Grocery Chain Reckless with Safety

• Walmart has been deemed “unsafe and reckless,” according to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.
• Walmart is considered one of the dirty dozen employers for focusing on providing cash strapped customers with affordable food and other goods, while ignoring the safety of its employees.
• COSH cited an incident where a worker died of a heart attack. There is no indication that the lack of workplace safety contributed to the death, but Walmart is supposed to report it anyway.
• COSH cited high levels of gun violence, as well. Records from Gun Violence Archive say that Walmart has had over 1,100 instances of gun violence since 2014.
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Workers Killed in Hangar

• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has returned control of a hangar back to the owner, despite the death of three workers.
• The hangar at Boise Airport was under construction three months ago when it collapsed killing three workers. Public records show that the workers had expressed concerns about the construction.
• OSHA says it’s still investigating, but has collected enough evidence at this point to to turn the site back over.
• Workers observed that cables were popping and braces were coming apart. An attorney representing the family of one of the dead workers, says that high winds that day contributed.
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Work Place Violence: A Serious Concern

• More than two million U.S. workers face violence in the workplace every year, according to the International Labor Organization. The cost is estimated to be over $50 billion annually.
• Employees in the service sector are the greatest, especially workers in restaurants. Over 10,000 violent crimes were committed against restaurant workers in 2021, the data show.
• According to a report by Liberty Mutual, for every dollar invested in safety, three dollars is saved. Despite this stat, and others, only about 30% of companies have established health and safety programs.
• Violence is now considered by the Occupational and Safety Health Administration as a significant public health issue.
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Chicken Plant Cited

• The Occupational Safety and Heath Administration is going after a Mississippi poultry plant for a second time, after a previous accident involving a deboning machine. OSHA issued a damning report determining that the lax safety and health conditions at Mar-Jac-Poultry, led to the to teenager’s death.
• This second time around, it’s even worse resulting in thousands of dollars in fines.
• An inspection this month showed still numerous safety violations, including inadequate access to toilet facilities causing bladder infections—and other illnesses—and no guarding on the gizzard machine.
• OSHA especially focused on the bathrooms, saying that the plant did not have nearly enough, and that workers were not given enough bathroom breaks.
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Amazon Safety “Just Awful”

• Amazon employees in Quebec can’t wait to unionize, as they complain about health and safety.
• Citing health concerns from moving hundreds of packages along, employees are complaining about back issues because they’re being watched.
• Amazon says workers’ are not required to meet productivity targets. But workers say its much worse than that, especially for new Canadians.
• They’re discouraged from reporting safety and health issues, and many workers’ don’t even know they’re rights, workers allege. Amazon warehouse facilities in America have faced similar criticism.
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