Gamer Busted for Mask Violation

• An interesting safety issue snags a gaming company for lying about masks during the COVID pandemic.
• Razor, a company that manufactures devices for video games, started making specialized masks for gamers. They included special lighting, specific to playing video games.
• Razor billed the masks as N-95 grade. They weren’t. Razor never submitted the masks for approval by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, putting users in danger.
• As a result, Razor is required to refund customers in excess of $1 million dollars, making them accountable to yet another agency.
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Yes, OSHA Does Cover Discrimination

• The Occupational Safety and Health Act prevents employers from discriminating against employees who assert their rights.
• As part of keeping a safe workplace, employers should encourage employees to speak up, if they notice a safety violation, or what might be a safety violation.
• Any attempt by employers to silence workers for speaking out, or failure to address the safety issue, allows workers to escalate their concerns to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• Workers can file a whistle blower complaint, if they experience “unfavorable” employment actions, after making a complaint. This is just one of many rights workers can exercise.
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Ohio Company in Trouble Again

• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into the death of a woman killed while unloading a septic tank.
• The employee of Ohio company McGill Septic Company, was pinned between a forklift and a semi-trailer.
• The employ was transferred to the hospital where she later died. Law enforcement has also opened an investigation.
• OSHA has issued citations to McGill in the past, resulting in fines.
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OSHA Cites Two Firms for Thousands

• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration determines that a construction company is at fault after the death of a worker.
• The incident which occurred in 2023 involved a worker who was killed when a crane tipped over. The accident occurred during work on an Orlando highway.
• According to OSHA, both the construction company and the concrete company were were both cited. The construction company is cited for failing to ensure that the ground could support a crane. The concrete company is cited for failing to properly use extension ladders.
• Both companies are being cited for serious violations, and one company is being cited for failure to keep adequate records. Accidents involving cranes have been a problem lately. Another worker died in a crane accident earlier this month in Fort Lauderdale.
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Saw Mill Incident Under Investigation

• The Occupation Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into a serious sawmill injury.
• An employee of a in Portland, Maine company Kennebeck Lumber Co., caught his hand in a saw.
• There are few details available as time, but the worker was conscious and breathing when transported to the hospital.
• The incident is in the wake of Workers Memorial Day where Maine’s Labor Commissioner said that in 2023 there were 23 workers were fatally injured during their or in the course of their employment.
• Maine is led the nation in the rates of non-fatal injuries in private workplaces in 2022, according to numbers provided by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
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