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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced June 4 that it has reached a settlement with Adidas America Inc., requiring the company to pay $235,000 in fines and implement enhanced safety measures at multiple facilities. OSHA conducted a 2024 follow-up inspection at an Adidas warehouse in upstate New York. The agency initially cited the […]
On March 4, an administrative law judge (ALJ) with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission vacated an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citation issued following an explosion and worker fatalities during pipeline “pigging” operations. The ALJ’s decision became a review commission final order on April 4. The ALJ vacated the agency’s General Duty […]
On February 27, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released an update on its investigation into a fatal November 12, 2024, explosion at the Givaudan Sense Colour facility in Louisville, Kentucky. The explosion killed two employees and seriously injured three others, and it caused significant property damage to the facility and nearby […]
Southeast Services of the Treasure Coast Inc., a Vero Beach, Florida, drainpipe cleaning and maintenance company, is facing a $16,131 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fine following a 24-year-old worker’s death, the agency announced January 16. According to OSHA, the employer could have prevented an explosion at a Port Saint Lucie worksite in June […]
Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine how workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities are tracked by the federal government. The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) collect and disseminate […]
Patriot Paving Group LLC, a Glenburn, Maine, contractor, faces $161,325 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after an employee suffered fatal crushing injuries in a trench, the agency announced December 26. OSHA cited Patriot Paving with five willful violations, finding that the contractor ignored an on-site expert’s repeated warnings and the company’s own site-specific […]
Fatal workplace injuries declined 3.7% in 2023, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced December 19 with the release of its Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). There were 5,283 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2023. The fatal work injury rate was 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) […]
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 […]
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 […]
On November 20, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released an update on its investigation into an October 10 fatal release of hydrogen sulfide gas at the PEMEX Deer Park Refinery in Texas that killed two workers and injured 13 others. During maintenance activities at the refinery, approximately 27,000 pounds of toxic […]