OSHA has launched a new webpage marking the 50th anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the landmark worker safety and health law that led to the creation of OSHA.
The webpage highlights transformative workplace improvements over the past half century, from OSHA’s first standards and whistleblower protections, to assistance programs for small businesses, and the creation of training centers and education grants to help everyone understand and comply with the law.
OSHA updates its silica NEP, pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities are on the rise and an employee’s fatal fall leads to prison time for a construction company owner.
OSHA has made changes to its national emphasis program (NEP) on silica, which is intended to identify and reduce or eliminate worker exposures to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in general industry, maritime, and construction. The NEP targets specific industries expected to have the highest exposures to RCS.
OSHA has cited Quartz and Stone Creations of New Hampshire LLC for crushing and other hazards following an employee fatality on July 19, 2019. OSHA cited the Northwood, New Hampshire, stone products manufacturer for 12 serious and six other-than-serious violations, which faces a total of $87,516 in penalties.
Employees should not be afraid to report workplace injuries or hazardous conditions. The Occupational Safety and Health Act prohibits employer retaliation against employees who report workplace violations or file work injury claims. OSHA regulations mandate workplace safety for all employees.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has approved a final rule on accidental release reporting. The CSB has posted a prepublication version of the final rule available at the following link: https://www.csb.gov/assets/1/6/prepublicationcopy2-3-20.pdf. The official version is expected to be published early next week in the Federal Register.
A Pennsylvania roofing contractor faces $605,371 in penalties after being cited by OSHA for exposing employees to fall hazards at three separate worksites in the Lehigh Valley area.
OSHA initiated an inspection of the Webb Contractor Corp. worksites on September 6, 2019, after a compliance officer observed employees performing residential roofing work without fall protection at a worksite in Macungie, Pennsylvania.
The former owner of a framing company in Florida has been sentenced to 30 days in prison, after pleading guilty to one count of willfully violating federal fall protection standards.
Stalin Rene Barahona – former owner of the now-dissolved SB Framing Services Inc. in Naples will begin serving his sentence on Feb. 26, 2020.
In considering very cheap cut-resistant gloves we may well be led to wonder, how could these supposedly hi-tech gloves be so cheap, and are they real or fake? Having been involved in the PPE glove industry for many years, I believe the truth lies somewhere in between.
I have found that the companies that do not really ‘get’ safety and health measure their entire program on the OSHA rate (recordable injuries and illnesses). That is all they care about,” says a former OSHA official.