Daily Roundup, Tuesday, November 30

• Spill-related ailments decline as oil is weatherized

Health complaints from the BP spill waned this fall but itchy rashes and headaches haven’t completely disappeared.

• Employee rights short takes: Supreme Court hears equal protection case, firing for Facebook posts may be illegal & more

The Supreme Court of Texas cleared the way for Dr. Neal Fisher, a Dallas physician, to collect his 9.8 million dollar verdict against an anesthesia group of which he was a shareholder and founding member. Fisher sued the group for defamation and breach of contract when it falsely accused him of alcohol and drug abuse after he raised concerns about an increasing volume of patient complaints and questionable billing practices.

• Underscoring passenger safety, pilots ask ‘who’s flying your plane?’

Pilots strongly object to United Airlines and Continental expanding their fleet of smaller aircraft, commonly referred as regional jets. These jets are generally flown by lower-paid and less-experienced pilots.

• Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. charged with willful safety violations

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking fines of $206,500 against Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., accusing the company of willful and serious violations following an incident in which a worker suffered serious burns at its Cooper’s Findlay, Ohio, plant.

• OSHA fines U.S. Postal Service in Des Moines $46,200

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the U.S. Postal Service Processing and Distribution Center in Des Moines, Iowa, for two alleged serious and one alleged repeat violation of federal workplace safety standards for failing to properly train workers on powered industrial truck hazards.

• OSHA fines local excavating company $49K

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Mikesell Excavating Inc., an excavating contractor located in New Paris, with one alleged willful and two serious safety violations for failing to protect workers from cave-ins during trenching operations at a jobsite located in Hamilton, Ohio.

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Daily Roundup: Monday, November 29

• Scientists, drilling experts say BP valued speed over safety in oil rig disaster

A group of 60 scientists and independent offshore drilling experts has challenged a major conclusion by the national Oil Spill Commission, saying that BP did indeed compromise safety in the name of profits when it made certain decisions that precipitated the disastrous BP oil well blowout in April.

• W. Va. mine blast: Coal firm had worst safety record

Despite its claims that its safety record was “average,” no U.S. coal company had a worse fatality record than Massey Energy Co., even before an explosion at its Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia killed 29 on April 5, according to an analysis by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.

• OSHA fines U.S. Postal Service $220K for hazards at facility near LAX

The U.S. Postal Service’s South Bay mail processing facility is facing $220,000 in federal fines for 16 alleged violations that showed a “blatant disregard,” for worker safety, federal officials said last week.

• Blair Mtn. Thanksgiving: Will Sen. Joe Manchin and nation thank coal miners or Massey Energy?

As we huddle around our Thanksgiving dinner tables, reflecting on the bounty of our nation, recently elected US Sen. Joe Manchin will have the choice to either break bread with West Virginia coal miners or dine at the table of the faltering and violation-ridden Richmond-based Massey Energy company.

• Public comment sought on coal mine dust rule

Inhaling coal mine dust causes black lung, and now the public is invited to hearings about new standards meant to reduce miner’s exposure to coal dust. The MSHA will hold six public hearings from December through January. Members of the public may speak at the hearings. Members of the public do not have to register to speak, and may submit comments in other ways.

• Bull Mountain Mine to respond to federal safety warning

The Bull Mountain Mine near Roundup will respond to a recent safety warning from federal regulators with a plan to address issues raised, a mine official said last week.

• Time for an upgrade? Labor rights fall short in Facebook firing

With the emergence of social media, workplace conversations that used to take place near the water cooler have shifted to the Internet. More people are using platforms like Twitter and Facebook to vent frustrations about their jobs, and several labor cases have emerged recently where individuals have been punished for comments posted online.

• A closer look: Brazilian Blowout formaldehyde questions continue

Laboratory tests revealed the straightening solution in Brazilian Blowout contained dangerously high levels of the chemical formaldehyde, which can cause respiratory problems, skin reactions, headaches and more. Here’s a closer look at the risks to salon workers and their clients if hair-straightening products do indeed contain formaldehyde.

• Assault breaks Oregon State Hospital staffer’s ankle

An Oregon State Hospital security employee sustained facial fractures and a broken ankle when he was attacked by a jail inmate undergoing a mental evaluation at the new hospital in Salem.

• Mayor asks Lincoln police to investigate fatal mowing accident

More than three months after a worker was crushed and killed by a lawn mower, the city is conducting its second investigation — this time by the Lincoln Police Department.

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Daily Roundup, Tuesday, November 23

• TSA: Pilots’ junk off limits, flight attendants’ fair game

The TSA agreed on Friday to exempt pilots from invasive security pat-downs. Last week, two major pilots’ unions demanded that their members be exempted from new rules that require passengers to submit to an invasive body search if they refuse to pass through the new backscatter x-ray machines.

• Black Friday, Cyber Monday: Holiday shopping rush brings risks

Americans’ spending hits a fever pitch during the holidays and two days in particular – “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” – leave retailers and consumers vulnerable to different exposures.

• Nevada OSHA offers tips for handling ‘Black Friday’ crowds

The day after Thanksgiving, commonly known as ‘Black Friday’, is one of the busiest shopping days of the holiday season. Crowds of bargain hunters can grow dangerously large and unruly. The Nevada Occupational Health & Safety Section (OSHA) of the Division of Industrial Relations urges retailers to follow federal OSHA’s crowd control guidance to prevent injuries or worse.

• Study calls for improved military helmets to prevent brain injuries

The helmet worn by American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan does little to protect against brain injuries.

• Assaults on nursing assistants

Nursing assistants are a critical part of the dedicated staff who work day and night in nursing homes to keep residents safe, secure, cared-for, and comfortable. Yet the very workers ensuring the safety of our seniors are themselves at risk for workplace violence and assaults.

• The Record: Binding wounds

All those who worked at Ground Zero rendered a crucial service in our darkest hour. So we are glad to see some relief, in the form of a settlement worth at least $625 million to be paid by New York City.

• Utica police conclude investigation into fireworks death

The American Fireworks Manufacturing Co. employee killed Saturday during the annual Christmas on Main Street looked down the tube of a firework at the same time the shell shot out, Utica Public Safety Commissioner Daniel LaBella said Monday.

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Daily Roundup, Monday, November 22

• BP: Busy promoting a culture of recklessness

In just five short months, on April 20, 2011, we will commemorate the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and we will honor the 11 individuals who lost their lives that day. These 11 brothers, fathers, sons, and husbands died because BP’s culture of recklessness, a corporate approach willingly accepts significant risk to BP’s employees, the environment, and countless innocent individuals whose livelihoods could be lost by the company’s actions.

• The Wall Street snitch pitch

An unlikely ad has been getting screen time in Manhattan movie theaters that cater to a Wall Street crowd. Alluding to “the new Dodd/Frank banking reform law,” it informs viewers that by exposing financial fraud they can earn substantial rewards – 10 to 30 percent of the money recovered by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

• New York law makes assaulting a nurse a felony

For nurses in New York state, Nov. 1 represented a victory for on-the-job safety. It was the day that the Violence Against Nurses law took effect, making it a felony to assault an on-duty RN or LPN.

• Report: Nuclear weapon drivers drank on the job

Federal agents responsible for driving nuclear weapons and other sensitive materials sometimes got drunk and were detained by police while on the job, according to a new watchdog report.

• IOM issues new report on personal protective technologies

In 2009, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) assess the certification methods needed to ensure the effectiveness of non-respirator personal protective technologies (PPT). The report released Nov. 11, 2010 identified gaps and inconsistencies in the certification and other conformity assessment processes for non-respirator PPT and urged that this issue be explored further.

• 11 work place violations to Ky. firing range issued

The Kentucky Labor Cabinet’s Occupational Safety and Health Compliance (KyOSH) office has issued citations and fines to Lost Lodge Properties LLC, dba Bluegrass Indoor Range in Louisville. The Louisville, Ky., range was issued four failure-to-abate, three repeat serious, three serious, and one non-serious violations for lead, electrical, hazard communication and respirator hazards. The fines associated with the citations total $372,000.

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Daily Roundup, Thursday, November 18

• Expert panel says cost-cutting did contribute to BP oil disaster

An expert panel investigating the BP oil spill has concluded that managers on the doomed Deepwater Horizon rig made a series of terrible decisions leading up to the disaster. But in a departure from previous findings, the interim report by a committee of the National Research Council concludes that cost considerations by BP may have played a significant role.

• Regulators tell retailers to keep mobs in check

The annual Black Friday shopping extravaganza means bargains for shoppers. But it’s also a potential disaster for retailers when hundreds of shoppers push and shove in the pre-dawn hours the day after Thanksgiving so they can be first to grab deeply discounted televisions, video gaming systems or must-have toys. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has put retailers on notice: They risk financial penalties if they don’t put good crowd control procedures in place.

• Pilots’ unions say ‘no’ to invasive TSA airport scans

The nation’s largest pilot’s union, the Allied Pilots’ Association, urged its 11,500 members to boycott the TSA’s whole body scanners, which use x-rays to render a very lifelike nude portrait of the subject. Dave Bates, president of the Allied Pilots Association, told ABC News that pilots are already exposed to high levels of radiation simply from flying.

• Friendly neighborhood deathtrap

Theater is physical and often involves myriad hazards: trapdoors, moving sets, smoke machines, raked stages, simulated violence, even flying. So the risk of injury to actors, from Off-Off-Broadway to the latest megaproduction on the Main Stem, is always real. But as shows push the envelope, whether through physical action or special effects, are actors more at risk?

• AHA asks OSHA not to regulate residents’ hours

The American Hospital Association has sent a letter to OSHA Administrator Dr. David Michaels asking that OSHA deny a recent petition requesting that it set and enforce duty hours for resident physicians.

• OSHA’s new push on combustible dust and lint … and what laundries need to know

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has recently taken more action to impose fines and enforce regulations concerning combustible dust and lint in laundry facilities. This extra attention has translated into a regulatory push for higher standards and the potential for significant fines for lack of compliance.

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Daily Roundup, Wednesday, November 17

• Senators Snowe, Enzi express concern over OSHA regulatory changes

Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-WY) called on Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, in a letter, to commit to a collaborative approach in enforcing the goals of achieving worker safety without inhibiting small business job creation.

• OSHA poised to act on chemical hazards

After decades of dysfunction, OSHA is poised to do something about their badly outdated rules for occupational exposures to chemical hazards. Millions of U.S. workers are exposed to chemicals every day at work… yet most standards for chemicals on OSHA’s books date back more than 40 years.

• OSHA fines Postal Service $287,000 for willful safety violations, electrical hazards at Bluefield facility

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration just announced it has fined the Postal Service $287,000 for alleged safety violations at a mail processing facility in Bluefield, W.Va.

• OSHA cites Cleveland manufacturer for 15 alleged safety violations

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Precision Production Inc., a manufacturer of fabricated components in Cleveland, with 15 alleged safety violations. The company faces penalties totaling $149,250.

• State fines Harborview, says security guards ill-equipped to deal with danger

Washington state has fined Harborview Medical Center more than $13,000 for serious worker safety violations, saying the hospital has left its security guards ill-equipped to deal with dangers ranging from violent citizens to explosives.

• Feds: Sullivan quarry owner won’t comply with inspections

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a court complaint against a local man in connection with multiple alleged workplace safety violations at a granite quarry he owns and operates on Track Road in Sullivan, Maine.

• Concord: Wood chipper accident kills tree trimmer

A tree trimmer was killed in a freak accident in Concord, Calif., when a rope to which he was attached became entangled in a wood chipper, authorities said Tuesday.

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Daily Roundup, Tuesday, November 16

• Chamber to unveil pro-business lobbying effort

After spending a record amount this election season to change the balance of power in Washington, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce this week plans to announce a pro-business agenda that will include attacking federal regulations in four areas: labor, energy, healthcare and financial services.

• 4 months and counting: when will Obama’s Regulatory Czar free OSHA’s injury surveillance rule?

On January 29, OSHA proposed a simple revision to a paper form—called the OSHA 300 log—on which some U.S. employers are required to record work-related injuries. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects a sample of these forms annually to estimate national rates of work-related injuries. The change proposed by OSHA involves adding a column to the form so that work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) would be distinguished from other conditions like amputations, burns, fractures, etc.

• Betting on workers’ rights lawsuits: a lucrative gamble?

The New York Times reported Monday on a striking phenomenon that is both highly disturbing and a potential boon for lawsuits regarding workplace health and safety. The Times describes the recent rise of financial institutions financing lawsuits as a form of investment, putting up money for lawyers, experts and legal costs and collecting interest on these loans, interest that continues to accrue as legal proceedings drag on or settlements are slow in coming.

• Report: state workplace violence up, agencies ignoring 2006 law

Do you feel physically safe at work? A new report from the Subcommittee on Workplace Safety shows that while about half of state agencies and public authorities haven’t provided employees with workplace violence prevention training as required by the Workplace Violence Prevention Law.

• Vigilance can help stem tide of robberies

Like two-bit Willie Suttons, the burglars go where the money is: gas stations and convenience stores. Convenience store workers, especially those who work at night, are among the occupational groups most at risk for workplace injury or homicide, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

• SeaWorld will replace ‘Believe’ with a new killer-whale show next year

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment will launch a new killer-whale show next spring in its three U.S. marine parks, as it attempts to move beyond the February death of a trainer that has shadowed the company for nearly a year.

• Amanpour, major media, ignored Honeywell lockout as CEO toured India with Obama

Noted labor historian Joe Burns has called the lockout of 230 workers at the Honeywell uranium processing facility in Metropolis, Ill., the highest profile ongoing labor dispute in the country right now. Despite this, not a single major news outlet outside of the Huffington Post has covered the story.

• Former Metro employee: telling truth cost my job

A former Metro Nashville employee said a city agency fired him for blowing the whistle on worker safety. The firing comes a month after the 16-year veteran of the Metro Transit Authority spoke to the Channel 4 I-Team for a story about how workers said they were trapped during the May flood. A current member of the city’s transportation committee said he believes Aaron Rahman is being retaliated against by MTA.

• Wildhaven faces new state probe

California workplace safety officials are reviewing a long list of allegations of unsafe working conditions and practices that may endanger visitors, leveled at Wildhaven Ranch last month by former employees and volunteers.

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Daily Roundup, Monday, November 15

• Green, labor groups offer lame-duck wish list

Green and labor groups Monday offered up a seven-item wish list for Congress to pass in the lame-duck session beginning this week. The list includes familiar items aimed at renewable energy and efficiency standards as well as energy industry worker health and safety.

• A culture of carelessness

Though its final report is two months away, the presidential commission investigating the gulf oil spill is beginning to confirm what we already suspected and feared. The April blowout on the Deepwater Horizon was not some unfortunate occurrence. It was the result of a series of bad decisions by companies less concerned about safety than about finishing a project that was over budget and 38 days behind schedule.

• As glow of Chilean rescue fades, mining deaths continue

The day after one of the rescued Chilean miners was celebrated on national TV running the New York Marathon, two other Chilean miners were killed and at least five injured in a dynamite explosion at an illegal mine not far from the site of the famous rescue in the Atacama desert.

• EPA finds minimal dioxin risk from oil burning in the Gulf of Mexico

The controlled burns of floating oil after the BP well disaster contained minimal levels of hazardous dioxins, according to reports by the Environmental Protection Agency that found the risk to clean-up workers and nearby communities is small.

• Gov. agencies hosting New York City summit for Latino and Immigrant worker safety

The U.S Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced Friday that the agency is co-sponsoring a summit in New York City with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institute for Occupational Safety (NIOSH) to address Latino and Immigrant worker safety hazards and rights.

• Occupational exposure to flavoring substances: health effects and hazard control

OSHA released a Safety and Health Information Bulletin on health hazards posed to workers by occupational exposure to certain chemicals used to add flavor and aroma to food and other products. Occupational Exposure to Flavoring Substances: Health Effects and Hazard Control explains that the food flavoring diacetyl, as well as some diacetyl substitutes, can burn the eyes, cause soreness in the nose and throat, and irritate the skin and produce a severe lung disease that has disabled or killed workers.

• Protected freedom of speech for workers on Facebook?

This week, the National Labor Relations Board alleged that a Connecticut company acted illegally when they fired an employee after she bad-mouthed her supervisor on Facebook. The labor board charged that the company wrongfully denied the employee union representation during an investigatory interview, as well as “maintained and enforced an overly broad blogging and Internet posting policy.”

• Notre Dame mum on accident investigation

More than two weeks after the scissor lift accident on the football practice field that killed student Declan Sullivan, University of Notre Dame leaders remain tight-lipped about the investigation. They are releasing no details about the ongoing investigation: who is assigned to it, what investigators are examining, how long the task might take or how the results will be released.

• Two Texas companies cited for exposing workers to lead

OSHA has cited Fortune Plastic and Metal Texas LLC with six alleged serious and six alleged repeat violations following a safety and health inspection at the company’s worksite in Dallas. Proposed penalties total $125,000.

• Subway motorman caught texting while driving turns himself in

A subway motorman caught on cell phone video texting while driving a train has turned himself in to transit officials.

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Daily Roundup, Thursday, November 11

• Public workers require more days off due to injuries than private workers

Local and state government workers have much higher rates of injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work than workers in private industry, the government reported. The rate among local and state government workers was 180 to 185 cases per 10,000 full-time workers compared to 106 cases for private firms.

• OSHA case may break new legal ground

The business community is watching a potentially precedent-setting case that could sharply curtail the period of time that companies can be cited for Occupational Safety and Health reporting violations. At issue: Can employers be cited by OSHA for record-keeping violations that occurred up to five years in the past – the current agency practice – or is the statute of limitations strictly six months?

• Another Tesoro flare-up

Earlier this week we learned that Tesoro — an oil refiner with nasty politics and a rap sheet a mile long — will be facing a criminal investigation for the April explosion at its Anacortes, Washington facility that killed 7 workers and earned it the largest L&I fine in state history for “willful disregard of safety regulations.” Then yesterday, the Tesoro refinery in Martinez, California (about 45 minutes northeast of San Francisco) had another major flare-up. Plumes of toxic black smoke rose over neighboring communities, and officials were forced to issue an emergency “shelter-in-place” warning.

• Attorney general targets Brazilian Blowout over chemical

The California attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit today alleging that the company that makes the Brazilian Blowout hair-straightening product failed to warn consumers that its solution contains a cancer-causing chemical, despite company claims that it is “formaldehyde-free.”

• Brazilian Blowout proven safe by Oregon OSHA

On October 29, 2010, Oregon OSHA released results of a comprehensive air monitoring study conducted across seven salons. Each case yielded Formaldehyde exposure levels well beneath OSHA’s Action Level, Permissible Exposure Level, and Short-Term Exposure Level. OSHA’s Action Level of 0.5 parts per million is the most stringent level of exposure set by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

• Ames Lab uranium cause of cancer in workers; compensation claims approved

No one knew that the secret down the hallway was killing them. Only a few feet away from the clicking noises made by the secretaries using their phones, the scientists who researched for the Manhattan Project from 1942 to 1946 were still doing top-secret research with radioactive materials including uranium.

• Hyatt defends safety record after OSHA complaints

Hyatt Hotels Corp. defended its safety record Tuesday, following an announcement by the hotel workers union that it has filed complaints with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on behalf of Hyatt housekeepers.

• OSHA upholds $871,500 fine for bridge-painting company in worker deaths

Fines of $871,500 have been upheld against a Missouri bridge-painting company in cases involving two workers who fell to their deaths from the Lexington Avenue bridge in Kansas City.

• OSHA fines bakery company for safety violations

A suburban Chicago manufacturer of bakery products has been fined for failing to train workers and protect them from safety hazards. The workplace safety agency says the employer failed to properly train workers who operate powered industrial trucks. The agency says Interstate Brands also failed to protect workers from electrical shock hazards and dangerous high-speed rotating equipment.

• Washington Hospital Center nurses to strike for a day to protest labor practices

The nurses at Washington Hospital Center have voted to go on a one-day strike the day before Thanksgiving, the latest move in an increasingly contentious labor dispute at the region’s biggest hospital.

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Daily Roundup, Wednesday, November 10

• Interior inspector general: White House skewed drilling-ban report

The White House rewrote crucial sections of an Interior Department report to suggest an independent group of scientists and engineers supported a six-month ban on offshore oil drilling, the Interior inspector general says in a new report.

• Major offshore rules from BOEM

Significant new requirements in two rules covering equipment and workplace safety at offshore oil and gas operations have been put into place by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEM).

• Experts warn that Arctic could be site of next oil disaster

Before the BP oil spill fades from memory, experts are sounding alarms about the risk of the next big disaster occurring where cleanup could be far more difficult–the Arctic.

• MSHA reveals more problems with breathing devices

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration revealed more problems have been found related to the most widely used model of self-contained self-rescue devices in U.S. coal mines.

• All eyes on regulation in post-election environment

Facing a Republican majority in the House and a slimmer Democratic majority in the Senate, President Obama and administrative agencies may increasingly turn toward regulation to accomplish policy goals. In contrast, new lawmakers and congressional leaders vow to use their power to roll back regulations, cut spending, and shrink the size of government.

• Durbin calls for air pollution test

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) Monday challenged the heads of four federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, to review the Tribune’s findings that commuters and rail workers might be exposed to “high levels” of Diesel soot at Chicago’s Union Station and Ogilvie Transportation Center.

• For Ground Zero workers, fair settlement may be around the corner

For the thousands who poured blood and sweat into the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center, the ghosts of Ground Zero may finally be receding—at least in legal terms. An extended deadline is approaching for a massive legal settlement that would attempt to compensate emergency responders, construction workers, and clean-up workers for the monstrous health impacts that thousands still suffer long after toiling on the “pile” after 9/11.

• Needlestick safety

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, which was passed in response to the problem of healthcare workers being exposed to bloodborne pathogens (HIV, hepatitis, etc.) via sharps injuries. The Act directed OSHA to modify its existing bloodborne pathogen standard to require that employers update their exposure control plans to reflect advances in technology (e.g., needleless systems and sharps with injury protection); maintain sharps injury logs; and solicit input from non-managerial employees potentially exposed to contaminated sharps.

• Brazilian Blowout – is it safe?

Test conducted by Oregon OSHA demonstrate, that when heated, Brazilian Blowout releases the dangerous gas. We took the issue to the state office that regulates workplace safety.

• OSHA proposes $53,550 fine against S.A. firm

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed a $53,550 fine against a San Antonio printing company for 19 alleged violations, including leaving workers vulnerable to amputations from improper machine guarding, failing to provide guardrails on elevated working areas to protect employees from falls, not ensuring electrical deficiencies were repaired and maintained, and not providing training on the use of hazardous chemicals and methods to control hazardous energy.

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