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Airline Must Pay Wrongly Fired Cargo Pilot $2 Million

The Department of Labor ordered Asia Pacific Airlines to pay more than $2 million in wages, damages, and attorneys’ fees to an employee who was reprimanded, suspended, and then fired for raising aircraft safety concerns and refusing to fly a cargo plane the employee believed had an unreliable engine, OSHA announced December 11. OSHA investigators […]

OSHA Releases Final Rule for PPE in Construction

The U.S. Department of Labor announced on December 11 that its Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) finalized a revision to the personal protective equipment (PPE) rule for construction. The rule requires that PPE must properly fit any construction worker who needs it to improve protections from hazardous conditions. You can read the final rule […]

Cleveland Manufacturer Faces $182K OSHA Fine in Amputations

Cleveland bakeware manufacturer G&S Metal Products Company Inc. faces a $182,293 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fine after two workers suffered injuries within weeks of each other, resulting in amputations, the agency announced December 9. On June 25, a 37-year-old employee sustained an amputation injury while operating a power press. The press cycled unexpectedly […]

Florida Contractors Face Six-Figure OSHA Fines in Trenching Violations

Two Florida contractors face six-figure Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for willfully exposing workers at sites in Jacksonville and Daytona Beach to trench and excavation collapses and cave-ins, the agency announced December 5. Masci General Contractor is facing $216,633 in proposed penalties after agency inspectors witnessed workers installing a sewer line in a […]

Back to Basics: The Costs of Slip, Trip, and Fall Hazards

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine the costs of slip, trip, and fall hazards. Did you know slips, trips, and falls cost American employers billions of dollars every year? In its 2024 Workplace Safety Index (WSI), insurer Liberty […]

NIOSH: Few Women Coal Miners Show Signs of Pneumoconiosis

Few women coal miners—around one in 200—show signs of pneumoconiosis, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researchers found in a recently published study. In recognition of National Miners Day on December 6, NIOSH Director John Howard, MD, highlighted the new research in his “From the Director’s Desk” column in the institute’s December eNews […]

How Safety Inspections Can Make or Break Organizations’ EHS Programs

EHS programs are critical to the overall well-being of workers, the environment, and the organization’s bottom line. They are designed to prevent accidents, reduce risks, ensure regulatory compliance, and protect the company’s reputation. However, the success of these programs hinges on a variety of factors, and one of the most important among them is the […]

CSB Issues Update on September Fire, Toxic Plume in Georgia

On November 22, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released an update on its investigation into a September 29 chemical reaction and toxic gas release at the Bio-Lab, Inc., facility in Conyers, Georgia. The incident led to a massive fire and plume of toxic smoke that threatened the surrounding community and the […]

Oil Company Indicted on Alleged CWA Violations

A federal grand jury has indicted Houston-based Phillips 66 on several charges related to alleged Clean Water Act (CWA) violations. Phillips is charged with two counts of negligently violating the CWA and four counts of knowingly violating the CWA in incidents that allegedly discharged thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater from the Phillips Carson oil […]

EPA Registers Glufosinate-P as New Herbicide Active Ingredient

The EPA recently announced the registration of the new active ingredient glufosinate-P, which controls weeds in conventional and glufosinate-resistant field corn, sweet corn, soybean, cotton, and canola. The Agency also released its final biological evaluation for the active ingredient under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). “Glufosinate-P is the first new active ingredient registration where EPA […]