Occupational Safety and Health Administration News

Senate Confirms Parker as OSHA Chief

The U.S. Senate has approved Douglas Parker, former California workplace safety chief, as assistant secretary of labor at the Labor Department and the new head of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The Senate vote was 50-41 to confirm …

New York Foundry to Pay $276K for Safety, Health Hazards Following Inspection

A Syracuse, New York, iron foundry cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for dozens of health and safety violations has agreed to correct 60 cited hazards, implement enhanced corrective measures and pay $276,189 …

Biden Multi-Agency Plan Seeks to Address Extreme Heat Stress

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is moving to protect workers and communities from extreme heat after a dangerously hot summer that spurred an onslaught of drought-worsened wildfires and caused hundreds of deaths from the Pacific Northwest to hurricane-ravaged Louisiana. …

Overheated, Underprotected: Climate Change Is Killing U.S. Farm Laborers

Florencio Gueta Vargas showed up for his usual shift at a hops farm in Toppenish, Washington, on Thursday, July 29. The father of six would never make it home. It was a sweltering day with temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit …

Crane Collapse in Philadelphia Kills a Man, Injures Another

A massive construction drill toppled over and crushed a man to death Tuesday night in Philadelphia, police said. Firefighters and police responded just after 9:10 p.m. to the 3100 block of Convention Avenue near Franklin Field and the Penn Museum …

OSHA Announces $21M in Workplace Safety Grants for Nonprofits

The Department of Labor announced funding opportunities for more than $21 million in Occupational Safety and Health Administration training grants for non-profit organizations. The first availability will provide $10 million under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for workplace …

Worker Dies After Fall Through Roof of Building in Park Near Pittsburgh

A masonry company worker was pronounced dead after falling through the roof of a large building in a park near Pittsburgh, authorities said. Allegheny County police and paramedics were called shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday to the Agricultural Building in …

Massachusetts Health Boards Overwhelmed, Unready to Protect Workers

With federal regulators missing from the field and state leaders scrambling to manage the COVID-19 crisis, Massachusetts’ 351 overtaxed local boards of health were unwittingly thrust into a new role last year – overseers of workplace safety. The challenge created …

New York Contractor to Pay $135K in Penalties After Trench Collapse

A Long Island, New York, superstructure, foundation and concrete company will pay $135,612 in penalties stemming from the collapse of an approximately 30-foot deep trench in Oyster Bay that led to the deaths of two workers. Following a January 2020 …

New York Petroleum Carrier Pays $375K for Seaman’s Protection Act Violation

A Long Island, New York-based petroleum barge company and three former and current management officials have paid $375,000 in restitution to the brother of one of two seamen killed in a barge explosion off the coast of Texas. The seaman …