Enforcement


Get Ready for More Aggressive OSHA, Foulke Warns

The former OSHA chief and Fisher & Phillips LLP colleague Howard A. Mavity presented a webinar today in which they advised employers to review their corporate policies for disciplining workers who violate safety standards. Foulke said employers shouldn't ignore routine areas such as recordkeeping, lockout/tagout, and PPE, job safety analyses.

Burger King to Pay $85,000 for Teen Harassment

The suit asserted that Joyner complained about the harassment to her assistant managers, who failed to take appropriate action to stop the unlawful conduct.

United Airlines to Pay $850,000 for Disability Discrimination

"Disability does not mean inability," said EEOC San Francisco District Director Michael Baldonado. "The ADA encourages us all to focus on opening doors to all a worker can do and discourages the closing of doors through restrictive stereotypes about disabilities, such as what you may think that person cannot do."

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis

DOL Withdraws Diacetyl Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said this step facilitates the convening of a small business advocacy review panel to determine the impact a proposed rule might have on small businesses and how those impacts can be reduced.

DOL Proposes Nine-Month Suspension of H-2A rule

On March 13, the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration announced the proposed suspension for nine months of a final rule implementing changes to the H-2A program, which allows U.S. agricultural businesses to employ foreign workers in temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs.

Roofing Fatality Leads to Willful Citation against Contractor

In addition, eight serious violations include management's failure to provide a warning line system around the entire perimeter of the roof, failure to provide a path of access to the hoisting area, improper use of ladders, and lack of employee training.

Sugar Producer Fined for Combustible Dust Hazards

Other alleged violations of the Florida company include not developing lockout/tagout procedures on packaging machines to prevent accidental machinery start-up; exposing employees to electrical hazards; and using high-pressure compressed air for cleaning purposes.

OSHA Schedules March Maritime Advisory Committee Meeting

The Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH) will hold a meeting March 24, 2009, to discuss its goals for the next two years and to review accomplishments achieved during the last two years. These accomplishments include developing shipyard and longshoring industry guidance documents and digests, expanding the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) shipyard eTool module, and publishing a Safety and Health Prevention Sheet.



a motorcyclist who is wearing a helmet

Interactive Maps Track Helmet, Camera Laws

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety posted the maps last week, allowing anyone to know which three states have no laws on their books requiring motorcyclists or bicyclists to wear protective helmets.

Illinois Beach State Park

Illinois Safety Engineer Warns of Asbestos Exposure at State Beach

"The dredging of toxic asbestos contaminated sand continues in Illinois, spreading increased risk of mesothelioma cancer rates that are already elevated when compared to the national average. How high must the body count get?" Jeffery C. Camplin, CSP, CPEA, asked the House Committee on Science and Technology's Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee on Thursday.

DOL Sues Pennsylvania Benefit Firms, Lawyers for Alleged Abuses

The Department of Labor has sued Penn-Mont Benefit Services Inc. of Bridgeport; its owner, John Koresko V; Koresko's law firms; and an attorney for the firms over alleged improper administration of death benefit plans marketed nationwide. The defendants allegedly underpaid benefits to participants, improperly withdrew more than $1 million in plan assets from the plans' trust, and illegally used assets to pay unreasonable and unnecessary lobbying expenses (Solis v. Koresko, Civil Action Number 2:09-cv-00988).

Renewed Alliance Addresses Trenching, Excavation Hazards

Through the partnership, APCa has developed 10 fact sheets so far, all describing best safety practices when working with equipment such as backhoes, sidebooms, and trenching machines.

a knife

UK Knife Crackdown: Hospitalizations Down, Jail Sentences Up

The Ministry of Justice launched a program last October targeting 10 areas in England and Wales. Individuals given immediate jail sentences for possession rose by 23 percent, to 1,386, in the October-December 2008 quarter.

Turkey Feed Producer Gobbles OSHA's Praise

The California, Mo.-based company, which produces bulk turkey feed for 197 independent producers, earned VPP recognition after implementing a comprehensive employee safety and health management system in accordance with VPP standards, which exceed minimum OSHA standards.

Oregon OSHA Administrator Michael Wood

Oregon's Fatalities Rose 25 Percent Last Year

Oregon OSHA Administrator Michael Wood, shown here, announced the 2008 total, 44, on Tuesday at the 2009 Oregon Governor's Occupational Safety and Health Conference in Salem.

New FDA Guidance for Food Makers Using Peanut-Derived Products

Separately, numerous news organizations report President Obama will soon nominate Dr. Margaret A. "Peggy" Hamburg to be FDA administrator.

Over Victims' Protest, Houston Judge OKs $50 Million BP Fine

U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal, who approved the fine, said she had no authority to alter the deal submitted to her and cannot make the Texas City refinery safe, The Houston Chronicle reported today.

Construction Company to Pay $325,000 for National Origin Harassment, Retaliation

The EEOC’s complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona charged that employees Leonard Lopez and Juan Campos were subjected to harassment based on their national origin (Mexican) and retaliation for complaining about it.

Fatal Trench Collapse Leads to $201,600 Penalty for Excavator

Following an investigation of the Sept. 12, 2008, incident that killed four workers, the company has been charged with violating the OSH Act.

Georgia Commercial Shipper Sentenced for Hazmat Violations

The company and its owner were indicted for shipping chemicals via United Parcel Service and Federal Express on multiple occasions without declaring the chemicals as hazmat. The owner's activities were discovered when a shipment leaked onboard an aircraft causing the entire aircraft to be unloaded and cleaned.

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