Serious injuries to two employees brought OSHA inspectors to a vinyl floor manufacturing facility in Fostoria, Ohio, where they found multiple safety violations. Nox US LLC, an Ohio manufacturer of luxury vinyl tile, now faces $514,236 in proposed penalties and has been placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program. Both injuries occurred in June 2017.
On Jan. 2, civil penalty amounts for violations of workplace safety and health standards increased by two percent from last year. In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, the Department of Labor is required to adjust penalties for inflation each year.
One sign that anti-OSHA conservatives are getting nervous about articles (and television appearances) highlighting the declining number of OSHA inspectors are articles questioning whether government plays a useful role in protecting workers. In this case, the Reason Foundation, which “advances a free society by developing, applying, and promoting libertarian principles, including individual liberty, free markets, and the rule of law,” has concluded that reducing the number of OSHA inspectors has no effect on workplace safety.
The EPA’s proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) will get three public hearings in the months ahead, as the agency continues its effort to dismantle President Obama’s initiative to reduce emissions from power plants in order to combat climate change.
Tobacco use among U.S. military veterans is higher among non-veterans for males and females across all age groups, except males ages 50 years and older, according to data published recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Three in 10 U.S. military veterans used some form of tobacco product during 2010–2015.
Work-related accidents in 2017 in Bangladesh in 2017 claimed 1,242 lives and injured 371, according to a report by the country’s Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE). Nearly 300 fatalities and 101 serious injuries occurred during the first three months of the year.
In the early 1970s, a Johnson & Johnson official posed a question that haunts the company today. If Johnson’s Baby Powder contained asbestos at a level of, say, 1 percent, how much of the cancer-causing substance would a baby inhale when dusted with the powder?
Opioid prescribing has increased 471 percent from 1996 to 2012, according to a new Annals of Emergency Medicine study, “Emergency Department Contribution to the Prescription Opioid Epidemic.” But, emergency departments are not a major source of opioid prescriptions. In fact, their share of opioid prescribing is small and declining.
OSHA has cited a Wyoming kayak company for training and clothing deficiencies, after one of its guides died of hypothermia when an attempt to rescue a client went awry.
The incident occurred on June 14, 2017 and claimed the life of 23-year-old Timothy Hayden Ryan of Salt Lake City.
Keeping sufficiently warm during the winter months can prove challenging, particularly when frigid temperatures persist, as they have recently for much of the country. While portable space heaters can help generate heat, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is reminding the public that they do present potential fire hazards and must be used with caution.
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