Articles by Jordan Barab

Major, Radioactive Oops: More than 30 nuclear experts inhaled uranium after radiation alarms and ventilation systems at a Department of Energy weapons site were switched off.

A New York subway train derailed earlier this week, injuring thirty-four riders and striking fear into the hearts of subway riders who had believed their biggest concern was subway delays, not injury or death on the way to work.

Construction Worker Dies After Falling From Brooklyn Building: NYPD New York, NY — A construction worker fell from a building and died in Brooklyn on Sunday, authorities said. The 58-year-old man fell from scaffolding at 1382 Nostrand Ave. in East Flatbush, police said. The address is of a brick building that is a couple of stories high.

Zachary Henzerling, a 20 year old ” big kid at heart,” was on his third week at work for Environmental Enterprises Inc., a hazardous waste management facility in Spring Valley, Ohio, when he was killed 2012 in a flash fire and explosion on Dec. 28, 2012.

Workplace violence is a huge problem for workers. In 2015, 417 worker deaths were workplace homicides and violence was responsible for 26,540 lost-time injuries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women, African America, Asian and Hispanic workers bear a disproportionate share of workplace violence fatalities.

Do Not Pass go: The New York Times reports that “the owner of two Brooklyn construction companies was charged with manslaughter on Wednesday because the authorities said he ignored complaints about a poorly maintained retaining wall that collapsed at a work site in 2015, killing an 18-year-old laborer and injuring two others.”

The Chamber of Commerce is nothing if it’s not consistent. Consistently opposed to each and every new protection issued or contemplated by OSHA, consistently challenging every new OSHA initiative in court, consistently (and drastically) overestimating the cost of every proposed OSHA standard, consistently opposed to any action by OSHA that would expand (or even maintain) workers’ rights.