The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced that it is now accepting nominations for six new members to serve on the 16-member Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health (FACOSH), which advises the Secretary of Labor on issues concerning the occupational safety and health of federal employees. FACOSH also extends help to…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is keeping the federal agency staff responsible for keeping federal workers healthy and safe on its toes. The OSHA Training Institute (OTI) and OSHA’s Office of Federal Agency Programs have slated a series of training seminars this July that would put safety programs of federal workplaces on a…

Oklahoma is on safety stand-down now, but not because the 4th of July is coming up. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it, together with the Mid-Continent Exploration & Production Safety (MCEPS) Network, is sponsoring a safety stand-down from June 22 to July 20 to encourage safety and health practices at all…

As the 4th of July quickly approaches, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reminds employers in the fireworks/pyrotechnics industry of their duty to always protect their workers from the dangers of handling fireworks for public events—a reminder often repeated in OSHA safety training, such as OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30. For those in…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered the Norfolk Southern Railway Co. to pay three whistleblowers a whopping $802,168.70 in damages, including $525,000 in punitive damages and attorneys’ fees, for the unlawful, retaliatory dismissals of the three. Although OSHA training—for instance, OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30 training—is now required by many employers,…

Some employers never learn. In Wooster, Ohio, truck manufacturer Stahl/Scott Fetzer Co. had just been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for six safety violations that had led to the accidental amputation of several fingers of an employee, when just a month later a second amputation accident occurred at the same plant….

Lead-spitting six-shooters and the Wild West may be dusty history, but lead—that neurotoxic (and carcinogenic) heavy metal of lore and now—is still very much around, thanks to unknowing operators of gun ranges. Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a hefty penalty of $111,000 for Illinois Gun Works Ltd. for a whopping 28…

“This employer knowingly put workers at risk of injury or death by failing to implement well-recognized measures that would protect employees from physical assaults by inmates,” said Clyde Payne, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) area director in Jackson, Mississippi, in castigating The GEO Group Inc., a correctional and detention organization, for its many…

Bromine, a naturally occurring element, was formerly used as a sedative, but that pharmaceutical use has long fallen out of favor. Today bromine is usually found in products intended for agriculture and sanitation, as well as in fire retardants. Because bromine is highly reactive, accidental overexposure to bromine always has serious health and safety repercussions….

Lead is a heavy metal that has a pernicious impact on health for both the young and the old. It’s actually a slow-acting poison (it takes months to years before symptoms manifest themselves) that leads to long-term to lifelong serious physical and mental health problems. In heavy lead poisoning, it is fatal. The Occupational Safety…

Four U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities are in hot water with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The reason? The facilities—Fairfield, Martinez, Mather, and Oakland—were issued 30 notices of unsafe and unhealthful working conditions for violations discovered by OSHA during its inspections in November 2011. All four facilities belong to the VA’s…

Negligence that causes a potentially disastrous chemical explosion is a very serious offense—this a Boston-based adhesives manufacturer, Bostik Inc., found out when it contested in court citations issued by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for safety violations following a March 2011 explosion at the manufacturer’s Middleton facility. Although OSHA training—for instance, OSHA 10 hour…

A spate of construction worksite accidents in Northern New Jersey has prompted the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to enjoin construction companies to ensure that workers working six feet off the ground be properly equipped to protect them from falls. Despite OSHA training—for instance, OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30…

A Brooklyn contractor has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) for safety violations after a building structural collapse in Brighton Beach resulted in a worker’s death. OSHA reported that SP&K Construction was erecting a multistory building in November 2011 when the front bays of the third, fourth, and…

There’s another worksite fatality involving chemicals. This time though, a county medical examiner referred the case to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In spite of OSHA training—for instance, OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30 training—now being required by contractors, many workers are still exposed to unnecessary worksite hazards because of employer negligence, ignorance, or…