UH cited for safety violations after lab explosion ADVERTISING UH cited for safety violations after lab explosion HONOLULU (AP) — University of Hawaii faces more than $100,000 in fines in connection with a lab explosion earlier this year that resulted
UH cited for safety violations after lab explosion
HONOLULU (AP) — University of Hawaii faces more than $100,000 in fines in connection with a lab explosion earlier this year that resulted in a researcher losing her arm.
The university was cited this week for 15 violations by the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Office related to the March 16 incident. UH officials are set to meet with representatives of the state office later this month to address the violations.
Investigators determined the explosion — which took place in a lab on the Manoa campus — was caused by static electricity that released into a tank. They identified a digital pressure gauge as the origin of the electrical current that caused the detonation while researcher Thea Ekins-Coward was conducting an experiment.
The state occupational safety office found the university didn’t properly train employees or ensure they had proper safety gear. The university also was cited for a blocked exit route, failure to reduce occupational hazards as required and not following its own established safety procedures.
The penalties against the university likely will be reduced after the Sept. 30 meeting if the school can demonstrate it took steps to address the safety violations.
Ige seeks disaster declaration for Maui flooding
HONOLULU (AP) — Gov. David Ige plans to ask President Barack Obama for federal assistance to help Maui communities clean up and repair areas damaged by flooding through Iao Valley.
The state and Maui County already issued disaster declarations for last week’s heavy rains, which officials estimate caused at least $15 million in damage to public lands. That number could rise as officials continue to assess the area.
Ige toured the damage Thursday and promised to request a presidential disaster declaration for public assistance.
“This truly is a sobering reminder of the power of nature and what happens every 500 years or so,” Ige said during a Thursday news conference in Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa’s Wailuku office.
Trump hotels settle with AG for data breach
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The Trump Hotel Collection company agreed to pay $50,000 and shore up data security after breaches exposed more than 70,000 credit card numbers and other personal data, the state’s attorney general said Friday in announcing a settlement.
In May 2015, multiple banks analyzed hundreds of fraudulent credit card transactions and determined the hotel group, one of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s businesses, was the last merchant with legitimate transactions, according to the attorney general’s office.
Authorities said the company knew by June 2015 that hotels in New York City, Miami, Chicago, Honolulu, Las Vegas and Toronto were compromised but didn’t notify customers for four months, a violation of New York business law requiring prompt notification.
They said a hacker infiltrated the hotel group’s payment processing system in May 2014.
According to the attorney general’s office, the company last March received additional reports of a second security breach, an investigation showing a hacker last November installed credit card harvesting malware on 39 systems affecting five hotels.
In April, the company added recommended precautions.
