AUGUSTA — A bill meant to regulate farm amusement rides, like the haunted hayride that ended in the death of an Oakland teenager last October, has been turned into a task force that will study the issue of farm amusement ride safety in Maine. On Monday, the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted […]
safety
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston aims to ease congestion, improve safety at McMahon Elementary School
LEWISTON — Picking up McMahon Elementary School students during the month of February was messy and congested. Some people worried that students were at risk of being struck by a vehicle because they were hard to see in the snowbanks and traffic. But after watching a video filmed by Sun Journal photographer Russ Dillingham, school and […]
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Posted inBusiness
Auburn’s Formed Fiber Technologies cited for federal safety violations
AUBURN — The U.S. Labor Department has cited Formed Fiber Technologies for seven violations of workplace safety standards and is proposing more than $100,000 in fines. According to a statement from the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday morning, the Auburn plant has been exposing employees to “the risk of lacerations, crushed fingers, […]
Posted inLocal & State
Maine lawmakers respond to fatal hayride accident with list of bills
AUGUSTA — A hayride accident that claimed the life of a teenage girl from Oakland and sent 22 others to hospitals this past October has prompted an outpouring of proposed law changes in Maine. The titles of six bills released Thursday suggest lawmakers hope to prevent the type of tragedy that claimed the life of […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
19 Maine workers died on the job in 2014
AUGUSTA — A new report says that 19 Maine workers died from occupational or work-related injuries in 2013. The preliminary report from the Bureau of Labor Standards says that the state’s fatality rate was 3.2 per 100,000 workers, compared to a national rate of 3.4 per 100,000 workers. The Maine Department of Labor says that […]
Posted inRiver Valley
Mexico police to host monthly neighborhood watch meeting on Jan. 21
MEXICO — The Mexico Police Department will hold its monthly neighborhood watch meeting 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, police Chief Roy Hodsdon said Monday. Hodsdon said that the idea for the program came from reserve police Officer Cam Barrieau, following an increase in the town’s thefts and burglaries. “He proposed the idea of a neighborhood […]
Posted inFranklin, The Franklin Journal
Farmington police hold crosswalk educational patrols
FARMINGTON — The Farmington Police Department held two special patrols on crosswalk safety in the downtown area last week, Chief Jack Peck said. During the two-hour patrols, police asked pedestrians to use the marked crosswalks, to use pedestrian crossing lights where available, to stop and look both ways before entering traffic and to not walk […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Maine oversight panel to investigate Riverview Psychiatric Hospital
AUGUSTA — The Legislature’s nonpartisan watchdog organization will join a list of entities investigating problems at the beleaguered Riverview Psychiatric Center but will limit the scope of its probe for now, according to a directive from lawmakers on Wednesday. The Government Oversight Committee unanimously tasked the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability to focus […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Maine workplace fatalities decline 27 percent in 2012
PORTLAND — The number of people who died in 2012 because of work-related accidents in Maine declined 27 percent compared with 2011, when that number hit the highest one-year total since 2003. A Maine Department of Labor report released Monday found that 19 people died because of accidents at work in 2012, compared with 26 […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Maine offers free workplace safety classes
AUGUSTA — Maine is offering free classes on workplace safety for business owners and employees this month. The various courses being taught throughout September include scaffolding and fall protection, forklift operator training and construction safety. Most of the courses are being held in Augusta at the Maine Department of Labor’s SafetyWorks! Training institute. Republican Gov. […]