Safety
The Lead
OSHA Cites Milwaukee Tire Recycler For Follow-Up Failure
February 6, 2013 11:45 am | by Joel Hans, Managing Editor, Manufacturing.net | News | Comments
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced a citation for Milwaukee, Wis.-based Shindler Tire Recycling LLC after the company failed to follow up on 12 safety violations discovered in an August 2011 inspection. OSHA’s Milwaukee branch says the company did not act on developing a written hazard communication program.
Shuttered NM Plant Resumes Making Peanut Butter
May 23, 2013 3:20 pm | by Jeri Clausing, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe eastern New Mexico peanut butter plant shuttered eight months ago after a salmonella outbreak is back in production, and company officials say their coveted natural and organic butters could be back on store shelves within a month.
Fire Marshal's Office: Panel Had Blast Site Access
May 23, 2013 1:53 pm | News | CommentsHowever, in a statement issued Wednesday, the state agency said the CSB was given access to the scene, worked with other agencies during excavations and neighborhood surveys, and collected its own chemical samples with ATF assistance. The statement says no evidence was destroyed or compromised.
New Rules To Keep Mercury From Calif. Landfills
May 23, 2013 11:30 am | News | CommentsNew California rules will require the makers of new thermostats to do a better job of keeping old ones containing the neurotoxin mercury out of landfills. Since 2006 it has been against state law to sell mercury thermostats in California, but millions of old ones are still in use. Tens of thousands of them are replaced every year.
Nissan To Recall 840,000 Vehicles
May 23, 2013 10:21 am | News | CommentsNissan Motor Co. said Thursday it will recall around 840,000 March and Cube compact cars, including 263,942 units in Japan, produced between February 2002 and August 2004, due to faulty steering wheels. The bolts connecting the steering wheels and steering columns in the two models may not have been screwed on properly and could lead to a loss of control.
GM Recalling Cadillac SUVs To Tighten Wheels
May 23, 2013 8:02 am | News | CommentsGeneral Motors Co. is recalling more than 27,000 Cadillac SUVs worldwide because the wheels can fall off. The company says the recall affects the 2013 Cadillac SRX with 18-inch wheels. Canadian safety regulators say the wheel nuts may not have been tightened enough at the factory.
Building Materials Blamed In Bangladesh Disaster
May 23, 2013 7:59 am | by Farid Hossain, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe defects and errors that led to the world's deadliest garment-industry accident extend from the swampy ground the doomed Rana Plaza was built on, to "extremely poor quality" construction materials, to the massive, vibrating equipment operating when the eight-story building collapsed.
Lea Industries Recalls 63,000 Children's Beds
May 22, 2013 10:21 am | News | CommentsLea Industries is recalling more than 63,000 children's beds in the U.S. and Canada because a support rail could break, putting users at risk of falling. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday that two injuries have been reported since 2009. There have been 22 reports of incidents involving the recalled beds in the U.S. and one in Canada.
Japan Watchdog: Nuke Plant Sits On Active Fault
May 22, 2013 10:13 am | by Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press | News | CommentsIt was the first time Japanese regulators had officially recognized an active fault underneath an existing reactor, virtually acknowledging that the risk at Tsuruga had been overlooked for decades by both the operator and regulators despite warnings by some experts.
Technology Could Let Users Disable Guns
May 22, 2013 7:58 am | by Martha Mendoza, AP National Writer | News | CommentsThe new Yardarm Technologies LLC system would trigger an alarm on an owner's cellphone if a gun is moved, and the owner could then hit a button to activate the safety and disable the weapon. New guns would come with a microchip on the body and antennas winding around the grip.
Safety Board: ATF Blocking Plant Blast Probe
May 22, 2013 7:38 am | News | CommentsFederal agents and the state fire marshal have effectively barred a federal safety panel from the site of a Texas fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people and injured about 200 others, hampering its investigation, the panel's chairman said.
The New Food Fight: Defending Against Labeling Litigation
May 21, 2013 3:38 pm | by Andrew J. Scholz, Matthew R. Shindell, and Matthew D. Cabral, Goldberg Segalla LLP | Articles | CommentsOnly a very small portion of this litigation actually relates to manufacturing defect claims allegedly resulting in consumer injuries or death, such as with salmonella outbreaks. Rather, the bulk of the litigation is focused on alleged “false advertising” associated with food labeling.
Preparing To Succeed When Your Network Has Been Breached
May 21, 2013 3:34 pm | by Jeff Multz, Director of North America Midmarket Sales, Dell SecureWorks | Articles | CommentsAccording to the 2013 Verizon Data Breach report, 22 organizations, mainly in manufacturing and professional services, with only one to 100 employees became a victim to cyber espionage last year. And 23 firms, mainly in manufacturing with 101 to 1,000 employees, also were breached.
France: Drug Company On Trial, Suspected In Deaths
May 21, 2013 12:28 pm | News | CommentsA French drug company and its founder are on trial on charges of misleading the public about a diabetes drug marketed as a weight loss method and suspected in hundreds of deaths. But after years of delays in one of France's biggest recent health scandals, the proceedings could still be pushed back further.
Chinese Rice Contaminated With Cadmium
May 21, 2013 8:22 am | News | CommentsAn official notice Tuesday said mills in Hunan province's Youxian county were ordered to suspend business and recall their products after samples showed excessive cadmium levels. It said the mills had been operating legally and sourced their rice from local farmers.
United Restarts 787 Flights After Grounding
May 21, 2013 8:14 am | by Joshua Freed, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe failure of Boeing's newest, flashiest and most important plane embarrassed the company and its customers. Both United CEO Jeff Smisek and Boeing CEO Jim McNerney were on board Monday's flight, and United promoted the plane's return to service.
Sports Seem OK For Many With Heart-Zapping Device
May 21, 2013 7:53 am | by Lauran Neergaard, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsA registry tracked 372 people who stuck with competitive sports after having a defibrillator surgically implanted to guard against dangerous irregular heartbeats — and found that the lifesaving device worked when needed despite the physical exertion.
New ATEX-Approved Pneumatic Vacuums For Hazardous Locations
May 20, 2013 2:30 pm | Products | CommentsNortech Vacuum Products has announced a new line of ATEX-approved pneumatic vacuums for hazardous locations, which eliminate the threat of static electricity by combining static conductive design with inherent safe pneumatic vacuum technology.
Marine Who Dumped Toxins Felt Illness Was Payback
May 20, 2013 1:55 pm | by Allen G. Breed, AP National Writer | News | CommentsAs a young Marine electronics technician at Camp Lejeune in the mid-1970s, the Massachusetts man figured he'd dumped hundreds of gallons of toxic solvents onto the ground. It would be decades before he realized that he had unknowingly contributed to the worst drinking water contamination in the country's history.
U.S.: Pakistan Moves To Curb Dangerous Fertilizers
May 20, 2013 10:43 am | by Rebecca Santana, Associated Press | News | CommentsA top American military officer says Pakistan has taken steps to prevent fertilizers made in Pakistan from being used for roadside bombs targeting American troops in Afghanistan. Brig. Gen. Robert P. Walters Jr. spoke Monday in Islamabad on ways to counter the bombs often referred to as improvised explosive devices.
Consumer Group Flags High SPF Ratings On Sunscreen
May 20, 2013 8:21 am | by Matthew Perrone, AP Health Writer | News | CommentsA survey of 1,400 sunscreen products by the Environmental Working Group finds that most products meet new federal requirements put in place last December. The rules from the Food and Drug Administration ban terms like "waterproof," which regulators consider misleading, and require that sunscreens filter out both ultraviolet A and B rays.
At Least 12 Dead In China Factory Explosion
May 20, 2013 8:10 am | News | CommentsThe force of the blast flung broken glass, smashed concrete, and other debris as far as 200 meters (600 feet), reports said. Walls in outlying buildings were flattened and glass shattered. A total of 34 people were inside the factory at the time of the blast, and survivors were rushed to hospital. The cause of the blast and condition of those injured were not immediately known.
Whirlpool Cancer Cluster Lawsuit Will Take Years
May 20, 2013 7:55 am | by John Seewer, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe wait for answers is far from over for parents who for years have lived with the worry of not knowing what's behind the mysterious cancers that have sickened dozens of children in a rural area of northern Ohio. Despite a federal civil lawsuit that points toward a possible cause, the issue is far from settled.
Don’t Give In To Bird Activity At Your Facility
May 17, 2013 8:08 am | by Patrick T. Copps, MS, B.C.E., Technical Services Manager, Orkin, LLC | Articles | CommentsAlthough some birds are beautiful creatures to watch, others are considered pests that can wreak havoc on your property and products. There are three types of birds in particular that you should discuss with your pest management provider: pigeons, sparrows and starlings.
The Ten Commandments Of Industrial Ethernet
May 17, 2013 8:02 am | by Mike Fahrion, Director of Product Management, B&B Electronics | Articles | CommentsA Wi-Fi-enabled computer can connect to multiple networks at the same time. Your employees can give a hacker a pathway into your internal network simply by powering up a laptop. Imagine the mess an eco-terrorist could make if he didn’t like the look of your smokestack.
Authorities: Crime Not Ruled Out In Texas Blast
May 17, 2013 7:49 am | by Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press | News | CommentsInvestigators working in the remnants of an exploded Texas fertilizer plant sifted by hand through untold kernels of corn, moved tons of debris and conducted more than 400 interviews, while searching for the missing piece to solve what many officials compared to an extraordinary puzzle.
