Consumer group sues Calfornia Insurance Commissioner
- Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit advocacy group, filed a lawsuit against California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and the Department of Insurance to release financial information.
- The group wants to see records of Lara’s meetings and communications with insurance companies that used campaign contributions that possibly influenced policy decisions.
- The lawsuit alleges Lara’s office has failed to produce complete records and calendars relating to $54,300 in campaign contributions it says Lara received from individuals linked to two insurance firms,
- Lara had pledged not to take contributions related to firms with business in the Department of Insurance.
Ohio manufacturer faces $177,000 in penalties
- A 25-year-old manufacturing worker suffered serious arm burns that required hospitalization.
- An OSHA investigation found Ohio-based International Cushioning Co. didn’t follow required federal safety standards that might have prevented the incident.
- OSHA learned the worker was injured when heated foam melted on the employee’s arm, causing second-degree burns.
- OSHA issued citations for 25 serious safety and health violations and proposed $177,950 in penalties.
Three deaths at Amazon plant
- The death of an Amazon warehouse employee in New Jersey prompted calls for an investigation by OSHA.
- Federal labor officials are also looking into the deaths of two other employees at the site.
- The workers died at three different Amazon warehouse facilities in New Jersey over a span of three weeks.
- Amazon reported to federal regulators that 6.6 of 100 employees sustained recordable injuries in 2020, totaling 27,697 workplace injuries.
Baton Rouge convenience store chain faces penalties after stabbing
- Federal safety inspectors cited the operator of several Baton Rouge-area convenience store locations after an assistant manager was stabbed by a customer.
- The employee, who was stabbed multiple times, was treated and later released from the hospital.
- OSHA cited the B-Quik location on Greenwell Springs Road – owned and operated by Benny’s Car Wash & Oil Change – for failing to protect its workers from violence and for waiting15 days to report the worker’s hospitalization.
- Federal workplace safety law requires employee hospitalizations to be reported within 24 hours.
- The company faces $17,403 in proposed penalties.