The North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL) announced an increase in starting salaries for workplace safety inspectors on June 2. The new starting salary for fully qualified compliance safety officers was raised to $61,000 annually, an increase of more than 5% for the state’s frontline safety professionals.
Compliance safety officers in the NCDOL’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Division conduct inspections, investigate health and safety complaints, and ensure compliance with state and federal workplace safety laws.
“As Labor Commissioner, my top priority is keeping the working men and women of North Carolina safe and healthy on the job,” North Carolina Labor Commissioner Luke Farley said in an agency statement.
“By raising the starting pay for our compliance officers, we’re investing in the people who keep North Carolina’s workers safe,” he continued. “This is a down payment on safer job sites across our state.”
According to the NCDOL, the increased starting salaries are designed to improve recruitment and retention efforts, enhance team stability, and strengthen the department’s ability to carry out its safety mission.
Farley’s plan to improve workplace safety in North Carolina includes filling inspector vacancies, cutting wait times for voluntary inspections, and expanding recognition programs to reward employers and employees for exceptional safety practices.
There are 22 state workplace safety and health plans approved and monitored by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). North Carolina’s state plan covers both private sector and state/local government workplaces. In other states, like Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York, the state agency only covers government workplaces, and federal OSHA retains private sector enforcement.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, state programs must be “at least as effective” as federal OSHA’s program.
Chemical Safety Board investigating toxic chemical release
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) on June 13 announced it has opened an investigation into a June 11 release of toxic nitric acid and nitrogen oxide gas at the Austin Powder Company’s Red Diamond facility in Vinton County, Ohio.
The CSB deployed an investigator to the commercial explosives manufacturing plant near McArthur to begin fact-finding efforts surrounding the incident.
According to state officials, the release occurred after “an unknown contaminant” entered a 5,000-gallon tank containing nitric acid and purportedly caused a chemical reaction that released nitrogen oxide gas. A large, brownish-colored gas plume covered the facility and the surrounding area. Local officials ordered an evacuation of a three-mile radius around the facility. Hundreds of residents in the nearby community of Zaleski were also later evacuated.
Local news media reported that the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily restricted flights for a 30-nautical-mile radius surrounding the facility.
The CSB is working with other federal, state, and local officials to assess the situation and determine a path forward in the CSB’s investigation.
The CSB is an independent federal government board that investigates industrial chemical accidents. It doesn’t issue citations for regulatory violations or impose any fines but instead makes safety recommendations to companies, industry groups, labor unions, and regulatory agencies, including OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The president appoints board members, who are subject to Senate confirmation.