Quote of the day
"The thing that's troublesome is, when you have essentially unlimited needs and very limited resources, the system goes tilt. From a statewide perspective, there is a dramatic lack of attention to these issues."
Contra Costa Regional Medical Center Executive Director Dr. Jeffrey Smith, about incidents of violence in the facility, which have led to at least four employee complaints to Cal/OSHA since 1999
Contractor Killed in East Bay Mower Accident
A 55-year-old landscape maintenance contractor for the city of Dublin is killed when he is thrown off and run over by the industrial tractor mower he was operating on a jogging-trail hillside. San Jose Mercury News
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Contra Costa Hospital Must Slash Violence to Keep Federal Funding
Federal officials warn Contra Costa Regional Medical Center that it could lose nearly $300 million annually in Medicare and Medicaid funding unless it corrects violence and other problems in its psychiatric unit. “There just is not enough protection. It’s too violent,” says one registered nurse who is recovering from being kicked repeatedly by a patient. By Sandy Kleffman, Contra Costa Times
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Bay Area Responders Schooled in ‘High Danger’ Trench Rescues
Milpitas Fire Department personnel and crews from other area fire agencies are sent into an unstable, 7-foot trench to practice technical rescues of workers trapped in trench emergencies. By Ian Bauer, Milpitas Post [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Nevada County Training Program Targets Construction Safety
Nevada County’s Sierra College is planning a June “Construction Boot Camp” that will focus on basic entry-level skills and knowledge of the industry, and includes first aid and a Cal/OSHA safety overview for certification. The Union (Grass Valley)
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R.I. Firefighters Caught in Prison Guards’ Air Tanks Dispute
Firefighters will lack crucial protection in the event of a fire at Cranston, R.I.’s Adult Correctional Institute, contends their union, because they cannot open cell block gates and are not trained in evacuating inmates. Further, they need to be escorted by prison guards, who are prohibited from using air tanks until a solution is found to meet Fed-OSHA fit-test requirements. By Barbara Polichetti, Providence Journal
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Constitution State Town Clerk Demands New Office
The Watertown, Conn. Town Council wants to bring back its town clerk, who has been on medical leave since filing a complaint with Conn-OSHA about possibly contaminated air and other conditions at the town hall. But she says she won’t return until her office is relocated. By Jim Taylor, Town Times (Watertown – Oakville, Conn.)
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Gas Suspected in Death of Miner, Three Rescuers in British Columbia
Deadly hydrogen sulphide gas appears to have killed four people in a decommissioned Canadian mine near Kimberly, British Columbia. A mining contractor who was testing acid-tainted water at a pumping station as part of the mine’s reclamation was the first to succumb; then, the worker who went looking for him and two paramedics were overcome. News1130 (Vancouver)
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Cornhusker State Pallet Repairer Nailed
A Nebraska wooden pallet repair and refurbishment company faces a fine of $126,500 after Fed-OSHA finds 33 alleged health and safety violations, including inadequate lockout/tagout and machine guarding. Fremont Tribune
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No Harmonizing Australia’s OHS Laws Yet
Australia’s federal state and territory workplace ministers fail to agree on harmonizing the country’s occupational health and safety regimes, due to states’ fears that safety standards would be driven down in a “race to the bottom”; a boycott of further meetings is possible. Elsewhere in Australia, a workers’ union claims that Beaconsfield Gold Mine, where one miner was killed and two others trapped for two weeks after a rock fall, were poorly informed of and prevented from standing up for their safety rights. Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
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