How OSHA Standards Revolutionize Workplace Safety

Jordan Barab’s recent testimony before the House Education and Workforce Committee Subcommittee on Workforce Protections focused extensively on the importance of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards in ensuring workplace safety. 

OSHA Proposes a Workplace Heat Standard

OSHA’s proposed new workplace heat standard requires employers to develop a plan to identify and address heat hazards. This plan must include monitoring heat conditions, providing water, and training employees about heat safety. The standard also sets requirements for acclimatization for new and returning employees.

Federal judge affirms 2022 citation, penalties against United Airlines for failing to protect employee seriously injured when 737 crushes foot

A federal administrative law judge has affirmed safety violations against United Airlines related to a 2021 incident at Newark Liberty International Airport in which a 737's tire crushed a technician's foot as they worked with one of the company's towing crews.

OSHA Cites Oakland NJ Company with $257,931 in Penalties

A U.S. Department of Labor inspection in June 2023 at an Oakland, NJ manufacturing company — that followed reports of two workers being injured — found employees exposed to dozens of serious safety and health hazards.

Analysis of the OSHA Report on Severe Injury: A Seven-Year Lookback

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published the "Severe Injury Report: A Seven-Year Lookback"  summarizing employer-reported inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, and eye losses from 2015 to 2021. This report provides valuable insights into the prevalence and nature of severe workplace injuries, helping identify areas for improvement in workplace safety.

Wayne NJ Contractor Fined $180K for Exposing Workers to Energized Power Lines

The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into a settlement agreement with a New Jersey building contractor who allowed their subcontractors' employees to work in close proximity to high-voltage power lines at a Paterson work site in 2021 and 2022.

OSHA Issues Extreme Heat Hazard Alert

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that it's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a heat hazard alert to remind employers of their obligation to protect workers against heat illness or injury in outdoor and indoor workplaces.

President Biden Announces New Actions to Protect Workers from Extreme Heat

Millions of American workers are currently experiencing the effects of extreme heat, which is growing in intensity, frequency, and duration due to the climate crisis. President Biden requests the Department of Labor to issue Hazard Alerts for Heat and take other actions to protect workers from extreme heat. 

New OSHA Reporting Requirements For Injuries and Illnesses

The U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule requiring certain employers in designated high-hazard industries to submit injury and illness information electronically – that they are already required to keep – to the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

OSHA Cites Main Line Contractor Corp. of Newark NJ for 21 Violations and $333,052 in Penalties

A series of inspections by the U.S. Department of Labor has found a Newark-based construction contractor defying federal safety regulations by exposing employees to more than 20 violations, including potentially deadly falls, at six southern and central New Jersey work sites in early 2023.

Fireworks, pyrotechnics industry employers strongly urged to make worker safety a priority on July 4

Since the founding fathers declared the colonies independent in 1776, cannons, fireworks, and today, extensive pyrotechnic displays have become a July 4th fixture. Unfortunately, so have severe injuries and worse for people in the fireworks and pyrotechnics industry when necessary workplace safety standards are ignored.

OSHA: America Airlines Fined for Retaliating Against Worker Who Reported Hazardous Fumes in Cabin

Federal safety and health investigators have determined that one of the nation's largest airlines retaliated against flight attendants who reported worker illnesses caused by toxic fumes entering aircraft cabins.

Work-Related Respiratory Disease Rate Soars

Private industry employers reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2021, a decrease of 1.8 percent from 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In 2021, the incidence rate of total recordable cases (TRC) in private industry was 2.7 cases per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, unchanged from 2020. These estimates are from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII).

The decline in injury and illness cases was due to a drop in illness cases, with private industry employers reporting 365,200 nonfatal illnesses in 2021, down from 544,600 in 2020, a drop of 32.9 percent. This decrease was driven by a 37.1 percent decrease in employer-reported

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

respiratory illness cases in 2021 at 269,600, down from 428,700 in 2020. (See chart 2.) In 2019, there were 127,200 illness cases and 10,800 respiratory illness cases. Total reported injury cases increased by 6.3 percent to 2.2 million cases in 2021, up from 2.1 million cases in 2020. (See chart 1.)

The rate of injury cases increased in 2021, with private industry employers reporting a rate of 2.3 cases per 100 FTE workers compared to 2.2 cases in 2020. Over the same period, the rate of illness cases decreased from 55.9 cases per 10,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers to 37.7 cases. The decrease was driven by the drop in the respiratory illness rate, which fell from 44.0 cases per 10,000 FTE workers to 27.8 cases.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact in SOII Results

Occupational injuries and illnesses collected in the 2021 SOII include cases of COVID-19 when a worker was infected as a result of performing their work-related duties and met other recordkeeping criteria. COVID-19 is considered a respiratory illness under criteria established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Top 10 Workplace Safety and Health Violations

The following is a list of the top 10 most frequently cited standards following inspections of worksites by federal OSHA for all industries. OSHA publishes the list to alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take steps to find and fix recognized hazards addressed in these and other standards before OSHA shows up. Far too many preventable injuries, illnesses, and deaths occur in the workplace that are related to these top 10 cited standards.

Appeals Court Rejects Effort to Compel OSHA to Retain Healthcare ETS

On Friday, an Appellate Court rejected the UNIONS' effort, including the National Nurses, United, to compel the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to retain the Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Safety and Health Topics: Heat Stress

Workers' compensation claims result from heat stress and exposure. As the Mid-West and Northeast heatwave is now soaring to record temperatures, workers should protect themselves from heat exposure. Today's post was shared by Safe Healthy Workers and comes from www.cdc.gov

Jury awards $650K in damages for Massachusetts contractor’s unlawful retaliation against injured immigrant worker

A federal jury in the District of Massachusetts has found that a Massachusetts employer and his company retaliated against an employee who reported an on-the-job injury. The jury awarded $650,000 in damages – $600,000 in punitive damages and $50,000 in compensatory damages – as a result.

OSHA Fines Roofing Company $360,531

An Illinois roofing contractor – with a history of violating federal safety standards and ignoring safety citations – was cited again by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for exposing workers to deadly fall hazards at two separate job sites in October 2021. Joshua Herion – who does business as ECS Roofing Professionals Inc. – faces proposed penalties of $360,531.

Injury Caused by Defeated Machine Guard Results in OSHA Fine of $159,522

An employee working at Crystal Finishing Systems Inc.’s aluminum extrusion facility in Weston was hospitalized with serious injuries after being struck by a puller machine while trying to unjam a piece of aluminum.

OSHA fines New Jersey company $130,000 for methylene chloride violations

 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited a New Jersey company $130,000 for methylene chloride violations. Exposure to paint strippers containing methylene chloride remains a severe health concern for workers. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently refused to extend the United States Environmental Protection [EPA] agency's regulations to cover methylene chloride in the commercial setting.