Prolonged exposure to freezing or cold temperatures may cause serious health problems such as trench foot, frostbite and hypothermia. In extreme cases, including cold water immersion, exposure can lead to death. Danger signs include uncontrolled shivering, slurred speech, clumsy movements, fatigue and confused behavior. If these signs are observed, call for emergency help.
OSHA's Cold Stress Card provides a reference guide and recommendations to combat and prevent many illnesses and injuries. Available in English and Spanish, this laminated fold-up card is free to employers, workers and the public. Tips include: How to Protect Workers
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(c) 2010-2024 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.
Showing posts with label United States Department of Labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United States Department of Labor. Show all posts
Monday, January 6, 2014
Tips To Protect Workers In Cold Environments
Friday, January 3, 2014
OSHA announces proposed new rule to improve tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses
"Three million injuries are three million too many," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "With the changes being proposed in this rule, employers, employees, the government and researchers will have better access to data that will encourage earlier abatement of hazards and result in improved programs to reduce workplace hazards and prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities. The proposal does not add any new requirement to keep records; it only modifies an employer's obligation to transmit these records to OSHA."The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued a proposed rule to improve workplace safety and health through improved tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses. The announcement follows the Bureau of Labor Statistics' release of its annual Occupational Injuries and Illnesses report, which estimates that three million workers were injured on the job in 2012.
The public will have 90 days, through Feb. 6, 2014, to submit written comments on the proposed rule. On Jan. 9, 2014, OSHA will hold a public meeting on the proposed rule in Washington, D.C. A Federal Register notice announcing the public meeting will be published shortly.OSHA is also proposing that establishments with 20 or more employees, in certain industries with high injury and illness rates, be required to submit electronically only their summary of work-related injuries and illnesses to OSHA once a year. Currently, many such firms report this information to OSHA under OSHA's Data Initiative.The proposed rule was developed following a series of stakeholder meetings in 2010 to help OSHA gather information about electronic submission of establishment-specific injury and illness data. OSHA is proposing to amend its current recordkeeping regulations to add requirements for the electronic submission of injury and illness information employers are already required to keep under existing standards, Part 1904. The first proposed new requirement is for establishments with more than 250 employees (and who are already required to keep records) to electronically submit the records on a quarterly basis to OSHA.
OSHA plans to eventually post the data online, as encouraged by President Obama's Open Government Initiative. Timely, establishment-specific injury and illness data will help OSHA target its compliance assistance and enforcement resources more effectively by identifying workplaces where workers are at greater risk, and enable employers to compare their injury rates with others in the same industry. Additional information on the proposed rule can be found athttp://www.dol.gov/find/20131107/ and http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/proposed_data_form.html.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
The public will have 90 days, through Feb. 6, 2014, to submit written comments on the proposed rule. On Jan. 9, 2014, OSHA will hold a public meeting on the proposed rule in Washington, D.C. A Federal Register notice announcing the public meeting will be published shortly.OSHA is also proposing that establishments with 20 or more employees, in certain industries with high injury and illness rates, be required to submit electronically only their summary of work-related injuries and illnesses to OSHA once a year. Currently, many such firms report this information to OSHA under OSHA's Data Initiative.The proposed rule was developed following a series of stakeholder meetings in 2010 to help OSHA gather information about electronic submission of establishment-specific injury and illness data. OSHA is proposing to amend its current recordkeeping regulations to add requirements for the electronic submission of injury and illness information employers are already required to keep under existing standards, Part 1904. The first proposed new requirement is for establishments with more than 250 employees (and who are already required to keep records) to electronically submit the records on a quarterly basis to OSHA.
OSHA plans to eventually post the data online, as encouraged by President Obama's Open Government Initiative. Timely, establishment-specific injury and illness data will help OSHA target its compliance assistance and enforcement resources more effectively by identifying workplaces where workers are at greater risk, and enable employers to compare their injury rates with others in the same industry. Additional information on the proposed rule can be found athttp://www.dol.gov/find/20131107/ and http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/proposed_data_form.html.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
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- OSHA proposes more than $460,000 in fines against Long Island, NY, contractor for repeat fall and scaffolding hazards (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
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Monday, December 16, 2013
Victims of Misclassification
Misclassification is a major issue for workers' compensation programs. Misclassified workers are those who should be considered employes but have been denied employment status. This post is shared by from the nytimes.com
.LAST month, a Michigan construction worker named Matt Anderson testified in a Senate hearing about being a victim of employee misclassification. Mr. Anderson said that his employer forced him, after six years as an employee, to switch to “independent contractor” status. Though the move stripped Mr. Anderson of basic employee rights and protections, he went along with the change, he said, because “my fellow workers and I had families to support and we saw how bad the economy was.”
Today, millions of American workers in a wide variety of sectors, from construction and trucking to I.T. and professional services, are victims of misclassification, a tactic employers use to avoid paying taxes and providing benefits that are guaranteed to employees, such as workers’ compensation, overtime pay, minimum wage and unemployment insurance.
In 2000, a United States Department of Labor study estimated that up to 30 percent of employers misclassify workers. This year, the Treasury Department’s inspector general concluded that the problem had worsened. Fifteen states have now teamed up with the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service to reduce misclassification through information sharing and joint...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
.LAST month, a Michigan construction worker named Matt Anderson testified in a Senate hearing about being a victim of employee misclassification. Mr. Anderson said that his employer forced him, after six years as an employee, to switch to “independent contractor” status. Though the move stripped Mr. Anderson of basic employee rights and protections, he went along with the change, he said, because “my fellow workers and I had families to support and we saw how bad the economy was.”
Today, millions of American workers in a wide variety of sectors, from construction and trucking to I.T. and professional services, are victims of misclassification, a tactic employers use to avoid paying taxes and providing benefits that are guaranteed to employees, such as workers’ compensation, overtime pay, minimum wage and unemployment insurance.
In 2000, a United States Department of Labor study estimated that up to 30 percent of employers misclassify workers. This year, the Treasury Department’s inspector general concluded that the problem had worsened. Fifteen states have now teamed up with the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service to reduce misclassification through information sharing and joint...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
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Thursday, December 5, 2013
OSHA fines Ronkonkoma contractor $460G for more safety violations
A Ronkonkoma painting and stucco contractor is facing $460,350 in fines for safety violations, its sixth penalty since 2008, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. A Ronkonkoma painting and stucco contractor is facing $460,350 in fines for safety violations, its sixth penalty since 2008, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday. The fine total is the largest so far for Painting and Decorating Inc., the department said. The citation came after a March inspection by the Westbury office of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration turned up alleged violations at a work site in Manhasset. The violations were similar to those found in previous inspections, said OSHA, which is a unit of the Labor Department. The new allegations include improperly inspected scaffolding; hazards such as missing cross braces and planks on scaffolding; a lack of fall protection for workers and a lack of protective helmets; and no protection against falling objects. "The sizable fines proposed reflect the ongoing failure and refusal by this employer to provide basic safeguards for its employees," said Anthony Ciuffo, OSHA's Long Island area... |
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Wednesday, December 4, 2013
OSHA proposes more than $460,000 in fines against Long Island, NY, contractor for repeat fall and scaffolding hazards
Painting & Decorating Inc., a Ronkonkoma painting and stucco contractor with a long history of fall protection and scaffold safety violations, now faces an additional $460,350 in fines from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration following an inspection of a work site at 1900 Northern Blvd. in Manhasset.
"The sizable fines proposed reflect the ongoing failure and refusal by this employer to provide basic safeguards for its employees. Workers have repeatedly been exposed to deadly or disabling falls and crushing injuries," said Anthony Ciuffo, OSHA's Long Island area director. "In this case, workers were exposed to falls of more than 26 feet. Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work and can be prevented by adhering to basic, common sense and legally required safeguards."
OSHA's Long Island Area Office opened an inspection at the work site on March 31 under its local emphasis program aimed at preventing falls in the construction industry. The inspection identified numerous fall and scaffolding hazards, many of which were similar to those cited during previous OSHA inspections of five other Painting & Decorating work sites during the past several years.
The recurring hazards include not having the scaffold self-inspected for defects by a competent person during scaffold erection and before workers began to work on the scaffold. An inspection would have identified hazards such as missing cross bracing and planks; no safe means for workers to access the scaffold; lack of fall protection for the employees working on the scaffold; scaffold not restrained against tipping; lack of protective helmets; and no protection to prevent objects from falling onto workers from the scaffold.
These conditions resulted in the issuance of 10 repeat citations with $429,660 in fines. A repeat violation exists when an employer has been cited previously for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any of its facilities in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Between 2008 and 2010, OSHA cited the company for similar hazards at work sites in Kings Point, Great Neck and Forest Hills.
OSHA's inspectors also identified new hazards, including a lack of fall protection for workers erecting the scaffolding; scaffold erected on unsound footing; workers climbing the scaffold's cross bracing during erection; and lack of eye protection. These hazards resulted in the issuance of five serious citations with $30,690 in fines. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/PaintingDecorating909337_112713.pdf*.
"Employers can enhance safety in the workplace and prevent hazards from occurring by implementing an effective illness-and-injury prevention program where they work with employees to identify, address and eliminate hazards proactively," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York.
Due to the nature and severity of violations, Painting & Decorating Inc. has been placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. OSHA's SVEP focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations.
OSHA's fall prevention campaign provides employers and workers with lifesaving information and educational materials about working safely from ladders, scaffolds and roofs. It was developed in partnership with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and NIOSH's National Occupational Research Agenda program. More information on fall protection standards is available in English and Spanish at http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls.
Painting & Decorating Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its latest citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Long Island Area Office at 516-334-3344.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
"The sizable fines proposed reflect the ongoing failure and refusal by this employer to provide basic safeguards for its employees. Workers have repeatedly been exposed to deadly or disabling falls and crushing injuries," said Anthony Ciuffo, OSHA's Long Island area director. "In this case, workers were exposed to falls of more than 26 feet. Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work and can be prevented by adhering to basic, common sense and legally required safeguards."
OSHA's Long Island Area Office opened an inspection at the work site on March 31 under its local emphasis program aimed at preventing falls in the construction industry. The inspection identified numerous fall and scaffolding hazards, many of which were similar to those cited during previous OSHA inspections of five other Painting & Decorating work sites during the past several years.
The recurring hazards include not having the scaffold self-inspected for defects by a competent person during scaffold erection and before workers began to work on the scaffold. An inspection would have identified hazards such as missing cross bracing and planks; no safe means for workers to access the scaffold; lack of fall protection for the employees working on the scaffold; scaffold not restrained against tipping; lack of protective helmets; and no protection to prevent objects from falling onto workers from the scaffold.
These conditions resulted in the issuance of 10 repeat citations with $429,660 in fines. A repeat violation exists when an employer has been cited previously for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any of its facilities in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Between 2008 and 2010, OSHA cited the company for similar hazards at work sites in Kings Point, Great Neck and Forest Hills.
OSHA's inspectors also identified new hazards, including a lack of fall protection for workers erecting the scaffolding; scaffold erected on unsound footing; workers climbing the scaffold's cross bracing during erection; and lack of eye protection. These hazards resulted in the issuance of five serious citations with $30,690 in fines. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/PaintingDecorating909337_112713.pdf*.
"Employers can enhance safety in the workplace and prevent hazards from occurring by implementing an effective illness-and-injury prevention program where they work with employees to identify, address and eliminate hazards proactively," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York.
Due to the nature and severity of violations, Painting & Decorating Inc. has been placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. OSHA's SVEP focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations.
OSHA's fall prevention campaign provides employers and workers with lifesaving information and educational materials about working safely from ladders, scaffolds and roofs. It was developed in partnership with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and NIOSH's National Occupational Research Agenda program. More information on fall protection standards is available in English and Spanish at http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls.
Painting & Decorating Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its latest citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Long Island Area Office at 516-334-3344.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
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US Labor Department seeks public comment on agency standards to improve chemical safety
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced a request for information seeking public comment on potential revisions to its Process Safety Management standard and related standards, as well as other policy options to prevent major chemical incidents.
The RFI is in response to executive order 13650, which seeks to improve chemical facility safety and security, issued in the wake of the April 2013 West, Texas, tragedy that killed 15 in an ammonium nitrate explosion.
In addition to comments on its Process Safety Management standard, OSHA seeks input on potential updates to its Explosives and Blasting Agents, Flammable Liquids and Spray Finishing standards, as well as potential changes to PSM enforcement policies. The agency also asks for information and data on specific rulemaking and policy options, and the workplace hazards they address. OSHA will use the information received in response to this RFI to determine what actions, if any, it may take.
After publication of the RFI in the Federal Register, the public will have 90 days to submit written comments. Once the RFI is published in the Federal Register, interested parties may submit comments at www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Comments may also be submitted by mail or facsimile. To view the RFI visit http://www.osha.gov/chemicalexecutiveorder/OSHA_PSM_RFI.pdf. For more information, visit www.osha.gov/chemicalexecutiveorder/index.html.
The RFI is in response to executive order 13650, which seeks to improve chemical facility safety and security, issued in the wake of the April 2013 West, Texas, tragedy that killed 15 in an ammonium nitrate explosion.
In addition to comments on its Process Safety Management standard, OSHA seeks input on potential updates to its Explosives and Blasting Agents, Flammable Liquids and Spray Finishing standards, as well as potential changes to PSM enforcement policies. The agency also asks for information and data on specific rulemaking and policy options, and the workplace hazards they address. OSHA will use the information received in response to this RFI to determine what actions, if any, it may take.
After publication of the RFI in the Federal Register, the public will have 90 days to submit written comments. Once the RFI is published in the Federal Register, interested parties may submit comments at www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Comments may also be submitted by mail or facsimile. To view the RFI visit http://www.osha.gov/chemicalexecutiveorder/OSHA_PSM_RFI.pdf. For more information, visit www.osha.gov/chemicalexecutiveorder/index.html.
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Monday, November 18, 2013
My Next Move for Veterans
Today's post was shared by US Labor Department and comes from www.mynextmove.org
My Next Move for Veterans is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor,
Employment & Training Administration, and developed by the National Center for O*O*NET Development. |
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Thursday, November 7, 2013
OSHA announces proposed new rule to improve tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued a proposed rule to improve workplace safety and health through improved tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses. The announcement follows the Bureau of Labor Statistics' release of its annual Occupational Injuries and Illnesses report, which estimates that three million workers were injured on the job in 2012.
"Three million injuries are three million too many," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "With the changes being proposed in this rule, employers, employees, the government and researchers will have better access to data that will encourage earlier abatement of hazards and result in improved programs to reduce workplace hazards and prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities. The proposal does not add any new requirement to keep records; it only modifies an employer's obligation to transmit these records to OSHA."
The public will have 90 days, through Feb. 6, 2014, to submit written comments on the proposed rule. On Jan. 9, 2014, OSHA will hold a public meeting on the proposed rule in Washington, D.C. A Federal Register notice announcing the public meeting will be published shortly.
The proposed rule was developed following a series of stakeholder meetings in 2010 to help OSHA gather information about electronic submission of establishment-specific injury and illness data. OSHA is proposing to amend its current recordkeeping regulations to add requirements for the electronic submission of injury and illness information employers are already required to keep under existing standards, Part 1904. The first proposed new requirement is for establishments with more than 250 employees (and who are already required to keep records) to electronically submit the records on a quarterly basis to OSHA.
OSHA is also proposing that establishments with 20 or more employees, in certain industries with high injury and illness rates, be required to submit electronically only their summary of work-related injuries and illnesses to OSHA once a year. Currently, many such firms report this information to OSHA under OSHA's Data Initiative.
OSHA plans to eventually post the data online, as encouraged by President Obama's Open Government Initiative. Timely, establishment-specific injury and illness data will help OSHA target its compliance assistance and enforcement resources more effectively by identifying workplaces where workers are at greater risk, and enable employers to compare their injury rates with others in the same industry. Additional information on the proposed rule can be found athttp://www.dol.gov/find/20131107/ and http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/proposed_data_form.html.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
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Friday, November 1, 2013
OSHA releases new resources to better protect workers from hazardous chemicals
Each year in the United States, tens of thousands of workers are made sick or die from occupational exposures to the thousands of hazardous chemicals that are used in workplaces every day. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today launched two new web resources to assist companies with keeping their workers safe.
While many chemicals are suspected of being harmful, OSHA's exposure standards are out-of-date and inadequately protective for the small number of chemicals that are regulated in the workplace. The first resource OSHA has created is a toolkit to identify safer chemicals that can be used in place of more hazardous ones. This toolkit walks employers and workers step-by-step through information, methods,
tools and guidance to either eliminate hazardous chemicals or make informed substitution decisions in the workplace by finding a safer chemical, material, product or process. The toolkit is available at http://www.osha.gov/dsg/safer_chemicals/index.html.
"We know that the most efficient and effective way to protect workers from hazardous chemicals is by eliminating or replacing those chemicals with safer alternatives whenever possible," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health.
While many chemicals are suspected of being harmful, OSHA's exposure standards are out-of-date and inadequately protective for the small number of chemicals that are regulated in the workplace. The first resource OSHA has created is a toolkit to identify safer chemicals that can be used in place of more hazardous ones. This toolkit walks employers and workers step-by-step through information, methods,
tools and guidance to either eliminate hazardous chemicals or make informed substitution decisions in the workplace by finding a safer chemical, material, product or process. The toolkit is available at http://www.osha.gov/dsg/safer_chemicals/index.html.
"We know that the most efficient and effective way to protect workers from hazardous chemicals is by eliminating or replacing those chemicals with safer alternatives whenever possible," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health.
SeaWorld Appeal Could Force Taming Of Its Popular Shows
(Reuters) - A killer whale, the lawyer-son of a Supreme Court justice and the grisly death of wildlife trainer will play roles in a U.S. appeals court case next month that could forever change marine park operator SeaWorld's marquee entertainment.
The signature attraction for the company's three U.S. theme parks has been shows featuring the black-and-white killer whales or orcas, including several named Shamu, performing flips and other stunts under the direction of trainers who historically have been in close contact with them. But that changed after the February 2010 death of Dawn Brancheau, a 40-year-old trainer. She drowned after being pulled into a pool by Tilikum, a 12,000-pound bull orca, at SeaWorld's site in Orlando, Florida. In August 2010, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined SeaWorld $75,000 for three safety violations, saying it had exposed its trainers to a hazardous environment and violated a part of the Occupational Safety and Health Act known as the general duty clause. OSHA, a part of the Labor Department, demanded SeaWorld make certain changes, notably, physically separating the killer whale trainers from the orcas during show performances. SeaWorld is appealing the broad application of a federal safety law meant to protect workers in unusual circumstances. The case will come before a three-judge panel of the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Nov. 12. With animal... |
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Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Securing the Right to a Safe and Healthy Workplace | Center for Effective Government
Workers' Compensation is the remedy when workplaces aren't safe. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) promulgates safety rule in the workplace. Safer workplaces are needed and OSHA needs to be strengthened. This post is shared from foreffectivegovernment.org . The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), passed in 1970, recognizes that workers play a critical role in ensuring their workplaces are healthy and safe. The OSH Act gives workers the right to report unsafe working conditions and the right to refuse to work under such conditions without reprisal. The concept is for workers to function as the “eyes and ears” of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and help the agency prioritize its limited resources to focus inspections on the most dangerous work sites. Workers will only report safety and health hazards in the workplace, however, if they can come forward without fear of reprisal. Thus, the law prohibits employers from taking any adverse action against employees who exercise the rights provided to them under the OSH Act. Unfortunately, the weak guarantees written into the federal OSH Act leave workers with few protections against retaliation by an employer after reporting dangerous working conditions. Problems with current protections include the fact that the amount of time required to file a retaliation complaint is too short, investigations take too long, the burden of proof is too high, OSHA cannot preliminarily reinstate an employee once it determines that a complaint has merit, and employees cannot pursue a remedy independently, even if OSHA takes no action on their behalf. Between 2005 and 2012, OSHA received 11,153 complaints of retaliation, 10,380 were reviewed, and 2,542... |
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Saturday, October 26, 2013
Black lung injury not compensable because company was OSHA-compliant
Today's post is shared from thinkprogress.org via @RWJF_PubHealth
A furnace operator seeking a Workers’ Compensation claim against his employer for allegedly suffering exposure to occupational pneumoconiosis was properly denied because the company was compliant with OSHA standards, the state Supreme Court has held.
Randy Torris originally filed a claim alleging he suffered exposure to the hazards of occupational pneumoconiosis, also known as “black lung,” while working as a furnace operator for Alcan Rolled Products-Ravenswood, LLC.
In 2009, an administrator rejected Torris’ claim. Torris then appealed the ruling to the state Workers’ Compensation Board of Review, which affirmed the administrator’s decision in a 2011 ruling saying Torris did not meet the exposure requirement for a valid pneumoconiosis claim.
Torris again appealed, asserting that there was sufficient evidence to prove he was exposed to the hazards of occupational pneumoconiosis for the entire time he worked for the company.
In its defense, Torris’ employer argued it performed regular industrial hygiene testing while Torris was with the company and also met OSHA regulations to limit employee exposure to excessive or harmful quantities of dust.
The state Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision released Oct. 4, upheld the board’s ruling citing state rule §85-20-52.2 (2006).
The rule states that if “an employer submits credible...
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OSHA Releases New Resources to Help Employers Protect Workers from Hazardous Chemicals
From steel mills to hospitals, from construction sites to nail salons, hazardous chemical exposure is a serious concern for countless employers and workers in many, many industries, in every part of this nation.
American workers use thousands of chemicals every day. And every year, tens of thousands of workers are made sick or die from occupational exposures to hazardous chemicals. Many people think that the workplace exposure standards set by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration protect workers from the more hazardous of these chemicals, but the truth is that, for many of these chemicals, OSHA’s standards are out-of-date or inadequately protective. Even more, many chemicals are not covered by a specific OSHA regulation. We recognize this and are developing new ways to approach the problem of workplace exposure to hazardous substances. To help keep workers safe, OSHA recently launched two new chemical safety resources. The Transitioning to Safer Chemicals Online Toolkit provides employers and workers with information, methods, tools and guidance in eliminating hazardous chemicals or using safer chemical substitutions in the workplace. We know that the most efficient and effective way to protect workers from hazardous chemicals is by eliminating or replacing these chemicals with safer alternatives, and this should be done whenever possible. The online toolkit is a convenient, step-by-step... |
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Study: Workers with disabilities paid 10% less
"So you might imagine someone taking a job for $40,000 with health insurance or a job for $60,000 without health insurance," Kevin Hallock, director of the Institute for Compensation Studies at Cornell, said during a presentation at a conference on disability employment Wednesday in Arlington, Va. Workers with disabilities also are overrepresented in manual labor jobs and underrepresented in white-collar fields. The study found transportation, production, and office and administrative support were among the top occupations where people with disabilities were employed. Skilled jobs, including management, business and finance occupations, employed the lowest number of people with disabilities. The Cornell research has some limitations: Only full-time male workers were surveyed to determine wage gaps because researchers wanted to isolate a similar group of individuals without introducing other variables such as gender. Adriana Kugler, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, said at a panel discussion during the conference, "It is very,... |
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Thursday, October 24, 2013
Klickitat County Lumber Company Fined
Today's post comes from guest author Kit Case, from Causey Law Firm.
By Kit Case from Causey Law Firm
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries announced that a Klickitat County lumber company was fined nearly a quarter of a million dollars after worker gets caught in machinery.
The SDS Lumber Company of Bingen, Wash., has been fined $244,600 for 69 workplace safety and health violations after a worker was seriously injured in March. The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) cited the employer for one willful, 54 serious and 14 general violations of safety and health rules. A willful violation is cited when L&I alleges that the violation was committed with intentional disregard, plain indifference, or when employers substitute their own judgment for safety and health regulations.
L&I determined that a lack of training and proper safety procedures left the lumber mill worker with severe injuries when his arms became entangled in machinery while trying to clear a jam. L&I began an investigation on March 9m 2013 after being notified that the worker had been hospitalized. By law, all employers are required to report to L&I within eight hours anytime a worker is hospitalized or dies due to work-related causes.
“This incident shows the importance of Washington’s hospitalization reporting rule,” said Anne Soiza, assistant director for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “In most other states, a hospitalization involving only one worker does not have to be reported and the serious hazards could continue unabated. In our state, we are able to send inspectors right away to ensure the safety of the other workers.”
The investigation found that managers and supervisors were aware that workers routinely bypassed machinery safety guards to try and clear jams while the machinery was still in motion.
Consequently, the company was cited the maximum penalty allowed by law, $70,000, for a willful violation. Additionally, because the willful violation was associated with a worker’s serious injuries, the company will now be part of the Severe Violator Enforcement Program, an OSHA program that monitors severe safety violators.
The injury incident prompted comprehensive safety and health inspections of the entire plant. In addition to the machinery violations, the department found serious hazards related to chemicals, hazardous and flammable substances, bloodborne pathogens, confined work spaces, electrical and fall protection. Many of the violations were corrected during the inspections.
The company has appealed the citations.
Photo credit: americanartmuseum / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND
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Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Steel company fined $115,400 by US Labor Department's OSHA for failing to abate workplace hazards
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Jersey Shore Steel for four violations, including three failure-to-abate citations, at its Jackson facility. Proposed penalties total $115,400 after OSHA's follow-up inspection opened in April.
"By not abating past violations, Jersey Shore Steel keeps its employees vulnerable to hazards that can cause injuries and, possibly, death," said Paula Dixon-Roderick, director of OSHA's Marlton Area Office. "It's vital to correct all hazards immediately to protect workers at the facility."
The failure-to-abate notices, which carry $111,000 in penalties, relate to the company's failure to develop and implement a written lockout/tagout program that prevents inadvertent machine start-up; require fork truck operators to have their performance evaluated at least once every three years; and train workers to use portable fire extinguishers. A failure-to-abate notice applies to a condition, hazard or practice, found upon reinspection, that the employer was originally cited for and failed to correct.
The company was also cited for one repeat violation, with a $4,400 penalty, due to the lack of machine guarding on a press brake. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. A similar violation was cited in November 2012.
The citations can be viewed at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/jersey_shore_steel_insp_900106_sept30.pdf*.
Jersey Shore Steel has requested an informal conference with the OSHA area director in Marlton.
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