Kill a worker? You're not a criminal. Steal a worker's pay? You are one.

Rena Steinzor

Labor Secretary Tom Perez came into office pledging to create good jobs and take on the economic injustice that oppresses blue-collar workers, from raising the minimum wage and restoring unpaid overtime to combatting wage theft.

Professional truck drivers offer highway safety tips

With the summer vacation season in full swing, millions of Americans are on the road – roads that they must share with some very large vehicles. Through its Share the Road program, the American Trucking Association is using professional truck drivers to let the public know what they can do to stay safe.

Texas workers exposed to falls, impalement, struck-by hazards

OSHA inspectors found that employees of at a Shenandoah, Texas construction site were exposed to a variety of dangers, earning citations for both the company conducting the work and the one that supplied it with temporary workers.

AEM releases underground utility safety video

“Everyone has a part to play” to help ensure underground utility safety and damage prevention. That’s the message of a new video and related online and print resources from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).

Construction industry gets more time for confined space compliance

OSHA says it will postpone enforcing its Confined Spaces in Construction standard in response to requests for additional time to train and acquire the equipment necessary for compliance.

Could some cancers start before birth?

UMass Amherst scientist will investigate role of estrogen-mimicking chemicals

A lot of attention has been paid to genetics in breast cancer as disease rates rise, but most women have no family history of the disease, suggesting that there is an environmental risk we don’t yet understand, says environmental health scientist Laura Vandenberg in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

New DOT rule would improve truck crash protection – at a cost

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) that is the first step of a larger agency initiative to upgrade the standards for truck and trailer underride crash protection.

ACGIH® announces release of two-tier Under Study list

American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has announced the release of its two-tier Under Study list pursuant to changes previously made to its TLV®/BEI® Development Process.

Too much salt

But study shows we're trying to cut back

Americans consume too much sodium. In fact, the average daily intake among individuals aged 2 years and older in the U.S. is 3,500 mg per day, significantly higher than the recommended daily maximum of 2,300 mg – and that doesn’t even include salt at the table. However, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than half of Americans now report watching or reducing the amount of sodium in their diets.

IBEW to OSHA: Investigate potential radiation danger

It’s no secret that telecom employees who climb cell towers for a living have dangerous jobs, but so far, most of the concern has focused on fall risks. The reason for that is clear: in the past decade, more than 90 workers have lost their lives from deadly falls, sometimes from over 1,000 feet.

Ashley Furniture didn’t report amputation

One of 1,000+ injuries in 3 1/2 years at one worksite

A 56-year-old employee of furniture manufacturer Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. had his right ring finger amputated because the company has continued to ignore safety requirements to protect workers from moving machine parts. The company also failed to report the injury to OSHA, as required.

From bites to stab wounds: Company didn’t protect workers who dealt with violent kids

A Birmingham, Alabama social services company was well aware that its employees were being injured by violent clients for several years, yet took no action to protect its workers, according to OSHA, which issued Gateway one general duty clause citation for failing to protect employees from the hazards of physical assault while providing care for adolescent children and teenagers known to exhibit violent behavior tendencies.