OSHA fined a water utilities construction company $1.3 million following the deaths of two workers at a Boston dig site. Workers Jordy Alexander Castaneda Romero and Juan Carlos Figueroa Gutierrez died when a dump truck struck them both, pushing them into a nine-foot deep trench at a sewer repair site in Boston. OSHA is accusing […]
The owner of a Colorado construction company was sentenced to jail time and ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution to the family of a worker who died from injuries sustained in a preventable trench collapse. Bryan Johnson, owner of ContractOne Inc., was sentenced July 15 to 10 months in jail for two counts of reckless […]
A Tennessee contractor involved in the fatal fall of a teenage worker violated child labor laws, according to the Department of Labor. The contractor allowed the teen to perform roofing activities and ride on a power-driven hoisting apparatus, both of which are banned activities for minors. A 16-year-old boy was doing roof construction on top of […]
An independent contractor rule the Trump administration introduced Jan. 7, 2021, has been withdrawn by the Department of Labor (DOL). The rule – which made “the nature and degree of control over the work” one of two main factors in making an employee-or-contractor decision – was effectively withdrawn as of May 6, 2021. This was […]
OSHA has received more than 60,000 coronavirus-related complaints as of last March, primarily from employees seeking improved workplace safety measures. In response to the many grievances received, OSHA launched the National Emphasis Program (NEP) in March 2021 to ensure businesses provide employees with adequate resources and protection during the pandemic. The program indicated a new […]
Temporary construction workers – who are at an increased risk of safety and health hazards than full time construction employees – face barriers to reporting near misses and injuries, according to a new study. Even though temporary workers believe identifying workplace hazards and using situational awareness can protect them, some won’t report risks and injuries, a study […]
A fatal trench collapse involving a worker killed attempting to save a co-worker serves as a tragic reminder that rescue attempts should only be made when it’s safe to do so and only by trained individuals. Responding to the incident without first checking to see if the scene was safe cost one worker his life […]
The contractor convicted on two counts of manslaughter for his involvement in a fatal Boston trench collapse has been sentenced to two years in prison.
At a time when over half of people have a video camera in their pocket (their smart phone), and security cameras are more common, video evidence will help investigators, such as OSHA, determine the cause of catastrophic events, like the fatal hotel construction collapse in New Orleans.
