undiluted chemical flow into the Canton storm sewer system.


By Robert Wang
Repository staff writer
Posted Aug. 9, 2016 at 2:13 PM
Updated at 3:34 PM


CANTON, OHIO -  A 330-gallon container with a chemical and antimicrobial agent known as Perasafe FC-100 was punctured at Case Farms Tuesday morning, possibly by forklift, causing roughly 160 gallons of the undiluted chemical to flow into the city's storm sewer system and into the Nimishillen Creek, the city's fire chief said.

The chemical can have toxic effects when not diluted. Case Farms, which sells chickens to supermarkets and is at 1925 30th St NE near Route 62 and Harrisburg Avenue NE, uses it in diluted form.


Six people from Case Farms are being evaluated at the scene for ill effects from the spill, said Chief Tom Garra. But so far, there have been no known injuries. The plant has been evacuated.

As of this afternoon, firefighters had opened a hydrant at Route 62 and Harrisburg Avenue NE in an attempt to dilute the chemical in the storm sewer system.

A HazMat team was seeking to treat the spill. They were concerned that the spill would lead to a large fish kill in the Nimishillen Creek and the team was seeking to bring acidity levels in the creek to normal.

The Stark Fire Department Rehabilitation Unit deployed but apparently no firefighters had to be treated.

Elderly couple killed after their speeding car hits a tree on Route 70, near the intersection of Pasadena Road in Pemberton Township, NJ

A couple in their late 70s were killed Monday in a crash in Pemberton Township, New Jersey. (WPVI)

Tuesday, August 09, 2016 01:43PM
PEMBERTON TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- Police say a man and woman in their 70s were killed in a crash in Burlington County, New Jersey on Monday.

Police have identified the victims are 78-year-old Blackwell S. Albertson and 77-year-old Jean S. Albertson, both of Manchester, New Jersey.

The crash happened around 2:05 p.m. on Route 70, near the intersection of Pasadena Road in Pemberton Township.

Police say the 2015 Chrysler 200 driven by Blackwell Albertson went off the road and hit a tree - splitting into two pieces.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Albertson died a short time later at Capital Health Medical Center in Trenton.

So far, no word on what led to the crash.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Pemberton Township Police Department at (609) 894-3308 or Police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 894-3352.  Based on the damage sustained by this vehicle, the couple was speeding.  If no drugs were involved, then perhaps a medical condition led the driver to veer off the road and hit the defenseless tree.

LOSER: grounded semisubmersible rig Transocean Winner, went onto the rocks near Carloway on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland

Pollution Risk From Grounded Rig Is "Low"
Image courtesy

By MarEx 2016-08-09 14:01:18

On Tuesday, the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency said that there was little risk of pollution from the grounded semisubmersible rig Transocean Winner, which went onto the rocks near Carloway on the Isle of Lewis early Monday morning.

The Winner has 280 tonnes (or about 90,000 gallons) of diesel on board, and authorities have been monitoring the site for signs of pollution. So far none has been observed.

GVA, the designer of the GVA 4000 series rigs (including the Winner) suggests in specifications and consultants' reports that drilling mud, brine and ballast tanks are located in the vessel's pontoons, the structural elements resting on the rocks. The firm was not immediately available for comment.

SMIT Salvage has been contracted for the response effort, and a team of SMIT salvors was set to make an initial inspection of the rig on Monday.

"This initial recce will be checking a number of things including fuel tanks," said Hugh Shaw, the on-site representative of the UK Secretary of State. "Weather permitting, it’s then intended to put a second larger group of salvors on tomorrow to carry out a more detailed inspection."

The UK Coastguard asked local residents and tourists to stay away from the popular beach and headlands areas near the grounding, for their own safety but also to ensure ease of access for emergency response crews.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch has launched a formal investigation into the incident. So far, it is known that the Transocean Winner was in transit, towed by the anchor handling tug Alp Forward, when the tug lost the tow in severe weather. The Alp Forward was unable to reestablish a connection and high winds blew the Winner aground early Monday.

The 1983-built Transocean Winner has a 65-foot transit draft and a transit displacement of 20,000 tons.

As of Transocean's latest fleet status report, the rig was scheduled to come off contract with Marathon Oil last month. The BBC reported that it was under tow from the North Sea to Malta at the time of the grounding; Valletta-based firm GANADO Advocates recently reported that Transocean is stacking rigs in Malta while determining which and how many to scrap at Turkish recycling yards. 

OSHA finds Liberty Master Inc., a Scranton, PA contractor, continues to expose employees to serious, potentially fatal fall hazards at Yardley worksite

August 9, 2016

OSHA finds Liberty Master Inc., a Scranton, PA contractor, continues to expose employees to serious, potentially fatal fall hazards at Yardley worksite
Liberty Master Inc. faces $57K in fines for federal violations

Employer name: Liberty Master, Inc., 903 Curtis Lane, Scranton, Pennsylvania

Inspection site: 1735 Mulberry Way, Yardley, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On July 29, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the construction contractor for one serious and two willful safety violations.

Investigation findings: OSHA initiated an inspection on June 29, 2016 after a compliance officer observed employees exposed to several fall hazards while working up to approximately 25 feet above ground on while building a new residence.

The agency cited Liberty Master, Inc because it allowed employees to perform residential construction work without fall protection, and allowed employees to use a stepladder improperly.

OSHA has inspected Liberty Master, Inc. five times since January 2016 and issued serious citations for fall hazards.

Quote: "Liberty Master Inc. has not provided their employees with the essential tools and safety leadership necessary to prevent serious or even fatal fall injuries," said Jean G. Kulp, OSHA's Allentown Area Office director. "Workers' should never have to put their lives at stake because their employers fail to meet the most basic safety standards."

Proposed penalties: $57,200

The citation can be viewed at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/LibertyMasterInc_1159586.pdf

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Allentown Area Office at 267-429-7542.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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Mattocks Five Inc., doing business as Albion Mill, a Pennsylvania feed mill, ignored previously identified severe combustible dust, grain-handling hazards, while dangers remain

August 9, 2016

OSHA finds Pennsylvania feed mill ignored previously identified severe
combustible dust, grain-handling hazards, while dangers remain
Albion Mill facing $195K fine for 26 violations, including 5 willful

Employer name: Mattocks Five Inc., doing business as Albion Mill

Inspection site: 73 Canal St., Albion, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to Albion Mill for five willful, nine repeat and 12 serious safety and health violations, and one other-than-serious violation.

Inspection findings: OSHA's inspection on Feb. 10, 2016, was a follow up to previous inspections conducted in 2013. Inspectors identified willful violations when the company:

• Allowed employees without proper safety equipment to enter a grain-handling bin.
• Allowed machines to be operated with unguarded belts, pulleys and shafts.
• Failed to develop or implement a housekeeping program to prevent worker exposure to combustible dust hazards caused by accumulated grain and feed products.
• Did not maintain inspection certification records when servicing equipment.

Inspectors also found repeat violations that included:

• A lack of annual employee training on use of portable fire extinguishers.
• An unguarded, 28-inch deep pit.
• Electrical hazards.
• A lack of worker chemical hazard training.
• No written and implemented hazard communication program.
• An absence of lockout/tagout procedures, which prevent accidental machine start-up or movement.

The serious violations included:

• Deficiencies in lockout/tagout procedures and training.
• Unguarded machine parts.
• Use of damaged equipment.
• Employee exposure to fall hazards.
• Improper storage of propane cylinders.
• Workers permitted to enter grain handling facility bin without a permit.
• Lack of employee training on engulfment hazards.

An unguarded pit resulted in the other-than-serious violations.

Quote: "Our follow-up inspection at Albion Mill found employees continue to be exposed to severe combustible dust issues. In some areas, 6 inches or more of dust had accumulated, creating a dangerous risk of explosion," said Theresa A. Naim, director of OSHA's Erie Area Office. "This company had ample opportunity, time and guidance to correct the hazardous conditions but chose business as usual by disregarding the safety of its employees."

Proposed penalties: $195,460

View the citations here and here. After receipt of the citations, Mattocks Five Inc. requested an informal conference with OSHA's area director, which took place on Aug. 8, 2016, and is still ongoing.

For more information on OSHA standards for grain handling facilities, visit https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/grainhandling/

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Erie Area Office at 804-874-5150.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. 

OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

# # #

Grain Handling

• 
  
• Standards
• Hazards
• Evaluating and Controlling Exposure
• Other Resources

• Safety and Health Topics

OSHA has developed this webpage to provide workers, employers, and safety and health professionals useful, up-to-date safety and health information on grain handling facilities.

What are grain handling facilities?

Grain handling facilities are facilities that may receive, handle, store, process and ship bulk raw agricultural commodities such as (but not limited to) corn, wheat, oats, barley, sunflower seeds, and soybeans. Grain handling facilities include grain elevators, feed mills, flour mills, rice mills, dust pelletizing plants, dry corn mills, facilities with soybean flaking operations, and facilities with dry grinding operations of soycake.

What are the hazards in grain handling facilities?

The grain handling industry is a high hazard industry where workers can be exposed to numerous serious and life threatening hazards. These hazards include: fires and explosions from grain dust accumulation, suffocation from engulfment and entrapment in grain bins, falls from heights and crushing injuries and amputations from grain handling equipment.
Suffocation is a leading cause of death in grain storage bins. In 2010, 51 workers were engulfed by grain stored in bins, and 26 died-the highest number on record, according to a report issued by Purdue University (PDF) Suffocation can occur when a worker becomes buried (engulfed) by grain as they walk on moving grain or attempt to clear grain built up on the inside of a bin. Moving grain acts like "quicksand" and can bury a worker in seconds. "Bridged" grain and vertical piles of stored grain can also collapse unexpectedly if a worker stands on or near it. The behavior and weight of the grain make it extremely difficult for a worker to get out of it without assistance. OSHA has sent notification letters to approximately 13,000 grain elevator operators warning the employers to not allow workers to enter grain storage facilities without proper equipment, precautions (such as turning off and locking/tagging out all equipment used so that the grain is no being emptied or moving into the bin) and training.
Grain dust explosions are often severe, involving loss of life and substantial property damage. Over the last 35 years, there have been over 500 explosions in grain handling facilities across the United States, which have killed more than 180 people and injured more than 675. Grain dust is the main source of fuel for explosions in grain handling. Grain dust is highly combustible and can burn or explode if enough becomes airborne or accumulates on a surface and finds an ignition source (such as hot bearing, overheated motor, misaligned conveyor belt, welding, cutting, and brazing). OSHA standards require that both grain dust and ignition sources must be controlled in grain elevators to prevent these often deadly explosions.
Falls from height can occur from many walking/working surfaces throughout a grain handling facility. Examples of such surfaces include (but are not limited to) floors, machinery, structures, roofs, skylights, unguarded holes, wall and floor openings, ladders, unguarded catwalks, platforms and manlifts. Falls can also occur as workers move from the vertical exterior ladders on grain bins to the bin roof or through a bin entrance.
Mechanical equipment within grain storage structures, such as augers and conveyors, present serious entanglement and amputation hazards. Workers can easily get their limbs caught in improperly guarded moving parts of such mechanical equipment.
Storage structures can also develop hazardous atmospheres due to gases given off from spoiling grain or fumigation. Workers may be exposed to unhealthy levels of airborne contaminants, including molds, chemical fumigants (toxic chemicals), and gases associated with decaying and fermenting silage. Fumigants are commonly used for insect control on stored grain and many have inadequate warning properties. Exposure to fumigants may cause permanent central nervous system damage, heart and vascular disease, and lung edema as well as cancer. These gases may result in a worker passing out and falling into the grain, thus becoming engulfed and suffocating or otherwise injuring themselves.

What can be done to reduce the hazards in grain handling facilities?

On August 4, 2010 and again on February 1, 2011, OSHA issued warning letters to the grain handling industry following a series of incidents including the recent suffocation of 2 teenagers in Illinois grain elevator. In response to the rising number of workers entrapped and killed in grain storage facilities, OSHA has also issued a new fact sheet, Worker Entry Into Grain Storage Bins (PDF^*) in August 2010 for workers and employers emphasizing the hazards of grain storage bin entry and the safe procedures that all employers must follow. Additionally, OSHA issued a safety and health information bulletin (SHIB) entitled, Combustible Dust in Industry: Preventing and Mitigating the Effects of Fire and Explosions, and a Hazard Alert: Combustible Dust Explosions (PDF^*) fact sheet.
The control of worker's exposure to hazards in grain handling facilities are addressed in the OSHA standard for grain handling facilities (29 CFR 1910.272), as well as in other general industry standards. These standards reduce the risk to workers by requiring that employers follow established, common sense safety practices when working in grain handling facilities.
When workers enter storage bins, employers must (among other things):

1. Turn off and lock out all powered equipment associated with the bin, including augers used to help move the grain, so that the grain is not being emptied or moving out or into the bin. Standing on moving grain is deadly; the grain can act like "quicksand" and bury a worker in seconds. Moving grain out of a bin while a worker is in the bin creates a suction that can pull the workers into the grain in seconds.
2. Prohibit walking down grain and similar practices where an employee walks on grain to make it flow.
3. Provide all employees a body harness with a lifeline, or a boatswains chair, and ensure that it is secured prior to the employee entering the bin.
4. Provide an observer stationed outside the bin or silo being entered by an employee. Ensure the observer is equipped to provide assistance and that their only task is to continuously track the employee in the bin. Prohibit workers from entry into bins or silos underneath a bridging condition, or where a build-up of grain products on the sides could fall and bury them.
5. Train all workers for the specific hazardous work operations they are to perform when entering and working inside of grain bins.
6. Test the air within a bin or silo prior to entry for the presence of combustible and toxic gases, and to determine if there is sufficient oxygen.
7. If detected by testing, vent hazardous atmospheres to ensure that combustible and toxic gas levels are reduced to non hazardous levels, and that sufficient oxygen levels are maintained.
8. Ensure a permit is issued for each instance a worker enters a bin or silo, certifying that the precautions listed above have been implemented.

To prevent dust explosions and fires, employers must (among other things):

1. Develop and implement a written housekeeping program with instructions to reduce dust accumulations on ledges, floors, equipment and other exposed surfaces.
2. Identify "priority" housekeeping areas in grain elevators. The "priority" housekeeping areas include floor areas within 35 feet of inside bucket elevators, floors of enclosed areas containing grinding equipment and floors of enclosed areas containing grain dryers located inside the facility. Dust accumulations in these priority housekeeping areas shall not exceed 1/8th inch. Employers should make every effort to minimize dust accumulations on exposed surfaces since dust is the fuel for a fire or explosion, and it is recognized that a 1/8 inch dust accumulation is more than enough to fuel such occurrences.
3. Inside bucket elevators can undergo primary explosions. OSHA's grain handling standard requires that belts for these bucket elevators purchased after March 30, 1988 are conductive and have a surface electrical resistance not exceeding 300 megohms. Bucket elevators must have an opening to the head pulley section and boot section to allow for inspection, maintenance, and cleaning. Bearings must be mounted externally to the leg casing or the employer must provide vibration, temperature, or other monitoring of the conditions of the bearings if the bearings are mounted inside or partially inside the leg casing. These bucket elevators must be equipped with a motion detection device which will shut-down the elevator when the belt speed is reduced by no more than 20% of the normal operating speed.
4. Implement a preventative maintenance program with regularly scheduled inspections for mechanical and safety control equipment, which may include heat producing equipment such as motors, bearings, belts etc. Preventive maintenance is critical to controlling ignition sources. The use of vibration detection methods, heat sensitive tape or other heat detection methods can help in the implementation of the program.
5. Minimize ignition sources through controlling hot work (electric or gas welding, cutting, brazing or similar flame producing operations).
6. Install wiring and electrical equipment suitable for hazardous locations.
7. Design and properly locate dust collection systems to minimize explosion hazards. All filter collectors installed after March 1988 shall be located outside the facility or located in an area inside the facility protected by an explosion suppression system or located in an area that is separated from other areas by construction having at least a one hour fire resistance rating and which is located next to an exterior wall vented to the outside.
8. Install an effective means of removing ferrous material from grain streams so that such material does not enter equipment such as hammer mills, grinders and pulverizers.

For more information, see OSHA standard (29 CFR 1910.272).

OSHA fines Roof Kings, LLC of Andover, Mass. $124K after repeatedly exposed employees to life-threatening fall hazards at the Brookridge Community Church in Haverhill, Mass.

Aug. 9, 2016BOS 2016-128

Warnings ignored, Dorchester roofing contractor repeatedly exposed
employees to life-threatening fall hazards at Haverhill church
OSHA fines Roof Kings $124K for willful, serious, repeat violations

ANDOVER, Mass. - Dorchester-based contractor Roof Kings LLC exposed employees to life-threatening falls - more than 45 feet off the ground - over a three-day period as they worked at a Haverhill church, federal workplace safety and health inspectors found.

In response to a complaint, the Andover Area Office of the U. S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration began its inspection on Feb. 17, 2016. Inspectors found Roof Kings’ employees working without fall protection atop the steep-pitched roof at 232 Main St. Workers also lacked fall protection as they worked on a lower, sloped roof and on ladders that did not extend at least three feet above landings for required stability.

As the construction industry continues to grow, falls continue to be the leading cause of death. Source: http://www.bls.gov.

OSHA officials brought the violations - and the need to correct them - to the attention of the company’s site supervisor. On Feb. 18 and 19, they returned to continue the inspection and found the fall hazards ignored and Roof Kings workers still at risk of deadly or disabling falls. 

“Employees should never have to risk their lives for a paycheck. Roof Kings has no excuse for knowingly and repeatedly failing to provide and ensure required fall protection safeguards,” said Anthony Covello, OSHA’s area director for Essex and Middlesex counties. 

OSHA found Roof King employees exposed to additional fall hazards stemming from:

• Using a materials hoist improperly as a ladder.
• Inadequate fall protection training.
• An unsecured fall protection anchor.
• A fall protection lanyard that would allow an employee to fall more than 6 feet.
• An improperly angled extension ladder.
• Ascent and descent on a ladder while carrying an object that could cause a worker to lose balance.
• Lack of training on how to use ladders safely.

“Preventable falls account for nearly 40 percent of all deaths in the construction industry, yet this hazard can be readily eliminated with the proper planning, training and equipment,” said Covello. “Roof Kings must take ongoing corrective action to effectively prevent fall hazards before one of its employees is needlessly killed or injured.”

The agency also identified the following hazards which put Roof Kings’ employees at risk of:

• Eye and face injuries while using pneumatic nail guns without proper eye protection.
• Being struck by roofing materials dropped more than 20 feet from the building.
• Electric shock and burns from ungrounded power tools, an ungrounded electrical outlet and frayed and misused power cords.
• Exposure to lead contaminants and inadequate training about lead hazards.

As a result of its findings, OSHA has cited Roof Kings for three willful, one repeat and nine serious violations of workplace safety standards. Proposed fines for these violations total $124,960. The citations can be viewed here.

Established in 2011, Roof Kings LLC is located at 512 Gallivan Boulevard, Dorchester. Roof Kings LLC. has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA offers a Stop Falls online resource with detailed information in English and Spanish on fall protection standards. The page provides fact sheets, posters and videos that illustrate various fall hazards and appropriate preventive measures. OSHA standards require that an effective form of fall protection be in use when workers perform construction activities 6 feet or more above the next lower level.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s Andover Area Office at 978-837-4460.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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3-year-old girl killed in Kensington crash; teen driver hospitalized

3-year-old girl killed in Kensington crash; teen driver hospitalized






By Christie Ileto and Annie McCormick
Updated 1 hr 33 mins ago

KENSINGTON (WPVI) -- Authorities are trying to determine if street racing is to blame for a crash that killed a 3-year-old girl in Philadelphia's Kensington section.

The crash happened around 7:15 p.m. Monday at 2nd and West York streets.




"Two cars were coming, and they hit this car, and I walked down the street and saw them lift the baby out," said Albert Mason, witness.

Police say the girl's mother and grandmother were traveling westbound on York Street when they were struck by a car driven by a 17-year-old boy.



"It appears the striking vehicle that was going south on 2nd Street, being operated by the 17-year-old male, may have been driving at a high rate of speed," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small. "Some witnesses are saying that 17-year-old driver was actually racing another vehicle."

The Honda, driven by the child's 43-year-old mother, jumped the curb and ripped up a hydrant before ejecting the 3-year-old through the rear passenger-side window.

"When she was found on the sidewalk she was not in a car seat. However, there is a car seat in the backseat of the vehicle," said Small.



"As soon as a I got out of the truck, all I see is the little baby," said witness Chino Cruz of Juniata.

The child was rushed to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children where she was pronounced dead at 7:51 p.m.

"Everybody was crying because of the baby," said Mason. "It was a lot of people that didn't know the baby and they were crying."

The child's grandmother is in stable condition and the mother is OK.

The 17-year-old driver was taken to Temple University Hospital where he is listed in stable condition.

Police are looking for a third car, described as a dark color Chevrolet Impala, likely with some front or side-end damage because it knocked over a light pole during the crash before fleeing the scene.

So far, no charges have been filed.