The employee died in February after part of the structure failed and collapsed while workers were cutting concrete floor and wall sections of the Palm House Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla.
One piece of legislation signed last week requires site safety managers to include in their plans a statement that workers have successfully completed a 10-hour OSHA course on construction safety and health within five years of working on the site.
"I am confident that the creation of the Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management, and the support of the talented OSHA team we already have, will further enhance the agency's leadership in protecting the working men and women of this country, whether they are engaged in their normal work or involved in the challenging tasks of response and recovery," said OSHA head Edwin G. Foulke Jr.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are asking state, tribal, and local officials with questions about the federal program for picking up disaster debris to call the FEMA Debris hotline. The number is 1-866-599-4832, and it is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a comprehensive question-and-answer guide addressing how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to a wide variety of performance and conduct issues.
Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division Grace Chung Becker and Acting U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid announced the filing of a one count criminal complaint charging William Gould with interference with employment by threat of violence, a Class A misdemeanor.
The agency is asking lead-detection kit merchants to apply to have their test kits reviewed, and plans to recognize the accurate kits.
In addition to the enforcement activities, Cal/OSHA has conducted more then 649 heat illness seminars, onsite consultations, and outreach events throughout the state this year.
"We can't take chances with public health," said EPA's Mike Bussell. "Preventing a release of something as potentially dangerous as anhydrous ammonia protects the lives of workers, responders, and nearby residents."
The U.S. Department of Labor yesterday announced that this year's national Drug-Free Work Week will take place Oct. 20 through 26. The purpose of Drug-Free Work Week is to educate employers, employees, and the general public about the importance of being drug-free as an essential component of a safe and healthful workplace.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) earlier this week acknowledged that it has made a criminal referral of issues relating to the Crandall Canyon Mine to the United States attorney for the District of Utah in a motion filed with the federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.
The inspections were conducted to assess compliance with the EPA's nationwide storm water Construction General Permit, which requires operators of construction sites to plan for and implement storm water controls and to protect surface waters from common construction pollutants.
An alliance between OSHA and the National Maritime Safety Association has been renewed to further safety and health for employees in the marine cargo handling industry. OSHA and NMSA will concentrate on hazards related to intermodal container lashing and marine terminal traffic.
The criminal information alleges that in April 2008, more than 40 percent of Houston-based Shipley Do-Nut's workforce were illegal aliens, the majority of I-9s were deficient or completed years after an illegal alien began working for the company, and that the company failed to take corrective measures.
Law enforcement officers issued 840 citations for speeding violations and made two DUI arrests, 16 arrests for other criminal offenses, and 14 arrests for aggressive driving in general--all in the first month of a new state campaign.
After a follow-up investigation, the company also was cited with serious and repeat violations. In all, OSHA proposed penalties of $40,600. The company is contesting the citations.
The Texas-based company joins the Washington Division of URS Corp., Georgia-Pacific, General Electric Co., the U.S. Postal Service, and Dow Chemical Co. in the program.
As part of Ontario's efforts to help reduce workplace injuries, inspectors will be "blitzing" industrial workplaces throughout the month to help eliminate specific hazards that could lead to falls.
One of the goals of the renewed agreement will be conveying civilian workforce safety and health best practices and injury/illness reduction lessons to soldiers where appropriate, the agency said.
In his epic work "The Waste Land" (1922), T.S. Eliot wrote convincingly that “April is the cruellest month,” but a case can be made for September. Throughout American history, all varieties of disasters have transpired in this ninth month of the year—from shipwrecks to plane crashes to terrorist attacks—the aftermath of which have changed the way we live, work, and simply function as a society. Some of these changes have been subtle, others, such as the events of 9/11 seven years ago, drastic.