OSHA Requiring Engineering Controls To Minimize Workers’ Silica Dust Exposure
Posted on Mar 25, 2016 in Construction, Energy/Environmental, OSHA, Process Safety | Comments Off on OSHA Requiring Engineering Controls To Minimize Workers’ Silica Dust Exposure
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule targeting silica dust exposure. The rule reduces the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift. The rule also requires employers to use engineering controls to limit worker exposure, provide respirators when...
Drilling Site Owner Has No Responsibility for Subcontractor’s Worker’s Injuries
Posted on Mar 19, 2016 in Construction, Energy/Environmental | Comments Off on Drilling Site Owner Has No Responsibility for Subcontractor’s Worker’s Injuries
The owner of a natural gas drilling site (Company A) won summary judgment against a plaintiff suing for severe injuries incurred after being exposed to significant amounts of dust when a dump truck operated by Company B (a contractor of Company A) allegedly unloaded a large amount of cement too quickly. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania concluded...
Negligence Limitations Period Not Triggered By Date of Explosion in Arkansas Nitric Acid Case
Posted on Feb 27, 2016 in Construction, Energy/Environmental, Litigation | Comments Off on Negligence Limitations Period Not Triggered By Date of Explosion in Arkansas Nitric Acid Case
Following a 2012 explosion at a nitric acid plant in Arkansas, the owner of the plant brought suit against two subcontractors alleging that their negligence caused the explosion. The subcontractors had performed their work in 2011. Specifically, the owner alleged that the subcontractors “(1) failed to properly and thoroughly clean the interior of replacement oxygen piping...
Mining Law Violation Not a Basis for Negligence Per Se for All Injuries Occurring at Mining Facility
Posted on Feb 17, 2016 in Construction | Comments Off on Mining Law Violation Not a Basis for Negligence Per Se for All Injuries Occurring at Mining Facility
At a Kentucky coal mine, a worker for a subcontractor was killed during the installation of a garage door. His wife brought a wrongful death action against the mining company who had hired a construct a post frame building at the facility, and that contractor hired the decedent’s employer to install an overhead commercial-grade garage door. Four theories of negligence were...
New Construction Rules Focused on Process Safety Announced By New York City Mayor
Posted on Feb 14, 2016 in Construction, Process Safety | Comments Off on New Construction Rules Focused on Process Safety Announced By New York City Mayor
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the City would more than quadruple penalties for construction-safety violations in the wake of a crane collapse earlier this month that killed a pedestrian. The Department of Buildings will enforce the measures, which increase penalties for individual serious safety violations from $2,400 to $10,000. The new regulations take effect...
Tenth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Pollution Case Against Energy Companies
Posted on Feb 10, 2016 in Construction, Energy/Environmental, Litigation | Comments Off on Tenth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Pollution Case Against Energy Companies
The Tenth Circuit upheld a district court’s order dismissing a group of Oklahoma plaintiffs’ claims for strict liability, negligence, and negligence per se against several companies allegedly responsible for pollution stemming from the generation and disposal of coal-combustion waste and fluid waste from oil and gas drilling. The plaintiffs alleged that “the...
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