Safety
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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Understanding Your Liability: Shipping Lithium Battery Powered Devices
March 11, 2013 9:08 am | by Jim Powell, President, Transportation Development Group LLC | Articles | CommentsThe current plight of Boeing highlights not only the safety risks, but also the commercial risks of lithium battery-powered products and devices. These days, rechargeable lithium ion batteries, and primary non-rechargeable lithium batteries are everywhere. And unfortunately, they are also considered “Dangerous Goods” (or “HazMat,” a term used in the U.S.).
Boeing 787 Battery Fire Was Difficult To Control
March 8, 2013 2:15 pm | by Joan Lowy, Joshua Freed, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released 547 pages of reports and supporting materials about its investigation of the Jan. 7 fire. The documents show firefighters struggling to tame a small but worrisome fire that has left investigators relieved that it happened after a flight and not during one.
Feds Close Probe Into Ford Unintended Acceleration
March 8, 2013 2:11 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA U.S. safety agency has ended an investigation into complaints of unintended acceleration in three Ford vehicles. The probe covered about 169,000 Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans, and Ford Freestyle wagons from the 2005 through 2007 model years.
At least 2 Critically Hurt In IL Steel Plant Blast
March 8, 2013 10:18 am | by Jim Salter, Jim Suhr, Associated Press | News | CommentsAt least 10 people were injured, including two critically, in an explosion Thursday at a steel castings plant in southwestern Illinois, officials said. The blast happened shortly after 8 a.m. in the cleaning-and-finishing department at the American Steel Foundries plant in Granite City, just northeast of St. Louis.
OSHA Proposes Fines In Death At Peoria Plant
March 8, 2013 10:12 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has charged Komatsu America Corp. with safety violations at its plant in Peoria and proposed an $82,000 fine in the death of an employee. The Journal Star in Peoria reports that a 53-year-old man was testing hydraulic equipment when his arm was severed.
Countdown To REACH — Complying With Document Delivery Challenges
March 8, 2013 9:27 am | by Malcolm Carroll, Director, Reach Delivery | Articles | CommentsThe aim of REACH is to improve and ensure the safe use of chemicals, and the one of the things that REACH does is make all parties in the supply chain — from manufacturers, distributors through to downstream users — directly responsible for the safety of the chemical substances they handle.
Rig Owner Cites BP's Low Flow Estimates
March 4, 2013 10:18 am | by Kevin McGill, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe owner of the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 says BP hampered efforts to stop the resulting gusher of oil by misleading government officials about how many barrels of oil were flowing each day from the damaged well on the Gulf floor.
ANA President Sees Boeing Progress On Batteries
March 1, 2013 4:41 pm | by Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsThe president of All Nippon Airways, Boeing's biggest single customer for its troubled 787 Dreamliner, said Friday that he believes the U.S. manufacturer has made progress in resolving problems with the aircraft's lithium-ion batteries.
Fire Strikes NC Freightliner Plant In Mount Holly
March 1, 2013 10:24 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA two-alarm fire at Freightliner's truck manufacturing plant in North Carolina forced a temporary halt to operations. The Gaston Gazette reports the fire early Thursday was in the plant's paint filtration system on the roof. Mount Holly Fire and Rescue Chief Dale Oplinger said it took more than an hour to put the fire out in part because of its location inside a metal structure.
Porsche Recalls Carrera Sports Cars
February 28, 2013 2:09 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsPorsche AG is recalling more than 2,200 of the 911 Carrera sports cars from the 2012 and 2013 model years because their exhaust pipes can fall off. The recall involves 2,263 Carrera and Carrera 4 vehicles built between March and November of last year. All are equipped with standard exhaust systems. Vehicles with sport systems aren't affected.
Prosecutor: No Charges In 2008 GA Refinery Blast
February 27, 2013 10:12 am | by Russ Bynum, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Justice Department has decided it won't seek criminal charges against Imperial Sugar or its executives years after explosions tore through its sugar refinery near and killed 14 workers, a federal prosecutor in Georgia said Tuesday. .S. Attorney Edward Tarver issued a statement saying prosecutors determined at best they would be able to bring only misdemeanor charges alleging violations of industrial cleanliness standards of OSHA.
Hyundai Adds About 6,100 Cars To Sunroof Recall
February 27, 2013 10:07 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsHyundai is adding more Veloster hatchbacks to a recall for panoramic sunroofs that can shatter and cause injuries. In December, the automaker recalled about 13,500 of the funky cars from the 2012 model year. Now it's adding about 6,100 more, bringing the total to 19,600 in the U.S. The additional Velosters were built from July 4, 2011 through Oct. 31, 2011.
Too Big To Fly: Why Engineering Should Stay Small
February 27, 2013 8:00 am | by Chris Fox, Associate Editor, PD&D | Blogs | CommentsEverybody has heard the now-clichéd term, ‘too big to fail’, and all of the negative connotations that are associated with said title. Also, I’m sure most, if not all, of you have heard or read something about the recent problems Boeing is experiencing with the Lithium Ion batteries.
First Witness Testifies In Gulf Oil Spill Trial
February 26, 2013 2:12 pm | by Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press | News | CommentsBP failed to implement a new safety plan on the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon drilling rig even though the company realized a blowout in the Gulf of Mexico was its greatest danger, an expert witness for people and businesses suing the company testified Tuesday.
Hercules Recalls Light Truck Tires
February 26, 2013 2:06 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsHercules Tire is recalling some light-duty truck tires in the U.S. because the belts and treads can separate from the tires. The recall covers 10-ply Load Range E tires in the company's All Trac line. All the recalled tires are 16- or 17-inches (40.5 or 43-centimeters) in diameter. They are used mainly on commercial trucks.
Whistleblower Suits Say Military Parts Defective
February 25, 2013 2:03 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA Slidell machining company has supplied defective parts for military vehicles, lawsuits by former employees claim. The suits say Alliance Laser supplied welded parts to Textron Marine & Land Systems even though no employees were legally certified to weld the parts, The Times-Picayune report.
Chinese Hackers Seen As Increasingly Professional
February 25, 2013 2:01 pm | by Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press | News | CommentsBeijing hotly denies accusations of official involvement in massive cyberattacks against foreign targets, insinuating such activity is the work of rogues. But at least one element cited by Internet experts points to professional cyberspies: China's hackers take the weekend off.
Lab Asks U.S. Gov't To Investigate Toyota Prius
February 25, 2013 1:59 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsU.S. safety regulators are deciding if they'll investigate a complaint that the steering can fail on the Toyota Prius. The government says in documents that an automotive laboratory in Virginia asked for the investigation after evaluating a client's car. The probe could affect about 561,000 of the gas-electric hybrids from the 2004 through 2009 model years.
Billions At Stake For BP In Gulf Oil Spill Trial
February 25, 2013 10:20 am | by Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press | News | CommentsNearly three years after a deadly rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico triggered the United States' worst offshore oil spill, a trial started Monday in the high-stakes case against British oil giant BP and other companies involved. The trial is designed to identify the causes of BP's well blowout and assign percentages of fault to the companies.
Feds To Probe Ford Cars, SUVs For Stalling
February 25, 2013 10:18 am | by Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer | News | CommentsThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it will investigate problems with stalling or surging engines in nearly 725,000 Ford cars and SUVs. The probe affects Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs and Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans from the 2009 through 2011 model years.
Japan Identifies Some Boeing 787 Problems
February 22, 2013 2:11 pm | by Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsJapanese authorities have identified the causes of fuel leaks and other problems with Boeing's 787 but are still investigating the more serious battery problem that forced an emergency landing in January and the worldwide grounding of the jets.
United Airlines Drops 787s Through June 5
February 22, 2013 10:05 am | by Joan Lowy, Joshua Freed, Associated Press | News | CommentsUnited Airlines cut the grounded Boeing 787 from its flying plans at least until June and postponed its new Denver-to-Tokyo flights on Thursday, as airlines continued to tear up their schedules while the plane is out of service. Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused a battery fire in one plane and forced the emergency landing of another plane last month. The world's 50 787s have been grounded since Jan. 16.
Judge: U.S. Steel Can Test New Employees For Booze
February 21, 2013 4:24 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA federal judge in Pittsburgh says United States Steel Corp. can randomly test new employees for drugs and alcohol, rejecting a challenge by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which sued claiming a worker was fired when she falsely tested positive for drinking because she was diabetic.
Boeing To Propose 787 Battery Fix
February 21, 2013 4:24 pm | by Joan Lowy, Joshua Freed, Associated Press | News | CommentsBoeing has developed a plan that it intends to propose to federal regulators to temporarily fix problems with the 787 Dreamliner's batteries that have kept the planes on the ground for more than a month, a congressional official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Japan Probe Finds Miswiring Of Boeing 787 Battery
February 20, 2013 1:44 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA probe into the overheating of a lithium ion battery in an All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 that made an emergency landing found it was improperly wired, Japan's Transport Ministry said Wednesday. The Transport Safety Board said the battery for the aircraft's auxiliary power unit was incorrectly connected to the main battery that overheated.
