Note to people receiving total disability benefits under workers’ comp: Don’t get caught horseback riding.
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Tags: horseback riding, U.S. Postal Service, workers' comp fraud
Here’s a statement that caught our eye: The owner of a small manufacturing business in New Jersey told a local newspaper that his employees are “not concerned about having a safe place to work, they’re concerned about having a place to work.”
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Tags: employees not concerned about safety, machine guarding, OSHA regulations, out of business
OSHA has fined a tree surgery company following the death of an employee last summer in Idaho City, ID.
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Tags: Davey Tree Surgery, fail to provide training, killed by falling tree
An employee sought to upgrade his workers’ comp benefits for emotional injuries due to harassment and retaliation at his job. The employer and its insurance company fought the request because the employee also filed a wrongful termination claim. How did a court rule?
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Tags: emotional injuries, harassment, New Hampshire, retaliation, wrongful discharge
Researchers have already delved into whether talking on a cell phone is likely to cause vehicle crashes involving injuries and deaths. Now a team in Europe has looked into incidents not involving vehicles, including those at work.
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Tags: Accident Analysis and Prevention, distracted by cell phone, injured while on cell phone
Within the last month, OSHA has received pressure from two sources to enact three new regulations. The pressure is coming from …
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Tags: combustible dust, injury and illness prevention programs, new OSHA regulations, silica
A judge has ruled that there’s enough evidence to order a San Francisco company’s owner and one of its managers to stand trial for the death of a pregnant worker who was crushed by a creasing and cutting machine.
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Tags: death of pregnant worker, owner and manager to stand trial, worker crushed to death
A worker’s complaint brought OSHA to a Houston company. The complaint was substantiated, and OSHA found even more violations that added up to a hefty fine because the company had been cited for them before.
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Tags: machine guards, Severe Violator Enforcement Program, willful violations, worker complaint
Forbes has issued its annual top 10 list of the safest cities in the U.S. And the safest city is:
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Tags: Forbes, Plano, safest cities
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has filed criminal charges against a college professor who supervised a UCLA lab where a staff research assistant was killed in a fire three years ago. The University of California also faces millions of dollars in criminal fines in the case.
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Tags: criminal charges, research assistant killed in fire, UCLA fatal fire
An OSHA official confirms to the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) that a “top-to-bottom review” of the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) has been completed and recommendations on changes are being considered.
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Tags: Center for Public Integrity, David Michaels, Jordan Barab, VPP, worker deaths
A woman has been sentenced to prison in connection with workers’ comp fraud. The incident involved an alleged injury while the woman was traveling for business. She claimed she had been struck by a falling vase.
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Tags: sentenced to prison, struck by vase, workers' comp fraud
Following closely on the heals of new rest rules for commercial pilots, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) set new hours-of-service (HOS) requirements for commercial truck drivers. Some groups aren’t happy about the new rules.
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Tags: FMCSA, hours of service, OOIDA, truck drivers, Truck Safety Coalition
The federal government has tried once again to issue regulations that will prevent fatalities due to fatigued workers in a safety-sensitive industry, and this time officials addressed the costs associated with the new rules. Was this a good compromise?
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Tags: commercial pilots, FAA, pilot fatigue
OSHA originally inspected this company after an employee was injured when a steam-jacketed kettle of beans exploded. Now the agency says the company hasn’t corrected several hazards since the September 2010 incident.
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Tags: ammonia, electrical hazards, follow-up inspection, kettle of beans exploded, personal protective equipment
An employee applied for workers’ comp benefits after being hit in the forehead with a golf ball at a charity tournament.
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Tags: charity event, hit in head with golf ball, mutual benefits doctrine, Workers' comp
A company must pay $300,000 to an employee that OSHA says was terminated after reporting a work-related injury.
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In a rare criminal prosecution of a company for safety violations, a California-based company will pay $1.65M in connection with the deaths of five workers in a fire at a power plant in Colorado.
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Tags: criminal prosecution, flammable chemicals, power plant fire, RPI Coating, Xcel Energy
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports that in 2010, the number of transportation fatalities was down. Despite that decline, there was a rise in several categories.
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Tags: cell phones, deaths on roads, NTSB, transportation fatalities
A hospital aide injured her back when lifting a patient. She applied for workers’ comp benefits. However, her employer said she didn’t deserve the benefits because she didn’t list a previous injury on her employment application.
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Tags: back injury, employment application, lifting a patient, pre-existing injury, Workers' comp
Directions given by an OSHA inspector to workers prevented serious injury and perhaps even the death of one employee.
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Tags: fall protection, harnesses, lanyards, OSHA inspector
OSHA has fined a suburban St. Louis recycling company $195,930 in connection with the death of a worker who had been trying to clear a jam in a baler machine.
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Tags: baler, clear a jam, lock out and tag out, powered industrial trucks, recycling
OSHA is investigating the death of a young worker due to a forklift tipover at a facility in Denton, TX. The incident provides a reminder for workers of one thing not to do if a forklift they’re operating starts to overturn.
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Tags: death of young worker, forklift driver killed, forklift tipover
A jury has awarded more than half a million dollars to a St. Louis man whose arms were crushed by more than a ton of bird seed in a workplace incident.
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Federal authorities blamed the Upper Big Branch (UBB) Mine disaster that killed 29 miners on “a workplace culture that valued production over safety,” and said the explosion was “entirely preventable.” Haven’t we heard this before about workplace disasters that claimed multiple lives?
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Tags: Massey mine explosion, MSHA, production over safety, safety culture, Upper Big Branch
OSHA and local police are investigating a fatal injury to a worker at a residential construction site.
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Tags: cable snapped, decapitated, massive trauma, severed cable
A 12-year battle regarding hearing loss between Murphy Oil and a group of its former workers has ended with a decision against the company. Now the company must pay up.
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Tags: hearing loss, Murphy Oil, Workers' comp
OSHA is suing Whole Foods Market Group to reinstate a fired employee with full back wages and benefits. The employee had expressed concerns to a supervisor about a sewage leak in the store. Three days later, the employee was fired.
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Tags: sewage leak, whistleblower, Whole Foods
The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement with an Illinois grain handling company in the deaths of two teens in July 2010.
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It doesn’t take huge quantities of chemicals in a facility to create a potentially hazardous situation, as a small business in Theresa, WI, found out.
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Tags: emergency responders, hazardous chemicals, toxic fume exposure
A security surveillance agent monitoring 38 video screens started to put his legs on his desk to revive circulation. His chair tipped over and he was thrown to the floor, sustaining injuries. Will a court allow him to get workers’ comp for those injuries?
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Tags: fell over in chair, Fitzgeralds casino, in scope of employment, Nevada, personal comfort doctrine
Want fewer injuries at work? Perhaps your company should encourage employees to join weight loss and exercise programs.
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Tags: Falls, obese workers, obesity, sleep apnea, wellness programs
According to a new study, poor economic conditions have made it more difficult for some employers to offer light, transitional or modified duty for injured workers.
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Tags: light duty, return to work, Workers' comp
Two companies and a construction worker have settled a ten-year battle over injuries the worker suffered on the job. Cost: $2.7 million.
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OSHA has revised its guidance on servicing tires to address current hazards and help workers safely perform maintenance on large vehicles.
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Tags: large vehicle maintenance, service wheels, tire explosion
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