OSHA

Eric McClellan’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings from Virginia-OSHA in the agency’s citations against his employer Reynolds Metals, a subsidiary of Alcoa. The 55 year-old was working in November 2015 at the company’s plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The initial press reports indicated that McClellan got “caught in a machine.” I wrote about the incident shortly after it occurred. Virginia-OSHA issued a citation to Reynolds Metals for one serious violation related to machine guarding. Specifically, a guard “designed and constructed as to…
Priorities for a successor? That’s what I wondered when I reviewed the worker safety topics on the OSHA's latest regulatory agenda which was issued last month. In addition to rulemaking projects already identified by the agency, I count five new topics listed on the agenda for possible future regulatory action. They involve the following topics about which OSHA would seek public comment via a "Request for information" or an "Advance notice of proposed rulemaking": Protections for healthcare workers against violence on-the-job (here) A lower blood-lead level to trigger medical removal…
At Reveal, Will Evans investigates how lobbyists for the temporary staffing industry squashed a legislative effort in Illinois to reform the industry’s widespread discriminatory hiring practices. Evans has previously reported on how the temp industry discriminates against workers of color, particularly black workers, using code words, symbols and gestures to illegally hire workers according to sex, race and age. In Illinois, the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative developed legislation to confront such hiring practices. Illinois Senate Bill 47 would have required temp agencies to track the race…
Agrey Emile Coudakpo, 32, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Friday, May 27 while working at Hanson Concrete Products.  WBFF reports: Howard County (Maryland) police say the victim “died after becoming trapped in a piece of heavy machinery.” Police and fire units were dispatched at about 5:20 a.m.” to the worksite. WBFF’s and other news sources indicate the incident occurred at Hanson Concrete Products on Dorsey Run Road. A the same address is another business named Concrete Pipe & Precast (CP&P) which is the joint venture company formed by Hanson Pipe & Precast LLC and…
Last summer, 25-year-old Roendy Granillo died of heat stroke while he installed flooring in a house in Melissa, Texas, just north of Dallas. His tragic and entirely preventable death marked a turning point in advocacy efforts to pass a rest break ordinance for local construction workers. About five months after Granillo’s death, the Dallas City Council voted 10-5 to approve such an ordinance, which requires that construction workers be given a 10-minute rest break for every four hours of work. On its face, it seems like an incredibly simple and logical request, especially considering the…
The US Chamber of Commerce says it will “falsely brand” a company as unsafe. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) says it will “lead to unfair and unnecessary public shaming” of businesses. Both groups are referring to a new regulation issued last week by OSHA. The rule to improve tracking of work-related injuries and illness was proposed by the agency in November 2013. Workplaces with more than 250 employees now will be required to submit annually to OSHA their injury and illness incident reports and a summary log. The forms used to record the data are ones employers have been…
It’s been 15 years since worker safety advocates in Puerto Rico first began fighting against a proposal to dilute the qualifications associated with being a professional industrial hygienist. As part of their efforts, such advocates developed their own proposal to protect the livelihoods of those with the knowledge and experience to properly protect workers. And after years of work, they may finally cross the finish line victorious. “We’re really hopeful it works out and we’ll see the light of day,” said Lida Orta-Anés, professor in the Industrial Hygiene Program at the University of Puerto…
Tim Cooper’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings from OSHA in the agency’s citations against his employer Independence Tube. The 49 year-old was working in October 2015 at the company’s plant in Decatur, Alabama. The initial press reports indicated that Cooper was struck by a 6,000 pound steel coil. I wrote about the incident shortly after it occurred. OSHA issued citations against Independence Tube for four serious violations. The company paid a $17,290 penalty. The violations included failure to have an effective lockout/tagout program and appropriate…
“Bad math” and “slippery language” is how Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) characterized some of the testimony at this week’s congressional hearing on OSHA’s silica regulation. It was a hearing before the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and scheduled as a platform for complaints about the new OSHA rule.  The agency announced the rule on March 25 and it is designed to protect workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica. Moans and groans about the OSHA rule were offered by representatives of the US Chamber of Commerce, the American…
Nurses and other healthcare workers joined Members of Congress yesterday at a news conference to discuss violence on the job in the healthcare industry. Ms. Helene Andrews, RN recalled being assaulted by a 25 year old psychiatric patient at Danbury Hospital. She was handing him mediation and a drink of water when, she explained: “Without warning, the patient suddenly became viciously violent. He punched me with his full strength in my jaw, hurtling me backward onto the floor. The impact of my body crashing down shattered my left leg at the hip.’’ If that wasn’t bad enough, Andrews later…
Joshua Halphin, 25, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Thursday, March 24 while working at a construction project in Springfield, MO. The News-Leader reported first: [The victim] “…was off-loading supplies from a lift onto the fifth floor of the complex when he lost his balance and fell.” The incident occurred at about 12:30 pm at the site of a new student apartments on E. St. Louis Street. The project developer is Aspen Heights. Springfield, MO is the home of Missouri State University (MSU). The Aspen Springfield student housing complex will be the largest to-date for MSU students. KY3…
At Reveal, Christina Jewett investigates the gaping holes in California’s workers’ compensation system that make it so vulnerable to fraud and leave workers in the dark about the bogus care being charged in their names. She begins the article comparing the workers’ comp system to Medicare: When Medicare makes rules, it has a strong incentive to encourage doctors, pharmacists and others to follow them: money. The purse strings are not held nearly as tightly in California’s workers’ compensation system, in which a division of power creates the first major hurdle. Lawmakers make rules. The state…
Beware residents and workers in San Antonio, TX: Some companies in your town are chronic and willful violators of rules to protect people from asbestos. One Eighty Construction, Roscoe Properties, and Varco Renovations come to my attention just in time for Global Asbestos Awareness Week (April 1-7). They recently received citations from OSHA for failing to comply with measures designed to protect workers and communities from asbestos. Some of the violations they received are classified as willful and others are designated as repeat violations. During Global Awareness Asbestos Week, I think…
Last Thursday, OSHA announced a new standard to protect workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica. Here are some of my favorite quotes and remarks in response to OSHA's news: “Safety advocates worked for years to get this rule in place. Controlling silica dust is especially important to immigrant workers and other vulnerable groups, who are often assigned the dirtiest, most dangerous jobs on any worksite.” Javier Garcia Hernandez, a construction worker and former consultant for the Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health. (here) “[Obama] administration…
This post is dedicated to J.T. Knuckles.  He died in 1998 at age 58 from silicosis. JT Knuckles, foundry worker from Saginaw, MI (1996). I first met J.T. Knuckles in 1996. He spoke at a press event at which former Labor Secretary Robert Reich announced a national campaign to eliminate silicosis. “If it’s silica, it’s not just dust” was the campaign slogan. Today, 20 years after I met J.T. Knuckles, current Labor Secretary Tom Perez announced an OSHA standard designed to prevent silicosis. I watched this morning a live stream of Secretary Perez's announcement. He shared some of the long…
OSHA issued a report last week summarizing the agency’s first year of experience with its new severe injury reporting rule. During 2015, employers from 25 states reported to OSHA more than 7,600 incidents in which workers required overnight (or longer) hospitalizations, and suffered nearly 2,650 work-related amputations. The numbers themselves are striking, but something’s more astonishing: before last year, employers weren’t required to report these serious incidents to OSHA. This change may be the biggest overall advance in occupational health and safety in decades. Without this regulation…
A funny thing happened this week when President Obama’s regulatory czar, Howard Shelanski, was called to testify before Congress. The subject of the hearing: transparency at Shelanski’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). On the eve of the hearing, OIRA tried to fool us by pretending to be transparent. For the last several months, I’ve been routinely checking OIRA’s website for notations about meetings the staff has held with individuals or organizations which have an interest in particular pending OSHA regulations. I knew meetings with particular groups had taken place, but…
Albert James Speed, 25, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Friday, March 4 while working at Gestamp in McCalla, Alabama. AL.com reports: “…a large piece of equipment fell on the victim.” AL.com's story was updated: The victim “...was using a [remote-controlled] crane to move parts.” “He became pinned between two large pieces of equipment.” Gestamp is an engineering and manufacturing firm that supplies parts to automakers. It has eight plants in the USA. Just last week it was named General Motors Supplier of the Year. The company’s plant in McCalla has been the subject of four OSHA…
Ascencion Molina Medina’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings from South Carolina OSHA in the agency’s citations against his employer, G M Framing. The 44 year-old was working in July 2015 at a construction project for a residential and retail development called Main + Stone in Greenville, SC.  The general contractor of the Main + Stone development is Yeargin Potter Shackelford Construction. The initial press reports indicated that Medina had “lost his footing” and fell about 30 feet.  I wrote about the incident but, at the time, I did not have the name…
This week’s announcement by Allen Harim Foods offers another upsetting example of a poultry company that cares more about its chickens than its employees. The Delaware-based company broadcasted that it “…is one of the first companies in the nation that has moved to a 100 percent vegetarian feed for its chickens.” The firm says the move responds to “…what our customers are telling us” about wanting to buy healthy chicken products. I can’t help but wonder how their customers would respond if Allen Harim posed this question to consumers: “Should the employees who skin, debone and package our…