The Department of Justice’s filing of a civil lawsuit today against BP for the deaths of 11 workers and the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history is a needed step in holding the corporation accountable.
In the wake of a tragic mine explosion in West Virginia resulting in many deaths, members of Congress from both parties push to toughen mine safety laws and increase penalties for habitual violators. The bill passes the Senate by unanimous content and sails through the House before landing on the president’s desk and being signed into law. That was 2006′s MINER Act, prompted by the Sago mine explosion in which 13 miners died without access to crucial life-saving equipment.
After 12 years of working to improve protections for federal employees who blow the whistle on government waste, fraud and abuse, Congress was on the verge of passing legislation to make that happen.
A whistleblower complaint filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration against URS, a Hanford, Wash., vitrification plant subcontractor, has been expanded.
Police work is one of the most stressful jobs in society, but little is known about the effects of this stress on an officer’s long-term health. John Violanti, PhD, professor of social and preventive medicine in the University at Buffalo’s School of Public Health and Health Professions, hopes to fill this information void through a five-year $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Here’s a rundown of the Metro safety issues that trickled out of this morning’s Metro board safety committee hearing, some of them juicier than others.
After several months of investigation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined the owner of a local tree trimming company more than $119,000 after his cousin was electrocuted while cutting a tree in April.
A California company is challenging $91,000 in fines and citations that federal regulators have proposed over a freelance videographer’s death near suburban Denver. Fifty-seven-year-old Stuart Keene fell from an elevated all-terrain scissor lift at the Thunder Valley Motocross Park on June 25.
