Drivers who already have FAST cards will not be subject to the duplicate background check, but are still required to obtain the TWIC card.
The investigation found no structural problems with the tower; rather, the tragedy was the result of a system that allowed the operator to restart the turbine after service while the blades were locked in a hazardous position, according to the agency.
"If you ignore a judge's order of removal, ICE will find you, arrest you, and you will be returned to your home country," said Julie L. Myers, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE, last week.
An new feature on MSHA's online Data Retrieval System allows users to access specific data about violations per inspection day.
Cleve Allen George was sentenced to 33 months in prison for multiple violations of the Clean Air Act and false statements related to the demolition of a low-income housing neighborhood.
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.