Baltimore Gas and Electric Fined Over $437,000 for Safety Violations in a 2019 Gas Explosion

Maryland has fined Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) for over $437,000 on January 7th, 2021, for safety violations related to a 2019 gas explosion at a Columbia office park. The state has also ordered the utility company to follow through on a remediation plan to upgrade gas lines for more than 1,250 buildings, which could cost around $17 million to prevent future accidents. 

The Public Service Commission of Maryland (PSC) revealed that BGE violated numerous state and federal statutes and regulations. They were ordered to pay two installments of $218,647, and it must be paid within 15 business days. BGE released a statement noting that they have 57 projects currently and have been working to improve 253 gas and electric common service trenches configured the same as those in the explosion. They expect to complete all of the projects by the end of 2021. 

BGE also plans to upgrade an additional 1,000 buildings with smaller-diameter gas pipes, using new practices designed to restrict gas service when the gas flow exceeds certain limits. They expect the upgrades to be completed by the end of 2023. All of these projects will ensure the safe and reliable operations of the BGE system so that future accidents can be prevented.

OHSA Presents New COVID-19 Guidelines and Restrictions Addressing Workplace Ventilation and Safety for Employers

Throughout the pandemic this year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been criticized for lax regulations in several industries including meatpacking. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic through October 29th, 2020, OSHA has issued citations from 179 inspections for violations of work safety, and penalties totaling $2,496,768. Some of the violations include failure to: 

implement a written respiratory protection program, report an injury, illness, or fatality, provide medical evaluation, and training on the correct use of personal protective equipment. 

A complaint was filed in April describing the insufficient precautions at a Maid-Rite meatpacking plant in Dunmore, PA. The company failed to notify workers about the potential exposure to COVID, and OSHA designated that meatpacking facilities to be only “medium risk” and would not rush to conduct a formal inspection. Because of this OSHA has come under intense criticism this year, and a lawsuit from Maid-Rite was filed in July. 

In response to this, OSHA has issued guidance and a one-page document to help employers understand which regulations are cited most during coronavirus-related inspections. The guidance includes a description of the violations and available resources to better ensure that employers are adequately protecting workers. 

OSHA also published new guidance on ventilation in the workspace, which recommends that employers work with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) professionals to improve ventilation in a building to lower the potential risk of COVID-19 exposure.  Some of the tips to improve ventilation that OSHA recommends includes:

• Encourage workers to stay home if they are sick

• Remove personal fans to prevent blowing air from one person to another worker 

• Open windows or other sources of fresh air if possible 

• Increase the HVAC outdoor air intake 

• Ensure exhaust fans in restrooms are fully functional and set to always remain on.

Wind Harmony: Seeking Your Views on the Health and Safety Issues of the Wind Energy Sector in the EU

The Wind Harmony project has just launched an online survey  to seek your views on the key health and safety issues currently facing the European wind industry, and potential solutions to those issues. The project seeks to understand where harmonisation or alignment at European level could reduce complexity, risk and cost, improve industry performance and lay the foundations for global wind industry standards.

The survey is open to everyone – including manufacturers, developers, operators, contractors (of all sizes), regulators, policy makers, national wind energy associations, researchers and technicians. Responses are anonymised and will feed directly into the next project workshop and inform the project’s final recommendations. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. The survey is also available in French, German and Spanish, and open until 2nd March 2020.

Access the survey 

You can also register for the 3rd workshop of the ‘Wind Harmony’ study that will take place on Friday 13th March (Paris). This workshop will validate the topics for potential harmonisation of health and safety and identify possible interventions for each of these topics based on expected improvements, cost reduction and overall efficiency. Check the detailed agenda and register here before 3rd March 2020.

More information on the project can be found at www.windharmony.eu .