Safety violations

Mica mining is subjected to local, state, and federal laws. The Mining, Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) regularly monitors mica mining operations for safety violations. 

Firefighter Green arrives at an apartment building for a routine inspection. During the inspection, she notices several fire safety violations in the building across the street. The best course of action for her to take would be to... 

OSHA investigated this incident and applied Process Safety Management (PSM) standards to the company, despite the fact the PSM Law did not apply to other industries until May 1992. The initial OSHA fine of about 8.2 million in proposed penalties was reduced to a record 5.8 million for alleged safety violations. The gut-wrenching emotions of the company were expressed when a spokesman stated, You have to understand we are still grieving. The company took the initiative to settle—rather than litigate—because it s time to move forward. [9]... 

First, regarding safety, the I.O.N.S. safety manual is included herein. We are very proud of the fact that only minor safety violations have occurred since our company was founded in 1978. We expect that all safety policies and procedures outlined in the manual will be in effect at all times. For this reason, it is imperative that you diligently study and familiarize yourself with the material contained in this manual. Before you are permitted to do any laboratory work, you must satisfactorily demonstrate your knowledge of safety to your supervisor. He or she will go over the safety manual with you and point out important aspects of your specific workspace. In addition, Ben Whell, the I.O.N.S. Safety Coordinator, provides a safety report for all projects that require special attention with respect to safety. 

Another source mentions institutional realities that undercut corporate safety goals, such as incentives that promote safety violations in the interest of short-term profitability, shielding upper management from bad news and turnover of management staff. 157 A third says that Many chemical plant disasters have been precipitated by an unplanned change in process, a change in equipment or a change in personnel. 158... 

Distillatio, an engraving (ca. 1580) by Phillip Galle after a painting by Stradanus. How many laboratory safety violations can you... 

Stop Order- A formal, written notification to a contractor to discontinue some or all work on a project for reasons such as safety violations, defective materials or workmanship, or cancellation of the contract. 

Tucker et al. 2008). Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately, see Sect. 7.7) trust relationship take time to develop. Thus, new employees may initially be particularly reluctant to speak up about safety concerns, until they determine the type of reaction they are likely to get from co-workers, supervisors and management. New employees may refrain from voicing safely concerns from a fear of retaliation (Collinson 1999 Jeffcott et al. 2006), a fear of being viewed negatively (e.g., Milliken et al. 2003), or an assumption that safety violations may be normalized behavior (Ashford and Anand 2003). 

Performance expectations and workload Control performance expectations and workload to allow adaption and avoid safety violations 4.2.5... 

The following stories tell how six operatives recollect their participation in an event that led to their disciplining for a safety violation on site, and in doing so they also share their understandings of risk. 

In such cases where should management draw their line of safety, beyond which violations will not be tolerated, when it often depends on a split second, and needs someone there to witness it This closely links to both the enforcement of safety rules and also worker engagement with safety. This is explored in more detail in Chapter 7, and of course begins to explain why safety violations also form such an accepted aspect of site life. 

This can be compared to a sign produced in the site offices, laminated and cable-tied to the walkway barriers, addressing one of the same safety violations, and states ... 

The distinctions between these two voices create a dissonance in the way the enforcement of safety works. Whilst those at the higher corporate level seek to develop and position safety only positively, through no-blame cultures and realities intolerant of violation to the point of denial, those who manage and participate in construction site practices on a daily basis at site level instead have a version of safety firmly positioned within a reality of rules, violations, enforcements and punishments. Yet this latter approach also has the potential to create an understanding, or rather misunderstanding, that safety is the rules, rather than any wider considerations of safety and practice. In fact, when the safety rules are explored in more detail, their associations with safety become rather irrelevant and the enforcement of safety is much more bound up in issues of discipline and punishment on a societal level, rather than the potential consequences of any safety violations themselves. 

With safety violations such a common occurrence, it is not surprising that the punishment and discipline that goes along... 

This foreman was talking about his own site operatives and his own management of safety, however, the way he talks about site safety rules gives them a very minor status - just an odd rule. Reference to violations as odd reduces their impact in both frequency and severity, and positions them within a reality where safety violations (which in practice could be very serious in terms of consequences) are frequently minimised through relatively casual talk and linguistic associations. Furthermore, this foreman s enforcement process does not fit within any wider management practice or process framework and no punishment is included within this level of interaction. This subcontractor s foreman is happy to simply enforce safety without further recourse or punitive action to his own site... 

Indeed, safety violations are more often than not seen as bending rather than breaking the rules, with little association with danger or the potential for incident or injury. In fact, when people talk about violations and breaking safety rules, it isn t the potential of an incident or injury that becomes the consequence, rather it is the potential of being caught and punished that is of the greatest concern. 

And interestingly, at the site level, alongside the acceptance of safety violation as the natural state of affairs, punishment or some other form of redress for such violations is actually found to be expected. Although violations are often constructed without consequences of personal injury or accidents, they are constructed within a context where punishment might well be the correct course of action, should the perpetrator be caught. The construction site workforce expects safety rules to be bent as a matter of course, and if the perpetrators are caught, punishment is certainly due. 

Emergent evacuation of occupants is an important component of social public safety, while terminal is one of the areas in airport operation where occupants are relatively concentrated and accident consequence influence is serious. Its safety problem has been attracting extensive concern. For example, on January 24, 2011, suicide bomb explosion swept the arrival hall of Moscow Domodedovo International Airport in Russia, causing about 40 deaths and more than 180 injuries. The rescue team evacuated all of the injured in two hours. On April 7, 2011, due to safety violations, the domestic terminal of Melbourne Airport of Australia Airlines was thrown into mess, and 6, 000 occupants were evacuated. 

USX s steel-making division paid a 3.25 million fine to settle numerous health and safety violations. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) is the primary reason for the existence of most careers in the safety profession today. Established under the OSH Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was developed as the enforcement arm of the OSH Act, and thus can and has penalized companies and organizations for safety violations through monetary fines or penalties. As most safety professionals are also aware, OSHA can also refer fatality and serious violations to the U.S. Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. 

If someone is injured at work, the last statement I make during the accident Investigations is I am sorry you were hurt at work. I say it like I mean it because I do. Even when they have violated known safety rules, I say it. Even if they are disciplined for that safety violation, I say it. It is important... 

I feel free to report safety violations where I work. 

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