Daily Roundup, Friday, October 15

• Lieutenant governor’s family farm has had many safety violations

Early on a winter morning in 2007, a 25-year old Mexican farmhand was crushed beneath a tractor on California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado’s family farm, sparking an investigation that resulted in citations for four workplace safety violations, including failure to have a spotter direct the tractor driver and failure to have someone on the scene with first-aid certification.

• OSHA says stop texting behind the wheel

The leading cause of worker fatalities is motor vehicle crashes. This is such a big problem that the Departments of Labor and Transportation are working together on a solution to one of the biggest causes of car crashes – distracted driving.

• The health risks of condom-free, the business risks of condom-only

One of the porn industry’s greatest concerns has been about the threat of mandatory condom usage for all performers. Production companies claim there’s not much of a market for videos featuring covered performers. Several companies tried the all-condom approach after the industry’s HIV outbreak in 2004.  Apparently the sales results weren’t good.

• Air monitoring firm, 3 employees convicted of fraud in asbestos case

An environmental lab that specialized in certifying the results of asbestos removal work and three of its employees have been convicted of fraud, lying to federal investigators and violating the Clean Air Act.

• State investigating trench-digging accident

A Noblesville, Ind., company could face fines, a state official says, after an injured employee was trapped for more than an hour Thursday in a utility trench being dug in Greenwood.

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Daily Roundup, Thursday, October 14

• Spill panel draft findings fault industry practices, federal oversight

The presidential commission probing the BP oil spill is mulling draft findings that show major gaps in offshore regulations and industry safety practices, but also highlight the importance of domestic production to U.S. security.

• MSHA issues proposed rule on lowering miners’ exposure to respirable coal dust

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced the release of a proposed rule on lowering miners’ exposure to respirable coal dust in all underground and surface coal mines. The proposed rule is the latest element of MSHA’s “End Black Lung – Act Now” campaign.

• Below average incident rates could spark OSHA visit, expert says

If you’re doing too good a job keeping your injury and illnesses rates low, don’t be surprised if you get a visit from the feds. That’s the message from an industry expert.

• California agency says Tesoro-type blast unlikely

California’s worker safety agency said on Wednesday the state’s 11 refineries did not face the hydrogen corrosion problems that led to a deadly April blast at Tesoro Corp’s refinery in Anacortes, Wash.

• In-depth Metro audit finds numerous safety lapses

A comprehensive audit of Metro safety released this week found serious deficiencies in identifying and reporting hazards, acute training shortfalls, track worker safety violations and a lack of security upgrades needed to address the heightened threat of terrorist attacks.

• Airlines, flight schools trying to weaken rule on flying experience

Airline industry officials are trying to water down a safety measure in a law passed this summer by Congress that calls for airline co-pilots to have at least 1,500 hours of flying experience, the same as required of captains.

• Casino dealer’s suit over smoking dangers at Wynn moves forward

A lawsuit claiming Wynn Las Vegas doesn’t do enough to protect employees from second-hand tobacco smoke has survived an early court test, with federal Judge Lloyd George in Las Vegas denying Wynn’s motion that the case be dismissed.

• OSHA fines Postal Service $212,500 for willful safety violations, electrical hazards at Huntington facility

OSHA has cited the U.S. Postal Service for exposing workers to potential electrical hazards at its mail processing facility in Huntington, W.Va. Proposed penalties? $212,500.

• PUC proposes $15,000 fine for Aqua Pa. in blast

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has proposed that Aqua Pennsylvania Inc. pay $15,000 in penalties and improve its safety practices to settle a complaint about an April electrical explosion that injured three employees.

• Worker crushed to death at Nabisco plant on Southwest Side

A 62-year-old man was crushed to death early Wednesday by a machine at the Nabisco Biscuit Co. on the Southwest Side of Chicago, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

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Daily Roundup, Wednesday, October 13

• How politics spilled into policy

In early April, fresh from announcing his decision to allow drilling in previously protected waters, an upbeat President Obama traveled to a battery factory in North Carolina. It was 18 days before BP’s Macondo well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 and leading Obama to halt new deep-water drilling under the just-lifted temporary ban.

• Oil industry not celebrating yet

The moratorium may be over, but oil companies will still have to wait before they can resume deepwater oil and gas drilling in the Gulf. How long, industry and government officials say, will depend on how quickly the industry can implement a raft of new safety and environmental requirements, and how long federal regulators take to confirm that companies’ operations have reached the new, higher standards.

• White House to propose steps to eliminate black lung

The Obama administration on Thursday will propose new rules designed to eliminate black lung, a scourge affecting the nation’s miners.

• Chilean mine rescue highlights declining deaths in a still-hazardous industry

In the U.S., the number of coal mining deaths stood at 3,242 in 1907 versus 18 last year. In U.S. mining overall, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the death toll last year was a record low of 34. This year, however, here have been 60 U.S. mining deaths, including 29 in April’s Upper Big Branch disaster in West Virginia.

• Obama push to unclog backlog of contested mine-safety citations is backfiring

After a West Virginia coal mine explosion in April exposed a weak link in a system designed to identify safety violations, the government has spent $23 million to reform the system. A key objective: reducing a two-year logjam of citations under appeal, to ensure more effective responses from the industry to possible hazards.

• Study finds 1 out of 2 workers making below minimum wage in San Francisco Chinatown restaurants

Chinatown restaurant workers in conjunction with the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) and key research partners will release a study that exposes sweatshop conditions in restaurant workers in the popular tourist district Chinatown.

• Near accidents on airport runways cut in half, FAA says

Good news for fearful fliers: serious runway incursions — that is, near accidents — were cut in half in the U.S. over the past fiscal year. Six serious runway incursions took place at the nation’s airports in the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, versus 12 the previous year, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

• Porn film performer tests positive for HIV

An adult film performer in San Fernando Valley, Calif.’s lucrative porn industry has tested HIV-positive, prompting at least two well-known adult movie production companies to suspend filming as a precaution.

• No fines in Transformers crash that injured extra

Indiana officials will not fine ‘Transformers 3′ production crews or Paramount Pictures over a car crash that seriously injured Chicago extra Gabriela Cedillo.

• Bayer has more problems cleaning chemical tanks

Officials from Bayer CropScience have provided some additional information regarding the leak that prompted an alarm yesterday at the company’s Institute plant in Charleston, W. Va. There’s still no concrete word on how much of two different chemicals — hydrochloric acid and sulfur dioxide — were released in the 6:45 a.m. incident.

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Daily Roundup, Tuesday, October 12

• Obama is reckless and misguided to allow deepwater drilling to resume in Gulf

The Obama administration’s plan to allow oil companies to resume deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is misguided and reckless.

• White House is lifting ban on deepwater drilling

The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that it is immediately lifting a moratorium on deepwater drilling that was imposed after the BP oil spill, as new rules are put in place that are intended to prevent another such disaster.

• OSHA reveals top violations for 2010

OSHA revealed its top-10 most-frequently violated standards for 2010 at the National Safety Council Congress in San Diego last week. It was no surprise that violations of the construction scaffolding standard led the list as it has the last few years with more than 8,000 violations, followed by more than 7,000 violations of the construction fall protection standard.

• DOE cites Savannah River Nuclear Solutions for worker safety, health violations

The Department of Energy has issued a Preliminary Notice of Violation (PNOV) to Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC (SRNS) for five violations of DOE’s worker safety and health regulations and withheld $3.08 million in contract fee for significant failures in safety performance, including the matters associated with this enforcement action.

• Solar installer’s death points to job hazards in a growing, green industry

Hans Petersen took a deadly misstep in April while checking his work on a rooftop solar power installation atop a Northern California public housing complex. Petersen, working without a safety harness or a barrier to prevent a fall, tumbled off the pitched roof and landed three stories below on a concrete walkway.

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Daily Roundup, Monday, October 11

• Paycheck Fairness Act poised to beef up women’s rights at work

Washington has studiously avoided pro-labor legislation all year, but come November, the Senate may finally get around to some unfinished business for women in the workplace. The Paycheck Fairness Act, slated for consideration after the election break, would plug critical loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act and help narrow the gender wage gap.

• Study links Massachusetts ban on workplace smoking to decline in fatal heart attacks

A new study has found that fatal heart attacks in Massachusetts declined by 7.4 percent following the state’s 2004 ban on smoking in the workplace.

• Inspectors rarely surprised oil rigs

Surprise inspections of deepwater drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico dwindled to about three a year over the past decade, even as exploratory drilling far from shore increased, according to federal data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal.

• Obama admin says new offshore safety rules may delay oil drilling, raise gas prices

The Obama administration is acknowledging that its new offshore drilling safety regulations will raise costs for the oil and gas industry — and may also delay some offshore development, slightly increase gas prices and kill some jobs.

• New law to strengthen Cal/OSHA citation process

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed into law AB 2774 (Swanson) which clarifies the definition of a serious citation. The new law is designed to improve Cal/OSHA’s citation process by redefining how serious violations are cited.

• FDA receives complaints associated with the use of Brazilian blowout

FDA has been notified by some state and local organizations of reports from salons about problems associated with the use of Brazilian Blowout, a product used to straighten hair. Complaints include eye irritation, breathing problems and headaches. State and local organizations with authority over the operation of salons are currently investigating these reports.

• Packaging plant penalized for 60 alleged violations; faces $137K fine

OSHA has cited Amgraph Packaging Inc., which manufactures and distributes packaging for food and tobacco products, for 60 serious and other-than-serious violations of workplace safety and health standards at its plant in Versailles, Conn.

• Briggs & Stratton faces workplace safety fine

A spate of worker injuries has a federal agency proposing a $78,000 fine against McDonough’s Briggs & Stratton in Atlanta, Ga.

• Man dies from fall off a construction beam at store

A Sacramento man who was killed in a fall from a construction beam in San Mateo, Calif., Friday morning was working on the renovation of the Safeway store in the Woodlake Shopping Center, a spokesman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health said.

 

• Two workers rescued after fall inside Hollywood water tank

A delicate rescue operation is going on 150 feet in the air over Hollywood, Fla., to save two rescue workers who fell into the giant water tank that looms above Interstate 95.

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Daily Roundup, Friday, October 8

• Are federal contractors a bunch of scrooges?

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just released a study of the extent to which federal contractors violate federal laws ensuring workers receive fair wages, have the right to join unions and are safe from workplace hazards. Despite its narrow scope and various logistical problems that hampered data analysis, the study still shows that the system is chock full of contractors with questionable labor law compliance records.

• Safety violations found at W. Virginia coal mine

A surprise inspection has turned up serious safety violations that could have caused an explosion at another Massey Energy coal mine in West Virginia, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said Thursday.

• Doubts raised about BP study

BP PLC’s lawyers helped prepare its internal investigation into its Gulf of Mexico drilling disaster, according to the report’s lead author, raising questions about the study’s impartiality.

• Safety net eludes some oil workers

Like many along the Gulf Coast made jobless by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, rig worker Joe Gonzales figured he could turn to one of BP PLC’s compensation funds for help. He was wrong. As BP’s billions are spread along the Gulf Coast to compensate everyone from bartenders to real-estate brokers for lost income, employees of one industry are left out: shallow-water rig workers who, unlike their deep-water counterparts, are ineligible.

• Chalmette Refining worker dies on the job; chemical leak contained

Several investigations are underway into how a man died inside a Chalmette, La., refinery. Gregory Starkey, 33, a contract worker at the refinery, died while working on a hydrogen sulfide leak yesterday.

• San Bruno gas blast gives ammunition to critics of industry risk assessment

As federal investigators examine last month’s deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, engineering experts already have a strong sense of what went wrong and say the evidence calls into question widely used industry estimates of pipeline safety.

• Air ambulance crashes spur new flight safety proposals

In response to a rash of accidents in recent years, the Federal Aviation Administration has proposed new safety and training requirements for pilots of emergency medical helicopters.

• Blumenauer asks feds to investigate hair-care products with formaldehyde

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., on Tuesday asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate two hair-smoothing products shown in recent Oregon tests to contain high levels of formaldehyde, even when labeled “formaldehyde-free.”

• ‘Drive safety work week’ kicks off to promote safe driving

A study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that traffic accidents are a leading cause of workplace death and injury, and cost almost $100 billion annually in lost productivity and medical expenses. Most of the accidents caused on the roads are due to phone-related distractions.

• School district fined $7,700 after appeal

The district initially faced more than $44,000 in fines from the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration after the group’s investigation into the death of sprinkler system specialist James Jeffredo, who was electrocuted while doing maintenance work on a school irrigation system.

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Daily Roundup, Thursday, October 7

• Study: Reducing OSHA penalties didn’t lead companies to fix hazards

The Office of Inspector General of the Labor Department, by way of an audit, sought to answer the question: Has OSHA effectively evaluated the impact of penalty reduction incentives on workplace safety and health?

• OSHA investigative unit woefully inadequate

After a one year review period of over 1,200 cases from 2009-2010, the OIG found that 80% of whistleblower investigations did not meet one or more standards in OSHA’s own Whistleblower Investigations Manual; OSHA only found merit for 2% of retaliation complaints; OSHA issued final rulings without conducting any face to face interviews in nearly half its “investigations”; and only 21% of cases settled prior to a ruling.

• Medical student distress and the risk of doctor suicide

For several decades now, studies have consistently shown that physicians have higher rates of suicide than the general population — 40 percent higher for male doctors and a staggering 130 percent higher for female doctors.

• California pipeline blast puts focus on oversight

The natural-gas explosion that devastated a Northern California neighborhood has turned a spotlight on the state’s oversight of pipeline maintenance and safety.

• Can noise be deadly?

Is working in a noisy environment bad for your health? A new study suggests that it is.

• Feds threaten to take over workplace safety

The federal government is threatening to take over enforcement of workplace safety and health regulations from the state because of what the U.S. Labor Department calls “serious performance problems.” Workplace inspections in Hawaii have fallen 90 percent in the 25 years since the state took over regulation of workplace safety from the federal government.

• OSHA orders reinstatement of fired Florida whistleblower

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered a Fort Myers, Fla., trucking company to reinstate an employee who was fired after calling attention to safety problems and refusing to drive two trucks that were unsafe.

• OSHA hits Tuscola plant with four citations, $81,900 fine

The Equistar Chemicals plant in Tuscola has been fined $81,900 and issued four safety citations following a March 22 explosion and fire at the plant.

• Niagara Falls co. fined $75K in job fatality

The penalty was announced Thursday by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the death of Peter Neville, 40, of Niagara Falls, who was crushed to when he became caught between a fixed metal barrier and a large paper roll that was moving on a conveyor.

• Exxon Louisiana refinery has hydrogen sulfide leak

Hydrogen sulfide, a hazardous material which in high concentrations can result in death, is leaking from an Exxon refinery in Chalmette, La.

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Daily Roundup, Wednesday, October 6

• OSHA too lenient in cutting fines for safety violations, report says

A “penalty” from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is usually just the opening offer in a negotiation, a starting point for the agency and the company in its crosshairs. Inevitably, the two parties whittle down the initial figure to a number that the offending company agrees to pay. But a new report from the inspector general of the Labor Department, of which OSHA is a part, says that many of the cuts in penalties are made without cause.

• Audit finds staffing shortage at Ind. OHSA program

Funding and staffing shortages in Indiana’s Occupational Safety and Health program have been serious enough that they raise concerns about the agency’s ability to enforce workplace safety standards, according to a federal audit.

• OSHA chief calls for support of proposed injury prevention reg

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s rule under development to require employers to have injury and illness prevention plans is a “regulatory effort you should get behind,” OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels told an audience of safety managers at the National Safety Congress Oct. 5 in San Diego.

• OSHA, MSHA chiefs highlight ‘ambitious’ regulatory agendas

The importance of collaboration and sharing common goals was the message Tuesday during the Occupational Keynote at the NSC’s Congress & Expo. Assistant Secretary of Labor Dr. David Michaels and Assistant Secretary of Labor for mine safety and health Joseph Main both outlined their agencies’ “ambitious” regulatory agendas.

• Prison workers demand pay for hazardous exposures as long-running dispute turns toxic

A government-owned company that runs electronics recycling plants at federal prisons from New Jersey to California is coming under intensified scrutiny for repeatedly exposing prison employees and inmate laborers to excessive levels of lead and other toxic metals.

• EPA offers chance to speak out against hexavalent chromium

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced a 60-day public comment period and a public listening session for the draft human health assessment of a toxicological review of hexavalent chromium. Hexavalent chromium (Cr6), a metal used in many industries – including automotive service and repair due to welding, sanding and grinding of some motor vehicle parts – can be toxic and is considered to be a carcinogen when inhaled.

• Washington Hospital Center nurses’ labor dispute reflects tensions across U.S.

It was bad when the Washington Hospital Center fired 18 nurses during last winter’s blizzards. It got worse when the nurses union and management failed to negotiate a new contract in the summer. Then last week, the hospital effectively cut take-home pay for most nurses. As WHC nurses voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to join the largest nurses union in the country, labor relations at the area’s biggest hospital were tense.

• Tesoro’s long list of willful violations at its Anacortes refinery

A record fine for the lethal explosion that claimed seven lives in April at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes makes one statement. The stark, unequivocal language used to describe the company’s failure to adequately manage the plant and protect its workers speaks even louder.

• NY Mills company faces 34 serious OSHA violations

The Fountainhead Group faces $83,650 in fines after a federal agency inspected the plant and uncovered nearly three dozen violations of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act.

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Daily Roundup, Tuesday, October 5

• GAO: Top labor law violators receive millions in federal contracts

Contractors that reap billions of dollars in federal contracts also are among the top violators of federal wage, labor, and workplace safety laws, a new investigation finds.

• Why is Obama’s reg czar reviewing non-significant worker safety rules?

OSHA’s asst. secretary David Michaels is the first to admit that OSHA’s rulemaking process is broken. It takes far too long to get a new rule on the books to protects workers from known hazards that cause injuries and illnesses.

• Despite crackdown, nine men have died in U.S. mines since Upper Big Branch

In the weeks after the worst U.S. coal-mining accident in 40 years, federal safety inspectors showed up repeatedly at a mine that snakes under the West Virginia hills: Loveridge No. 22.

• US Labor Department’s OSHA reaches out to prevent distracted driving

In conjunction with Drive Safely Work Week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration yesterday announced an education campaign calling on employers to prevent work-related distracted driving, with a special focus on prohibiting texting while driving.

• Whistleblowing: Guard against tragedy

Whistleblowers protect the health and safety of working Americans by exposing unsafe conditions. They save lives. Yet some employers punish and fire whistleblowers. The federal government should protect them, but often doesn’t.

• Serving while sick: Germs spread by restaurant workers’ lack of healthcare, paid time off

When choosing a restaurant to patronize, you usually weigh a number of factors: price, style of food, word-of-mouth recommendations, ambiance. But what about your likelihood of catching germs from an ill cook or waitress who could not take a paid sick day?

• OSHA cites local firm for safety violations

A suburban Toledo construction firm is facing as much as $135,800 in fines from federal worker safety officials for allegedly exposing its workers to trench cave-in hazards at two excavation sites in April and May.

• Blender company cited $120,600 for crushing, electrical hazards

OSHA has cited Consolidated Blenders Inc., doing business as Shoftstall Alfalfa in Odessa, Neb., with one alleged willful and 24 alleged serious violations for exposing workers to inadvertent machinery startups and other safety hazards.

• AK Steel cited, fined for ‘willful’ worker safety violations

AK Steel Corp. is being accused of “blatant disregard for the safety” of its workers by the OSHA area director and faces fines of $53,000 as a result.

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Daily Roundup, Monday, October 4

• Big Oil’s spill fleet may lag deep-water drilling by 3 months

The biggest U.S. and European oil companies may not assemble a fleet of spill-response vessels that can handle a disaster like BP Plc’s Macondo blowout until March, three months after the deep-water drilling ban in the Gulf of Mexico is scheduled to expire.

• Evidence needed to overturn moratorium

There have been some big developments in the fight to put oil rig workers back to work in the deep water. A U.S. district judge ruled late last Thursday that he needs more evidence before he decides whether to overturn the drilling moratorium.

• OSHA protection of whistleblowers flayed again in government report

Federal investigators are taking turns pummeling the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over its lackluster protection of whistleblowers. Two weeks after a highly critical report by the Government Accountability Office, the Labor Department’s inspector general has weighed in — saying OSHA fails to properly investigate complaints of reprisals against employees who report safety hazards or other violations.

• Mining industry worried more about new regs than new laws passing

A leading voice for the mining lobby predicted this past weekend that partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill would all but ensure that Congress won’t pass new miner protections anytime soon. Instead, said National Mining Association (NMA) CEO Hal Quinn, the industry should be most wary of new regulations flowing from the White House, which is eying a number of reforms affecting the nation’s mining companies.

• Disaster probe frustrates miners, families

Six months after the worst U.S. coal-mine disaster in 40 years, the cause of the explosion at Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch mine remains unknown and some workers and their families remain frustrated by the lack of progress.

• $2.38 million fine for Wash. state refinery blast

A deadly explosion in April at Tesoro Corp.’s oil refinery in Anacortes could have been prevented if the company had tested its equipment properly and followed other safety regulations, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries said Monday.

• Federal audit knocks state’s safety, health program

A federal audit of Indiana’s Occupational Safety and Health program raises serious concerns about a shortage of funding and staffing necessary to properly enforce workplace safety standards.

• Only in N.C. are violations not serious

This newspaper has repeatedly documented the shortcomings of North Carolina’s Labor Department under Berry. Now federal regulators are detailing new findings that suggest Berry’s department goes too easy on companies where serious safety violations result in workers being hurt or killed.

• Major IT vendors violated labor laws

Federal auditors identified three information technology contractors that each racked up more than $90,000 in fines for violating health or wage regulations, as part of an investigation of 15 suppliers with prior offenses that received awards totaling more than $6 billion in 2009.

• Employee rights short takes: New evidence of gender pay gap, race discrimination, disability discrimination and more

Women made little progress in climbing into management positions according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

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