Thursday 31 January 2013

Employer given suspended sentence after employee’s fall - The Malta Independent

Employer given suspended sentence after employee’s fall - The Malta Independent: Manwel Cutajar, 65 of Gudja, was sentenced to a year’s jail, suspended for two years, on being found guilty of not implementing protection measures for a worker who was working for him and ended falling two storeys.

The accident happened at about 7.40am on 15 April, 2008 in Gudja. Cutajar was also found guilty of failing to safeguard his employees’ health and safety.

Salvatore Aquilina had fallen off a plank set up purposely against the fa�ade of a block of apartments to work on the fa�ade, for which he was being paid about €50 a day, with Cutajar providing the equipment he was to use – the plank and ropes needed.

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Unlocky Fall - Croatian Times

Unlocky Fall - Around the World News - Croatian Times Online News - English Newspaper: An Italian diplomat's wife died in a bizarre fall when she plunged more than 60ft to the ground trying to climb down from her apartment balcony on bed sheets knotted together.

Police say that Domenica Ricci, 32, had apparently been locked into the fifth floor balcony in Belgrade, Serbia, and had been trying to escape.

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'Gamesmanship' Afoot in Asbestos Case, Judge Says

Courthouse News Service: (CN) - A federal judge said he smelled "gamesmanship" in the distance that a century-old aircraft manufacturer put between itself and an asbestos lawsuit.
Asbestos-related diseases may have a latency period of 40 to 50 years, making it difficult for the newly diagnosed to pinpoint liability.
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred about 12,000 asbestos products liability cases to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1991.
In one such case, Shirley Spychalla sued more than two dozen corporations for negligence, strict liability and wrongful death arising out of her the asbestos exposure suffered by her late husband, Leonard Spychalla.

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Spanish burgers found containing horsemeat - Spain

Burgers found containing horsemeat: A LEADING consumer association has warned that at least two brands of burgers sold in mainstream supermarkets contain horsemeat.

Although safe for consumption, the burgers do not advertise what is actually in them, since many people would choose not to eat them if they knew they contained horsemeat.

These were on sale in Eroski and Alipende.

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Passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan, killing all on board - English pravda.ru

Passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan, killing all on board - English pravda.ru: A passenger aircraft crashed on Tuesday morning, January 29th, in Kazakhstan. Reportedly, the crash has left no survivors.

"The plane crashed about one kilometer far from the city of Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan. The crash killed more than 20 people," a source at law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan said.

According to sources, the wreckage of the aircraft was found near a farm, not far from the village of Guldala. The crash site has been cordoned off.

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Three killed in factory fire - The Times of India

Three killed in factory fire - The Times of India: KOLKATA: Three workers were asphyxiated in their sleep when a textile-manufacturing workshop-cum-warehouse at Metiabruz caught fire early on Wednesday. A fourth worker was admitted to SSKM hospital while one escaped unhurt.

The fire — possibly triggered by a short-circuit — broke out around 1am on the second floor of the building on Haji Ratan Molla Lane. There are five rooms on the floor, which house the warehouse, the textile manufacturing units and the folding and packaging units. Local merchant Habibul Rehman owns the factory. Five workers on the night shift stayed back. All of them were asleep when the fire broke out.

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Fee for Intervention (FFI) delivers £3/4m IN TWO MONTHS | PP Construction Safety News Desk

FEE FOR INTERVENTION DELIVERS �3/4m IN TWO MONTHS | PP Construction Safety News Desk: HSE inspection charging regime starts to bite in construction sector

The first Fee for Intervention (FFI) invoices were issued by HSE during week commencing 21 January 2013. The value invoiced for the two months from October to November was �727, 644 arising from 1418 FFI invoices.

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Forreston man dies following electrocution at Rockford Lowe’s Distribution Center | The Rock River Times

Forreston man dies following electrocution at Rockford Lowe’s Distribution Center | The Rock River Times: At around 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 30, Rockford Fire Department received a medical call at Lowe’s Distribution Center, 2801 S. Springfield Ave. Upon arrival of paramedics, the victim, 53-year-old Gregory Stewart, of Forreston, Ill., was totally unresponsive with unstable vital signs.

Stewart was transported by ambulance to Rockford Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead in the emergency room at 4:35 p.m., Jan. 30. An autopsy was performed Jan. 31, and the results were that Stewart was electrocuted.

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Power Plug Adaptor Banned by MBIE Over Electrocution... | Stuff.co.nz

Power Plug Adaptor Banned by MBIE Over Electrocution... | Stuff.co.nz: A power plug adaptor has been banned in New Zealand after complaints that the devices fall apart, exposing people to the risk of electrocution.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has issued a prohibition notice banning the importation, sale and use of theadaptors, which are used to allow a foreign power plug to connect to the New Zealand power supply.

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Worker suffers electric shock while repairing elevator in Murray Hill - NYPOST.com

Worker suffers electric shock while repairing elevator in Murray Hill - NYPOST.com: A man suffered an electric shock while working on a Murray Hill building today, authorities said.

The worker was injured while repairing an elevator in a luxury building on East 34th Street near Madison Avenue about 12:40 p.m., according to an FDNY spokesman.

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Doctors jailed over cancer radiation scandal - France

Doctors jailed over cancer radiation scandal - The Local: A French court on Wednesday sentenced two doctors and a radiophysicist to 18 months in prison for their role in radiation overdoses given to nearly 450 cancer patients.
At least 12 people have died as a result of the overdoses administered to patients at the Jean Monnet hospital in Epinal in northeastern France between 2001 and 2006.
Dozens more are seriously ill as a result of calibration errors that produced the most serious radiation overdose incident France has known.
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OSHA certifies Monsanto Co. Marshall Corn Research Station as 'star' site for workplace safety and health

2013 - 01/31/2013 - U.S. Labor Department's OSHA certifies Monsanto Co. Marshall Corn Research Station as 'star' site for workplace safety and health: MARSHALL, Mo. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recognized the employees and management of Monsanto Co. Marshall Corn Research Station in Marshall, Mo., for excellence in the company's employee safety and health program. The Marshall Corn Research Station facility has been designated a "star," the highest honor in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs.

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Guangdong Province Announces Intention to End Forced Labor | China | Epoch Times

Guangdong Province Announces Intention to End Forced Labor | Regime | China | Epoch Times: Following earlier reports this month that China would discontinue its forced labor system, Guangdong Province, sometimes called Xi Jinping’s vanguard of reform, announced Monday that it would end the reeducation through labor system within the year.

Yan Zhichan, director of Guangdong’s Department of Justice, said on Jan. 28 that Guangdong has made preparations and will stop the reeducation through labor system this year after the national reform plan is passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in March.

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Burning goat cheese lorry closes tunnel in Norway | IceNews -

Burning goat cheese lorry closes tunnel in Norway | IceNews - Daily News: A key tunnel in northern Norway has been closed following a fire fuelled by thousands of kilos of goat cheese. According to a BBC report, the lorry fire burned for almost five consecutive days in the Brattli Tunnel, located in the country’s far north Tysfjord municipality. The structure suffered severe damage and must now undergo repairs; a process that will take several weeks, according to local officials.

Fire crews said that it was extremely difficult to put out the blaze due to the high levels of fat and sugar in the brown goat cheese, a caramelised specialty product known as Brunost.

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Shell Nigeria ordered to compensate farmer over pollution - DutchNews.nl -

DutchNews.nl - Shell Nigeria ordered to compensate farmer over pollution: Oil giant Shell's Nigerian subsidiary has been ordered to compensate one Nigerian farmer for damage caused to his farm by oil pollution by a court in The Hague.

Four other claims against Shell International were dismissed by the court, which backed Shell's claim the damage was caused by sabotage, not poor maintenance.

The case was brought by environmental group Milieudefensie on behalf of four Nigerian farmers. It is the first time the Anglo-Dutch multinational has been taken to court in the Netherlands over the actions of a subsidiary in another country.

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Farm inferno kills herd of 86 camels - Germany

Eighty-six camels were killed on Thursday morning, when flames engulfed a building at a family-run animal farm in the southwestern German state of Baden-Wüttermberg. The blaze also caused €1 million worth of damage, said police.

 Rescuers were able to save just five of the camel herd from the inferno as it decimated their sleeping quarters overnight at the farm in the state's Calw county.
Farm inferno kills herd of 86 camels - The Local

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Waste: odour main cause of permit breaches in 2011, according to Environment Agency

Waste: odour main cause of permit breaches in 2011, according to Environment Agency: More waste operators breached environmental permits due to odour than for any other reason in 2011, according to new data from the Environment Agency.

The regulator's Biowaste Sector Performance report (22-page / 592KB PDF) 

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Sunbed boss fined after girl is burned (From Bury Times)

Sunbed boss fined after girl is burned (From Bury Times): A FORMER Bury gym boss has been prosecuted for breaking sunbed laws in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the country.

Stewart Hall was taken to court after a 15-year-old girl twice used a sunbed at Olympic Power Mill, in Hornby Street, Bury, in May last year.

She suffered burns on her body and had to go to be treated at a hospital’s accident and emergency unit.

Hall, of Woodhill Road, Bury, was prosecuted by Bury Council’s environmental health department under the Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010.

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MSHA: Coal firm illegally sues worker who complained | Kentucky.com

MSHA: Coal firm illegally sues worker who complained | State | Kentucky.com: The federal agency that oversees mine safety claims a Western Kentucky coal company broke the law by filing a lawsuit against a former worker who complained about unsafe working conditions.Using a federal law designed to protect workers, welder Reuben Shemwell lodged a complaint last year against Armstrong Coal after he was fired in 2011 from his job at the company's Parkway Mine.

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Man injured after falling through ceiling at disused factory (From Your Local Guardian)

Man injured after falling through ceiling at disused factory (From Your Local Guardian): A man has been rushed to hospital with a chest injury after falling through the ceiling of a disused factory.


London Ambulance were called to Stewart House in Waddon Marsh Way, Waddon, just before 8.40am to reports of a fall from a height.


A spokeswoman for London Ambulance confirmed they sent an ambulance crew, a single responder in a car, a duty officer and the medical team from London's Air Ambulance in a car.

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Caldicot Castle re-opening set for delay (From Free Press Series) [improvement notice]

Caldicot Castle re-opening set for delay (From Free Press Series): CALDICOT Castle will not re-open to the public on March 1 after a health and safety improvement notice was served on owners Monmouthshire council.

An investigation was carried out after an elderly woman fell 15 feet from the castle’s drawbridge in October last year.
The woman was rescued by firefighters from the dry moat and taken to hospital.

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Corporate manslaughter charge to be brought following banana boat death | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Corporate manslaughter charge to be brought following banana boat death | UK news | guardian.co.uk: A water sports centre is to be charged with corporate manslaughter over the death of an 11-year-old girl who was hit by a speedboat.Mari-Simon Cronje died during a birthday celebration in September 2010 after she fell from a banana boat and was hit by the boat that was towing it.Princes Sporting Club in Bedfont, Middlesex, is to be charged with a health and safety offence as well as corporate manslaughter. Its director, Glen Walker, is also facing a health and safety charge, the Crown Prosecution Service said.Elizabeth Joslin, from the CPS, said: "I have carefully reviewed all of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan police and the Hounslow environmental health department during their investigation into the tragic death of Mari-Simon Cronje.

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£15,000 fine for Silvercliffs chlorine leak - - Ballymoney and Moyle Times

�15,000 fine for Silvercliffs chlorine leak - Local - Ballymoney and Moyle Times: IN a prosecution brought by Moyle District Council, Hagans Leisure Ltd has been ordered to pay a total of �15,000 after health and safety failings led to members of the public being exposed to a release of chlorine gas.



The incident happened at the Silvercliffs Holiday Village in Ballycastle which is owned by Hagans Leisure Ltd of Templepatrick.At Antrim Crown Court on January 18, Sam Hagan, Director of Hagans Leisure Ltd pleaded guilty to the charge of failing to ensure the public’s safety contrary to Article 5 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.Inadequate risk assessments, deficiencies in staff training and poorly maintained equipment led to a chlorine gas leak at Silvercliffs Holiday Village, on the 27th June 2009.

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Statement from CSB Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso on Today’s Fire and Explosion at an Oil and Gas Site in Texas

Statement from CSB Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso on Today’s Fire and Explosion at an Oil and Gas Site in Texas: The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today learned of a tragic accident near Van, Texas. Two 24-year- olds – a man and a woman, both members of the public --were socializing in the vicinity of an unattended oil and gas production site located in a rural area of Texas when an explosion critically injured both individuals.

I emphasize that the CSB is deeply concerned about accidents at oil and gas production sites across the country. We take seriously any chemical accident that injures members of the public. It is the CSB’s view that states should take proper precautions to ensure that oil and gas production sites are secured properly, with fencing, gates and warning signs to prevent access by teenagers and young adults who are attracted to the sites as secluded places at which to socialize.

In 2010 a similar accident occurred in New London, TX, when a 25-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were on top of an oil tank in an unattended, isolated rural tank site, when the tank exploded, killing the woman and seriously injuring the man. This accident followed an incident in Carnes, MS on October 31, 2009, when two teenagers, aged 16 and 18, were killed when a storage tank containing natural gas condensate exploded at a rural gas production site in. Six months later a group of youths were exploring a similar tank site in Weleetka, Oklahoma, when an explosion and fire fatally injured one individual. The CSB sent investigators to all three sites to collect information on the incidents. 


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Thirty years of seatbelt safety

Three decades of compulsory seatbelt use are being marked today as the Government made a selection of historic THINK! adverts available online. The law requiring all drivers to wear their seatbelts came in to force thirty years ago today - on 31st January 1983.

Car manufacturers have had to install seatbelts since 1965 but the law requiring drivers to wear them did not come in to force for another 18 years. In 1991 the law changed again making it a legal requirement for adults to wear seatbelts in the back of cars.

RNN media information for journalists and the press - Press Releases - Thirty years of seatbelt safety - RNN media information for journalists and the press

Worker died after a semitrailer truck backed into him

A 69-year-old co-op worker died after a semitrailer truck backed into him at a southeast Nebraska grain elevator.

The Otoe County Sheriff's office told the Nebraska City News-Press that Roger Teten of Talmage was fatally injured in the accident on Tuesday.

Chief Deputy Mike Holland says Teten was standing in a street to direct a truck into the grain elevator when a second truck driven by 72-year-old Dale Horstmann backed into him.

WOWT - News - Headlines

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Vietnam metro bans 443 constructors for unpaid fines

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily | Vietnam metro bans 443 constructors for unpaid fines: Ho Chi Minh City has blacklisted 443 constructors who will not be given new jobs or allowed to continue current work as punishment for failing to pay fines resulting from delayed or unapproved projects.

Nguyen Bat Han, deputy chief inspector of the city Transport Department, said in a Tuesday report posted by news website VnExpress that the contractors were involved in major undertakings such as the urban development project, the East-West Highway, the environmental improvement project at local canals, and the water and power system projects.

By the end of last year, they owed nearly VND6.7 billion (US$321,730) in unpaid fines, Han said.

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Danube tug sinks after ballast move - - Austrian Times

Danube tug sinks after ballast move - General News - Austrian Times Online News - English Newspaper: Two sailors had to be rescued from the icy cold waters of the River Danube after a tug boat sank on the River in the Lower Austria region.

The two sailors managed to jump into the water shortly before the boat went under after turning over.

The accident happened at Hainburg in the district of Bruck a.d. Leitha late on Monday according to river police.

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Boeing Gets Off Despite Asbestos 'Moon Suits'

     (CN) - Despite providing certain workers with "moon suits" and ventilators to handle asbestos, Boeing did not have "actual knowledge" that unprotected workers in the same area would get sick, a Washington appeals court ruled.
     Gary Walston said he manufactured airplane parts for Boeing at a Seattle plant from 1956 to 1992, and that he inhaled asbestos fibers during pipe insulation repairs in 1985.
     He sued Boeing after doctors diagnosed him with asbestos-related mesothelioma in 2010.

Courthouse News Service

State Hits Walmart Contractor with Wage Theft Ruling

The state of California has ordered a Southern California warehouse that processes merchandise for Walmart and other retailers to pay 865 workers more than $1 million in stolen wages.

The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement issued the citations Monday, Jan. 28 against Quetico, LLC, a large warehouse complex in Chino, California. Back wages and unpaid overtime total more than $1.1million and in addition the state issued about $200,000 in penalties.

State Hits Walmart Contractor with Wage Theft Ruling

Girl fighting for life after fire breathing incident -- Austrian Times

Girl fighting for life after fire breathing incident - General News - Austrian Times Online News - English Newspaper: A school girl is fighting for her life after she was engulfed in flames when a fire breathing demonstration at school went wrong.

The girl named only as Madeleine P, 17, suffered serious facial burns at the presentation at the HTL Villach, Carinthia, Austria.

Madeleine was standing in front of the class with a burning torch and was wearing glasses. She then took a mouthful of fluid and then started to breath the fire.

Suddenly the fire got bigger and set the girl's face on fire.

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Woman sues �BB over lost legs -- Austrian Times

Woman sues �BB over lost legs - General News - Austrian Times Online News - English Newspaper: A Californian woman who lost both her legs in an accident at a train station in Innsbruck has won the next round in a bid to sue the Austrian state owned train company OBB for compensation in an American court.

A panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had voted 2-1 in September to dismiss Carol Sachs' lawsuit against the OBB on the grounds that US law bars suits against foreign governments (OBB is state owned).

She lost her legs when she fell through a gap on a railway platform in Innsbruck, was hit by a train and is now trying to sue the government-owned railroad for damages.

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Police use snowman to put out fire -Austrian Times

Police use snowman to put out fire - General News - Austrian Times Online News - English Newspaper: Firemen have praised cops who kept a cool head after they used a snowman to put out a fire threatening to burn down a house at Wiener Neustadt south of Vienna in Austria.

The three police officers raised the alarm after spotting the fire that had started in two large paper bins outside the property, which had then set the front of the house on fire.

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82 people died in workplace accidents in Azerbaijan last year

Azerbaijan Business Center - 82 people died in workplace accidents in Azerbaijan last year: Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Azerbaijan registered 212 industrial accidents in 2012.
Deputy head of the State Labor Inspectorate under the Ministry of Labor & Social Protection of Azerbaijan Maharram Maharov says that 82 people were killed in 212 workplace accidents.
"Another 159 employees sustained injuries of different degree," Maharov said.
He points out that according to estimates of the International Labour Organization (ILO), 2.3 million people die annually in the world as a result of industrial accidents.

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Corporate manslaughter: cases opened by CPS up 40% in 2012

Corporate manslaughter: cases opened by CPS up 40% in 2012: Of the 141 corporate manslaughter cases opened in England and Wales since records began in 2009, the CPS is currently investigating 56 with a view to prosecution. 63 cases were opened in 2012, up from 45 in 2011 and 26 in 2010, according to the figures.

Changes to the law from April 2008 meant that large and medium-sized companies could be found guilty of corporate manslaughter for deaths as a result of proven negligence by the organisation's management. Although there have only been three convictions under the new laws to date, health and safety law expert Simon Joyston-Bechal of Pinsent Masons said that the new figures showed this was "just the tip of an iceberg".

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'Faulty lift should have been locked,' care home plunge inquest told - Cardiff news - CardiffOnline - WalesOnline

'Faulty lift should have been locked,' care home plunge inquest told - Cardiff news - CardiffOnline - WalesOnline: A faulty�lift used by a carer who fell down the 20ft shaft with a 96-year-old pensioner should have been turned off and locked up according to a lift specialist.

Care home resident May Lewis, 96, died, and Carol Conway was seriously injured after plunging down the lift shaft at Pontcanna House care home on March 6 last year.

Lift specialist Sven Ivor Hillman said: “It should have been turned off and locked up if it was not working.
“The whole left should have been shut off until it was fixed.”

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Workers falls to death in Bokaro Steel Plant - The Times of India

Workers falls to death in Bokaro Steel Plant - The Times of India: BOKARO: A contract worker died on Tuesday after falling from a height of more than 10 metres in blast furnace-II at the Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL). Deceased Suresh Kandulana (55) of Atul Construction company was a resident of Kurmidih area. BSL sources said the incident occurred around 11am. Kandulana was repairing an overhead water pipeline when he lost balance. Soon, other workers rushed him to the plant hospital where he died of multiple injuries. BSL chief of communication Sanjay Tiwari said, "Suitable compensation will be given to the kin of the deceased. Kandulana was an unskilled worker."

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Coast Guard: Barge leaked 7,000 gallons of oil - StamfordAdvocate

VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) — The Coast Guard said Tuesday that about 7,000 gallons of crude oil were unaccounted for aboard a leaking barge that had rammed a railroad bridge near Vicksburg on the Mississippi River, which remained closed for a third day as crews slowly pumped out oil.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally said it's not clear that all of the 7,000 gallons leaked into the river since the collision early Sunday. Some of it, he said, could have seeped into void spaces inside the barge.

Coast Guard: Barge leaked 7,000 gallons of oil - StamfordAdvocate

OSHA faults construction company in accident that killed Westfield police officer Jose Torres | masslive.com

WESTFIELD — The construction accident that took the life of Police Officer Jose Torres July 26 could have been prevented with better communication on the job site and a better safety plan on the part of contractor Revoli Construction Co. of Franklin, according to a federal official.

“We felt there should have been more coordination between the company and the people directing traffic,” said Mary E. Hoye, area director in Springfield for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “Our feeling is that having a plan for the movement of people and vehicles on the site and talking about that plan is a big step.”

OSHA faults construction company in accident that killed Westfield police officer Jose Torres | masslive.com

Search to resume today for missing quarry workers - Montreal - CBC News

Authorities will wait until Wednesday morning to resume the search for two workers presumed buried in the rubble following a landslide at a quarry near l'Épiphanie, Que., 50 kilometres north of Montreal.

Quebec provincial police, working with police and firefighters from the nearby city of Répentigny and from Montreal, as well as provincial civil protection and workplace health and safety officials, soil engineers and other consultants, decided late this evening that conditions were simply too treacherous to risk continuing the search overnight.

Search to resume today for missing quarry workers - Montreal - CBC News

Whittier man killed cleaning out Tracy cement truck - KCRA Home

TRACY, Calif. (KCRA) —A Whittier man cleaning out a mixer truck in Tracy died when an 1,800-pound piece of concrete fell on him.

The accident took place just after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 10000 block of Linne Road.

The 47-year-old contract worker for Express Chipping was removing buildup inside a truck for A&A Concrete Supply when the piece of concrete fell on him, pinning him inside.

Whittier man killed cleaning out Tracy cement truck | News - KCRA Home

Worker killed in marina accident - The Cherokee Ledger

The accidental death of a 21-year-old Woodstock man, who was killed while repairing an inoperable forklift at an area marina, remains under investigation. While a spokesperson for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said no foul play is suspected in the death of Josh Roberts, detectives are investigating the incident.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) also is probing the workplace accident.

Worker killed in marina accident - The Cherokee Ledger-News: Top Stories: cherokee county fire, occupational safety and health administration, little river marina, emergency services,

Seven Dead in NE China Mine Accident

Three workers have been pulled to safety and another three remain trapped after a coal mine accident killed seven in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, authorities said Wednesday.

The three were lifted out of the mine at around 11 a.m. Wednesday and were in stable condition, according to the Dongning County government.

Three workers entered the Yongsheng colliery to pump out water, but poisonous gas caused them to faint around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Seven Dead in NE China Mine Accident

Whole Foods CEO: Shooting Himself in the Foot?

Take a minute and picture the kind of folks who shop at Whole Foods: they love organic and free range everything, they're on special diets for their health, they're environmentally conscious and yes, more than a few are crunchy granola types.

So what's the best way to really piss off those customers?

The headline on the Huffington Post's story says it all: "Whole Foods CEO John Mackey Says [Global] Warming Is 'Not Necessarily Bad'"

Linda Buzzell: Whole Foods CEO: Shooting Himself in the Foot?

Fast-food chain fights $75,000 fine - Perth, Western Australia

HUNGRY Jack’s has lodged an appeal against a $75,000 fine after a Caversham mother choked on a 1.5cm metal shaving lodged in an onion ring, the City of Bayswater confirmed this week.

The fast food giant’s Beechboro outlet was found guilty last month on a charge of “selling unsuitable food” to Melissa Bayle in February 2012.

Hungry Jack’s was also ordered to pay costs of $11,545 at the Perth Magistrates’ Court trial.

Magistrate Elaine Campione told the court she was not satisfied Hungry Jack’s took reasonable precautions or exercised due diligence to guard against the sale of unsuitable food
Fast-food chain fights $75,000 fine - inMyCommunity - Perth, Western Australia

Two dead after wall collapses in Longford DIY centre - Independent.ie

TWO men have died and a number of people have been injured after an internal 40ft wall in a DIY and garden centre collapsed.

One man in his 40s and another in his 60s were trapped under fallen masonry at the Connacht Gold outlet in Longford.

It is understood both staff and customers were injured by falling debris.

The accident happened at about 2pm at the Connacht Gold DIY and Garden Centre off the Athlone Road in Longford. It opened in April last year.

Two dead after wall collapses in Longford DIY centre - National News - Independent.ie

Tuesday 29 January 2013

DPW Union Reps: City Put Workers’ Health in Jeopardy at Asbestos Site - Paterson NJ News - The Alternative Press

PATERSON, NJ - The day after health inspectors advised the city to stop office renovations because of the discovery of hazardous asbestos, municipal officials ordered public works department employees back inside to clean up the area, union officials said on Monday.

Prior to the shutdown, the employees had been working amid the asbestos for almost two months, even though they had no training for handling the toxic substance, the union leaders said.

DPW Union Reps: City Put Workers’ Health in Jeopardy at Asbestos Site - Paterson NJ News - The Alternative Press

Restaurant fined over food safety - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

An Indian restaurant in Belfast which had mould in the fridge and decaying food on the floor has been fined £1,000.

Damaged food containers exposed Sonali diners to the danger of contamination and grease had built up on the walls of the premises, a Belfast City Council spokesman said.

Restaurant fined over food safety - Northern Ireland, Local & National - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Chambermaid sues Claridge’s for £50,000 following bathroom accident - - Caterer and Hotelkeeper

London’s Claridge’s hotel said that it is unable to comment about a chambermaid who is suing the five-star property for more than £50,000 damages following a freak accident at work.

Rosalie Edehomo of Peckham, South London, claims she suffered a “traumatic brain injury” when the glass door of a shower cubicle fell and hit her on the head, while she was scrubbing a bathroom floor, in September 2009.

Chambermaid sues Claridge’s for £50,000 following bathroom accident - 1/29/2013 - Caterer and Hotelkeeper

Chevron pays $10 million, announces inspection and training reforms after Aug. 6 fire - Inside Bay Area

RICHMOND -- Chevron Corp. has paid about $10 million and begun "corrective actions" in the aftermath of last summer's refinery fire, sparked when a corroded pipe leaked high-temperature gas oil, according to a report the energy giant filed with the Contra Costa County Health Services Department on Monday.

Among the changes made at the 245,000-barrels-per-day refinery are expanded testing to detect thinning pipes, new leak-response protocols and increasing employee training, according to the 11-page report.

The payouts result from 23,900 claims from affected residents, area hospitals and local government agencies. More than 15,000 people went to area hospitals in the hours and days after the Aug. 6 fire, which spewed a plume of black smoke that was visible for miles. Several workers also suffered minor injuries.

Chevron pays $10 million, announces inspection and training reforms after Aug. 6 fire - Inside Bay Area

Booths denies breaking food hygiene laws - - Lancashire Evening Post

A supermarket chain has denied breaking food hygiene laws.

The EH Booths group pleaded not guilty to 22 allegations centering on its flagship Artisan store at Lytham.

The accusations include three involving the sale of ox tongue infected with listeria.

The company has 28 stores across Lancashire, Cumbria,West and North Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.

It employs more than 3,000 staff and has an annual revenue of over £270 million.

The company is being prosecuted by Fylde Borough Council under its head office address at Longridge Road, Ribbleton, Preston.

Booths denies breaking food hygiene laws - Local - Lancashire Evening Post

Megaphone warning angers council (and logs man as health and safety risk)

A barber from Cornwall who used a loud hailer to warn drivers against traffic wardens has been silenced by a warning from Cornwall Council.

Andy Black, from Liskeard, stood outside his shop warning drivers traffic wardens were ticketing them.

Cornwall Council has placed Mr Black on a "cautionary list" that logs everyone they think is a health and safety risk to its workers.

BBC News - Megaphone warning angers council

Prosecutors targeting senior managers in oil and gas accidents | PACE

Prosecutors are becoming more willing to target senior management of oil and gas companies in cases of major workplace accidents, according to Gerard Forlin QC, one of the world’s leading legal experts in gross negligence manslaughter and disaster litigation.

Forlin, a leading authority in accident and oil spill litigation all over the world, will deliver a keynote presentation at next month’s Australasian Oil & Gas Conference (AOG) in Perth.

Prosecutors targeting senior managers in oil and gas accidents | PACE

How clean are Preston’s food outlets - Full list on- Lancashire Evening Post

Today the Evening Post reveals the good, the bad and the average places to eat in Preston.

We can reveal the details of more than 600 food standards inspections of the city’s takeaways, restaurants, cafes, pubs, hotels and food shops.

While many businesses came through the food hygiene inspections with top marks, including Nando’s, Fusion Room and Baluga Bar, others were criticised for poor standards.

Six businesses were handed a zero out of five rating, which means urgent improvement is necessary.

They are Bella Emilio’s in Friargate, Casablanca Kebab and Pizza House in Corporation Street, Charcoal Huts in New Hall Lane, Naseeb Tandoori in Church Street, Tasty Chinese Takeaway in Plungington Road, and Wiejska Chata in New Hall Lane.

How clean are Preston’s food outlets - Full list here - Business - Lancashire Evening Post

Passer-by is killed when 30ft betting shop sign crashes on to pavement of Camden street - London Evening Standard

Workers who saw a man struck and killed by a falling shop sign have told how passers-by desperately tried to save him.

The man, aged in his early 20s, was knocked unconscious by a 30ft William Hill metal hoarding that came loose and landed on him as he was walking past on Camden Road at 5pm yesterday.

Members of the public dashed to help the victim with six men coming together to lift the hoarding to free the man and enable paramedics to try and resuscitate him on the pavement.

Passer-by is killed when 30ft betting shop sign crashes on to pavement of Camden street - London - News - London Evening Standard

Worker killed when North Texas trench collapses on him | Amarillo.com

FRISCO — A trench freshly dug in for a North Texas water line collapsed on a member of the construction crew, killing the worker.

A statement from city spokeswoman Dana Baird-Hanks says the accident happened about 4 p.m. Monday on Farm-to-Market Road 3537 in Frisco. The rapidly growing town of 125,000 is 25 miles north of Dallas.

Worker killed when North Texas trench collapses on him | Amarillo.com Mobile

Man dies in tip accident Tasmania News - The Mercury

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A 32-year-old South Arm man has been killed in an accident at the South Hobart tip.

Police said the accident happened about 10.45am today during the construction of a new waste transfer station at the site.

The man was hit in the head by a large steel beam he was trying to guide into position before it was to be driven into the ground by a pile driver.

The beam fell onto the man after the webbing connecting it to an excavator broke free.

Man dies in tip accident Tasmania News - The Mercury - The Voice of Tasmania

adao asbestos info

About ADAOAsbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is an independent organization founded by Linda Reinstein and Doug Larkin on April 1, 2004.  

ADAO seeks to give asbestos victims and concerned citizens a united voice to raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure. ADAO is an independent global organization dedicated to preventing asbestos-related diseases through education, advocacy and community.

ADAO’s mission includes supporting global advocacy and advancing asbestos awareness, prevention, early detection, treatment, and resources for asbestos-related disease.

For more information visit www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org.

ADAO will not be influenced by outside sources such as drug companies, law firms or companies that manufacture or use asbestos.

ADAO’s Goals
Unite asbestos victims
Educate the public and medical community about asbestos related diseases
Support research that leads to early detection, prevention and a cure
Ban the use of asbestos

adao_asbestos

Retired warrant officer pleads not guilty in Afghanistan training accident

Ravensdale, who is now retired, is the third soldier to face a court martial in the Feb. 12, 2010 incident on a weapons training range in Afghanistan. He is accused of manslaughter, unlawfully causing bodily harm, two counts of breach of duty and two counts of negligence.

The soldiers were testing anti-personnel landmines, C-19s, that were new to the mission. When the landmines are detonated during tests, soldiers are supposed to be at least 100 metres behind or sheltered by being in dugouts or inside vehicles.

Retired warrant officer pleads not guilty in Afghanistan training accident

It's time for the RSPCA to face some hard questions - Telegraph

The charity’s zeal for campaigning means it should no longer act as an arm of the law

Britain is rightly seen as a nation of animal lovers. Some 13 million households, one in two across the UK, have at least one pet. Eight million cats warily eye eight million dogs and we are the proud keepers of some 25 million fish.

In such a land, it is no wonder that the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals enjoys an annual income of more than £100 million and traditionally has been widely admired for its work in protecting, rescuing and re-homing unwanted or unloved animals. For these reasons, I was a member for many years.

The RSPCA is believed to be Britain’s most prolific private prosecutor. It pursues around 10 cases a day at a cost of more than £8 million a year. By contrast, its Scottish sister, the SSPCA, prosecutes no one, leaving that task to the police and Procurator Fiscal.

It's time for the RSPCA to face some hard questions - Telegraph

In China, Politically Connected Firms Have Higher Worker Death Rates - Businessweek

The body of the last miner was pulled from a shaft of Xiangshui Coal Mine in Guizhou province on a chilly Monday in November. The rescue workers had been searching for two days after a violent coal and gas explosion underground, which instantly killed 18 of the 28 miners on site. The final death toll was 23. The local newspapers, as usual, did not print any of their names.

Coal mining in China is widely considered one of the world’s deadliest jobs. Government statistics record that in the first nine and a half months of last year, 1,146 Chinese coal miners died in work-related accidents, about four deaths per day—and most analysts assume official numbers represent significant underreporting. (For comparison, 17 American coal miners died in work-related accidents in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.)

Still, not all Chinese coal mines are equally dangerous. Following the Xiangshui tragedy, Guizhou’s Deputy Governor Sun Guoqiang told local reporters, with surprising candor, that state-run mines are more deadly than private mines—because state-run firms can rely on connections and official favors to evade safety regulations. He called the situation “grave.”

In China, Politically Connected Firms Have Higher Worker Death Rates - Businessweek

Worker killed in landslip - The Times of India

MANGALORE: A construction site worker died in a landslip on BC Road on Monday.

Police identified the victim as Sharath, 20, resident of Punjalkatte. Sharath was part of an ongoing construction of a convention hall in front of Chandikaparameshwari Temple in BC Road. Harish, Achutha, Nitish, Jagadish and Sharath were working on setting up frame for the building pillars when the landslip occurred.

While Sharath was trapped in the mud debris, the others had a providential escape.

Worker killed in landslip - The Times of India on Mobile

Monday 28 January 2013

New Report Released on Children’s Health and the Environment -- Environmental Protection

The EPA’s latest report , “America’s Children and the Environment, Third Edition”, shows the latest trends for contaminants in air, water, food, and soil that may affect children. The report also shows how concentrations of contaminants in the bodies of children and women can be harmful to the individuals who have been exposed those contaminants, as well as childhood illnesses and health conditions.

New Report Released on Children’s Health and the Environment -- Environmental Protection

Government says it did what it could on dockyard asbestos - timesofmalta.com

The Government has insisted with the European Court of Human Rights that it took all necessary measures, including changing legislation, to address the problem of carcinogenic asbestos in the dockyard.

The management provided employees with masks and made sure adequate ventilation was in place.Exposed workers were given compensation allowance, paid by the ship owners, the government said. The case was instituted by 20 ex-workers and the family of one who died from asbestos-related cancer.

Government says it did what it could on dockyard asbestos - timesofmalta.com

Silicosis suit could crush S.Africa’s gold mining sector

Silicosis suit could crush S.Africa’s gold mining sector

Agence France-Presse in Johannesburg

Thousands of ex-gold miners suffering from silicosis have launched a class action suit in South Africa, in what could prove the final nail in the coffin of the country’s battered but vital mining sector.

Already buckling under huge operational costs and seemingly endless labour unrest, some 30 gold mine operators were last month slapped with litigation by thousands of their former employees.

The plaintiffs - mostly black migrant labourers from nearby countries and South Africa’s far flung mountainous villages of the Eastern Cape region - allegedly contracted the lung disease while drilling gold bearing rocks.

Already theirs is the biggest class action in South Africa’s legal history, involving more than 17,000 complainants.

And the list is growing by around 500 people each month, according to lead attorney Richard Spoor.

That stream could very well become a torrent.

Academic calculations estimate some 280,000 people have worked in gold mines for a minimum of 10 years, long enough to inhale dangerous levels of silica dust.

Silicosis suit could crush S.Africa’s gold mining sector | South China Morning Post

Toxic gas kills 8 in Pakistan coal mine |chinadaily.com.cn

ISLAMABAD - At least eight laborers died of suffocation and two others fainted when toxic gas accumulated in a coal mine in Pakistan's southwest city of Loralai on Monday, local media reported.

Local TV Dunya reported that the incident happened at pre-dawn time when 10 people working in a coal mine went unconscious in Dakki area of Loralai, a main city in the country's southwest province of Balochistan.

Residents shifted the fainted people to a nearby hospital where eight of them were confirmed dead.

Toxic gas kills 8 in Pakistan coal mine |Asia-Pacific |chinadaily.com.cn

Tsunami leaves Japan with toxic asbestos legacy

Tonnes of asbestos has been found at more than a dozen Japanese tsunami sites with worrying implications for public health.

EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER:

While there has been much anxiety about radioactive fallout from the Fukushima disaster, there are warnings that Japan's tsunami may have left another toxic legacy. With hundreds of thousands of buildings along the north-east coast damaged and destroyed, it's estimated that the giant waves scattered tonnes and tonnes of asbestos. The cancer-causing fibrous material was used in building materials such as sheeting, fireproofing and insulation. Already more than a dozen tsunami sites have registered asbestos levels above the World Health Organisation's safety limit. North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy reports from tsunami zone on the Sendai Plain in north-east Japan.

Lateline - 28/01/2013: Tsunami leaves Japan with toxic asbestos legacy

Grimsby store sold food 33 days out of date | This is Grimsby

A SHOP owner has been left with a £1,200 court bill after selling packs of cheese that were 33 days past their use-by date.

He was also selling pasta salad a day after he should, and a judge warned that the food could have posed "a health risk to the public".

Bhupendra Patel, who runs Premier Extra, in Wellington Street, Grimsby, had been warned in the past about food safety, for selling sausage rolls and gammon that were out of date.

Grimsby store sold food 33 days out of date | This is Grimsby

THERE are "lessons to be learnt" from the rubbish collection cancellations of the past two weeks, the borough council has agreed.

THERE are "lessons to be learnt" from the rubbish collection cancellations of the past two weeks, the borough council has agreed.

Residents have been left angry in the wake of the suspension of the service on Friday, January 18, with litter piling up in the streets and wheelie bins overflowing because of the snow.

Ubico, the waste contractor which collects rubbish on behalf of both Cheltenham Borough Council and Cotswold District Council, made the decision to suspend collections on health and safety grounds because of icy roads and pavements.

Cheltenham Borough Council will "learn lessons" from cancellation of rubbish collections | This is Gloucestershire

Texas Pols Might Have to Show up for Work


AUSTIN (CN) - Elected officials in Texas may have to show up for work "on a regular basis," if a state representative gets his way.     State Rep. James White, R-Woodville, is sponsoring a bill that would amend the Texas Government Code to require elected officers to "be physically present on a regular basis at a location at which official business of the jurisdiction served by the officer is ordinarily conducted."     These elected officers would include the state judges who sit on the Texas Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, the 14 Courts of Appeals and all district courts.

Courthouse News Service

Greens Fight Kern County Over Wind Farm

   BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (CN) - Kern County and environmentalists filed opening briefs in a court fight over a proposed 300-megewatt wind farm - part of a national legal battle in which environmentalists claim that "clean energy" wind farms pose their own threats to the environment.
     North Sky River Energy wants to build up to 116 wind turbines on 13,535 acres of privately owned land northeast of Tehachapi in the southern Sierra Nevadas.

Courthouse News Service

City of Carson Takes on Shell Oil

  LOS ANGELES (CN) - Shell Oil knowingly let developers build homes above three underground tanks that have leaked oil and carcinogenic chemicals into a neighborhood where more than 1,000 people live, the City of Carson claims in court.
     Carson, a city of 93,000 in the Los Angeles metroplex, sued Shell Oil and property the owners and developers of the Carousel neighborhood, alleging fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, trespass, unjust enrichment and a dozen other counts, in Superior Court.

Courthouse News Service

Sunday 27 January 2013

Gas leak kills five family members in Istanbul

LOCAL - Gas leak kills five family members in Istanbul: Five people, all from the same family, died from gas poisoning due to a leak at an apartment in the popular neighborhood of Gaziosmanpaşa in Istanbul. Hamide �zyapı, 34, and her four children G�lay, 16, G�liz, 13, Kamil, 11, and Yusuf, 9, were found dead in their home, according to Doğan news agency.

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Cwmcarn man crushed by car when jack failed - coroner (From South Wales Argus)

Cwmcarn man crushed by car when jack failed - coroner (From South Wales Argus): PEOPLE working under a jacked-up car must ensure the vehicle is sufficiently supported by more than one piece of equipment, Gwent's coroner has warned.


David Bowen spoke out after recording a verdict of accidental death on a 55-year-old Cwmcarn man, crushed after his daughter's car fell on top of him while he was repairing it.


Russell Rowland had spent the morning of July 28 last year with partner Joyce Mahoney, going shopping before making the short trip to his daughter's home in Cross Keys to work on the car prior to its being sold

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Widow of Shoreham asbestos victim appeals for help (From The Argus)

Widow of Shoreham asbestos victim appeals for help (From The Argus): The widow of a father-of-two who died of an asbestos-related cancer is appealing to his former colleagues for help.�
Rickman Saunders, from Shoreham, contracted mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos dust.

Mr Saunders, of Swiss Gardens, who died in February 2009 aged 84, had begun legal action for compensation before his death.

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Recycling is Not the Answer | Cato Institute

Recycling is Not the Answer | Cato Institute: Before we conclude that recycling is the “answer,” perhaps we should think hard about the question.

If the question before Congress is how best to protect the environment, conserve scarce resources, and provide for landfill space, then mandatory national recycling is not the answer.

A brief examination of the case for mandatory recycling makes that abundantly clear.

First, we are told that recycling will help preserve scarce landfill space. We are not, however, even remotely close to running out of space for our garbage. Despite the “garbage trucks could ring the Milky Way galaxy” rhetoric, all of the trash America will produce over the next 1,000 years could fit into a landfill 15 square miles in size.

Clearly, concerns about “drowning in our own garbage” are misplaced.

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Big fire breaks out in factory in northwestern Turkey - NZweek

Big fire breaks out in factory in northwestern Turkey - NZweek: ISTANBUL, Jan. 27, — A big fire broke out in a chemical factory early Sunday morning in Turkey’s northwestern province of Marmara, local Dogan news agency reported.

According to the report, the fire started in the factory’s depot where fiber materials were stored.

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Fire breaks out in factory in Marmara province

LOCAL - Fire breaks out in factory in Marmara province: A fire broke out in a factory belonging to AKSA Acrylic Chemical Industry early this morning in the Marmara province of Yalova, DoÄŸan news agency has reported.

The fire reportedly started in the factory’s depot where fiber materials are stored. Numerous firefighter teams from neighboring districts were dispatched to the area.

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Brazil nightclub fire kills 'at least 90 people' | Metro News

Brazil nightclub fire kills 'at least 90 people' | Metro News: A fire at a nightclub in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria has left at least 90 people dead, it was reported this morning.
The fire�appears to have been�caused by a pyrotechnics show and led to a stampede as hundreds of people scrambled to get out of the venue, according to local media.
It was thought that the blaze started when a band began a fireworks display at the Kiss nightclub in the town in Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil.
Estado de S.Paulo reported that up to 2,000 people were in the nightclub when the blaze broke out.

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China Voice: Safety supervision a dangerous job in China -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -

China Voice: Safety supervision a dangerous job in China -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -- English Window to China New: BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The transfer of Zhang Genhu, director of the Work Safety Administration of disaster-prone Shanxi Province in north China, to head the local literary federation has stirred controversy.Although administration officials denied the appointment of its new head on Jan. 10 had any link with the five recent production accidents in 20 days in the country's major industrial province, public doubts still mounted over the move.

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Bodies Of Four Kemerovo Miners Recovered

Bodies Of Four Kemerovo Miners Recovered: Rescue workers have recovered the bodies of four miners who died during a coal-mine fire in the Siberian region of Kemerovo on January 20.

More than 70 miners were working when a methane-gas fire broke out on January 20.

Sixty-nine were successfully evacuated and a further four miners remain missing.

Search and rescue operations have been hampered by high methane levels in the mine.

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Electric shock in Great Otway National Park leaves Geelong cyclist in critical condition | News.com.au

Electric shock in Great Otway National Park leaves Geelong cyclist in critical condition | News.com.au: A CYCLIST is fighting for his life after riding into a live power line and receiving severe burns in Anglesea yesterday.

It is understood the live wire had fallen across a mountain bike track in the Great Otway National Park when the 38-year-old Geelong man received a massive electric shock.

He was flown to The Alfred hospital in a critical condition.

Anglesea Sgt Kevin Warburton said the mountain bike rider was found by other people using the track about 8.40am.

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Motorist killed in construction accident in Vietnam’s capital

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily | Motorist killed in construction accident in Vietnam’s capital: A student was killed on January 25 when he was buried by building materials that fell from a construction site near his house in Hanoi, Hanoimoi.com.vn reported on the same day.

Witnesses said that cable of a crane pulling up a big iron box full of sand snapped around 8 a.m. just as Do Dai Hiep, 20, was driving past the location on his motorbike.

Hiep died on the spot; his bike was badly damaged.

It was not the first time workers dropped building materials, locals told the news website, without providing details about what damages had been caused by previous accidents.

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Leslie County mining accident kills one

Leslie County mining accident kills one: ROCKHOUSE, Ky. (WYMT/WKYT) – A Perry County miner has died after what's being called a machinery maintenance accident at a Leslie County surface mine.

Officials tell us Jerry A. Watts, 52, of Slemp, was killed at the Begley #1 mine site of TNT Energy in Short Creek around 11 a.m.

Officials now say Watts was doing welding work on a liner of a dozer blade when a jack slipped, allowing the liner to strike Watts in the head.

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Secret Service dog falls to its death from roof of New Orleans parking deck - CNN.com

Secret Service dog falls to its death from roof of New Orleans parking deck - CNN.com: (CNN) -- A Secret Service dog fell to its death Saturday night while doing a sweep of a multi-story parking deck near a hotel where Vice President Joe Biden was speaking.
The Belgian Malinois fell from the roof of the six-story deck adjacent to The Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans where Biden was speaking at a fundraiser for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, reported CNN affiliate WWL.
Secret Service spokesman Max Milien told CNN the death was a "tragic accident."

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The tiniest particles that may be a threat as bad as asbestos - The Independent

Europe is failing to control a burgeoning industry in microscopic materials, prompting claims that it has failed to heed the lessons from millions of asbestos deaths, according to a hard-hitting new report. Despite early warnings of the damage some nanomaterials could cause, EU governments are still reacting too slowly to signs of potentially deadly environmental hazards.

Nanomaterials – tiny particles as small as a billionth of a metre – are not currently governed by any regulations specific to them in Britain or the EU, despite concern about the possible effect some may have on health.

A major study published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) last week says European governments – including the UK's – are "paralysed by analysis" and failing to act: "Twenty years have elapsed since first indications of nanomaterial harm were published", it said, "and in the intervening time an increasing body of literature has been developed on how nanomaterials interact with cells, mammals and aquatic organisms. Yet many governments still call for more information as a substitute for action."

Carbon nanotubes – tiny pieces of carbon used to strengthen all sorts of materials – have been singled out for their potential to cause health problems similar to asbestos if inhaled. Research shows that long carbon nanotubes – which are similar in shape to asbestos fibres – cause precancerous growths on the lungs in the same way as asbestos when tested on mice.

The tiniest particles that may be a threat as bad as asbestos - Science - News - The Independent

Three arrested over Global Village Ferris wheel death in Dubai - The National

Three people have been arrested for the death of a man hit by a rod that fell from a ride at Global Village on Thursday, Dubai Police have confirmed.

The accident happened at about 10pm when a part of the Ferris wheel fell on the man who was standing below.

Colonel Ali Ghanem, the director of the Bur Dubai Police station said three people were arrested on the same day.

"That includes the owner, operator and engineer responsible for the ride," he said.

He said the case had been passed on to public prosecution for further investigation.

Three arrested over Global Village Ferris wheel death in Dubai - The National

How we can end this vindictive behaviour | Herald Scotland

COMMENT BY IAN TASKER OF THE STUC

For some workers the pressure they face in their workplace can take them to the extreme depths of despair that lead them to take their own lives as David Orr did.

How we can end this vindictive behaviour | Herald Scotland

Saturday 26 January 2013

4 killed as truck rams ferry - - nation.co.ke - Kenya Ferry Services

4 killed as truck rams ferry - News - nation.co.ke: Four people were killed and 31 others seriously injured on Saturday when a trailer rammed into a ferry as passengers boarded at the Likoni channel.

Witnesses said the loaded trailer was going down the ramp when its brakes appeared to fail, causing it to hurtle down the steep inclination at high speed, catching passengers and cyclists unawares.

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High court relief for airline staff who spilt tea on infant, mom - The Times of India

High court relief for airline staff who spilt tea on infant, mom - The Times of India:

KOCHI: The Kerala high court has quashed a case of culpable criminal negligence registered against an airline crew member for spilling hot tea on an infant and its mother during a flight. Justice S S Satheesachandran quashed the criminal proceedings against Changanassery resident Prakash Philip, a crew member of Kuwait Airways, after the company and the complainant, a Malayali woman residing in New York, informed the court that further prosecution in the case was not needed as compensation has been given already.

In July 2008, Prakash, who was a member of the aircrew in the Kochi-bound flight, had spilt a jug of hot tea on the infant and mom.

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Drunk pilots fined over accident - UAE #emirates

Drunk pilots fined over accident - The National: DUBAI // Police must have feared the worst as they followed a trail of blood that led them to the unresponsive body of a man surrounded by broken glass. But it soon became clear he had not been attacked, he had cut himself by mistake while drunk.The man, an Emirates pilot, was charged with the illegal consumption of alcohol, as was another drunken pilot. Visit safety photo

Electrical Fire Closes Bagel Shop Temporarily - Tredyffrin-Easttown, PA Patch

Electrical Fire Closes Bagel Shop Temporarily - Tredyffrin-Easttown, PA Patch: The bright orange sign on the door appeared to be a little more ominous than what was going on inside the Manhattan Bagel Store in the Chesterbrook Shopping Center on Friday.
Store Manager Lalo Patel told Patch a circuit breaker box caught fire Friday morning, forcing the store to close for repairs. The sign on the door read "condemned" prompting curious readers to contact TE Patch.

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Shopping Center Burned In Three Alarm Fire | Baltimore News | WBAL Radio 1090 AM

Shopping Center Burned In Three Alarm Fire | Baltimore News | WBAL Radio 1090 AM: Baltimore County firefighters battled a three alarm fire at
a shopping center in Rosedale.

Units were called just before 12:42 Saturday Afternoon to
the 8400 block of Philadelphia Boulevard to find a working fire at the Rosedale Village Shopping Center. �Investigators say may have started in the Jacky Chen’s Chinese Restaurant.

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Shoppers evacuated from fire at WestQuay shopping centre (From Daily Echo)

Shoppers evacuated from fire at WestQuay shopping centre (From Daily Echo): SHOPPERS had to be evacuated after a fire broke out at a Southampton shopping centre this afternoon.

Kitchen staff in one of the restaurants in West Quay Shopping Centre's food court reported the fire after it began at an indoor grill at 5.15pm.

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Sprinklers douse Elk Grove factory fire - DailyHerald.com

Sprinklers douse Elk Grove factory fire - DailyHerald.com: An automatic sprinkler system helped extinguish a fire at a manufacturing plant in Elk Grove Village Friday, authorities said.

The fire started in a paint spraying room about 5 p.m. at Advanced Valve Technologies, located at 800 Busse Road. Employees of the company also used dry chemical extinguishers to put out the fire, said Lt. Scott Peterson of the Elk Grove Village Fire Department.


Damages were limited to the paint spraying room, and no injuries were reported, Peterson said.

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Overturned tanker truck spills nearly 5,000 gallons of oil into Keystone Lake | Tulsa World

Overturned tanker truck spills nearly 5,000 gallons of oil into Keystone Lake | Tulsa World: MANNFORD - A tractor-trailer rig hauling crude oil overturned and spilled about 4,800 gallons of its contents into Keystone Lake on Saturday, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.


The truck was heading eastbound on the U.S. 412 crossing over the lake when it clipped a car about 9:45 a.m. and fell over onto the crossing's rocky embankment, Lt. George Brown said.

Authorities estimated that about half of its load of 176 barrels, or 9,680 gallons, spilled into the water.

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Fire guts Bangladesh garment factory, six killed - Yahoo! News

Fire guts Bangladesh garment factory, six killed - Yahoo! News: DHAKA (Reuters) - Fire raced through a small garment factory in the Bangladesh capital on Saturday, killing at least six employees and injuring 10, firefighters and witnesses said, two months after the country's worst factory blaze killed 112 workers.
Fire service officials said the fire at Smart Fashions, housed in the upper floor of a two-storey building in the suburb of Mohammadpur, appeared to start in a tire repair and welding shop downstairs. But the exact cause was still to be determined.

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Elite soldiers 'growing left breasts' - Germany #guardsmen

Elite soldiers 'growing left breasts' - The Local:

 The study, carried out by plastic and hand surgeons at the Bundeswehr hospital in Berlin, found that the guards were at greater risk of developing a condition called gynaecomastia, or an enlargement of the mammary gland, on the left side, the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper reported on Friday.

Though gynaecomastia is usually a hormonal condition, the study found that serving in the guard battalion can also be a cause, because it requires soldiers to repeatedly slam their rifles into the left side of their chest during military drills.

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Boniek’s granddaughter rescued from restaurant pit ¦ News Poland |

News Poland | Boniek’s granddaughter rescued from restaurant pit: Zbigniew Boniek, the former footballer and current head of the Polish Football Association (PZPN) found himself on the front pages rather than the back for non-football reasons this week when his granddaughter had to be rescued from a deep trench running under the floor of a restaurant in Italy.

The seven-year-old daughter of Boniek’s daughter Karolina and Italian tennis player Vincenzo Santopadre fell into the trench in the bathroom of the well-known Rome restaurant MET last Sunday when her family were dining there. It appears that the young girl, who Italian press named as Juliet, had gone to the bathroom with her friend where, while looking in the mirror, she disappeared into a five metre hole as the tiles underneath her gave way.

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Eglish farmer fined £900 for pollution offence - Local - Tyrone Times

Eglish farmer fined �900 for pollution offence - Local - Tyrone Times: AN EGLISH farmer today pleaded guilty and was fined �900 plus court costs of �28 at Dungannon Magistrates’ Court for a pollution offence.

Mr Joseph Hughes of Killybracken Road, Eglish, was fined for making a polluting discharge to a waterway.On 16 March 2012, Water Quality Inspectors, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, inspected a tributary of the Oona River near Eglish and found it to be discoloured and to have a bad smell. They also found that the bed of the waterway was coated in sludge and fungus, and that over 1 kilometer of waterway was visibly polluted

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Judges rule CRB checks 'incompatible' with Human Rights Act

BBC News - Judges rule CRB checks 'incompatible' with Human Rights Act: Blanket criminal records checks are not "compatible" with a key part of the Human Rights Act, the Court of Appeal has concluded.

The checks, known as CRBs, may prevent a persons right to a private or family life, a draft judgement has found.

The ruling was made based on the case of a 21-year-old man, who had been forced to reveal details of two police warnings given to him a decade earlier.

The Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson, said the CRB system must be reformed.

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Hempsted Meadows car boot sale market falls victim to health and safety | This is Gloucestershire

Hempsted Meadows car boot sale market falls victim to health and safety | This is Gloucestershire: MARKET traders hoping to boost winter profits were left furious by a decision to shut Hempsted Meadows Market just minutes before gates were due to open.
City council chiefs have come under fire after a decision to keep the gates locked due to health and safety fears.

"Yet again, five millimeters of snow and the council's reaction is to close up shop and go home," he said.

"No wonder our city has the nickname of 'The Graveyard'.
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Asbestos added to eighteenth century basement - - Warwick Courier

Asbestos added to eighteenth century basement - Local Services - Warwick Courier: ASBESTOS found in the basement of the town council offices in Jury Street, Warwick, means the bill for renovation has shot up by an extra �120,000.

A seam of asbestos laid around pipework sometime during the 1930s was discovered as part of the �880,000 refurbishment of the eighteenth-century original court house while trying to install a lift. Architects have now decreed that as well as removing the potentially dangerous material, the whole building needs underpinning,

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Two Ashdod refinery employees killed in possible work accident | The Times of Israel

Two Ashdod refinery employees killed in possible work accident | The Times of Israel: Two Ashdod refinery workers were killed Saturday morning after they were exposed to a lethal dose of highly toxic gas.
Police launched an investigation into the cause of the workers’ deaths.
The victims, aged 25 and 45, had worked the Friday night shift and had gone missing. They were found lying on the ground Saturday morning. Magen David Adom paramedics rushed to the industrial center and tried to resuscitate the victims for 30 minutes, but pronounced them dead on the spot.

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Firm continues waste discharge despite penalty - - VietNam News

Firm continues waste discharge despite penalty - Environment - VietNam News: NAM DINH (VNS)— A textile production company in northern Nam Dinh City has discharged untreated waste water for many years, causing constant concerns for local residents.

However, provincial authorities have yet to impose a strong enough punishment to serve as a deterrent.

Under observation of a Vietnam News Agency correspondent on Thursday, the Son Nam Textile Company (Sonatex) discharged brown-coloured waste water directly into Nang Tinh Ward's Dao River.

The hot waste water had a temperature between 50-60 degree Celsius and gave off a horrendous odour.

Tran Xuan Cung, a resident living near the site, said the company had routinely discharged its waste water over the past 10 years.

Most of their waste was detergent and colorant which was let out four times per day, he said.

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Paris landlord ordered to pay tenant €20,000 - France


A landlord has been ordered to pay his former tenant €20,000 in compensation after being convicted by a court in Paris for illegally renting out a tiny studio flat of only 5.78m².
Despite the flat, located in the capital’s 11th arrondissement, being well under the legal minimum size of 9m² the unscrupulous landlord was charging the tenant €430 a month in rent, French daily Le Parisien revealed on Friday.

Paris landlord ordered to pay tenant €20,000 - The Local

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Man's arm severely injured in Lynden-area construction accident | The Bellingham Herald

Man's arm severely injured in Lynden-area construction accident | Crime | The Bellingham Herald: LYNDEN - A construction worker's arm was possibly severed Friday afternoon, Jan. 25, when his limb got pinned beneath the bed of a dump truck near Lynden.

The man, in his late 20s, was doing dirt work at a construction site off of Double Ditch Road at about noon when his arm was crushed between the body and the bed of the truck, said Lynden Assistant Fire Chief Robert Spinner.

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Students hospitalised after inhaling fumes - - Jamaica Gleaner -

Students hospitalised after inhaling fumes - Lead Stories - Jamaica Gleaner - Saturday | January 26, 2013: TWENTY STUDENTS from Tacky High School in St Mary had to be rushed to a nearby clinic for treatment yesterday after inhaling chemical fumes while in a computer class at the school.

Fifteen of the students were transferred to the St Ann's Bay Hospital where 13 were released and sent home. Two students remained hospitalised for observation and treatment up to press time.

Up to late yesterday evening, a team from Gortech Solution, which was called in by the school's management to investigate the source of the chemical emission, was still conducting its probe.

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Fawlty Towers censored by BBC, 35 years later - The Malta Independent

Fawlty Towers censored by BBC, 35 years later - The Malta Independent: A racial slur in one of the episodes of Fawlty Towers, one of the most loved comedies in BBC history, has been censored 35 years down the line.

The episode in question is The Germans, in which hotelier Basil Fawlty clashes with visiting German tourists, is one of its most-loved.

In the scene, a hotel regular, the elderly Major Gowen (Ballard Berkeley), relates a conversation in which he corrected someone for using a particular racist slur, by suggesting they use another, equally racist, slur.

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Another Assault by Corporations on Consumers’ Right to Know � Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Another Assault by Corporations on Consumers’ Right to Know � Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names: How do you keep consumers in the dark about the horrors of factory farms? By making it an “act of terrorism” for anyone to investigate animal cruelty, food safety or environmental violations on the corporate-controlled farms that produce the bulk of our meat, eggs and dairy products.
And who better to write the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act, designed to protect Big Ag and Big Energy, than the lawyers on the Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force at the corporate-funded and infamous American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

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Struggling dolphin dies in polluted New York City canal - chicagotribune.com

Struggling dolphin dies in polluted New York City canal - chicagotribune.com: NEW YORK (Reuters) - A distressed dolphin died on Friday after wandering into a notoriously polluted New York City canal, according to a marine research group that was monitoring the animal. The animal, a common dolphin, died in the shallow waters of Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal, said Valentina Sherlock, an employee at The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, whose biologists were keeping watch over the dolphin on behalf of police and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

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Ship slams into river bank on the Bund -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 --

Ship slams into river bank on the Bund -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -- English Window to China New: A 400-ton vacant tank ship rammed into the bank on the Bund early Saturday morning, causing no injuries but damages to the flood-control wall and some landscape lights. The accident took place about 5am, according to xinmin.cn.

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Caerphilly graves to be stripped of ‘unauthorised items’ [for health and safety reasons!] (From South Wales Argus)

Caerphilly graves to be stripped of ‘unauthorised items’ (From South Wales Argus): A HIGHLY controversial policy to remove tributes and other items from peoples’ graves is to be implemented across a Gwent county.


Caerphilly council says its so-called "lawn policy" which will require unauthorised items such as lanterns, flower pots and chippings to be removed from graves is to be put into force at all ten of its cemeteries.

The council claims "grave personalisation" causes a health and safety risk to staff and visitors because of trip hazards caused by small fences and ornaments.

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Uzbekistan: Forced Labor Widespread in Cotton Harvest | Human Rights Watch

(Berlin) – Uzbek authorities have increased the use of forced labor by adults and older children in the cotton sector during the past year, Human Rights Watch said today. The move was apparently made to shift the burden away from younger children in response to public scrutiny and international pressure.

For the 2012 harvest, the Uzbek government forced over a million of its own citizens, children and adults – including its teachers, doctors, and nurses – to harvest cotton in abusive conditions on threat of punishment, Human Rights Watch found.

Uzbekistan: Forced Labor Widespread in Cotton Harvest | Human Rights Watch

PepsiCo drops brominated chemical from Gatorade — Environmental Health News

PepsiCo drops brominated chemical from Gatorade

PepsiCo Inc. will remove a controversial chemical that is added to orange Gatorade in response to customer complaints. Outcry over the chemical, known as brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, had been building over the past year. BVO has been patented as a flame retardant, and it has been linked to a number of health hazards. A PepsiCo spokesperson told the Associated Press that BVO will only be removed from Gatorade, and not other citrus-flavored sodas made by PepsiCo, such as Mountain Dew.

PepsiCo drops brominated chemical from Gatorade — Environmental Health News

Defective scaffolds led to fatal collapse -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报

DEFECTIVE scaffolding and framing contributed to the collapse of a concrete deck that killed five workers and injured 17 on a Metro Line 12 construction site on December 31, city work safety authorities said yesterday.

Investigators were still determining who should be held responsible, officials said.

Defective scaffolds led to fatal collapse -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -- English Window to China New

Worker killed at Dinnington factory

A ROTHERHAM man died in an industrial accident in Dinnington this afternoon (Friday)

Emergency services were called to an industrial premises on Caxton Way in Dinnington at around 3.12pm on Friday where it is believed that a 56-year-old man from Rawmarsh in Rotherham was fatally injured when he became trapped in machinery.A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “The Health and Safety Executive is aware of the situation and a joint investigation is currently underway with police.”

Worker killed at Dinnington factory - Local news - Worksop Guardian

Judge delays verdict against NOPD officer whose K-9 dog fell down elevator

After six hours of testimony Friday, a Orleans Parish Criminal District Court judge delayed deciding whether an NOPD officer committed malfeasance in office in the days before and after his K-9 dog Phantom fell to his death into an elevator shaft while working a private detail. 
Judge delays verdict against NOPD officer whose K-9 dog fell down elevator | NOLA.com

Mine Safety Shirkers to Hear From Agency Early

WASHINGTON (CN) - "In 32 Years MSHA Has Never Successfully Exercised Its Pattern of Violations Authority," read the title of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General's audit report of the Mine Safety and Health Administration's pattern of violations program.
     The report came out five months after the 2010 accident at the Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, W.Va., that ended in the deaths of 29 miners following an explosion. Flagrant safety violations ultimately contributed to a coal dust explosion, there, a 2011 MSHA report concluded.
Courthouse News Service

Friday 25 January 2013

Designer Behind Slide Death Can Sue Toys R Us

Courthouse News Service: (CN) - Toys R Us, already on the hook for millions after a woman broke her neck on a water slide it sold, must face contract claims from the slide's Chinese designer, a federal judge ruled.
Hong Kong-based toy designer Manley Toys entered into a vendor agreement with Toys R Us in 2004.
Two years later, a 29-year-old mother died while using a Banzai Falls inflatable pool slide recently purchased from Toys R Us via Amazon. Robin Aleo had been sliding down, head first, when the slide bottomed out, causing her to hit her head on the edge of the pool. Unable to move or breathe with a broken neck, Aleo died the next day at a hospital.
In 2011, a jury reportedly ordered Toys R Us to pay Aleo's survivors $18 million in punitive damages, plus $2.6 million for lost income and pain and suffering.

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Sussex farmer film star in trouble with FSA (From The Argus)

A film star farmer’s dream week has turned sour after health officials decided to prosecute him for selling “raw” milk.

Steve Hook is the subject of an award-nominated documentary called Moo Man about his dairy farm in Hailsham.

Sussex farmer film star in trouble with FSA (From The Argus)

Inquest into the Death of Larry Allan Phillips Announced [Oakville]

Newsroom : Inquest into the Death of Larry Allan Phillips Announced: Guelph -- Dr. Dirk Huyer, Regional Supervising Coroner for the Central Region, Guelph Office, today announced that an inquest will be held in the death of Larry Allan Phillips.

Mr. Phillips, age 55, died on December 15, 2009, while employed at a construction project in Oakville. An inquest is mandatory under the Coroners Act.

The inquest will examine the events surrounding Mr. Phillips's death. The jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths.

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Russian Judge Dozes Off In Court, Jails Man Anyway - #video

Russian Judge Dozes Off In Court, Jails Man Anyway: At the city court in the Far Eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk, a judge who fell asleep during a hearing and played with his phone sentenced a man to five years in jail.

As seen in the two videos below, during the trial in August 2012 of Andrei Naletov on fraud charges, Judge Yevgeny Makhno can be seen dozing off during the lawyers' arguments. He can then be seen reading something on his mobile phone during the hearing.



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No more late nights for Turkish Delight | Shetland News

No more late nights for Turkish Delight | Shetland News:

A KEBAB shop in Lerwick has been skewered after the local council refused the late licence it depends on to survive financially.
The decision followed Kusmus’ conviction on Thursday for breaching hygiene regulations at Lerwick Sheriff Court.

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Pakistan PM at centre of allegations over dropped Karachi factory fire murder charges - Asia - World - The Independent

Pakistan PM at centre of allegations over dropped Karachi factory fire murder charges - Asia - World - The Independent: The prime minister of Pakistan is again at the centre of controversy – this time over allegations that he instructed officials to drop murder charges against the owner of a Karachi factory where 259 people died in a fire.

Various reports claimed that Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had intervened to have the charges against the owners of the factory changed, with the central charge of murder left out.

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Even after workplace deaths, companies avoid OSHA penalties | The Center for Public Integrity

Even after workplace deaths, companies avoid OSHA penalties | The Center for Public Integrity: SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The temperature outside barely reached double digits on the morning of Jan. 15, 2009, and, inside the Crucible Specialty Metals steel mill here, it was bitterly cold. Ice coated the equipment, forcing employees to use torches to free the machines so they could start their work.

Danger was everywhere, federal records show. Equipment was old and in disrepair. Molten steel snaked through the building, and, at any moment, could snag and twist out of control, burning anything in its path. Shafts driving the machines that compress the steel spun at high speeds with no guards to shield employees working nearby. Sometimes, workers said, the torches backfired and burned them.

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Companies 'are still flouting work at height regulations' - | Aviva

Companies 'are still flouting work at height regulations' - 25 January 2013 | News | Risk Management Solutions | Aviva: Companies throughout the UK are still ignoring work at height laws, despite the fact that falls are still the most common cause of occupational injuries. According to figures provided by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 17 workers were killed and 3,000 seriously hurt in falling incidents in 2011/12.

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Work safety chief lashes site manager

Work safety chief lashes site manager: The ACT's Work Safety Commissioner has lashed out at the manager of a Kingston Foreshore building site over its response to a workplace accident on Thursday.

Mark McCabe has accused Project Co-ordination, which manages the Aurora Apartments site where an apprentice suffered an electric shock, of dismissing the injury as an incident that could not have been prevented.

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'Human sniffers' confirm complaints over factory odours - Thailand

'Human sniffers' confirm complaints over factory odours - The Nation: With their specialised abilities becoming officially recognised in Thailand last year, "human sniffers" yesterday confirmed that the foul odours from an animal-feed factory in Nakhon Pathom have exceeded acceptable limits.
The tests were conducted after the abbot of the neighbouring Or Noi Temple erected a sign saying that his monastery is "for sale" because the bad smell from the factory had become unbearable. The high-profile case has also put the spotlight on "human sniffers".

The Pollution Control Department (PCD) searched for the keen-nosed experts for the first time last year. Of 500 tested, just 124 have sailed through and become registered. Their licences as qualified olfactory experts are valid for one year, after which they have to undergo another round of tough testing.

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