Imagine this: A worker at your company is killed on the job. OSHA issues your company a fine. You make changes in your safety program to prevent a similar incident, and OSHA drops the fine completely. Not possible? It is.

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Tags: dump truck, Indiana OSHA, INDOT, OSHA drops fine

One worker was killed, another remains hospitalized in critical condition after the collapse of a zip line tower on Hawaii’s Big Island.

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Tags: GoZip LLC, Hawaii, internal injuries, tower collapse, zip line

Twenty years ago, 25 workers died in a chicken plant fire in North Carolina. The tragedy caused a large upgrade of the state’s occupational safety agency. How is North Carolina OSHA doing now?

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Tags: blocked doors, fire, Imperial Food Products, North Carolina, OSHA inspectors

If a state tells its occupational safety and health inspectors that they have to find a higher percentage of serious, willful and repeat violations, has it set up a quota system?

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Tags: inspection quota, Las Vegas, Nevada, serious willful repeat violations

Indiana OSHA has agreed to cut almost in half proposed fines to the University of Notre Dame in connection with the death of a student who was filming a football practice last fall. The university has agreed to take a number of steps as part of the settlement.

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Tags: IOSHA, Notre Dame, scissor lift, settlement agreement, student death

One governor has thumbed his nose at federal OSHA’s suggestions for strengthening his state’s safety agency. This is the same state that had much to do with federal OSHA’s crackdown on state workplace safety programs.

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Tags: burden to businesses, Gov. Brian Sandoval, Nevada, State OSHAs

OSHA can’t send people responsible for workplace safety to jail. But they can refer cases to local prosecutors who are able to seek prison time. That’s what happened in this case, and now two men will be locked up.

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Tags: fall, fall protection, harnesses, involuntary manslaughter, owner jailed

On April 28, 2011, OSHA turned 40 years old. Is the agency suffering an early mid-life crisis?

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Tags: Chamber of Commerce, i2p2, inspectors, job killer, maximum fines, mid-life crisis, OSHA 40-years-old, permissible exposure limits, retaliation, unions

Imagine this scenario: Your facility is inspected by state or federal OSHA. The agency issues citations. Your company decides to appeal. Should you be required to correct the hazards while the case is under appeal?

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Tags: abate hazards, appeal citation, Labor & Industries, serious violation, Washington state

Last September we told you about a Tennessee OSHA (TOSHA) ruling: allowing guns in businesses that serve alcohol doesn’t create an unsafe workplace. Now, the state has taken the issue one step further.

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Tags: businesses that serve alcohol, guns at work, Tennessee, TOSHA

As the debate over ergonomics regulations continues, one state has decided that such rules are too expensive for businesses.

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Tags: ergonomics, Governor Rick Snyder, Michigan, MIOSHA

A lot of debate will occur between this week’s announcement of President Obama’s proposed budget, including funding for OSHA, and the start of the new federal fiscal year on Oct. 1. Forget about that debate for now. Instead, take a look at what OSHA plans to do with its funding, especially if you own a small business.

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Tags: enforcement, inspections, OSHA budget, severe violators, small business

A company removed guards from a shredder, assigned an underage employee to use it and didn’t train him. The teen was crushed to death in the shredder. Does the teen’s family have a case for wrongful death, or are they limited to workers’ comp death benefits?

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Tags: killed in shredder, machine guards, underage employee, Workers' comp, wrongful death

Federal OSHA is cracking down on states that run their own occupational safety and health programs. For employers, that means more inspections and higher fines.

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Tags: California, Hawaii, Nevada, state occupational safety programs, tougher enforcement