Two employees of a granite and marble business in suburban Detroit were fatally crushed Monday afternoon when multiple slabs of granite fell on them. Sterling Heights Fire Chief Chris Martin said it appeared that the workers were using an overhead crane to move granite slabs – each weighing more than 1,000 pounds. When slabs were lifted off their storage rack, others shifted, causing slabs to fall on the men.

A 60-year-old employee of Omaha’s largest recycling plant was killed in a workplace accident last week. Authorities have identified the victim as Dilaver Gasa, an employee of First Star Recycling. News sources say the incident occurred on Thursday morning, when Gasa was pinned under the bucket of a front end loader.

Authorities are trying to determine the cause of an accident earlier this week in Riverbank, California that claimed that claimed the life of a sanitation worker. News sources say 30-year-old Ismael Martinez-Huertas, a father of two, was crushed by a hydraulic mechanism on a garbage truck Monday afternoon.

The employer of a man killed in a trench collapse last year in Colorado has been charged with manslaughter, according to the Granby Police Department. The June 14, 2018 incident claimed the life of Rosario Martinez-Lopez, who was working in a trench at a condominium project when the collapse occurred. By the time emergency crews dug him out, he was unresponsive.

A shipbuilding worker with nearly four decades worth of experience fell to his death yesterday while working on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. News sources say Tim Ewing, a construction supervisor who’d worked for Newport News Shipbuilding for 39 years, may have fallen while working in a tank.

A fatality earlier this month involving a hydraulic breaker represents a sharp uptick in U.S. mining industry deaths caused by machine accidents, according to the Mine Safety and Health Admininstration (MSHA). The 32-year-old general manager/owner and the excavator operator were in the process of positioning the excavator for a motor exchange when the hydraulic breaker attachment fell off the excavator and hit the victim.

OSHA has cited Payne Enterprises Inc. – a plumbing contractor based in Dayton, Ohio – for exposing employees to multiple trenching and excavation hazards following an employee fatality. The company faces penalties of $145,860.

Heat stroke prevention, working safely while pregnant and an oil refinery fire in Texas were among the top occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

OSHA has cited Pukall Lumber Company Inc. – a lumber mill in Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin – for exposing employees to multiple safety hazards following a worker fatality. The company faces penalties of $348,467. An employee suffered fatal injuries when caught in an outdoor bark conveyor belt in January 2019. OSHA cited Pukall Lumber for two willful violations for failing to implement energy control procedures, and ensure the conveyer had adequate guarding to prevent employees from coming in contact with the moving parts.