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Occupational Safety And Health Administration News

19 Feb 2024

Five Tips to Keep Workers Safe in 2024

Ā© xy / Adobe Stock

The maritime industry accounts for more than 90% of global trade and employs over 3 million people in the United States, and like other modes of transportation, our industry encounters unique risks. Waterfront workers are exposed to various hazards such as heavy machinery, hazardous substances, extreme weather and long hours. If not properly managed, these hazards can result in serious injuries, illnesses and even fatalities. That is why ensuring the safety of waterfront workers is a top priority for all of us who work in the maritime industry.

17 Aug 2023

Fish Factory Vessel Leaking Ammonia in Tacoma

(Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

A 77-year-old fish factory vessel with a checkered history is reportedly leaking ammonia in Tacoma, Wash.The U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday it is responding to the incident on board the U.S.-registered Pacific Producer, a 169-foot-long seafood processing vessel with a long string of health, safety and labor violations.Coast Guard and Washington Department of Ecology crews in HAZMAT suits are currently working to locate leak. The vessel poses no immediate threat to the publicā€¦

20 Jul 2023

Maersk Ordered to Pay Seaman it Fired for Reporting Safety Issues

Maersk Line Limited has been ordered to pay more than $700,000 and reinstate a seafarer it fired for reporting safety concerns about a company vessel to the U.S. Coast Guard.A federal whistleblower investigation determined that the companyā€”a U.S. subsidiary of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller - Maerskā€”illegally suspended and terminated a seafarer who reported safety concerns about the U.S.-flagged containership Safmarine Mafadi to the Coast Guard in December 2020.Among the safety concerns, the seaman reported a gear used to release lifeboats did not work properly; rusted, corroded and broken deck sockets; and two leaks in the starboard tunnel and the bilge system caused flooding in cargo holds.

16 Mar 2023

Deteriorated Bollard Caused Drillship Breakaway and Collision

ā€‹VALARIS DS-16 after the casualty. (Photo: US Coast Guard)

A deteriorated bollard led to a Valaris drillship breaking away and colliding with a bulk carrier in Pascagoula, Miss. last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Thursday.On March 12, 2022, the mobile offshore drilling unit Valaris DS-16 was in the process of being reactivated at the ST Engineering Halter Marine and Offshore Shipyard (STEHMO) when it broke away from the dock in strong winds, drifted across the Bayou Casotte channel and collided with the bulk carrier Akti.

22 Feb 2023

Lack of Spotter Led to Crane Toppling Off Barge -NTSB

(Image: NTSB)

An incident involving a crane toppling off a barge in Virginia could have been avoided if a spotter was present to notice the crane being driven too far aft, and the cable system securing the crane to the barge failed, according to a recent report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).While working on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project near Norfolk on February 8, 2022, an onboard crawler crane fell off the construction barge Carolyn Skaves and into Willoughby Bay. The crane was later recovered and declared an insurance loss of nearly $2 million.

15 Feb 2023

Combustible Materials Near Hot Work Sparked Passenger Vessel Fire -NTSB

The Natchez on fire. (Source: Unidentified witness via US Coast Guard)

A fire that broke out aboard a Mississippi River cruise vessel was found to be caused by combustible materials left unprotected near hot work, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday.The passenger vessel Natchez, used by the New Orleans Steamboat Company for daytime and dinner jazz cruises daily from the French Quarter in New Orleans, was moored and out of service when it went up in flames on May 3, 2022. The fire resulted in $1.5 million in damages to the vesselā€¦

10 Jun 2022

Fincantieri Offers New Apprenticeship Program in Wisconsin Shipyards

(Photo: Kevin S. O'Brien / U.S. Navy)

Fincantieri Marine Group began accepting applications for a new paid Industrial Shipbuilding Apprenticeship program this week. This program, which was approved by Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, is designed to increase the quality and quantity of skilled technicians trained and equipped to succeed in the maritime sector of the manufacturing industry. Fincantieri will select its first group of apprentices in July, and then will open up additional apprenticeship positions in the coming months.

14 Apr 2022

NFPA Certificated Marine Chemists ā€“ A Century of Fire Protection and Life Safety

Image Source: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

As the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Technical Committee on Gas Hazards votes on the First Draft of the next edition of NFPA 306, Standard for the Control of Gas Hazards on Vessels, the NFPA Certificated Marine Chemist Program will mark 100 years of fire protection and life safety on marine vessels, in shipyards, marine terminals and waterfront facilities.What started a century ago as an industry effort to prevent fires on vessels under repair has never been more important. According to a 2007 report of the U.S.

05 Apr 2021

Bouchard Pays $375,000 to Whistleblower

A Corpus Christi Fire Department vessel extinguishes a fire on board Buster Bouchard/B. No. 255 approximately three miles from the Port Aransas, Texas, jetties on October 20, 2017. (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc. and three former and current management officials from the Long Island-based petroleum barge company have paid $375,000 in restitution to the brother of one of two seamen killed in a 2017 barge explosion off Port Aransas, Texas.The seaman alleged the company fired him for cooperating with investigators and reporting safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard following the deadly blast on board Buster Bouchard/B. No. 255. The National Transportationā€¦

23 Apr 2020

New Model Aims to Help Businesses Get Back to Work After COVID-19

Ā© Andor Bujdoso / Adobe Stock

A new model aims to help commercial and public organizations resume operations safely as restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic begin to ease.Building on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), ABS Consulting said its Restart Risk Model offers a way for organizations to systematically evaluate the risk of disease transmission to their sites, operations and work areas, and develop a planā€¦

14 Jul 2020

Insights: Jennifer Carpenter, AWO President & CEO

Jennifer Carpenter (Photo: AWO)

Jennifer A. Carpenter serves as President & CEO of The American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry. Carpenter joined AWO in August 1990 and became President & CEO in January 2020. Before assuming her current position, she worked her way up the hawsepipe from Government Affairs Assistant to Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, holding a series of progressively responsible positions including Manager-Regulatory Issuesā€¦

30 Oct 2019

CSB: Chemical Leak Caused Fire at ITC Houston Terminal

The Houston, Texas Refining Complex (Credit: AdobeStock / Ā© Irina K

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said on Wednesday that a fuel leak, possibly due to open valves and a running pump, set off a massive blaze at a Mitsui & Co Ltd petrochemical storage operation along the Houston Ship Channel in March.The fire that began on March 17 at Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) spread black smoke across Houston, shut the nearby ship channel, slowed production at local oil refineries and closed roadways and schools as it spread from one giant storageā€¦

03 Oct 2019

"Green" Ammonia's Future as a Marine Fuel

Ammonia, the same pungent solution used in fertilizers and cleaning agents, may one day be the key to transporting renewable energy around the world. There are currently a number of government and corporate projects assessing the feasibility of converting excess renewable energy from sources like wind, solar, tidal and nuclear into ammonia and then back into usable energy.In its purist form, ammonia or NH3 is composed of one nitrogen and three hydrogen atoms making it an ideal candidate to chemically bind excess renewable energy. Like several other chemical compounds, ammonia can be transported by chemical tanker in liquid form to end-users. Based on its near ambient liquification point, it may be more appealing to transport ammonia over longer distances than hydrogen.

26 Feb 2019

Sydney Ferry Fatality Raises Best Practice Issue

Photo: ACO Marine

The importance of maintaining chemical toilets onboard ship has been raised following an incident in February onboard a Sydney Harbor-operating passenger ferry in which a high level of toxic gas was detected in a toilet cubicle after a passenger was fatally injured.A 39-year-old passenger was found unconscious in a toilet cubicle aboard the Lady Rose and could not be revived by paramedics. While the reasons behind her death are unconfirmed, during the initial investigation HAZMATā€¦

09 Nov 2018

OP/ED: Maritime Industry Faces Compliance Standard from OSHA on Respirable Crystalline Silica

File Image: AdobeStock_ CREDIT Ā© piwipixi

Companies with workers repairing and refurbishing ship components utilizing sand blasting have become the subject of a new U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard.All employers and employees in the maritime industry need to be aware of the new requirements as OSHA continues efforts to protect workers from the hazards of exposure to breathable silica dust. The new application of the "Respirable Crystalline Silica" standards requiresā€¦

07 Nov 2018

Preventing Maritime Vessel Explosions ā€“ The Role of the Marine Chemist

Image: Used with permission, National Fire Protection Association

With advances in technology, increased regulatory requirements for training, and an industry that has been committed to improving working conditions, especially those associated with confined space entry and fire prevention, why are we still seeing maritime related fires and explosions that often include serious injury or loss of life? HistoryFollowing the First World War, as cargo vessels, particularly tank ships, were being converted to carry larger cargos, the incident rate of fires and explosions during shipbuilding, repair, and conversion began to rise.

24 Apr 2018

Tugboats & Vessel Response Plans

Ā© sheilaf2002 / Adobe Stock

Traditionally, tugs and towboats (hereinafter tugs) have largely been uninspected vessels of the United States. They were subject to basic examinations by the U.S. Coast Guard, but the standards were little higher than those applicable to recreational craft. These tugs were also subject to examination by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The OSHA examinations were rare, but when they took place any violations found could be costly. After one of the OSHA penalty cases was litigated all the way to the U.S.

16 Dec 2016

What to Know When Welding Primer-Coated Steel

Photo: Hobart

Solving one problem can create another. Safety always comes first. Amid competitive bidding, contract deadlines and the general drive to gain the best productivity and quality, welding operations in the shipbuilding industry face their own set of challenges. Thatā€™s especially true when it comes to welding primer-coated steel, a material prevalent for its ability to withstand atmospheric corrosion from sources such as saltwater. Most primer coatings are zinc-based and used on steel that is between 70 to 120 ksi in strength (and sometimes higher).

01 Aug 2016

Subchapter M: Slow Walking the Inspection of Towing Vessels

One important impact of the new regulations is that, once they enter into effect, the U.S. Coast Guard will be the principal federal agency overseeing towing vessels.  OSHA will immediately lose its authority over inspected towing vessels. (Photo: Pat Folan)

On June 20, 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard promulgated its long awaited or dreaded (depending on your perspective) final rule regarding inspection of towing vessels. The new regulations, which will enter into effect on July 20, derive from a 2004 legislative amendment which added towing vessels to the list of ā€˜vessels subject to inspectionā€™. That statute also authorized regulations to establish a safety management system for towing vessels and maximum hours of service and related provisions for individuals engaged on towing vessels.

27 Apr 2016

One Business, Two Regulatory Worlds: Handling DOT and GHS Regulations

The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) deadlines that went into effect on June 1 and December 1, 2015, respectively, have had a significant impact on U.S. chemical manufacturers and distributors. By now, all chemicals being shipped by manufacturers and distributors should meet the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) GHS requirements, as well as the packaging, marking and labeling requirements for hazardous materials transported in commerce (e.g., 49 CFR Parts 171-180, IATA, IMO, etc.). The transport regulations help protect against accidents while hazardous materials are in transit ā€“ short-termā€¦

04 Apr 2016

Shipyards Leading the Way on Safety in OSHA Partnership

Photo: SCA

The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) has announced a new partnership with the National Shipbuilding Research Program and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a part of the Department of Labor (DOL), focused on continuing employee safety practices in U.S. shipyards. The Alliance Program will develop training and best practices to promote safety and health in the shipbuilding and repair industry including preventing worker exposure to electrical, ergonomic, struck-by and slip, trip and fall hazards.

26 Oct 2015

USCG Guidance and Reporting Marine Casualties

Jeanne Grasso

U.S. Coast Guard Guidance Helps to Bring some Clarity to the Debate. In July 2015, the U.S. Coast Guard released Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular 01-15 (ā€œNVICā€), titled Marine Casualty Reporting Procedures Guide with Associated Standard Interpretations. The purpose of the NVIC is to assist vessel owners and operators in understanding the marine casualty reporting requirements, which many in the industry think are about as clear as mud. Confusion as to what constitutes a marine casualty and what incidents need to be reported has persisted in the marine industry for years.

13 Oct 2014

Monitored Confined-Space Entry

Preparation and vigilance are everything when it comes to confined space entry.

Protecting Workers, and Ensuring Safe Sailing for the Maritime Industry. The cable-laying vessel GS Global Sentinel was undergoing repair work. Shipyard workers and members of the shipā€™s crew found a mysteriously high hydrogen sulfide reading in a confined space on board that created a toxic environment. They could not understand why. What caused this potentially lethal scenario? After investigation and safe entry into the tank, crewmembers of the vessel and shipyard workers discoveredā€¦

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