2 dead in Georgia trench collapse. Unacceptable! OSHA investigating.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration returned to Columbus Tuesday to continue gathering information into Monday's deadly trench collapse. 

OSHA tells News Leader 9's Roslyn Giles it is conducting a physical inspection of the work site at Summit Pointe where the trench gave way.  The crew was building an additional phase to the complex.

OSHA said it must complete its investigation within 6 months and issue any findings concerning whether any OSHA standards were violated.

The coroner confirms that James Jackson, 50, and Allen Thomas, 46, have died after being trapped in a trench at Summit Pointe Apartments on Williams Road.  They worked for the company Allen Development Group.

A 20-man rescue team tried to save the two construction workers trapped in a hole at the apartment complex's construction site, according to Fire Marshall Chief Ricky Shores. The men, who were relatives, were at the apartment complex constructing a new phase.

The men were using a tamp to pack in the dirt. Six people were in the trench at the time. Four escaped and tried to help the other men get out. Both bodies have been recovered and will be sent to Atlanta for an autopsy. A backhoe was used to shovel out the dirt. 

Jackson's son, Mike, was working with his father at the time. He was operating a backhoe when the incident occurred, and tried to help his family. 

Shores says the trench is 30 feet deep, but the men were trapped 12 feet under. He says they had to be careful because the composition of the soil, compaction of the soil, and lack of retaining walls could cause more victims

http://www.wsfa.com/story/23257555/construction-workers-dead-after-trench-at-apartment-complex#.UhzDD0KZFrQ.twitter

531 Texans lost their life on the job.

OSHA is swamped in too many accidents there.

http://www.keyetv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/study-shows-big-jump-texans-dying-job-11767.shtml

OSHA Slams Home Depot for Repeat Safety Hazards

"By failing to correct previously cited deficiencies, Home Depot continues to dismiss a culture of safety as a priority," Deborah Zubaty, OSHA's area director for Columbus, Ohio, said in a statement. "Employers who are cited for repeat violations demonstrate a lack of commitment to worker safety and health." 

Corporate safety must conduct audits to see that one hazard is fixed in the rest of the stores.

http://www.11alive.com/rss/article/304126/166/Home-Depot-fined-150700-by-OSHA?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.11alive.com%2Frss%2Farticle%2F304126%2F166%2FHome-Depot-fined-150700-by-OSHA

OSHA announces proposed silica rule

OSHA announces proposed silica rule. http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20131767.htm

See also https://www.osha.gov/silica/

ASSE Responds to OSHA’s Proposed Rule to Protect Workers Exposed to Crystalline Silica

Posted in Newsroom Home 8 hours ago

This Statement is attributable to: Kathy A. Seabrook CSP, CMIOSH, EurOSHM, President, American Society of Safety Engineers

Now that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has moved forward rulemaking on a possible standard to address the occupational exposure to silica, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) looks forward to the opportunity to bring the expertise and experience of its member safety, health and environmental (SH&E) professionals to an open debate about the appropriate regulation of this risk.

Our members already manage successfully the risks posed by silica in practical, cost effective ways and work with employers committed to protecting workers from those risks.  By finally moving this rulemaking forward, the entire occupational safety and health community will have the opportunity to share best practices and varied perspectives on how best to protect workers from a risk that, despite advances in protecting workers from silica risks, still kills more than 150 workers and harms the health of thousands more every year.  Our hope is that this debate and the information shared can help encourage more employers to provide better protections to their workers as this rulemaking proceeds.

OSHA sees fatality rate lower again.

Cheers to the hard working OSHA leaders, CSHOs, and staff that help set a new record of 3.2 fatalities per 100,000 workers. The previous team had flat lined for years at 4.0/100,000. This means an extra 700 workers came home last year vs. 2005.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf

How many violations in this photo?

"The employers' shocking decision to seal exit door" said Galen Lemke

This is a great OSHA quote on Fire Safety. "The employers' shocking decision to seal exit doors and block emergency exit routes to gain additional storage space placed the workers in great jeopardy," said Galen Lemke, director of OSHA's Honolulu Area Office, who said that the blocked exits could have devastating results in the event of an ammonia leak from piping located throughout the facility. "Employers must follow safety and health rules to prevent horrific tragedies, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York in 1911 when 146 workers died, unable to escape due to blocked exits. We hope to never see such a tragedy again, in Hawaii, or anywhere."

Emmett Roe of Imperial Foods went to jail in the 1990 as workers died in chicken procession plant because of locked exits.

https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=24519