2009 Health, Safety Quality and Environmental Sustainability News

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We look forward to adding health and safety news articles during 2009 which will give you the highlights of the Safety, Quality and Environmental world.

Health and safety training in Abu Dhabi is facing a major problem due to poor quality training courses and lack of support form local based training organisations. A shake up is now happening in the industry to sort out and remove the cowboys, and establish a professional health and safety training market. CentreMax are looking at setting the high standards

01 August 2007 - One end of the Minneapolis bridge that collapsed  fell sideways over 45 feet while the rest dropped straight down, a discovery the National Transportation Safety Board called ``a step forward'' in its investigation.

It's too early to say whether the sideways shift caused the collapse of the Interstate 35W span or was the result of it, NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said in a news conference today in Minneapolis. He said the investigation probably will take a year.

The discovery comes after authorities earlier today confirmed a fifth death in the incident, the worst bridge collapse in 25 years. Dozens  were injured when the 40-year-old structure came apart during evening rush hour, with portions of it falling into the Mississippi River.

Investigators will use a computer program to simulate a collapse, which occurred over three to four seconds, Rosenker said. The FBI also plans to bring in a tool to take three-dimensional images of the wreckage.

``We have not ruled out anything other than that we believe it was an accident,'' Rosenker said.

Search Efforts

Recovery efforts are continuing  as over 20 divers search in water with poor visibility, Hennepin County Sheriff's Captain Bill Chandler said at a news conference. Stiff currents that hampered searches yesterday were calmed by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers lowering water levels by two feet, he said.

The I-35W bridge was Minnesota's busiest, handling 141,000 vehicles a day near the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and University of Minnesota. Its collapse prompted U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters to recommend inspections at 756 similar steel-truss bridges nationwide.

Peters said today in Washington that she supports the effort led by House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat, to send $250 million in federal aid to help with the recovery, including paying for buses to help commuters who normally would have crossed the fallen bridge.

Rosenker said the NTSB will reassemble portions of the bridge near the river as part of its probe. Investigators are also reviewing videos of the collapse..

News End

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