The Department of Justice announced recently that it has entered into a consent decree with the City of Portsmouth, Va., that, if approved by the court, will resolve the department's complaint that the City of Portsmouth engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination against black Americans in its hiring of entry-level firefighters, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).
"By complying with these 10 steps, collection site personnel will communicate to employees and employers that their collection site is following DOT procedures for ensuring collection site security," says the agency's Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance.
Judge Harold Baer of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York gave final approval to a sweeping consent decree between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and B & H Foto and Electronics Corp. (B & H), the federal agency.
In a letter released on March 26 by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), Chairman John Bresland urged Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to support worker-safety legislation to protect state, county, and municipal employees in Florida.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, shown here, announced a total of $611 million has been recovered in connection with the partial collapse of the highway tunnel's ceiling, which killed a woman in a car.
"This order reaffirms both the right of employees to raise concerns regarding violations of Securities and Exchange Commission rules and the Labor Department's commitment to take the necessary steps to protect that right," said Ken Atha, OSHA's regional administrator in San Francisco.
Furthering the safety and health of oil and gas industry workers in east Texas, southern Arkansas, and northwest Louisiana is the goal of an alliance signed between OSHA and the Ark La Tex STEPS (Safe Transportation, Exploration and Production Systems) network.
The employee had repeatedly informed the company of suspected violations of federal aviation regulations, including ordering an unqualified pilot to perform a test flight while carrying passengers.
The new Labor secretary said Wednesday that 150 more inspectors are being added to Wage and Hour's field offices.
The agreement with one company focuses on leak detection and repair, the other with control of toluene, a hazardous volatile organic air pollutant that was used as a component of a wash-up solvent.
"This information underscores the need for fundamental transparency and provides a powerful tool for protecting public health and the environment," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "Serving the public’s right to know is the crucial first step in reducing toxic chemicals in the places where we live, work, and raise children."
OSHA began its inspection following a release of steam and heated petroleum coke that occurred the day before while workers were removing refractory brick used for lining furnaces in kiln chambers.
"I'm calling upon the region's employers to review their excavation safety procedures to ensure that no employee enters an excavation unless and until it is properly guarded against collapse," said Arthur Dube, OSHA's area director in Buffalo, N.Y.
Among the site's areas of excellence are proactive efforts to identify and correct hazards to carriers encompassing community involvement, analysis of route hazards, and implementation of a motor vehicle logbook system for vehicle safety.
A Dec. 23, 2008, incident in which two employees were injured when they were struck by a 700-pound forging that shot up in the air while they were attempting to free it from a malfunctioning die on a power press led to the second of two agency inspections.
MSHA recently announced that 15 mine operators from around the country have received letters putting them on notice that each has a potential pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards under Section 104(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act).
MSHA recently announced it has issued penalties totaling $342,800 to Hiawatha Coal Co. for a powered haulage accident last year at the Bear Canyon Mine in Huntington, Utah. A miner was seriously injured in that accident.
The W. Va.-based company was cited for failing to ensure that operating procedures addressed special or unique hazards of the process, failing to conduct adequate inspections on process equipment, and failing to ensure that proper respiratory protection and personal protective equipment were utilized during an emergency response, among other things.
Department of Homeland Security reports that one million port and longshore workers, truckers, and others at ports across the nation have enrolled in its Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The program's goal is to ensure that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a known security threat.
Tricia Smith, currently commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor, is President Obama's choice to defend OSHA and other cases before federal courts. The solicitor's office is DOL's law firm and a key voice in setting the agency's policies.