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Ricardo Gallardo, a Palatine, Illinois, roofer, has been cited for the fifth and sixth time by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for fall protection violations, the agency announced December 12. Twice within a month, federal workplace safety inspectors found that Gallardo, doing business as R&R Construction Services Inc., didn’t provide roofing employees with […]
On December 11, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it’s replacing the traditional hard hats its employees use with modern safety helmets to better protect them when they’re at inspection sites. Traditional hard hats, dating from the 1960s, protect the top of a worker’s head but offer minimal side impact protection and lack […]
Minnesota contractor Wagner Construction Inc. faces $1.8 million in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for a serious violation and 16 repeat violations involving trenching and excavation hazards, the agency announced December 5. Despite signing a 2021 settlement agreement with the agency that included a promise to protect its employees from trenching and excavation hazards, […]
A Georgia chemical manufacturer and Massachusetts concrete contractor find themselves facing Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines following worker fatalities, the agency announced December 1. After a 52-year-old leach tank operator suffered fatal chemical and thermal burns over most of his body, OSHA cited Chemical Products Corp. of Cartersville, Georgia, with five serious violations, […]
To make sure this holiday season is truly joyful, the U.S. Department of Labor reminds employers and workers not to overlook workplace safety and health. For a sad reminder of how an on-the-job tragedy can leave families, friends, and co-workers grief-stricken, look no further than Akron, Ohio, where a 25-year-old worker—hanging holiday lights on a backyard tree—suffered […]
Blue Ash, Ohio-based meat processor Sugar Creek Packing Co. faces $277,904 in proposed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after a worker fell into corrosive chemicals and suffered injuries that included severe leg burns and the degloving of their foot (the loss of skin and soft tissue), the agency announced November 29. Agency inspectors […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) renewed a Regional Emphasis Program (REP) focused on enforcement inspections in three mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia in industries with high levels of workplace noise, which can contribute to worker hearing loss, the agency announced November 28. The Region 3 emphasis program applies to area offices […]
A pair of employers are facing six-figure Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties following workplace explosions. Air Liquide Advanced Materials, Inc., of High Springs, Florida, a global manufacturer of industrial gas, faces $201,573 in penalties following a May 2023 explosion that severely injured several employees, OSHA announced November 16. The employer could have prevented […]
Dynamic Tool Co. Inc., an El Paso, Texas, machine shop and precision parts manufacturer, faces $596,221 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties, the agency announced November 14. OSHA cited Dynamic Tool with 58 workplace safety and health violations, including two willful safety violations and one willful health violation. The agency determined that Dynamic Tool […]
Manufacturer 3M Company faces $312,518 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after an employee at the company’s Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, facility became caught in a machine’s rotating rollers and suffered fatal injuries, OSHA announced November 7. The agency cited the company with two willful safety violations. The incident followed the company’s assessment […]