workplace safety News

Probe Focuses on Chicken Conveyer in Deaths at Georgia Plant

ATLANTA (AP) — Problems with the operation of a conveyer belt system that transported chicken for freezing appear to be the cause of a liquid nitrogen release that killed six workers at a Georgia poultry processing plant, federal investigators said. …

Florida Advances Bill to Shield Businesses from COVID-19 Lawsuits

Florida businesses would be protected from coronavirus lawsuits if they made a good effort to follow state-issued guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 under a proposal approved Monday at its first Senate committee stop. While Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis …

North Carolina Restaurant Owners, Workers Clash Over COVID Safety

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Restaurant owners, who have seen their capacity and hours limited by government entities, are struggling to keep the doors open, while their staff, often in a very public-facing position, try to stay both employed and healthy. …

Farm Industry Braces for Tougher Eye on Practices Under Biden

American agriculture is bracing for tougher scrutiny of practices from environmental protections to workplace safety in the transition from the anti-regulatory regime under President Donald Trump to the Biden administration. The key question will be the magnitude of pressure, amid …

Fired Amazon Worker Files Discrimination Lawsuit Over Pandemic Conditions

NEW YORK — A former Amazon.com Inc worker who protested conditions at his New York City fulfillment center sued the retailer on Thursday, accusing it of discrimination for firing him and for putting Black and Hispanic workers at heightened risk …

Amazon N.Y. Warehouse Workers’ Covid Suit Tossed by Judge

A federal judge dismissed New York warehouse workers’ lawsuit against Amazon, ruling that their allegations about the company’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic should have been brought to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration instead. The lawsuit filed in June …

Offices Resort to Sensors in Futile Attempts to Keep Workers Apart

Millions of workers in recent months have returned to offices outfitted with new pandemic protocols meant to keep them healthy and safe. But temperature checks and plexiglass barriers between desks can’t prevent one of the most dangerous workplace behaviors for …

Amazon Workers Say Prime Day Rush Breaks Virus Safety Vows

Amazon.com Inc. has recklessly reinstated dangerous warehouse productivity quotas despite telling a judge that it was suspending them during the pandemic, workers said in a court filing. “Amazon has not been honest and forthcoming,” employees at a warehouse in Staten …

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 …

Meatpackers Deny Workers Benefits For Covid-19 Deaths, Illnesses

Saul Sanchez died in April, one of six workers with fatal COVID-19 infections at meatpacker JBS USA’s slaughterhouse in Greeley, Colorado, the site of one of the earliest and deadliest coronavirus outbreaks at a U.S. meatpacking plant. Before getting sick, …