‘Protecting America’s Workers Act’ would expand protections
- U.S. Reps Joe Courtney and Bobby Scott have co-authored the Protecting America’s Workers Act, which was reintroduced to Congress.
- The bill includes expanding OSHA coverage to the estimated 8 million state and local government workers in 24 states not currently covered by OSHA.
- The measure would reinstate an employer record-keeping rule of illnesses and injuries rolled back under the Trump administration, providing authority for increased civil penalties for serious OSHA violations.
- The bill would also establish rights for families who lose a loved one to a workplace fatality and require OSHA to investigate all cases of death or serious injury that occur in a workplace.
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Group wants expanded chemical hazard rules
- The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board asked OSHA and the EPA to revise their regulations for reactive chemical hazards.
- The Board was responding to 1 million pounds of trichloroisocyanuric acid that were stored in a Bio-Lab Lake Charles facility that had a chemical reaction during Hurricane Laura.
- Some of the recommendations include constructing new buildings and maintaining existing buildings and structures to withstand hurricane winds and flooding.
- The group also wants to implement safeguards and processes to ensure hazardous chemicals don’t get released during extreme weather events.
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OSHA collaborates with Georgia agencies for stand-downs
- OSHA is collaborating with the Georgia Department of Public Health and Mental Health America of Georgia to protect workers and encourage employers to hold safety stand-downs.
- The initiative calls on companies to use the benefits stand-down offers and to stop all work for a safety meeting focused on the importance of workers caring for their mental health and supporting their co-workers’ well-being.
- The three-pillar objective provides information, resources and empowerment to help employers reduce exposure to mental health stressors and prevent work-related suicide.
- Numerous resources are available for employers to support this initiative, including guides from OSHA’s workplace stress page.
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Wisconsin workplace deaths decreasing
- Wisconsin had 105 workplace deaths in 2021, down from 114 in 2018, according to a report from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
- However, the “true impact of COVID-19 infections due to workplace exposures is unknown,” the report said.
- Of Wisconsin’s 2021 workplace deaths, 36 were the result of transportation incidents, 21 from assaults or violence, 18 from contact with objects and equipment, 13 from exposure to harmful materials, 13 from falls, and four from fires or explosions.
- Nationally, workplace deaths from violence or assault increased from 705 in 2020 to 761 in 2021, according to the report.
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