Biggest Shipping Line Maersk Agrees to Safety Reporting Changes
- The U.S. division of Maersk Line will change its safety reporting policies and compensate a terminated seafarer for lost wages and damages in a settlement with the Labor Department.
- OSHA found the company violated the employee’s rights under the federal Seaman’s Protection Act by retaliating against the seaman.
- The settlement began with a 2020 incident where the world’s biggest shipping line’s U.S. unit terminated the chief mate on one of its vessels for reporting safety concerns directly to the U.S. Coast Guard.
- OSHA last year ruled the company had illegally suspended and terminated the unidentified officer who was working aboard the containership Safmarine Mafadi (now the Maersk Tennessee).
- The shipping line had challenged the ruling, which also ordered it to pay more than $450,000 in back wages with interest and $250,000 in punitive damages.
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New Report Shows Outsized Construction Workers Fatal Injuries
- Construction workers represented almost 20% of on-the-job fatalities in 2022, but only represented 7.5% of those employed, according to analysis by The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR).
- Among the key findings in CPWR’s latest bulletin are that the third-leading detailed cause of death at work was accidental poisoning by and exposure to narcotics and hallucinogens, accounting for 6.3% of at-work deaths in 2022.
- From 2011 to 2022, the number of fatal injuries increased 39.8% while the rate increased 3.3%.
- Roadway incidents involving a vehicle accounted for 13.9% of fatal injuries in 2022.
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Fed Court Says Georgia WC Law Provides Tower Contractor With Immunity
- A federal court has ruled that the “statutory employer” provision of Georgia Workers Compensation Act provides immunity to a principal contractor in the case of an injured employee of a subcontractor.
- The U.S. Northern District of Georgia Court declined to renew a lawsuit against SAC Wireless LLC by a crane oiler who was electrocuted and seriously injured while helping remove a crane from an American Tower site in Georgia.
- SAC contracted with Maxim Crane Works, and asserted that the worker’s claims were barred because the defendant was a statutory employer at the time of the incident.
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OSHA Safe and Sound Week Set for Next Month
- An annual program to promote workplace safety and health programs — OSHA’s Safe and Sound Week — is set to run Aug. 12-18.
- This year’s program will focus on resources for businesses to conduct job hazard analysis.
- Last year, more than 3,900 businesses participated nationwide.
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