Effort will promote labor rights of Mexican and other Hispanic workers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut

DENVER The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Wage and Hour Division together have fined Tempel Grain Elevators LLP of Wiley, Colo., more than $1.6 million following the May 29 death of a teenage worker at the company's Haswell, Colo., grain storage operation. The youth suffocated after being engulfed by grain in one of the facility bins. The company also exposed three other teenage workers to the cited hazards.

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has prepared a fact sheet providing crowd control guidelines for retailers to protect workers during major sales events.

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will hold two stakeholder meetings on Dec. 14 to discuss combustible dust workplace hazards.

The meetings will be held at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. EST at the Marriott at Metro Center located at 775 12th St. NW in Washington, D.C.

OSHA will use comments from these meetings and responses to an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in developing a comprehensive standard addressing fire and explosion hazards of combustible dust.

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revised its acetylene standard. A final rule replaces references to outdated industry standards with updated references reflecting current industry practices.

OSHA finds problems identified in report alarming

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) welcomes the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) report on the under-reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses and OSHA's audit process.

The report identifies a number of factors that may contribute to the inaccuracy of employer injury and illness records, as well as problems with the audits that OSHA conducts to ensure their accuracy.

ALBANY, N.Y. – Cranesville Aggregate Co., doing business as Scotia Bag Plant, Scotia, N.Y., faces a total of $509,000 in proposed fines from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The plant, which bags cement and asphalt, has been cited for 33 alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety and health standards following comprehensive OSHA inspections over the past six months.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Loren Cook Co. of Springfield with seven alleged willful and three alleged serious violations after a worker was killed by an ejected machine part on May 13.

CINCINNATI – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited bridge and water tower painter UCL Inc. in Cincinnati with alleged willful, egregious and serious violations of federal workplace safety and health standards for exposing workers to lead. Proposed fines total $321,000.

OSHA began its inspection in May where UCL was abrasive blasting paint from two bridge overpasses on I-75 near Middletown, Ohio. The inspection revealed nine alleged willful and two serious violations.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued commonsense fact sheets that employers and workers can use to promote safety during the current H1N1 influenza outbreak.

The fact sheets inform employers and workers about ways to reduce the risk of exposure to the 2009 H1N1 virus at work. Separate fact sheets for health care workers, who carry out tasks and activities that require close contact with 2009 H1N1 patients, contain additional precautions.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today announced it is issuing $87,430,000 in proposed penalties to BP Products North America Inc. for the companys failure to correct potential hazards faced by employees. The fine is the largest in OSHAs history. The prior largest total penalty, $21 million, was issued in 2005, also against BP.

WASHINGTON – Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that injury and illness rates among private industry employers are down from a total case rate of 4.2 in 2007 to 3.9 in 2008. BLS also reported a decline in non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses from 4 million cases in 2007 to 3.7 million cases in 2008. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement:

"Preventable workplace injuries and illnesses affect millions of American workers every year, many with lifelong effects.

Federal OSHA to review all state plan programs

WASHINGTON – Jordan Barab, acting assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), today told a Congressional committee that the serious shortcomings discovered during his agency's evaluation of the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration's safety program raised concerns about federal OSHA's monitoring of all state plan states.

Federal OSHA to review all state plan programs

Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking solicits comments from public

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in the Oct. 21 edition of the Federal Register as an initial step in development of a standard to address the hazards of combustible dust.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is initiating a national emphasis program (NEP) on recordkeeping to assess the accuracy of injury and illness data recorded by employers.

The recordkeeping NEP involves inspecting occupational injury and illness records prepared by businesses and appropriately enforcing regulatory requirements when employers are found to be under-recording injuries and illnesses.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today awarded more than $6.8 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to 30 recipients, encompassing labor unions, employer associations, colleges and universities, and other nonprofit organizations. The training grants cover a two-year period.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today published in the Federal Register a final rule revising the personal protective equipment (PPE) sections of its general industry, shipyard employment, longshoring and marine terminals standards concerning requirements for eye- and face-protective devices, and head and foot protection.

CHICAGO – Illinois today became the newest state to receive approval from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to administer its own occupational safety and health plan for public employees in the state. A notice appears in today's edition of the Federal Register.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in an effort to crack down on fraudulent trainers, is continuing to strengthen the integrity of its 36-year-old Outreach Training Program by publishing an "Outreach Trainer Watch List" of those who have had their trainer authorizations either revoked or suspended.