May 19, 2020
State safety regulators declined to inspect an Iowa pork plant after receiving a complaint alleging workers were exposed to the coronavirus in crowded conditions — a decision that critics said allowed a burgeoning outbreak to grow unabated. An April 11 …
May 18, 2020
FedEx has confirmed that workers from its facility in the Kansas City suburb of Olathe have tested positive for COVID-19. A spokesperson from FedEx Ground said in a statement that it was working cooperatively with county health officials and offering …
May 18, 2020
In the days before his death, an Iowa meatpacking worker twice warned that the coronavirus was spreading through his plant because of its crowded spaces and lack of personal protective equipment, his nephew said. Husen Jagir, 56, died May 1, …
May 18, 2020
A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers last week unveiled a plan to compensate essential workers who fall sick or die from COVID-19. The lawmakers are modeling their Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act after the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Reps. Carolyn …
May 15, 2020
Bill Mudge has been put in a unique position during the pandemic. He’s got a sizeable workforce he’s had to reconfigure and manage much differently, and he heads the bureau that regulators, employers and insurers in the largest state in …
May 15, 2020
A 24-year-old man died on May 12 in a fall at a downtown Sioux Fall, South Dakota, construction site, police said. Police were called around 10:45 a.m. about a man injured at the construction site of the First Premier Bank …
May 15, 2020
A Kansas plant that makes sausage shut down on May 13 after employees tested positive for the coronavirus, and an outbreak that has infected hundreds at the state’s largest prison claimed the life of another worker. The shutdown at the …
May 15, 2020
In recent weeks, employees at sites as diverse as Amazon warehouses, meat-processing plants and emergency rooms have raised the alarm over unsafe conditions posed by the new coronavirus. Workplace infections have been soaring, while protective gear has been in chronically …
May 13, 2020
New emergency rules adopted on Wednesday regarding temporary farmworker housing are designed to help increase worker safety and reduce the spread of COVID-19, those who created the rules say. The rules detail specific steps required at farms where temporary workers …
May 13, 2020
Workers have protested what they consider dangerous working conditions at the Pilgrim’s Pride chicken processing plant in the central Minnesota town of Cold Spring, site of one of the largest COVID-19 workplace outbreaks in the state. State officials confirmed 194 …