A series of federal workplace safety and health inspections at four Dollar General stores in Alabama and Georgia in the summer of 2021 found the nationwide discount retailer’s long history of exposing employees to dangerous working conditions continues. 

OSHA issued citations related to methylene chloride hazards, including allowing workers to be overexposed to the solvent, and failing to provide personal protective equipment, eye wash stations, and medical surveillance for workers exposed or potentially exposed to the solvent. 

The U.S. Department of Labor announced today a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to improve worker safety and health by ensuring the agency’s general industry and construction industry rules reflect current industry practice and state-of-the-art technology. 

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the employer involved in a February 2021 double fatality at a downtown Boston worksite and his successor company again for failing to provide employees with essential and required safeguards, this time at an East Boston residential construction site.  

A federal investigation into fatal injuries suffered by an 86-year-old worker at a Henderson sawmill and pallet manufacturer found the company exposed workers to hazardous energy sources and lack of machine guarding.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration reminds employers that the agency began collecting calendar year 2021 Form 300A data on Jan. 2, 2022. Employers must submit the form electronically by March 2, 2022.

Since the COVID-19 vaccination was made available to the public in late 2020, the topic of vaccination has been widely discussed across the country including in the daily news, by governments and agencies, in the courts, in communities, and in the workplace. From the very beginning, federal, state, and local governments/agencies have engaged in campaigns to encourage vaccination; passed laws mandating vaccination in the workplace, public places, government buildings, and elsewhere; and incentivized vaccination. Indeed, President Biden’s Administration made COVID-19 vaccination a predominant part of its national strategy to combat the pandemic. 

NIOSH provided more than $5 million in extramural funding during fiscal year 2021 to 38 projects that address challenges related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This amount includes supplemental funding for State Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Surveillance Programs and funding for investigator-initiated research through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 response efforts