the tabor blog

• Jan 25, 2012

  OSHA fall protection standard update

  OSHA, Occupational Safety & Health Administration, has recently updated their fall protection standard.

  Residential construction falls account for approximately 29 percent of all construction fall fatalities. Furthermore, Falls from roofs account for 35% of fatalities.

  The Fall Protection Standard was recently updated to include more fall protection measures. Now, employers engaged in residential construction six feet or more above lower levels must utilize fall protection measures. This standard requires employers to have a written fall protection plan that must be site specific. A safety monitoring system is now also a requirement.

  These new protection standards are important in making work sites safe. At Tabor Law Firm we hope that this recent update will help prevent work site fatalities in the future.

• Jan 11, 2012

  Fatigued pilots & commercial truck drivers: Are we doing enough?

  Whether it be pilots in the sky, or truck drivers on US interstates, the U.S. Department of Transportation is trying to make sure they’re well rested. We all know that driving while fatigued can be dangerous, but when a fatigued pilot or truck driver is behind the wheel, the result can be deadly. A commuter plane crashed back in 2009 killing 50 people near Buffalo, New York due to a fatigued pilot.

  In December, the US Department of Transportation issued long overdue overhauls of rules that are supposed to make sure both pilots and commercial truck drivers are well rested. But are these rules doing enough?

  Under old FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) rules, pilots were allowed to work 16-hour days- that leaves only 8 hours for pilots to then commute back home or to a hotel, eat, shower, sleep and then return to work. New rules now require that pilots have at least 10 hours off between shifts, which includes 8 hours for uninterrupted sleep. Furthermore, pilots can now only be on duty for 14 hours a day.

  However, these new rules don’t take effect until January 2014. These new rules still won’t solve the problem of fatigued drivers. Many pilots have long commutes to and from work, thus 10 hours between shifts still does not allow for enough sleep for a pilot to get rested before returning to work. The NTSB (National Transportation Security Board) is hoping to get a handle on the problem by additionally requiring airlines to keep records of which pilots commute and from where.

  As for trucking, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued new rules offering some new advances including a shorter workweek, and a required 30-minute rest break after eight hours on duty. However, truck drivers are still allowed to drive up to 11 hours a day- even though studies have shown that performance begins to degrade after the 8th hour on duty and declines geometrically during the 10th and 11th hours. (source: USAToday.com)

  Although steps were made to prevent over-fatigued pilots & truck drivers from getting behind the wheel, we wonder, is it enough to protect public safety?

• Dec 14, 2011

  NTSB recommends that all cell phone use be banned while behind the wheel

  This past Tuesday, December 13th, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) unanimously recommended that all state governments should prohibit the use of portable electronic devices, such as cell phones, while behind the wheel. Although the NTSB does not make the law, they have a substantial influence on lawmakers across the country.

  Their recommendation followed a hearing on a crash that happened on a Missouri highway on August 5th, 2010, which killed two people and injured 38. The chain reaction crash involving four vehicles, including two school busses, resulted from a teen driver texting behind the wheel. In the 11 minutes before the crash, the teen sent 11 different text messages. It was unclear whether the crash was a result of him sending, receiving or viewing a text, but the clear cause of the accident was distracted driving from the use of a cell phone.

  The NTSB is now urging all states to ban any use of a hand held phone while behind the wheel. This recommendation is expected to spur debate amongst lawmakers, but the NTSB stands strong. The use of cell phones while driving is becoming increasingly dangerous.

  USA Today has also reported that Indiana was one of five states with the highest increase in road fatalities from 2009 to 2010 following a recent NTSB study. In 2009 there were 693 fatalities on our roadways, while in 2010 we had 754. (source: ntsb.gov)

  Tabor Law Firm has handled numerous cases involving fatalities on Indiana roadways, and recently represented a Kosciusko County sheriff who was killed when a distracted truck driver crossed the centerline on State Road 14 due to distracted driving. Investigation suggested that the truck driver was using his cell phone just prior to the accident.

  Tabor Law Firm knows the dangers of becoming distracted by a cell phone while driving, and has experienced them first hand. We urge you to be carful on the roadways, and hope you will stress the importance of not using a cell phone while driving to your teenagers this holiday season.

  We hope you never need us, but if you do, we’re here for you.