Two Boeing Co. (BA) auditors in 2007 thought they found weaknesses in the security of the firm’s financial reporting data. They complained, setting off a chain of events that may chill whistleblower leaks to news outlets. “Computer security faults put Boeing at risk,” a subsequent headline said. The airplane maker, already suspecting leaks, investigated and fired the men for unauthorized talking to the news media. They sued, citing Sarbanes-Oxley’s whistleblower protection, and lost. An appeals court said last week that the law doesn’t protect tipping off journalists.
Well, we’re waiting now to see if the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration is going to answer important questions about the mine rescue effort at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine. But this isn’t the first time that these concerns were raised, according to some records I obtained from MSHA through a federal Freedom of Information Act request. Check out this series of email messages between Department of Labor officials and Sam Petsonk, who was then an aide to Sen. Robert C. Byrd.
The impact of fatigue on employee performance in certain industries is so great that government often feels compelled to pass legislation to control it. Examples are air traffic controllers, trucking, and nuclear power plants. For most jobs, fatigue may not have “life or death” consequences, but managers are still concerned about how it affects workplace safety and performance. This is particularly important for organizations that use multiple shifts, i.e. shiftwork operations.
Lone Star Bakery, Inc., has been cited by OSHA for 32 serious, one repeat, and 16 other-than-serious violations. The inquiry came in the wake of an amputation incident and multiple inspections at two of the company’s facilities in China Grove. Alleged violations include exposing workers to combustible dust and fall and electrical hazards, among others. Proposed penalties in the case total nearly $230,000.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Focus Direct with 12 serious, one repeat and four other-than-serious safety and health violations after an inspection found that workers were exposed to amputation hazards at the company’s San Antonio facility. Proposed penalties total $83,000.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the Best Buy Co. Inc. store on Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth with five safety violations after a worker suffered severe head injuries from a fall in January. The employee was stacking televisions on a storage rack while standing on an elevated powered industrial truck’s platform when it suddenly tilted and caused the employee to fall approximately 12 feet.
Patterson-UTI Drilling Co. LLC faces $53,900 in proposed fines for safety violations discovered by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the death of worker at the company’s site near Cotulla in the Eagle Ford shale. OSHA said in a statement that it started the investigation in November after an employee setting up a rig was fatally struck by a section of track for the drive system of the drilling derrick.
Authorities say a 24-year-old man who was sandblasting floor grates outside a Helena business died after the lid of the machine’s tank became dislodged and struck him in the head.
