New Virginia Law Sets Stage for Heat Illness Prevention Rules
- Virginia lawmakers approved legislation directing the state to develop workplace safety standards for employees exposed to extreme heat, with the Safety and Health Codes Board required to adopt the new standard by May 2028.
- The regulations are expected to address measures including access to drinking water, rest periods, shade or cooling areas, employee training, and acclimatization protocols for workers unaccustomed to high temperatures.
- At the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Timberlake Area Headquarters in Campbell County, supervisors say crews already take precautions during hot weather, including frequent water and shade breaks, and are encouraged to report symptoms like lightheadedness or dizziness.
- Construction worker Marcus Haley said he and his coworkers have adapted to working in extreme heat over the years, while state officials say the goal of the new standard is to establish a consistent framework employers can follow and workers can rely on.
Mattress Plant Destroyed by Fire Had Years of OSHA Violations
- Records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show years of safety violations at Healthcare SC’s Winnsboro, South Carolina mattress plant, which was destroyed by a fire in August that left over 250 people jobless.
- A 2022 inspection found serious violations including inadequate lockout/tagout procedures, missing machine guards on rotating shafts, insufficient fall protection on elevated foam-racking systems and blocked emergency exits with pathways as narrow as 17.75 inches. Proposed penalties totaled at least $200,000.
- A 2023 follow-up inspection cited hazards involving CNC cutting equipment, including vertical blades that could strike workers, unreported employee cuts and blood found on the production line that management couldn’t trace to a specific injured employee. Staff told OSHA they feared retaliation for raising safety concerns, and the violation was classified as a repeat offense with an additional $22,500 in penalties.
- A 2025 inspection found many earlier violations still uncorrected, including forklift operators without seatbelts, unresolved machine-guarding gaps, inadequate guardrails and stair rails, and an unformed safety committee more than three years after the initial inspection.
Poultry Plant Fined $360K After Worker Injury from CO2 Exposure
- Ontario-based Maple Lodge Farms Ltd. was fined 500,000 Canadian dollars ($361,300) after a worker at its poultry processing and packaging facility was critically injured on after a ruptured hose connected to a vacuum blender released roughly 16,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the facility’s deli area.
- The carbon dioxide, used to cool products during processing, escaped uncontrollably after the hose failure, and an investigation by the province’s labor ministry found the facility had no carbon dioxide sensor or alarm system in place at the time.
- The ministry determined this constituted a failure to take every precaution reasonable for worker protection, finding Maple Lodge Farms in violation of section 25(2)(h) of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. The facility has since installed a permanent carbon dioxide sensor.
- Following a guilty plea in Brampton court on Aug. 27, the company was fined $500,000 plus a mandatory 25% victim fine surcharge under the Provincial Offences Act.