Construction worker fatally crushed by crane at New York City worksite
A 34-year-old construction worker, who had been helping assemble a crane, died early Saturday after being crushed by part of the crane that fell at a construction site in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. Another worker was injured and taken to a local hospital, authorities said, and two workers who witnessed the incident were taken to a hospital for observation. City officials put a stop-work order on the site and ordered the crane dismantled. New York Daily News
South Carolina hospital shootings highlight violence against healthcare workers
Two shootings last week at South Carolina hospitals have put the spotlight on the dangers healthcare employees face every day: Incidents of serious workplace violence were four times more common in the healthcare industry than in private industry, according to data from 2002 to 2013 examined by Fed-OSHA. Additionally, a 2015 study cited by the largest union and association of registered nurses in the country indicated that 88 percent of respondents had experienced an incident of violence the previous year but did not document it in their employer’s electronic system. Greenville News
Maine contractor charged with workplace manslaughter
Prosecutors have indicted a 44-year-old Maine contractor for workplace manslaughter after a roofer, who reportedly lacked required fall protection, fell from a roof and died on December 13. The statute carries a maximum of five years and a $5,000 fine. Under Fed-OSHA guidelines, any employer whose worker is exposed to a drop of more than 6 feet where there is no guardrail is required to make sure workers use fall protection, but the contractor reportedly claimed that since the roofer was an independent contractor, he couldn’t force the roofer to use the gear. Portland Press Herald
Company appeals fines for death of man in Maine barn collapse
A Maine-based general contractor is appealing Fed-OSHA fines the agency charges contributed to a 55-year-old man’s death from a broken neck when a barn they were dismantling collapsed last September. The agency determined the man was using a chainsaw to cut an overhead section of the barn floor, while at the same time a forklift was removing a previously cut section, when the floor collapsed, trapping three workers under debris. Portland Press Herald
North Carolina: Man dies after arm amputated by machinery
OSHNC is investigating after an employee of a Gastonia automotive company was killed on the job while cleaning a recycling belt, when his right arm became caught in it and was amputated. Hawaii News Now [with video]
Authorities search for cause of fatal North Carolina explosion
A gas leak last Wednesday preceded an explosion that killed one person and injured 25 more in Durham, North Carolina. One of the injured is the owner of the telecommunications company that reported the gas line cut. Multiple companies and contractors reportedly are involved in installing fiber lines outside of the Prescient Building. WRAL (Raleigh, N.C)
Fed-OSHA to move Madison office
Fed-OSHA plans to move its Madison, Wisconsin office on April 22 to 1402 Pankratz Street. Daily Reporter (Milwaukee)