Attempted move to bankruptcy court rejected
- A federal appeals court rejected Johnson & Johnson effort to move more than 38,000 lawsuits to a bankruptcy court.
- The lawsuit stems from allegations that talc in Johnson & Johnson baby powder is linked to ovarian cancer,
- No amount of exposure is considered safe, according to OSHA.
- The attempted maneuver to bankruptcy court is a legal strategy colloquially known as the “Texas Two-Step.”
Agriculture bill introduced to counter OSHA
- Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and U.S. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts introduced the Industrial Agriculture Accountability Act in response to “underinvestment” by OSHA and the FDA.
- The bill would include the end of high-speed slaughter lines and allows the testing of animals for dangerous drugs, critical steps in encouraging food security.
- “Underfunding of FSIS and OSHA and lax standards have allowed these companies to ignore common sense guardrails ensuring the quality of the food that Americans put on the table,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley.
- The measure is also aimed t0 improving the resources, training, and staffing of these vital agencies.
Breweries avoiding injuries, OSHA fines
- OSHA cited Briess Malt & Ingredients Co., one of the largest malt suppliers in the country, with 16 workplace safety violations and proposed $174,351 in fines.
- However, that was more of an aberration than an ongoing trend.
- In the past five years, breweries have been cited for OSHA violations far less than other industrial businesses that also use large-scale machinery and hazardous chemicals.
- OSHA performed about 31,400 inspections in 2022, but only 76 cases of enforcement, according to the agency.
N.J. construction company faces $500,000 in fines
- Finbar O’Neill, a New Jersey construction company executive, pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating safety rules at a Hudson Valley work site where a worker was killed when a concrete wall collapsed.
- O’Neill is the principal owner of Onekey, LLC, and allegedly endangered workers’ safety at the site by taking shortcuts and sidestepping safety regulations, prosecutors said.
- The violations led to the death of Maximiliano Saban, an employee of a subcontractor on the job, and another worker was injured.
- The company pleaded to the same charge and faces a fine of up to $500,000.