Hilda Solis was confirmed as Secretary of Labor almost one year ago to the day, February 24, 2009. Her boss, President Obama is now widely criticized and questioned in the press as an indecisive leader.
McWane, Inc., based in Birmingham, Alabama, a manufacturer of cast iron pipes and one of America’s largest privately owned companies, employing over 7,500 people and generating an estimated $1.75 billion in operating revenues, is embracing OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program as one way of rebounding from a series of high-profile press reports in 2003 describing McWane as one of the most dangerous work places in America, with multiple deaths occurring at its numerous foundries.
U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson issued a letter responding to a letter sent to her the evening of February 19 by eight U.S. Senators asking about the agency’s plans for 2010.
Cummins Inc., a major motor vehicle engine company based in Columbus, Ind., will pay a $2.1 million penalty and recall 405 engines under a settlement agreement resolving violations of the Clean Air Act, EPA and the Justice Department announced yesterday.
A newly revised version of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) draft Current Intelligence Bulletin, "Asbestos Fibers and Other Elongate Mineral Particles: State of the Science and Roadmap for Research,” is available for public review and comment, according to a recent NIOSH update. The draft is posted online at www.cdc.gov/niosh/review/public/099-C/.
A new study out of North Carolina on the effect of work permits in protecting youth workers found that work permits appear to protect teen employees from performing illegal tasks but not from work hour violations (working late on school nights, or illegal number of daily and weekly hours when school is in session), according to a recent article published by the American Journal of Public Health (www.ajph.org), the monthly journal of the American Public Health Association.
The U.S. Department of Labor has cited Peri Software Solutions Inc. and Sarib Perisamya, president and owner, for alleged violations of the H-1B provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, uncovering $1,456,422 in back wages due to 163 workers, according to an agency press release.
A new study released by VitalSmarts found that five threats to workers’ safety are not commonly discussed and lead to avoidable injury or fatalities, according to a company press release.