Tag: worker fatality

NJ Transportation Company Facing $437K OSHA Fine

New Jersey transportation company Dana Container faces $437,860 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties for one willful, three repeat, and four serious violations, OSHA announced January 31. The agency cited Dana for one willful violation because it didn’t properly maintain safety data sheets for chemicals, including corrosives. Three repeat violations involved chemical container labels […]

Musical Instrument Maker Facing $273K OSHA Fine

Conn-Selmer Inc., an Eastlake, Ohio, musical instrument manufacturer, is facing $273,447 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties for three repeat and three serious violations, the agency announced January 24. On July 14, 2023, a worker suffered a fingertip amputation while setting up a machine die inside a press used to manufacture sousaphones. Investigators […]

Wisconsin Sawmill Facing $1.4 Million OSHA Fine

A Florence, Wisconsin, sawmill faces $1.4 million in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties following a 16-year-old worker’s fatal injuries, the agency announced December 19. OSHA cited Florence Hardwoods LLC for eight willful, six repeat, 29 serious, and four other-than-serious safety and health violations. The agency categorized five of the willful violations as egregious, […]

3M Facing $313K OSHA Fine Following Fatality

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 […]

OSHA, WHD Investigating Poultry Plant Fatality, Child Labor Violations

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) are investigating workplace safety and child labor violations at a Hattiesburg, Mississippi, poultry plant following the death of a 16-year-old worker, the DOL announced September 11. “As federal investigators continue to try to understand how a 16-year-old died […]

Alabama Sawmill Faces $184K OSHA Fine for Fatality

Rex Lumber LLC faces $184,385 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after a 20-year-old worker trying to clear a jammed roller in its Troy, Alabama, sawmill was crushed and killed after stored energy caused the infeed unit to close on him, the agency announced July 5. OSHA issued a willful citation for allowing […]

CSB Releases Final Report on Fatal Chemical Release

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released a final report on a hydrogen chloride (HCl) release at the Wacker Polysilicon North American facility in Charleston, Tennessee. A worker was fatally injured in the incident. The CSB found that at the time of the incident in November 2020, there were multiple contract workers […]

Using Robotics to Improve Workplace Safety

Despite concerted efforts to reduce both serious injury and death on the job, workplace fatality rates in the United States have remained largely unchanged over the past three decades. To help reverse this devastating development and assist organizations on their safety journeys, the National Safety Council (NSC) recently released a white paper through its Work to […]

Michigan Paper Mill Closed Following Fungal Outbreak

The Billerud Paper Mill in Escanaba, Michigan, has closed for cleaning following an outbreak of blastomycosis fungal infections, Billerud North America announced. The outbreak included a fatality, according to local public health officials. “As a precautionary measure, we will temporarily idle the Escanaba Mill for up to three weeks to facilitate additional proper cleaning based […]

ASSP, NSC React to Increase in Worker Fatalities

Two of the nation’s largest professional safety organizations—the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) and the National Safety Council (NSC)—reacted to a December 16 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that fatal workplace injuries increased in 2021. There were 5,190 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2021—an 8.9% increase from 4,764 […]