Tag: OSHA

DOL Petitions Court to Force Postal Service Compliance with Subpoenas

The Department of Labor (DOL) has petitioned the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to force the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) subpoenas, OSHA announced November 21. The agency is conducting a whistleblower investigation at the USPS’s New Salem, Pennsylvania, facility. OSHA opened an […]

Back to Basics: A Look at Construction’s ‘Fatal Four’ Safety Hazards

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine the most dangerous construction safety hazards. Are you familiar with the construction industry’s deadliest safety hazards? The “fatal four” or “focus four” safety hazards are caught-in/-between hazards, electrocution, falls, and struck-by […]

New Jersey Bakery Facing $385K in OSHA Fines

Valenti’s Bakery LLC of Paterson, New Jersey, is facing $194,691 in new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines following a follow-up inspection, the agency announced November 19. The employer now faces a total of $385,221 in OSHA fines. The agency performed a follow-up inspection in May after the employer failed to prove it had […]

Syracuse Foundry Facing Nearly $1 Million in OSHA Penalties

A Syracuse, New York, iron foundry faces accumulated penalties of nearly $1 million after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) again cited the employer for workplace health and safety violations, the agency announced November 15. Frazer & Jones LLC operates one of the nation’s largest ductile and malleable iron foundries, which has been operating […]

Faces of EHS: Maegan Procasky on Ways to Thrive as a Safety Professional

Given her vast expertise and insightful advice, one might be surprised that Maegan Procasky has only been in the EHS industry for a little over five years. And since joining Walt Disney Parks & Resorts a year-and-a-half ago, she has been making quite a name for herself. In fact, she just got promoted! Procasky started […]

BLS: Injuries, Illnesses Declined in 2023

In 2023, nonfatal worker injuries and illnesses declined from 2022 levels, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced November 8. Private sector employers reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2023—a decrease of 8.4% from 2022, the BLS reported in its annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). The decrease […]

OSHA Encouraged by Decline in Death Investigations

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigated 826 worker deaths in fiscal year (FY) 2024—an 11% reduction from 928 in the previous year, the agency announced November 4. FY 2024 ended September 30. The agency noted significant decreases in the number of fatal injuries from trench collapses and falls, two of the leading causes […]

GAO: OSHA Should Address Warehouse, Delivery Ergonomic Hazards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should take steps to better identify and address ergonomic hazards at warehouse and delivery companies, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded in a recent report. The transportation and warehousing sector, which includes e-commerce warehouses and “last-mile” consumer delivery, had the highest serious injury and illness rate of all […]

Back to Basics: The Costs of Safety Failures

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine the costs of safety failures. The failure to put safety protections in place can be costly, resulting in large Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines, injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, as well […]

Farm Cooperative Facing $242K OSHA Fine in Grain Engulfment

MFA Inc., a Missouri farm cooperative, faces a $241,887 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fine following an employee’s fatal engulfment in a storage bin, the agency announced October 29. The agency initiated an inspection following the employer’s fatality report and found that three employees of MFA Inc., operating as MFA Rail Car, were removing […]