At the request of the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Marshals have seized bulk restaurant food product at Won Feng Trading Company, a food processor and warehouse in Nashville, Tenn. The products are adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act because they have been held under unsanitary conditions whereby they may have become contaminated with filth. The act uses the term "insanitary" to describe such conditions.
"No one ever thinks the trench he or she is working in will collapse, but the fact is cave-ins happen in seconds, crushing and burying workers beneath tons of soil and debris before they have a chance to react or escape," said Brenda Gordon, OSHA's area director for southeastern Massachusetts.
"Our inspections, and a worker fatality at the Blakely (Ga.) plant, show the need for management to get serious about the safety and health of its employees," said Robert Vazzi, OSHA's area director in Savannah, Ga.
Spectranetics Corp., a medical device manufacturer, located in Colorado Springs, Colo., has agreed to pay the United States $4.9 million in civil damages plus a $100,000 forfeiture to resolve claims against the company, the Department of Justice announced.
The NYC Buildings Department says the three construction fatalities in 2009 -- a sharp decrease from 19 the year before -- were the fewest in the past four years.
Preliminary data from MSHA indicates that mine fatalities in 2009 fell for the second straight year for a combined total of 34 mining deaths nationwide, a significant drop from last year's total of 52 deaths.
Pre-market approval by the Food and Drug Administration of cardiovascular devices is often based on studies that lack adequate strength or may have been prone to bias, according to a study in the December 23/30 issue of JAMA. The researchers found that of nearly 80 high-risk devices, the majority received approval based on data from a single study.
Employers already are seeing a lot of activity by OSHA but also should watch the NLRB, EEOC, and U.S. Supreme Court this year, writes Rich Meneghello, managing partner of the Portland, Ore. office of Fisher & Phillips LLP.
As a result of using data collected from millions of cars and trucks gathered since MOBILE6.2 was released in 2004, MOVES2010 provides increased accuracy in emissions inventory results, the agency said.
OSHA today issued 71 citations against CES Environmental Services Inc., a familiar foe in recent years to safety and environmental federal authorities. This time, the proposed penalties total $1.4 million.
The agency has developed a new Web-based tool and interactive map that allows the public to get detailed information by location about the enforcement actions taken at approximately 4,600 facilities.
The number of reported arsons, which are tracked separately from other property crimes, declined 8.2 percent nationwide during the first half of 2009 when compared with data from the first half of 2008, according to the agency’s preliminary statistics.
The H1N1 pandemic was 2009's biggest safety and health story, but OSHA also grabbed the spotlight last year with a blockbuster $87 million fine. For all of the attention paid to tower crane safety, combustible dusts, crumbling infrastructure, and a jobless recovery, the biggest story of 2000-2009 was Sept. 11, 2001.
EPA completed a short-term cleanup removing asbestos from the former mill building and hazardous substances in drums and containers on the Blackburn & Union Privileges Superfund Site, in Walpole, Mass.
Jackson, Mich., resident Terrence Hicks and Detroit residents Muhammed Al Mahdi and John Saunders pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan for their roles in a $4.2 million Medicare fraud scheme, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI's Detroit Field Office, and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced recently.
The Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has begun enforcing its New Entrant Safety Assurance Process rule, which requires newly registered truck and bus companies to meet stricter safety requirements. This final rule raises the compliance standards for passing new entrant safety audits and requires that new carriers correct safety deficiencies before being granted permanent registration.
Advancing its efforts to improve the federal complaints process, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on a series of discrete changes to discrimination complaint regulations. The agency is soliciting comments from the public and other interested parties by Feb. 19, 2010.
Ivy Hall Assisted Living LLC will pay $43,000 and furnish other relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced recently.
"The resolution of this matter yielded a substantial recovery for taxpayers, and it underscores our commitment to ensure that services reimbursable by federal health care programs are based on the best interests of patients rather than the personal financial interests of referring physicians," said Tony West, assistant attorney general for DOJ’s Civil Division.
Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has settled with Clear Lam Packaging Inc. for alleged violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act requirements for treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste. The Elk Grove, Ill., company will pay a $20,750 penalty and perform an environmental project costing at least $221,000.