Occupational Safety and Health Administration News

Flower Shop in Washington Fined $4,000 for Mask Violation

The owner of a plant nursery in Washington state has been fined $4,200 for failing to ensure a safe workplace and potentially exposing employees to the coronavirus after preventing them from wearing masks. The state Department of Labor and Industries …

Virginia First State to Adopt COVID-19 Worker Safety Rules

Virginia officials on Wednesday passed temporary new workplace safety rules designed to protect employees from the coronavirus, becoming the first state to adopt such measures. The Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board voted to approve rules for businesses that include …

Textron Aviation Cited for 2019 Explosion at Kansas Site

Federal regulators have cited aircraft maker Textron Aviation for a December 2019 explosion that injured 15 workers at its Wichita, Kansas, manufacturing plant. U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration says Textron had a serious violation when it …

Worker Injured at Georgia Pyrotechnic Plant Previously Cited for Safety Violations

An explosion and flash fire badly burned the head, face and hands of a worker at a pyrotechnic plant in Georgia, an official said. The unidentified employee at Pyrotechnic Specialties, Inc. in Byron was airlifted June 17 to a hospital …

OSHA Investigating Fatal Wisconsin Construction Accident

A fatal construction accident in Green Bay, Wisconsin is being investigated by federal regulators. The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports a 52-year-old man was killed Friday morning on the city’s northeast side. Police would not identify the property where the incident …

Workers’ Lawsuit Against McDonald’s Seeks Safety Measures, Not Damages

As U.S. businesses reopen, worried workers and their advocates are borrowing a legal strategy commonly used to shut down rowdy topless bars to try and force employers to strengthen protection against further spread of the coronavirus. Workers and their families …

2 Construction Workers Killed in Mississippi Trench Collapse

Rocks crushed two workers to death in a trench collapse at the site of town homes under construction in Mississippi. The workers were in the trench laying pipe for sewer lines when it collapsed Tuesday morning, Starkville Fire Chief Charles …

Construction Company Owner Pleads Guilty After Lying During OSHA Investigation

After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the owner of a Somerset County, N.J., construction company has pleaded guilty to one count of felony perjury brought by the U.S. Attorney for the …

Lawsuit Over Worker Safety at Smithfield’s Missouri Pork Plant Dismissed

A U.S. federal judge has dismissed a worker advocacy group’s lawsuit accusing Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest pork processor, of failing to adequately protect employees from the novel coronavirus at a plant in Missouri. Smithfield is already taking many …

New Jersey Food Manufacturer Faces $77K in Penalties After Worker Injury

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited D.O. Productions LLC for lockout/tagout violations after unguarded machinery caused severe hand injuries to an employee at the frozen food manufacturer’s Lodi, N.J., facility. The company faces …