Oil field services firm criminally charged following toxic chemical exposures

An oil field service company, two of its related companies and an employee are facing 10 criminal charges for allegedly exposing workers to toxic chemicals at its Kenai, Alaska facility in 2014. Prosecutors say four contract workers were exposed to a hazardous gas release while building a new chemical transfer facility to replace an aging one. KTUU (Anchorage)

Fed-OSHA will not look into death at Kansas motorsports facility

Fed-OSHA will not investigate an explosion at a Kansas motorsports track that caused the death of a 41-year-old man on last month as he used a torch to cut open what was believed to be an empty metal drum labeled “methonal.” The agency says the man was a a self-employed contractor, not an employee. WIBW (Topeka)

Man injured in machine accident at New York paper mill

Fed-OSHA is investigating after a 35-year-old man suffered a machinery-related, but reportedly not life-threatening, injury at a Potsdam, New York paper mill earlier this month. WWNY (Watertown, N.Y.)

Wisconsin officials hear from subcontractor in 2018 gas explosion

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission held a public hearing last week in which a subcontractor, which was hired to install a fiber optics line for a wireless services provider at a site in downtown Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, when its workers struck the natural gas main, testified regarding its role in the July 2018 incident. Fed-OSHA earlier this year determined the subcontractor and the contractor failed to contact underground utility owners or a hotline before drilling, and cited both companies with a serious safety violation. Fox 47 (Madison)

Georgia employer fined $21K for heat-related violations at Florida site

Fed-OSHA has cited cited a Thomasville, Georgia–based company for failing to protect workers exposed to outdoor heat hazards and failing to report a hospitalization within 24 hours after an employee suffered heat exhaustion during welding and fabrication work at Key West, Florida worksite. The company faces penalties of more than $21,000. Valdosta Today

IOSHA investigating death at trailer company

Indiana OSHA is investigating the June 7 death of a Bristol, Indiana trailer company employee after a piece of machinery being moved by a forklift fell on him. The 43-year-old had reportedly been working at the company only for a few months prior to the incident. Elkhart Truth