The Food and Drug Administration, in cooperation with other state and local public health agencies, is warning consumers not to eat any Sally Jackson cheeses. The products were processed under conditions that create a significant risk of contamination of the unpasteurized raw milk and finished cheese, and Sally Jackson cheeses have been identified as one possible source of eight cases of E. coli O157 infections in an ongoing investigation.
Several enforcement actions been filed this month, including one against a Houston contractor in connection with a job site in Hamburg, Pa.
Recommended by the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, the National Association of Home Builders, and the Occupational Safety and Health State Plan Association, this change took effect immediately. Its enforcement effective date is June 16, 2011.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is deciding how much operators of coal mines and other types of mines must disclose when they report health and safety violations and mining-related fatalities.
The health reform law added a break time requirement to the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the DOL unit is still working out final guidance for employers.
OSHA began its inspection on Oct. 21 at the company's facility, which found employees working at an elevation of approximately 14 feet without wearing fall protection.
"We want to ensure that miners are protected from overexposure to harmful contaminants and mine operators have required safety and health programs in place to meet that objective," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.
The added amount raises its civil penalties this year from two investigations to $48.8 million.
The new enforcement policy is not yet in effect, but some groups are attacking it as an expensive, unnecessary change. The National Hearing Conservation Association supports it, however.
The company was prosecuted after an employee suffered fatal head injuries in October 2006 when he fell from a wooden ladder.
OSHA has proposed $91,000 in fines against the company for one alleged willful, two alleged serious, and one other-than-serious violation.
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis recently announced appointment of five new members to the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health. The new appointees will serve two-year terms and are leaders in the fields of medicine, academia and safety program development.
An employee was performing welding on a pontoon boat when the hot work ignited vapors from within the boat's interior. OSHA found that the boat had not been adequately ventilated to ensure the escape of flammable gasses before welding.
The owner and the vice president of a Detroit-area physical therapy clinic were sentenced to 151 months and 108 months in prison, respectively, for their leading roles in a $23 million Medicare fraud scheme, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services announced.
No evidence of external corrosion, no physical indications of excavation damage, and no physical evidence suggesting a pre-existing leak has been found so far on the damaged pipe.
A U.S. district court judge has ruled in favor of the Department of Labor in a case against a Westminster, Calif., garment manufacturer and its owner, awarding a total of $887,554 to current and former workers (Case No. 2:10:-CV-02805 AHM (PJW)). Judge A. Howard Matz approved the department's request for a default judgment against Laundry Room Clothing Inc., owner Milton Kaneda and principal Sharon Kaneda after they failed to pay $380,824 in unpaid minimum wage and overtime compensation due to 115 low-wage workers.
The centerpiece of CSA is the Safety Measurement System (SMS), which will analyze all safety-based violations from inspections and crash data to determine a commercial motor carrier’s on-road performance.
Following a visit to JetBlue’s headquarters in March, DOT reviewed complaints about the treatment of passengers with disabilities filed with the carrier and with DOT. The complaints revealed a number of violations of the requirement to provide enplaning and deplaning assistance.
OSHA began its inspection June 10 at the company's worksite and found employees operating a forklift without wearing a seat belt, as well as wet floors in passageways, aisles, and laundry work areas.
"The size of these proposed fines reflects the gravity of these hazards and the fact that two of the employers knew cave-in protection and a ladder were required, yet refused to provide these vital safeguards," said Rosemarie Ohar, OSHA's New Hampshire area director.