Enforcement


Study Finds Sleep Apnea May Cause Heart Disease in Kidney Transplant Patients

Sleep apnea is common in individuals who receive a kidney transplant and is associated with increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, or stroke, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).

New York State Cracks Down on Drunk Drivers

A tough bill signed into law today by Gov. David Paterson requires an ignition interlock for anyone convicted of drunken driving and makes it a felony to be convicted of drunk driving while a child was in the vehicle.

DOL welcomes GAO Report on Under-Reporting of Workplace Injuries, Illnesses

OSHA welcomed the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) recent report on the under-reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses and OSHA's audit process. The report identifies a number of factors that may contribute to the inaccuracy of employer injury and illness records, as well as problems with the audits that OSHA conducts to ensure their accuracy.

Acetylene

OSHA Amends Acetylene Standard, Issues Final Rule

The revised standard updates references for the provisions addressing piping systems, as well as acetylene generators and filling acetylene cylinders and requires that in-plant transfer, handling, storage, and use of acetylene cylinders comply with Compressed Gas Association Pamphlet G-1-2003, titled Acetylene.

More than 1,000 federal and state inspections under the OSHA combustible dust National Emphasis Program uncovered more than 4,000 violations.

Combustible Dust Activist Also Hosting Meetings

Across the street from the site of OSHA's Dec. 14 meetings in Washington, D.C., John Astad will lead group discussions of OSHA's proposed rulemaking.

IOSH says the most powerful Buncefield explosion is thought to be the largest ever in peacetime Europe. This photo is posted on the site of MP Mike Penning.

British MP Celebrates Buncefield Pleas

Total UK pleaded guilty to charges it failed to adequately manage risks associated with filling and monitoring oil storage tanks at the fuel depot when overfilling caused a powerful explosion in December 2005. MP Mike Penning hopes the pleas will lead to compensation payments to constituents.

Salesman Pleads Guilty to Misbranding Drug, Copyright Infringement

Ming Yan, who operates a computer store in North Providence, has pleaded guilty to causing the misbranding of the prescription drug sildenafil citrate, which is marketed as Viagra, and to copyright infringement. Immigration and FDA agents seized counterfeit sildenafil citrate pills and more than 1,000 pirated movie DVDs from Yan's store and home in March 2008.

Restaurant Operators Ordered to Pay Back Wages, Damages

Li Jin Yang and Dong Lin, a wife and husband who had operated five Oriental Forest restaurants in Michigan, were ordered by a federal judge to pay $2,030,430 in minimum wage and overtime pay and damages to 129 workers following an investigation by the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.



Bridge, Tower Painter Fined for Exposing Workers to Lead

OSHA has cited bridge and water tower painter UCL Inc. in Cincinnati with alleged willful, egregious, and serious violations of federal workplace safety and health standards for exposing workers to lead. Proposed fines total $321,000.

OSHA Proposes $509,000 in Fines against Cranesville Aggregate Plant

Cranesville Aggregate Co., doing business as Scotia Bag Plant, Scotia, N.Y., faces a total of $509,000 in proposed fines from OSHA. The plant, which bags cement and asphalt, has been cited for 33 alleged willful, repeat, and serious violations of workplace safety and health standards following comprehensive OSHA inspections over the past six months.

DAL Global Services to Pay $100,000 to Settle Hiring Discrimination

The Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has announced that DAL Global Services LLC in Denver has agreed to settle findings of hiring discrimination against 110 rejected Asian, black, white, and female job applicants. The agreement resolves the department's allegations that the employer discriminated against applicants for the position of ramp agent at Denver International Airport.

Health Care Professional Sentenced to Prison for Medicine Tampering

Drea Lynne Gibson, 43, of Fall City, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a year and a day in prison and three years of supervised release for product tampering in violation of federal law.

OSHA Fines Ventilation Manufacturer $511,000 in Worker's Death

OSHA has cited Loren Cook Co. of Springfield for seven alleged willful and three alleged serious violations after a worker was killed by an ejected machine part on May 13.

FDA Targets Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages

The Food and Drug Administration has notified nearly 30 manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages that it intends to look into the safety and legality of their products.

Product Tracing in Food Systems Report Released

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) on Nov. 12 delivered to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a new technical study that recommends guidelines to establish a comprehensive product tracing system to track the movement of food products effectively from farm to point of sale or service.

the banner of the OSHA Underground blog

What Happened to OSHA Underground?

A good blog frequented by OSHA insiders is down, and OSHA Aboveground speculates that a subpoena involving a Walmart case before OSHRC is involved.

OSHA Cites Brooklyn Contractor for Electrocution Fall Hazards

OSHA has proposed $50,600 in fines against Metro Steel Fabricators Inc., a Brooklyn steel erection contractor, for alleged willful and serious violations of safety standards at a Tuckahoe, N.Y., jobsite.

Assistant Secretary David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, who is the leader of OSHA, is shown in a GWU photo

HELP to Act Nov. 18 on Michaels Nomination

If the committee approves him, the OSHA nominee would then have only to await action by the full U.S. Senate. Also, President Obama has nominated a third OSHRC commissioner.

FDA Warns Against Marketing Illegal Flavored Cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration is enforcing the flavored cigarette ban provision of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) by issuing several warning letters to companies continuing to sell illegal flavored cigarettes to consumers in the United States through their Web sites.

Doctor Sentenced for Tax Evasion, Writing Prescriptions over Internet

A Virginia doctor was sentenced recently in federal court on charges that he wrote prescriptions over the Internet for people whom he had never met or examined, as well as tax evasion.

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