LIMA, OH – While cleaning an auger used to rice potatoes, a 39-year-old production worker found her left arm caught in a running auger. The worker suffered multiple lacerations and the partial amputation of her arm. Co-workers had to cut the auger apart to free her arm.  

BIRMINGHAM, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has signed a strategic partnership with Brasfield & Gorrie, in which the agency and construction management firm will promote worker safety and health at the Grandview Physicians Place II project in Birmingham. The University of Alabama’s Safe State program will also support the effort.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Two truck drivers for an Oklahoma City roofing and building products company reported to a manager that the tires on a company truck were unsafe. Concerned about their own safety and that of others on the road, the two drivers refused to operate vehicles with unsafe tires. They were terminated in August 2020.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced today that it has scheduled the eighth annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction for May 3-7, 2021. OSHA encourages construction employers and other stakeholders to join the event to promote awareness and training to address one of the industry’s most serious dangers.

WEST FARMINGTON, OH – A 14-year-old boy working on the roof of a Berea townhome without required fall protection suffered critical injuries when he fell 20-feet to the ground. Immediately following this serious incident, the company’s owner and three other workers put on personal fall arrest equipment to complete the roofing work in an apparent attempt to conceal the fact that fall protection was not in use at the time of the injury.

CANTON, OH – Three stories above ground, five workers moved unsteadily atop a Canton apartment building, all of them at risk of a serious or fatal fall because, once again, their employer failed to ensure they used required safety equipment to protect them from falling. Ivan Lowky – their employer – was also working on the roof without necessary fall protection despite having the equipment available.

SIOUX FALLS, SD – To combat the dangers workers face in trenching operations, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the South Dakota State University Engineering Extension Program and the South Dakota One Call Notification Board signed an alliance on Feb. 19, 2021, to train workers on excavation hazards.

PENSACOLA, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has signed a strategic partnership with Brasfield & Gorrie to promote worker safety and health at the Baptist Health Care Corp.’s Brent Lane Hospital project in Pensacola. The University of South Florida On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program will also support this effort.

GRANDVIEW, MO – Two machine operators at a Grandview auto parts manufacturer who jointly operated a press tested positive for the coronavirus just two days apart, in late August 2020. The two workers typically labored for hours at a time less than two feet apart; neither wore a protective facial mask consistently. Ten days later, two more workers operating similar presses together tested positive. On Sept. 19, 2020, one of the press operators fell victim to the virus and died.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Consulate General of Ecuador in Chicago have signed a two-year alliance to promote workplace safety and health, and share information on U.S. laws and standards, including those relating to workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

COLUMBUS, OH – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has conferred Alliance Program Ambassador status on Buckeye Service, Transmission, Exploration and Production Safety Network in recognition of the organization’s collaborative relationship with OSHA and its commitment to addressing safety and health hazards in Ohio’s oil and gas industry.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration is now overseeing worker retaliation complaints filed under two new whistleblower statutes – the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

OAK GROVE, MO – Barely two years after Arrow Plumbing LLC agreed to adopt a comprehensive trench safety program following the December 2016 death of an employee in an unprotected trench, federal inspectors responding to a complaint in August 2020 found another of the company’s employees working at least 7-feet below ground in an unprotected trench in Grain Valley.

BILLINGS, MT – When OSHA inspectors arrived at Western Bee Supply Inc. in Polson to investigate a recent incident that resulted in a partial finger amputation, they found a workplace with unguarded saw blades, rotating machinery, belts, pulleys and chains.

HUGO, OK – A U.S. Department of Labor workplace safety investigation has found a Hugo rail car products and services provider did not follow federal safety standards for working in confined spaces after two workers died from inhaling toxic fumes.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued stronger worker safety guidance to help employers and workers implement a coronavirus prevention program and better identify risks which could lead to exposure and contraction. Last week, President Biden directed OSHA to release clear guidance for employers to help keep workers safe from COVID-19 exposure.

ALLENTOWN, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) elevated its longstanding alliance with the Lehigh Valley Safety Committee (LVSC), a consortium of organizations in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, to “ambassador” status at a virtual signing ceremony today.

WASHINGTON, DC – Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic through Dec. 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued citations arising from 300 inspections for violations relating to coronavirus, resulting in proposed penalties totaling $3,930,381.

OSHA inspections have resulted in the agency citing employers for violations, including failures to:

WASHINGTON, DC – Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic through Dec. 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued citations arising from 295 inspections for violations relating to coronavirus, resulting in proposed penalties totaling $3,849,222.

OSHA inspections have resulted in the agency citing employers for violations, including failures to:

DENVER, CO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Consulate General of Mexico in Denver, Colorado, have renewed a two-year alliance to provide Mexican nationals with safety training and resources to educate them on their rights and employers’ responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.