International Roadcheck Is May 16-18 with Emphasis on ABS and Cargo Securement

Original article published by CVSA

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has announced May 16-18 as this year’s International Roadcheck. International Roadcheck is a high-visibility, high-volume 72-hour inspection and enforcement event where CVSA-certified inspectors in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will conduct inspections of commercial motor vehicles and drivers at weigh/inspection stations, designated inspection areas and along roadways.

This year, inspectors will focus on  to highlight the importance of those aspects of vehicle safety. Although ABS violations are not out-of-service violations, ABS play a critical role in reducing the risk of collisions by preventing the wheels from locking up or skidding, allowing a driver to maintain control of the vehicle while braking. In addition, improper cargo securement poses a serious risk to drivers and other motorists by adversely affecting the vehicle’s maneuverability, or worse, causing unsecured loads to fall, resulting in traffic hazards and vehicle collisions.

During International Roadcheck, inspectors will conduct their usual roadside safety inspections of commercial motor vehicles and drivers. Data will be gathered from those three days and shared later this year, as a snapshot of the state of commercial motor vehicle and driver safety.

International Roadcheck also provides an opportunity to educate the motor carrier industry and general public about the importance of safe commercial motor vehicle operations and the North American Standard Inspection Program.

During a routine , inspectors focus on two areas – driver and vehicle safety compliance.

  •  – Inspectors will ensure the vehicle’s brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, driveline/driveshaft components, driver’s seat, fuel and exhaust systems, frames, lighting devices, steering mechanisms, suspensions, tires, wheels, rims, hubs and windshield wipers are compliant with regulations. Inspections of motorcoaches, passenger vans and other passenger-carrying vehicles also include emergency exits, seating, and electrical cables and systems in the engine and battery compartments.
  • Driver safety – Inspectors will check the driver’s operating credentials, hours-of-service documentation, status in the drug and alcohol clearinghouse, seat belt usage, and for alcohol and/or drug impairment.

Vehicles that successfully pass a Level I or Level V Inspection without any critical vehicle inspection item violations may receive a CVSA decal, which is valid for three months. If the inspector does identify critical vehicle inspection item violations, as outlined in the , the vehicle will be restricted from operating until the identified out-of-service conditions have been corrected. Inspectors may also restrict the driver from operating if the driver is found to have driver out-of-service violations, such as not possessing a valid or necessary operating license or exhibiting signs of impairment.

CVSA’s law enforcement member jurisdictions in cities, states, districts, provinces and territories in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. participate in International Roadcheck with support from trucking associations, transportation safety organizations and federal agencies, such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Transport Canada and Mexico’s Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation.


McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.

Construction Safety

Original article published by Safety+Health

Prevent falls through skylights and other openings

In 2021, 62 U.S. construction workers died after falling through a surface or an existing opening such as a skylight, according to data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

“Holes and openings are made in roofs and floors of buildings, both when they are built and when they are torn down,” CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training says.

Prevent injuries on your jobsite. Tips from CPWR:

  • Guard or cover all holes before you leave a work area. Your co-workers may not see an uncovered hole, which means they could fall through it.
  • Label all covers with the word “hole” or “cover.”
  • If you see a hole that’s uncovered, take the time to cover it.
  • Make sure hole covers can support at least two times the weight of your co-workers, equipment and materials. If a hole is larger than plywood, use guardrails. (OSHA requires covers of standard strength and construction.)
  • Fasten all hole covers with screws and/or nails. “If a worker steps on an unsecured cover, it can shift and the worker can fall through the hole and be injured.”

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

OSHA says its new authority to issue nonimmigrant status visas will aid investigations

Original article published by Safety+Health

Washington — OSHA will soon be able to issue certifications in support of T and U nonimmigrant status visas, a move the agency contends will aid in some workplace safety investigations.

“T visas” are for victims of human trafficking. “U visas” are for victims of certain crimes, including felonious assault, extortion, forced labor and obstruction of justice. These visas “provide immigration status to noncitizen victims and allow them to remain in the United States to assist authorities in combating human trafficking and other crimes,” OSHA says in a Feb. 13 press release.

The agency’s new authority is schedule to go into effect March 30.

“Workers in the United States need to feel empowered and able to trust OSHA and the U.S. Department of Labor enough to voice their concerns about workplace safety regardless of their immigration status and fears of retaliation,” OSHA administrator Doug Parker said in the release. “By enabling OSHA to issue U and T visa certifications, we will be empowering some of our economy’s most vulnerable workers to tell us if their jobs are jeopardizing their safety and health, and that of their co-workers, and to support our enforcement efforts.”


McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

FACE Report: Machine operator fatally struck by safety block ejected from mechanical power press

Original article published by Safety+Health
16ny064-2.jpg

Photo: NIOSH

Report number: 16NY064
Issued by: New York Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program
Date of report: Oct. 6, 2021

A worker at a manufacturing facility was fatally injured while operating a 200-ton mechanical press. The worker and another employee were making bus bars, a component of electrical devices, out of raw copper strips. The mechanical press frequently jammed, requiring the worker to place two safety blocks between the ram and bolster and reach into the press to unjam it. The worker would then remove the safety blocks and actuate the machine at a dual-button control panel mounted to a pedestal in front of the long side of the press. The workers had to unjam the press multiple times. The last time they removed the jam, the safety blocks were unintentionally left on the bolster bed. The worker, who was standing in front of the press by the pedestal controller, actuated the press. The two safety blocks were immediately ejected from the press. One struck the worker in the neck and chest, causing severe injuries. A 911 call was made, and another employee tried to help using basic first aid. Emergency responders arrived within minutes, but the worker died at the scene. Cause of death was listed as blunt force injuries to the neck.

To help prevent similar occurrences, employers should:

  • Ensure interlock devices are used in conjunction with safety blocks on mechanical power presses.
  • Ensure the selected safety blocks meet the rated capacity of the specific power presses.
  • Center safety blocks along middle length of press when servicing.
  • Ensure press controls are moved to short ends of press to avoid risk of being struck by ejected materials.
  • Design machine guarding that allows for safe movement around machinery.
  • Implement a maintenance and inspection schedule for mechanical presses.
  • Ensure employees are thoroughly trained on machines they operate.
  • Conduct a job hazard analysis for specific tasks and instruct employees on how to safely work with and troubleshoot machinery issues.
  • Train employees on lockout/tagout procedures.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

MSHA – Mine Fatality #6

Original article published by MSHA

MINE FATALITY – On January 30, 2023, a miner died while troubleshooting a belt conveyor when he fell through a 37-inch-long by 34-inch-wide hole created by the removal of a section of grating.  The miner fell approximately 35 feet from the catwalk to the ground below.

Accident scene where a miner died while troubleshooting a belt conveyor when he fell through a 37-inch-long by 34-inch-wide hole created by the removal of a section of grating.
Photo property of MSHA

Best Practices

Operators should:

  • Provide fall protection where there is a danger of falling and train miners on its proper use.
  • Replace guarding/grating that protects temporary access openings as soon as completing work.
  • Conduct workplace examinations and immediately correct any unsafe conditions.

Additional Information

This is the sixth fatality reported in 2023, and the first classified as “Slip or Fall of Person.”


McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

US Department of Labor seeking public comments on modernizing program that recognizes employers committed to best safety, health practices

Original article published by OSHA

OSHA’s successful Voluntary Protection Program helps provide safe workplaces

Photo: OSHA

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration is inviting the public and workplace safety stakeholders to share their comments on how the agency can best honor companies who make exceptional commitments to workplace safety and health, and encourage others to follow.

Established in 1982, OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program recognizes workplaces that demonstrate best practices in safety and health management and serve as industry models. In the last 40 years, the program has attracted a wide variety of organizations in many industries. VPP’s success has stretched OSHA resources and made it more difficult to ensure the quality of program applicants’ safety and health management systems.

By opening the program to public comments, OSHA seek input from all perspectives to assist the agency as it modernizes and enhances the VPP, and continues to promote the use of workplace safety and health management systems. The Voluntary Protection Program’s modernization project is seeking stakeholder input on issues such as:

  • Aligning the program more closely with recent occupational safety and health management practices and system standards.
  • How the program can contribute to expanding the use and effectiveness of safety and health management systems.
  • Whether and how resources and tools such as “special government employees,” consensus standards, third-party auditors and other methods could serve to expand the program’s capacity without compromising effectiveness and oversight.
  • Whether particular categories of hazards need special attention in the VPP certification process.

OSHA is asking a series of questions in 10 sections to elicit useful responses to support the project’s aims. Interested members of the public should submit comments and attachments, identified by Docket No. OSHA-2022-0012, using the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. The deadline for comments is April 14, 2023.


McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

US Department of Labor, Consulate of Mexico in Denver renew alliance to promote workers’ rights, protections

Original article published by OSHA

Agreement extends effort to protect Mexican nationals working in region

Participants:  U.S. Department of Labor
Consulate of Mexico in Denver

Date:  Feb. 9, 2023

alliance renewal
On Feb. 9, 2023, OSHA Area Director in Denver, Amanda Kupper; Mexico’s Counsel General in Denver, Pàvel Melèndez Cruz; OSHA Area Director in Englewood, Chad Vivian; and Mexico’s Consul for Protection and Legal Affairs in Denver, Antonio Portilla Montemayor renewed a two-year alliance agreement between OSHA and the Consulate of Mexico in Denver to promote workplace safety among Spanish-speaking workers in the region.

Agreement description:  The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Consulate of Mexico have renewed a two-year alliance to provide safety training and resources to Mexican nationals working in Colorado in an effort educate them on their rights and employers’ responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

The alliance continues the joint commitment to protect the rights of Mexicans working in the U.S. through training, education, outreach, communication and by promoting a national dialogue on workplace safety and health.

Background:  OSHA’s Alliance Program works with groups committed to worker safety and health to prevent workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses. These groups include unions, consulates, trade or professional organizations, businesses, faith- and community-based organizations and educational institutions. OSHA and the groups work together to develop compliance assistance tools and resources, share information with workers and employers and educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities.

Quote: “By renewing this alliance, OSHA officials and Mexican government representatives can continue to work together to help keep Mexican people who work in Colorado safe and healthy,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Jennifer S. Rous in Denver. Our joint focus on providing important information on workplace protections for these workers will help us ensure that they end their shifts safely and return home to their families each day.”


McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

US Department of Labor announces publication of interim final rule for handling criminal antitrust anti-retaliation complaints

Original article published by OSHA

OSHA accepting comments from the public

Photo: OSHA

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently published an interim final rule establishing procedures and timeframes for handling employee retaliation complaints under the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act, enacted Dec. 23, 2020.

The departments of Labor and Justice will collaborate to enforce CAARA to ensure protection of whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting potential criminal antitrust violations or engaging in other protected activities. These activities include testifying, participating or assisting in certain federal government investigations or proceedings. Protected reports include providing information to an employer or the federal government relating to price fixing, bid rigging or market allocation schemes between competitors, or information relating to violations of other criminal laws committed in conjunction with potential violations of the criminal antitrust laws or in conjunction with a Justice Department investigation of potential violations of those laws.

Under President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, the department is working with other agencies, including the Department of Justice, to prohibit anti-competitive behavior by employers. Such conduct hurts workers by weakening their bargaining power, lowers wages and widens inequality.

OSHA is accepting comments from the public. Submit comments online, identified by Docket Number OSHA-2021-0011 at the Federal eRulemaking Portal. The deadline for submitting comments is April 23, 2023. The interim final rule became effective Feb. 10, 2023.

For additional details about the statute along with instructions on how to file a complaint with OSHA under the CAARA, read the fact sheet on Whistleblower Protection for Reporting Criminal Antitrust Violations.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of more than 20 statutes protecting employees who report violations of various workplace safety and health, airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health insurance reform, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime, securities, tax, criminal antitrust and anti-money laundering laws. For more information on whistleblower protections, visit OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs webpage.


McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

US Department of Labor announces plan to withdraw proposal to reconsider, revoke Arizona State OSHA Plan’s final approval

Original article published by OSHA

OSHA recognizes state’s efforts to address deficiencies in workplace safety, health plan

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration will withdraw its proposal to reconsider and revoke final approval of Arizona’s State Plan for occupational safety and health, and by doing so, will leave the state’s plan in place.

The announcement follows OSHA’s publication of Federal Register notice on April 21, 2022, that proposed reconsideration and revocation because of by the Arizona State Plan’s nearly decade-long pattern of failures to adopt adequate maximum penalty levels, occupational safety and health standards, National Emphasis Programs and the COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard.

OSHA accepted public comments on the revocation proposal through July 5, 2022. On that day, Arizona submitted a public comment advising OSHA that the state’s plan had completed significant actions to address the concerns OSHA identified in the original Federal Register notice. The actions made by the Arizona State Plan included adopting outstanding federal standards and directives, enacting state laws to ensure that Arizona’s future maximum and minimum penalty levels track with OSHA federal levels, and authorizing adoption of an emergency temporary standard when either OSHA or the Industrial Commission of Arizona determines that grave danger criteria are met.

In light of Arizona’s efforts, OSHA postponed a scheduled public hearing and reopened the comment period until Oct. 14, 2022, to allow stakeholders another opportunity to comment on the proposed revocation.

With today’s announcement, OSHA will withdraw its proposal to reconsider the final approval status of the Arizona State Plan, despite recent public reports of a downward trend in inspections in the plan’s enforcement program, as these were not part of OSHA’s April 2022 Federal Register notice. OSHA takes these reports seriously, and the agency is actively working with the Arizona State Plan to address these issues.


McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

FMCSA Announces Proposed Improvements to Its Safety Measurement System to Prevent Crashes

Original article published by FMCSA

WASHINGTON – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced proposed changes to its Safety Measurement System (SMS) to reduce and prevent crashes. The SMS uses data from roadside inspections, crash reports, and investigations to identify and prioritize for intervention the motor carriers that pose the greatest risk to safety. As part of FMCSA’s commitment to continually improve how the Agency uses data to focus enforcement, these proposed changes aim to better identify the companies needing the most intervention, and also will help companies better understand how to use this data to influence safer behaviors.

“Safety is FMCSA’s core mission. The proposed changes are part of the Agency’s continued commitment to enhancing the fairness, accuracy, and clarity of our prioritization system,” said FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson.

Some of the proposed changes include reorganizing the SMS’s safety categories (currently known as “BASICs”); organizing roadside violations into violation groups for prioritization purposes; simplifying violation severity weights; adjusting some of the Intervention Thresholds that identify companies for possible intervention; and more changes aimed at comparing similar motor carriers to each other.

A new website, the Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA) Prioritization Preview, which is now live, is the first phase of planned updates to the Agency’s SMS. Motor carriers can visit the website to preview how their data would appear under the proposed changes. Companies are encouraged to preview these results and submit feedback on the proposed changes to FMCSA at the Federal Register website. Other users will be able to view sample pages.

FMCSA strongly encourages stakeholders to participate in the preview and submit their comments to the public docket.

The proposed changes to the Agency’s SMS are explained in a Federal Register notice (2023-02947). Feedback on the proposed changes must be submitted to the Federal Docket Management System (https://www.regulations.gov/), Docket ID Number: FMCSA-2022-0066. The 90-day comment period will begin on February 15, 2023 and are due by May 16, 2023. FMCSA will hold four public online question and answer webinars, during which participants will be able to ask questions about the preview and proposed changes and receive real-time answers, time permitting. Registration is required. Visit the CSA Prioritization Preview website for more information.


McCraren Compliance can help you understand and comply with FMCSA, USDOT and ADOT and ensure your drivers and your vehicles operate safely and efficiently.

Call us Today at 888-758-4757 or email us at info@mccrarencompliance.com to schedule your free FMCSA Compliance Assessment.