Penalty cases, where a proposed penalty assessment is appealed, are more than twice as high at this point in FY08 than they were a year ago.
"It's imperative that these safeguards be promptly, completely and effectively implemented to prevent this sort of accident from occurring again," said Christopher Adams, OSHA's area director in Syracuse.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards marked a milestone recently as it announced that in the month of January 2008 it reached its 5,000th indictment since recordkeeping began in 1964.
Concerned for his health and safety, the worker repeatedly asked for protective equipment and, according to OSHA, was fired as a result.
"These violations had the potential of resulting in the death or serious injury of one or more of the company's employees," said Teresa Harrison, OSHA's acting regional administrator in San Francisco.
The Labor and Workforce Development Agency yesterday announced that Economic Employment Enforcement Coalition (EEEC) investigators issued 49 citations for safety and labor violations--with fines totaling more than $567,000--in a recent sweep of San Francisco Bay Area pallet manufacturers.
OSHA issued the company citations for three repeat violations for failing to provide adequate protection, training, monitoring, and emergency plans regarding employee exposure to ethylene oxide, a dangerous, colorless gas used in the sterilization process.
The FLSA requires that covered employees, unless otherwise exempt, be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 per week. This law also requires that employers keep accurate time and payroll records.
OSHA initiated a safety inspection at the facility in August 2007 in response to the agency's national emphasis program for petroleum refineries.
The president released his FY2009 proposed budget today, and it is the first time a president's proposed annual budget has topped $3 trillion.
The fatality occurred when the trusses collapsed, causing one employee to fall to his death.
Silicosis, an irreversible but preventable disease, is the illness most closely associated with occupational exposure to the material, which also is known as silica dust.
The West Virginia senator inserted language in the recent FY2008 omnibus appropriations bill that bans the practice of using coal conveyors to deliver clean air to underground coal miners.
"An unprotected excavation can collapse in moments, burying employees beneath tons of soil and debris before they have a chance to react or escape," said Francis Pagliuca, OSHA's acting area director in Concord, N.H.
Saying it "took immediate corrective actions following the accident to improve the safety of the dust-collection proces," Mantrose-Hseuser Co. said it has requested an informal settlement conference.
OSHA found that the Fairburn, Ga.-based utility contractor was installing pipe through a trench that was 50 feet in length and 6 feet in depth without a means of employee egress and without having a protective system in place.
"Falls are the number one killer in construction work, and employees working without fall protection are just one step away from death or disabling injury," said C. William Freeman III, OSHA's area director in Hartford, Conn.
"A fall into water carries dual dangers--impact and drowning--which must be addressed through proper fall protection and effective worker training," said Brenda Gordon, OSHA's area director in Braintree, Mass.
A federal court has granted final approval for a $6.2 million partial settlement for black and Hispanic sheet metal workers who suffered discrimination by their union, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced yesterday.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards has released its criminal enforcement data for December 2007. During that month, OLMS obtained eight convictions, eight indictments, and court orders of restitution totaling $202,228.