Occupational Safety and Health Administration News

Fines Appealed After Nitrogen Kills Six at Georgia Plant

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Three of four companies are appealing federal workplace safety fines following a January liquid nitrogen leak that killed six workers at a Georgia poultry processing plant. The U.S. Department of Labor says plant owner Foundation Food …

Feds Inspected Illinois Chemical Plant Weeks Before Blast

A northern Illinois chemical plant that was rocked by an explosion and massive fires that prompted evacuations was inspected by a federal agency less than a month before the blast sent debris raining down onto nearby areas. Inspectors from the …

Walmart Sales Soared, Essential Workers Got Scant Protection

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Sandra Kunz had been worried for her safety while working as a cashier at a Walmart in Aurora, Colorado, during the pandemic, said her sister, Paula Spellman. The 72-year-old had lung disease, Spellman said. She …

Complaint May Spur Review of Meat Industry’s Virus Response

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A union complaint about whether an Oklahoma meatpacking plant is doing enough to protect workers from the coronavirus could test the industry’s response to the pandemic because Seaboard Foods says it is following recommendations from the …

Most U.S. Firms Hit With Covid-19 Safety Fines Aren’t Paying Up

U.S. workplace safety regulators have announced more than $4 million in penalties on more than 300 employers they say put workers at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. But about two-thirds of these employers aren’t paying up. Only 108 companies had …

Regulators Ignored Workers’ COVID-19 Safety Complaints Amid Deadly Outbreaks

Miguel Cabezola, a driver for United Parcel Service Inc in Tucson, Arizona, complained on March 27 to U.S. workplace safety regulators, alleging the company was taking a lax approach to social distancing, sanitizing equipment and quarantining workers with COVID-19 symptoms. …

Acrobats Hurt in Circus Accident Reach $52.5M Settlement

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Eight acrobats severely injured when the rigging suspending them by their hair plummeted to the floor during a circus performance in Rhode Island in 2014 have reached a $52.5 million settlement with the ownership and management …

Viewpoint: COVID-19 OSHA Whistleblower Claims on the Rise as Virus Rages on

A recent report from the federal government revealing that workplace safety whistleblower claims have exponentially increased during the pandemic should give all employers pause – and should motivate you to take immediate steps to ensure you don’t find yourself on …

Agriculture Workers Risk Safety and Health During Pandemic

States such as Virginia, Oregon and Washington have created their own enforceable rules to control, prevent and mitigate the spread of the virus among farmworkers. But federal mandates are necessary to ensure that employers are doing enough to protect workers, …

Colorado Workers Protest Covid-19 Fine Issued to Meat Plant

DENVER — A union representing workers at a Colorado meatpacking plant where six workers died of COVID-19 and hundreds more were infected will stage a protest Wednesday, claiming that federal officials should have fined the company more for its alleged …