Five out of the six safety violations issued by OSHA recently to a NJ contractor were repeat ones involving fall and scaffolding hazards while employees were applying stucco to a commercial building in Westwood, N.J.

A 2011 release of chlorine gas at a Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Arkansas occurred because a Spanish-speaking worker did not understand the English labeling on a drum he was using, according to a report from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

OSHA's updated General Industry Digest – a booklet that summarizes General Industry safety and health standards to help employers, supervisors, workers, health and safety committee members, and safety and health personnel learn about OSHA standards in the workplace – is now available. The digest includes updated information on revisions to General Industry standards since the digest was last published in 2001.

OSHA has published a notice confirming the effective date of the direct final rule for OSHA's head protection standards. This final rule updates the incorporation by reference of national consensus standards to include the latest edition of the consensus standard. It updates references in OSHA's standards to recognize the 2009 edition of the American National Standard for Industrial Head Protection, and deletes the 1986 edition of that national consensus standard because it is out of date.

OSHA has published a final rule that broadens the current exemption for digger derricks used in the electric-utility industry. Digger derricks are pieces of equipment used to drill holes for utility poles. These digger derricks are commonly used by companies to place poles inside holes and attach transformers and other items to the poles.

A contractor working at Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear power plants has been found guilty of falsifying safety records in order to collect more than $2.5 million in safety bonuses.