Major fines from MSHA, but not at Upper Big Branch; Porn stars’ privacy violated; more – Workplace Health & Safety Digest

• West Virginia tragedy sparked MSHA crackdown on safety violations

In the year since the worst U.S. mining disaster in four decades, the federal mine-safety agency has been engaged in the most extensive enforcement blitz in its history, imposing large fines and shutting down troubled operations. Inspectors for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration have been descending on mines at odd hours, seizing phones so miners underground can’t be alerted and finding, in some cases, accidents waiting to happen.

• MSHA never hit Upper Big Branch with major fines

Despite escalating safety concerns prior to the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, federal regulators never hit the Massey Energy operation with one of their toughest tools: fines of up to $220,000 each for “flagrant” safety violations, officials confirmed this week.

• Webinar: Crisis in Japan: Medical and public health implications of a radiation emergency

To address the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan and subsequent crises at the nuclear power plants, this webinar will educate physicians and other health care professionals on medical and public health implications of radiation events from scenarios of individual patient exposure to a population-based exposure.

• Whistleblower suit filed against California nuclear plant

A former manager at one of California’s two nuclear power stations sued the facility’s operators on Wednesday, claiming he was fired in retaliation for reporting safety concerns at the plant.

• Union blows whistle, Honeywell fined $12 million

Honeywell International pleaded guilty in federal court March 11 to knowingly storing hazardous waste without a permit at its southern Illinois facility, a felony. Toxic uranium byproducts were held in 55-gallon metal drums. Workers said the radioactive, corrosive slurry started eating through the walls of the drums within months. The violations occurred at Honeywell’s uranium conversion plant in Metropolis, Illinois, where the corporation locked out 228 Steelworkers last June. Union members say they blew the whistle repeatedly, alerting regulators to the hazards years before any action was taken.

• Porn star HIV test database leaked

The patient database of the private health clinic that conducts STD tests for California’s porn industry has been breached, exposing test results and personal details about thousands of current and former porn performers, some of which have been published on a Wikileaks-style website.

• Hustler fined $14K for not using condoms in porn

California workplace safety officials have fined Larry Flynt’s Hustler Video and another porn producer for not using condoms on set to protect sex performers from exposure to disease.

• Health umpires want smokeless tobacco tossed out of Major Leagues

Timing their pitch to coincide with today’s opening day of the new baseball season, public health officials from 15 cities have called on Major League Baseball and the players’ union to rid the game of smokeless tobacco products.

• Newark refinery explosion, fire injures one

The situation at the Evergreen Oil refinery, where an explosion Tuesday morning caused a two-alarm fire and injured one employee, has stabilized, and Cal-Osha officials are at the scene to investigate, authorities said.

• Lululemon attack a rarity in retail, but a D.C. area woman has twice been a victim

The gunman shoved Mia Ramos into the restroom of a Blockbuster in McLean. If she did what he said, Ramos recalled the masked man telling her, he would be her “friend for the night.” Then he tied her hands behind her back, turned off the lights and locked her inside.

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Tillikum takes stage once again, new Spike TV show kicks off, BP execs unlikely to face charges – Workplace Health & Safety Digest

• Justices take up class-action issue in Wal-Mart bias suit

The Supreme Court appeared closely divided on Tuesday during arguments over the theory put forth by the plaintiffs in an enormous sex discrimination class-action suit against Wal-Mart.

• Will BP execs face criminal charges? Not likely, experts say

A Bloomberg News report that the U.S. Justice Department is considering manslaughter charges in its investigation of BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico played prominently enough Tuesday to drive BP’s share price down.

• Counting work-related injuries, disease and death among U.S. workers: Part 3

There are about 9 million workplaces in the U.S., employing 130.3 million workers. More than 85%, or 111.5 million, are employed in private industry. OSHA’s injury/illness recordkeeping rule applies to about 1.36 million worksites, or 18 percent of all U.S. private sector workplaces. OSHA does not require employers with 10 or fewer employees, or those involved in many retail, financial, and service industries to follow these recordkeeping requirements.

• Thom Beers gets down and dirty, Coal on Spike March 30, interview and preview

Tonight Spike TV and executive producer Thom Beers (Emmy Award-winning “Deadliest Catch,” “Ice Road Truckers,” “Black Gold” “Ax Men”) shines his light on the dirtiest and one of the most dangerous energy hunts with a new series called “Coal.” The Spike series follows CEO Mike Crowder and his Cobalt Coal Corporation over a three-month period between November 2010 and January 2011.

• Michaels defends views in response to media criticism

Assistant Secretary of Labor Dr. David Michaels, who heads OSHA, recently acted to counter the idea that the agency’s regulations kill jobs. In an opinion piece in the March 11 Wall Street Journal, Michaels responded to a previous Journal article by James Gattuso of the Heritage Foundation. Gattuso had described Michaels’ notion that regulation can spur technology and economic growth as “nonsense on stilts.”

• OSHA inspector indicted on charges of falsely reporting he had inspected Kansas work sites

An inspector with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is charged in Kansas with lying about performing inspections at work sites.

• OSHA slams CT plant during Malloy tour

Federal authorities announced Tuesday 17 alleged serious workplace safety violations against Volvo Aero Connecticut at the same time that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was touring the Newington airplane-parts maker.

• OSHA issues Tyson safety citations

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued Jefferson’s Tyson Foods 10 safety citations for failing to comply with general industry occupational safety regulations. The company faces penalties totaling $45,000 as a result of an OSHA inspection conducted in October of 2010.

• Tilikum returns to SeaWorld show

He’s been isolated from the crowds at SeaWorld Orlando for over a year, but now, Tilikum has made his big return. Thirteen months after killing a trainer at the theme park, Tilikum took part in SeaWorld’s signature killer whale show, “Believe,” Wednesday morning.

• Cops: NY recycling plant worker crushed to death

Officials on Long Island are investigating the death of a recycling plant worker who was crushed in heavy machinery. Police say 44-year-old Augustin Colon, of Westbury, was under a debris sorting conveyor belt at Emjay Environmental Recycling in Brentwood when he apparently got his arm lodged in the belt and became trapped in a piece of machinery.

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Manslaughter charges in BP oil spill, Wal-Mart trampling fine upheld & 2nd chances for workers with criminal backgrounds

• BP managers said to face U.S. manslaughter charges review

Federal prosecutors are considering whether to pursue manslaughter charges against BP Plc (BP/) managers for decisions made before the Gulf of Mexico oil well explosion last year that killed 11 workers and caused the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history, according to three people familiar with the matter.

• Maryland House passes gender anti-discrimination bill

The Maryland House of Delegates passed legislation, on Saturday, that would ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression in employment, housing and credit.

• Reuters journalists freed in Syria

Two Reuters journalists were released by Syrian authorities on Monday, two days after they were detained in Damascus.

• Journalist for Reuters killed in Iraq attack

A freelance journalist who worked for Reuters was among at least 20 people killed on Tuesday when gunmen attacked a local government building in Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

• On its own, Obama’s OSHA falling short

How can so many good appointees, who unionists agree understand the issues, apparently display so little power during two years in office? Funding indicates priority and OSHA’s annual budget of $580 million is about how much the Department of Commerce spent on one year of the transition to digital TV.

• 1911 to 2011: In memory of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire

The 100th anniversary of the tragic Triangle Waist Company fire has passed but workplace hazards that result in death, injury and disease continue. The National Committee on Occupational Safety and Health released this report detailing the worst industrial disasters since Triangle and an agenda for much-needed reforms today.

• Do workers with criminal backgrounds deserve a second chance?

A brand-new report by the National Employment Law Project shows that people with criminal backgrounds, even those who’ve paid their dues to the state, are unfairly shut out of employment opportunities and denied the second chance they need to overcome their past.

• Aftershock: The blast that shook psycho platoon

Studies have estimated that about 20 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered a mild traumatic brain injury while deployed. Of those, anywhere between 5 percent to nearly 50 percent may suffer both PTSD and lingering problems from traumatic brain injuries. It is an epidemic so new that doctors aren’t even sure what to call it, let alone how best to diagnose and treat it.

• Kwick Stop in Shawnee, Okla., settles retaliation case

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced a settlement with Modern Oil Company, the operator of the Kwick Stop convenience store in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The lawsuit alleged that after OSHA investigated a workplace safety complaint a store in Shawnee, Oklahoma, management grilled the three employees of that store until it determined who called OSHA. Management then fired the identified whistleblower. The employee was a cashier at the convenience store who complained first to management, and then to OSHA about how the tall stacks of liquor bottles posed a hazard.

• Judge upholds $7,000 fine in trampling at Wal-Mart

An administrative law judge on Friday upheld a $7,000 fine against Wal-Mart Stores that the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration had imposed after a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death at a Long Island store on Black Friday 2008. Covette Rooney, the chief administrative law judge of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, upheld the fine in concluding that unruly crowds the day after Thanksgiving were a recognized hazard and that there were feasible means to control that hazard.

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More fines for Massey, PETA petitions OSHA, Walmart class-action reaches Supreme Court – Workplace Health & Safety Digest

• Wal-Mart asks Supreme Court to deny class-action suit by female workers

Like the retail behemoth at its center, everything about the Supreme Court extravaganza known as Wal-Mart v. Dukes is super-sized. The number of women who could be included in the sex discrimination class-action suit is measured in millions. The amount of damages for which the nation’s largest private employer could be liable is estimated in billions. If the Supreme Court agrees the case can move forward, it would be the largest employment discrimination class-action suit in U.S. history.

• Radiation levels at Japan nuclear plant reach new highs

As radiation levels at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant reached a new high Sunday, workers contended with dark, steamy conditions in their efforts to repair the facility’s cooling system and stave off a full-blown nuclear meltdown. Leaked water sampled from one unit Sunday had 100,000 times the radioactivity of normal background levels, although the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant, first calculated an even higher, erroneous, figure it didn’t correct for hours.

• Solis, White House to host online Triangle Shirtwaist forum

Ceremonies and events honoring the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire that killed 146 garment workers—most of them young women—and spurred the first nationwide call for workplace safety, continue Monday morning with a special online forum that will examine the connection between a voice at work and job safety.

• Gregoire proposes bill that would give $11 million in funding to prison system

Governor Chris Gregoire Thursday encouraged legislators to act on executive request legislation that would give the Department of Corrections the funding needed to implement a series of safety enhancements recommended by the National Institute of Corrections.

• What went wrong with the Deepwater Horizon blowout

The forensic report on the Deepwater Horizon’s blowout preventer (BOP) was released to the public on March 23, 2011. The next step in the investigation will be to try and reconcile it with the report of the Chief Counsel of the Oil Spill Commission . There are two major public policy issues: worker safety and spill prevention; we don’t want either dead workers or oil spills.

• Massey mines issued 80 citations for safety violations in February

Massey Energy Co. has been hit with more than 80 citations for safety violations uncovered in the latest round of special inspections by federal regulators.

• “We found love in a cold, dark mine,” says Upper Big Branch miner

One week from today will mark the first anniversary of the Upper Big Branch coal mine disaster where 29 men lost their lives from an enormous and powerful explosion. Those left behind–the parents, spouses, children and friends—have lives that are changed forever. Ken Ward and Gary Harki of the Charleston (WV) Gazette share a touching story of Ms. Bobbie Pauley, a rare female coal miner who worked at the Upper Big Branch mine. It’s a must read story.

• PETA petitions OSHA for elephant protected contact rule

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA, filed a petition March 24 asking OSHA to enact a regulation prohibiting direct physical contact between employees and elephants in any type of business where elephants are in captivity — zoos, circuses, etc.

• Unions plan protest today in Napa over hospital safety

A coalition of four state employee unions called Safety Now! plans to protest a conference of state officials gathering in Napa today starting at 11 a.m. to discuss workplace safety issues in California’s mental health system. The Safety Now! coalition says in a press release issued Friday that it’s tired of the Department of Mental Health “wasting time and money on meetings and immediately implement a list of basic measures to quell the violence against employees and patients” at Napa State Hospital.

• Adding up the costs of bullying in the workplace

President Obama held a White House conference this month to discuss ways to prevent bullying in school. But bullying is a problem not just among young people. Thirty-five percent of Americans in a survey said they had been bullied at some time at work.

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Anniversary of Triangle fire, effects of BP spill still felt, ADA updates – Workplace Health & Safety Digest

• 100 years after Triangle Waist Factory tragedy, corporations are still putting profit over safety

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Waist Company tragedy. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the New York City garment factory. Even after 146 workers died, many of them young women who jumped to their deaths in an attempt to escape the engulfing flames, industry bristled at the thought of implementing commonsense fire safety precautions. Today, an assault on regulations that protect our health and safety, ensure a living wage and protect us from dangerous products is currently under way in Washington.

• Rhetoric unchanged in century since Triangle fire

The event leading to the creation of many workplace safety regulations is nearing its 100th anniversary, yet many of the same industry concerns voiced then echo today.

• Infographic: How unions succeeded in making your workplace safer in the 100 years since the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Reform victories mean that fires are a much smaller risk at the workplace today, but the fight for safer working conditions continues on other fronts…

• Health effects from the Gulf oil spill one year later

Nearly a year after the BP oil spill, people living along the Gulf of Mexico are still feeling the effect of the disaster, the largest oil catastrophe in history. My biggest concern is for the workers who were offshore doing cleanup. Studies of past oil spills have shown chronic respiratory problems after the Exxon Valdez, and markers of DNA damage after a spill off the coast of Spain. It will be important to look for signs of chronic bronchitis and markers of DNA damage that could precipitate cancer or birth defects.

• BP oil probe: Pipe piece caused blowout preventer failure

The blowout preventer that should have stopped the BP oil spill failed largely because of a faulty design and a trapped piece of pipe, an official probe found Wednesday, appearing to shift some blame for the blowout from the oil giant and toward those who built and maintained the 300-ton safety device.

• ADA Amendments Act includes people with HIV

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s ( EEOC ) final regulations to implement the ADA Amendments Act ( ADAAA ) are now available for public view on the Federal Register website at http://www.ofr.gov . The regulations will be published Friday.

• US officials sanction Neb. Labor Department over audit concerns; state promises to improve

Federal officials have sanctioned the Nebraska Department of Labor over concerns about the way the state manages roughly $72 million in federal money, but state officials said Friday that no programs would be affected.

• American workplaces are safer…but not for everyone

U.S. workplaces are getting safer, according to national Department of Labor statistics for the past two decades. But immigrant workers in the most dangerous occupations have not shared in the increased safety, according to statistics and a recent report by seven worker centers nationwide.

• National to add second controller overnight after tower goes silent

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has ordered a second air traffic controller to be on duty overnight at Reagan National Airport, after the lone controller was unavailable early Wednesday as two passenger planes were trying to land.

• 2 Japanese nuclear workers hospitalized for radiation exposure

Two Japanese workers on the crew battling the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been hospitalized after being exposed to high levels of radiation while laying cable at the complex’s No. 3 reactor.

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Agony of Steve Jobs, why the Metro crashes so much, feedback on MSD column, more – Workplace Health & Safety Digest

• OSHA sets three calls on adding MSD column

OSHA apparently hasn’t persuaded skeptical members of Congress or business groups that its plan to restore a column to the 300 Log to record work-related musculoskeletal disorders is just an innocent recordkeeping improvement. Not giving up, the agency on March 23 announced it will hold three teleconferences so small-business representatives can provide feedback about the proposed column.

• Supreme Court sides with investors, workers in two business-related cases

Ruling Tuesday on a pair of cases that had drawn the strong interest of the business community, the Supreme Court made it easier for stockholders and employees to sue companies. In Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., the justices said that an oral complaint against an employer was enough to protect a worker against retaliatory action, such as firing.

• No harm from cuts in residents’ hours

While reducing work hours for resident physicians doesn’t seem to have interfered negatively with medical training — the shortened shifts also haven’t done anything to improve patient safety, a new study found.

• Third tour bus crash heightens focus on unsafe operators

A third tour bus crash in a 10-day period in the Northeast has intensified concerns about the safety of the discount transportation services.

• Rule-breaking by operators led to Metro crashes, safety panel says

Metro trains have been involved in a troubling series of low-speed collisions in rail yards in the past four months as train operators have broken rules on speed and safe-driving practices, according to Metro’s safety oversight agency.

• 4 Times journalists held captive in Libya faced days of brutality

This is the account of the four New York Times journalists captured in Libya: As the four of us headed toward the eastern gate of Ajdabiya, the front line of a desperate rebel stand against the advancing forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, a car pulled up alongside.

• New criminal charges stem from W.Va. mine explosion investigation

The criminal investigation into last April’s deadly coal mine explosion in West Virginia has produced a second set of charges. But, like the first, the new two-count criminal “information” just filed by the U.S. Attorney in Charleston, W. Va., does not directly involve the April 5 blast at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine.

• OSHA cites business in Arnold, Mo., over worker amputations

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is citing an Anheuser-Busch InBev can plant subsidiary in suburban St. Louis for several violations after two accidents in which employees suffered amputations.

• Another “Spider-man” actress sidelined by injury

Yet another performer in the trouble-plagued Broadway musical “Spider-man Turn Off the Dark” has been sidelined by an injury suffered on stage, a spokesman for the show said on Tuesday.

• Mike Daisey discovers the worm in Apple

Mike Daisey wants to change the world. The monologuist is back at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company with his latest impassioned, comic-tragic screed, “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” through April 17. His new piece, which was first workshopped at Woolly last July, is about labor conditions at computer technology companies, specifically Apple.

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Libya survival stories, hating on a Chamber report & snake bites zookeeper – Workplace Health & Safety Digest

• Freed Times journalists give account of captivity

A clearer account of the four journalists’ capture and detention has come to light now that they have been released. The four had been covering fighting near Ajdabiya last Tuesday when they decided that the battle had grown too dangerous for them to continue safely. Their driver, however, inadvertently drove into a checkpoint manned by forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi. By the time they knew they were in trouble, it was too late.

• Crew members in Libyan crash back in U.S. hands

An American fighter jet crashed overnight in Libya after experiencing apparent mechanical problems, ejecting two crew members who were able to land safely and have returned to U.S. hands, officials said Tuesday.

• Safety campaign targets private pilots

U.S. regulators Monday announced an initiative, primarily aimed at targeting private pilots, to reduce general-aviation accidents 10% by 2018.

• TRIANGLE’S ECHOES: The unfinished struggle for worker protection, safety and health

This Friday, March 25th, marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire, which claimed 146 lives, mostly immigrant women, almost half still in their teens. It’s a fine time to ask: How much have we really progressed since then? Please watch the new short film I’ve made with support from the National Consumers League.

• From the Triangle fire to Wisconsin, rights for women workers

For Women’s History Month this year, thousands of people around the country are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Fire. The fire was an historic turning point for the country. The movement for social justice took on new urgency. Workplace safety legislation became a reality, the union movement gained momentum, and eventually women won the right to vote. March is a time to celebrate the progress that women have made since the Triangle Fire, but there is also reason to pause and consider the fight that continues.

• The Chamber of Commerce’s employment regulation index

The Chamber of Commerce, as part of a national and state campaign to overturn government regulations, recently released a report claiming that state employment policies hinder job growth. A recent Economic Policy Institute analysis has shown that the Chamber’s study is poorly constructed and grossly misleading. In fact, the recent EPI analysis showed that the Chamber’s methodology actually better supports the conclusion that strictly enforced legislation against wage cheating or unjust dismissal and in favor of improved paid family leave and advance notice of mass layoffs is desirable because it leads to higher state per capita income.

• OSHA cracks down (sometimes) on worker deaths in grain elevators

Monique Harper, 41, had a beautiful smile that family and friends will never forget. “Monique was the most hilarious and free-spirited person you will ever meet,” said one of her sisters. “She was a mother that loved her children, family and friends.” Monique Harper’s contagious smile and free spirit are now only memories. She was one of the 26 U.S. workers killed in 2010 after being engulfed in grain at storage facilities that hold billions of bushels of harvested corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, and rice.

• Labor Dept. notifies FAA of potential fire hazards at Lakefront Airport tower

The Labor Department says it has notified the Federal Aviation Administration that its Lakefront Airport air traffic control tower in New Orleans is exposing workers to possible fire hazards.

• Prosecutor in Bethesda slaying describes wild cover-up story

For 90 minutes, authorities say, Brittany Norwood sat in her victim’s parked car, concocting a plan to cover up the horrendous crime scene she had just created in the yoga apparel store where they worked. Her colleague, Jayna Murray, lay dead, bludgeoned and stabbed inside Bethesda’s Lululemon Athletica shop, prosecutors said. Something was tied around Murray’s neck. There was blood everywhere.

• National Zoo snake bites self, sends keeper to hospital

A typical Monday at the Smithsonian National Zoo took a nearly dangerous turn for a snake handler when she had venom spat into her eye.

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NYT journalists released, nuclear exposure in perspective & protection for creationists on the job – Workplace Health & Safety Digest

• Libya releases 4 Times journalists

The Libyan government released four detained New York Times journalists Monday, six days after they were captured while covering the conflict between government and rebel forces in the eastern city of Ajdabiya. They were released into the custody of Turkish diplomats.

• The extra mile — when workers put their lives on the line

The world has been watching with awe as rotating teams of Japanese workers brave radiation exposure to battle a potential nuclear disaster following the massive earthquake and tsunami that rocked the island nation March 11. It’s hard to imagine how anyone could willingly take on such dangerous work, but it happens every day when individuals choose to risky occupations, from firefighting to covering wars.

• Awesome chart puts nuclear radiation in perspective

Hungry for some perspective on the nuclear situation? This mindblowing chart of relative radiation doses, made by XKCD’s Randall Munroe, is basically a Total Perspective Vortex. It’s got something for everyone.

• Texas lawmaker defends bill that would protect creationists on the job

Last week, I wrote about an unusual piece of legislation in Texas that would ban workplace discrimination against creationists. HB 2454 would make it a crime to “discriminate against or penalize in any manner” a professor or student based on his or her “conduct of research relating to the theory of intelligent design.” On Friday, the author of the bill, Republican state Rep. Bill Zedler of Arlington, called me to defend it.

• AHF: California to create new condoms in porn rules

During a meeting of Cal/OSHA’s (California’s Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health) Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board in Van Nuys last Thursday, Deborah Gold, MPH, CIH, a Senior Safety Engineer for Cal/OSHA, announced publicly and for the first time that Cal/OSHA officials are drafting proposed new safety amendments to the state’s Bloodborne Pathogens Statute in order to clarify and strengthen workplace safety requirements for employers and adult film performers in the adult film industry.

• Solis: What the Triangle Shirtwaist fire means for workers now

Both Triangle and Upper Big Branch became calls to action. New York quickly implemented groundbreaking workplace safety laws and regulations, including fire exits. But nearly one year after Upper Big Branch, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, part of the Labor Department, still needs additional tools that only Congress can provide. And OSHA needs better tools, such as stricter penalties against employers who put their workers’ lives at risk, and stronger protections for whistle-blowers.

• The Triangle Fire at 100: Lessons learned and unlearned

100 years later, have we forgotten the tragic lesson of the Triangle Fire? This year alone, 5,000 workers will loose their lives on the jobs. Many of these deaths are preventable, through better and more rigorous enforcement of current laws. Mine disasters, oil rig explosions and construction workers falling to their death are all too common. In postmortem investigations, we find that regulations were either inadequate or simply not enforced. We have slashed the budgets of regulatory agencies to the point that they can not function.

• Texas attorneys file lawsuit on behalf of worker’s family in Louisiana Valero Energy refinery fatality

The Family of Rodrigo Rodriguez announce that they have filed a lawsuit in state district Court in Bexar County, Texas, against Valero Energy Corporation and other defendants for the alleged grossly negligent death of Rodrigo Rodriguez, 30. The accident occurred on March 6, 2011, at the Valero Energy Corporation’s St. Charles refinery in Norco, La., near New Orleans where Mr. Rodriguez was working as a contract employee for Koch Industries while performing “shutdown” maintenance on a catalytic cracking unit.

• 1 person suffers burns when oil rig explodes in northwestern Oklahoma

Authorities say one person was burned when an oil rig exploded in northwestern Oklahoma. Investigators haven’t determined what caused the blast but preliminary reports indicate a gas pocket may have been hit, causing the rig to ignite.

• Co-worker is arrested in Lululemon murder

Authorities have arrested a suspect in the Lululemon Athletica attack that claimed the life of 30-year-old Jayna Murray.

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The health crisis for Japan’s nuclear workers, Times journalists to be released from Libya, softball questions for OSHA chief – Workplace Health & Safety Digest

• Japan nuclear accident poses crisis for worker safety

Bursts of radiation being released at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant could mean workers there will have to be quickly rotated out, and some could rapidly reach their annual exposure limit, complicating efforts to contain Japan’s continuing nuclear crisis. Reports on Thursday indicated that at times radiation was intense enough to exceed even Japan’s newly raised annual limit in as little as an hour. The new limit — 250 millisieverts — is five times the allowable exposure in U.S. nuclear plants and 125 times what workers typically receive each year.

• Our quick guide to nuclear plant safety: what could go wrong?

If Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis are any indication, what they say is true: Sometimes what can go wrong will go wrong. And when it comes to operating nuclear plants, what are some of the risks? Here’s a brief guide, drawing from what we’ve learned in recent days.

• Libya says it will release Times journalists

Four New York Times journalists missing in Libya since Tuesday were captured by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and will be released Friday, his son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, told Christiane Amanpour in an ABC News interview.

• True or false: Vast majority of employers care deeply and passionately about their employees

Imagine testifying before a congressional committee as the head of the FDIC and you’re asked “do the vast majority of banks care deeply and passionately about their customers?” Or as the head of the FAA and you’re asked “do you think the vast majority of airlines care deeply and passionately about their passengers?” Or the head of a State Insurance Bureau and you’re asked “do you think the vast majority of HMO’s care deeply and passionately about their policy holders?” That’s one of the odd questions posed to OSHA chief David Michaels,PhD, MPH at a hearing on March 16 before a subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

• AHF: American Public Health Association joins call for condoms, improved adult film worker safety

In a newly posted position paper on its website, the American Public Health Association (APHA), the oldest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world representing over 50,000 health professionals and others who work to promote health, prevent disease and ensure conditions in which all can be safe and healthy, has issued a comprehensive policy statement, “Prevention and Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV among Performers in the Adult Film Industry,” that includes a series of recommendations intended to foster improved safety and workplace conditions for workers in the adult film industry.

• Workers in China: ‘Your iPhone cost us our health’

We arrived at the factory in Suzhou, China, a few hours early, anxious not to miss our opportunity to speak with workers. They explained that they had been exposed to the chemical n-hexane, used to clean the screens of iPhones. Their symptoms, they said, ranged from numbness and tingling to paralysis. One man had been hospitalized for 10 months. “Your iPhones cost us our health,” said another.

• Metro injury rate costing agency millions

Metro’s workers are getting hurt on the job more often than their counterparts at other transit agencies, and it’s costing the agency millions.

• OSHA plans to step up dairy farm inspections

The Occupational Safety and Health Agency hasn’t spent a lot of time in recent years inspecting farm operations for worker safety compliance, but that’s about to change thanks to a new initiative being announced by the state OSHA office. During the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin annual meeting in Madison this week, Mary Bauer, an OSHA compliance assistant specialist, explained that a recent increase in on-farm fatalities is prompting the agency to add dairy farms to its list of inspection sites throughout the state.

• Va man wins $25 million in lawsuit against Exxon

A jury awarded a former shipyard employee $25 million Thursday in his lawsuit against Exxon for asbestos-related medical problems.

• 3 ways the office is making you sicker

Offices have always had their share of health hazards — sniffling coworkers, stress-inducing bosses, or that Petri dish of a shared refrigerator. But just in time for spring flu season, new data shows workplaces are making us sicker than ever and hurting everyone’s bottom line.

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Journalists’ struggles in Japan, deceased Deepwater Horizon worker’s brother begs for stronger safety measures, more – Workplace Health & Safety Digest

• Last defense at troubled reactors: 50 Japanese workers

A small crew of technicians, braving radiation and fire, became the only people remaining at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on Tuesday — and perhaps Japan’s last chance of preventing a broader nuclear catastrophe. They crawl through labyrinths of equipment in utter darkness pierced only by their flashlights, listening for periodic explosions as hydrogen gas escaping from crippled reactors ignites on contact with air.

• Japan hikes maximum radiation dose for nuclear plant workers to fight crisis

Japan has raised the maximum radiation dose allowed for nuclear workers, citing the urgent need to prevent a crisis at a tsunami-stricken power plant from worsening.

• Reporters in Japan face unusual danger: Exposure to nuclear radiation

Journalists used to wading into natural disasters and war zones faced an unusual menace in Japan this week: exposure to radiation. As radiation levels rose and fell around the crippled nuclear power plant near Sendai , Japanese officials added to the uncertainty by giving sometimes vague and conflicting information about the dangers that followed a series of explosions. That left Western news organizations pondering how to cover the unfolding story. The hazards of exposure raised an implicit ethical question rarely pondered in the news business: Is getting the story worth risking an invisible but lethal dose of radiation?

• Four New York Times journalists feared missing in Libya

Four New York Times journalists who were covering the conflict in Libya were unaccounted for Wednesday and are feared missing, the newspaper said.

• Brother of dead Deepwater Horizon worker begs Congress for stronger safety measures

Fighting back tears as he spoke, the brother of one of 11 workers killed on the Deepwater Horizon rig begged lawmakers Wednesday to toughen worker safety laws and increase oil company liability for such accidents.

• Salazar names members of Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee to guide oil and gas regulatory program reform

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael R. Bromwich today announced the members of the Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee, a permanent advisory body of the nation’s leading scientific, engineering, and technical experts who will provide critical guidance on improving offshore drilling safety, well containment, and spill response as we explore new energy frontiers.

• Governor seeks closure of New York nuclear plant

With the world’s attention focused on Japan’s attempts to avoid a nuclear catastrophe, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling for a nuclear plant just 24 miles from New York City to be shuttered. As the New York Daily News reports, the Indian Point nuclear power plant lies within 50 miles of 20 million people, and has suffered a number of safety accidents during its 40-year history, from radiation leaks to oil spills.

• Lessons learned from the Triangle Waist factory fire

On March 25, 1911, 146 garment workers, mostly Jewish and Italian immigrant girls in their teens and 20s, perished after a fire broke out at the Triangle Waist Co. factory in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Even after the fire, the city’s businesses continued to insist they could regulate themselves, but the deaths clearly demonstrated that companies like Triangle would not, on their own, concern themselves with their workers’ safety. Despite this business opposition, the public’s response to the fire led to landmark state regulations.

• Lincoln paper mill faces $212,000 in federal worker safety fines

Lincoln Paper and Tissue LLC faces $212,000 in fines for what a federal agency described Wednesday as nine “alleged repeat and serious” safety violations, including a September 2010 incident in which a mill employee suffered serious burns.

• Wilton firm fined $170k for violations

The federal government has fined PEP Direct, a Wilton, N.H., direct mail printer, a total of $170,000 for what is says are willful and serous violations of workplace safety standards, including presses that lacked safeguards “to protect operators … against being caught.”

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