Archive for September 2020
Companies flagrantly flout Labor Department rules to report workplace injuries
More than 100,000 U.S. workplaces required to submit injury and illness records flouted a new federal requirement to electronically submit their logs, keeping dangerous employers cloaked in secrecy. Only about 60% of the establishments expected to submit 2016 data to OSHA responded, according to an analysis by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. The next two…
Read MoreEPA announces $790,000 settlement with Clean Harbors Environmental Services
On Monday, the United States and the state of Nebraska announced a settlement with Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc. to address alleged violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Clean Air Act, and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act at the company’s commercial hazardous waste incinerator in Kimball, according to a press release from…
Read MoreTexas firefighter killed while battling huge blaze in Mendocino National Forest
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the death of a Texas firefighter killed Monday in a vehicle collision while helping battle a complex of wildfires that has burned a quarter-million acres in the Mendocino National Forest. Diana Jones, 63, a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician from Cresson, Texas, who was working for a private…
Read MoreSaf-T-Gard receives high honors for two new Voltgard® products
Saf-T-Gard International, Inc., a full-line, global industrial safety solutions supplier bringing workers home safely for more than 80 years, was recently named a 2020 Industrial Safety Hygiene News (ISHN) Readers’ Choice Award winner in the Hand Protection – Electrical category (Saf-T-Gard® Voltgard® V-GRIPS® Leather Protector Gloves) and in the Emergency Response category (Saf-T-Gard® Voltgard® RESCUE-8T Telescopic Insulated Rescue Body Hook) as well…
Read More“An Enormous Scandal”: Doctors and scientists worry FDA and CDC pandemic response too political
In an interview with The Financial Times, Stephen Hahn, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said he would authorize a coronavirus vaccine before Phase Three clinical trials were complete if the benefits outweigh the risks, but denied that he would rush the process to benefit Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, according to a report by…
Read MoreReport: OSHA fails to protect workers from COVID-19
Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia and OSHA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor Loren Sweatt have failed to take basic steps to curb the spread of the virus in workplaces across America, according to the Government Accountability Project. Lax protection has impacted employees most vulnerable to the pandemic. Recently, the CDC reviewed available data on COVID-19 cases…
Read MoreBuilders, OSHA reach settlement in toxic beryllium dust
Most common types of construction work shouldn’t trigger contractors needing to protect workers from toxic beryllium dust, federal safety regulators and the National Association of Home Builders and Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. agreed in a federal court settlement, according to Bloomberg Law. Their resolution Tuesday of the lawsuit against OSHA at the U.S. Court of Appeals for…
Read MoreNew Orleans sues Hard Rock Hotel developers over fatal collapse
The brother of one of the construction workers who died told ABC News that his family was losing patience with the recovery process about 10 months after the collapse, when his brother’s remains still were buried inside, according to ABC News. “We’re tired of being patient,” Frank Wimberly, the brother of Quinnyon Wimberly, said. He…
Read MoreNational Nurses United seeks OSHA sanctions on HCA Healthcare
National Nurses United has called on OSHA to inspect all hospitals owned and operated by HCA Healthcare and issue citations against the hospital giant for “willful violation” of workplace safety hazards, which NNU said “could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm,” according to a report by Healthcare Finance. NNU urged OSHA…
Read MoreAIHA Expands Sector-Specific Guidelines for Business Re-Opening
As businesses, schools, retailers and manufacturers manage reopening due to the pandemic, AIHA continues to expand its library of comprehensive Back to Work Safely guidelines, white papers and resources aimed at 26 different business and community sectors. The latest guidelines include recommendations on engineering controls (ventilation, enhanced filtration and physical barriers), germicidal ultraviolet radiation, enhanced cleaning and disinfection…
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