More than 100 complaints filed with union
- Swissport cargo workers have filed nearly 100 formal complaints with OSHA.
- Those complaints include, “faulty vehicles, extreme heat issues, and run-down equipment” that put workers at risk.
- The city of Chicago has charged Swissport over 70 times this year for breaking rules and regulations, according to the employee union,
- The union also states that since 2015, Swissport has been investigated by OSHA 34 times.
OSHA hazards higher among minorities
- New data by the National Safety Council shows that White workers are killed the most (61%), followed by Hispanic or Latino workers (23%),
- Black or African-American workers (11%), and Asian workers (3%), the death rates of each group provide a stronger indication of those at risk.
- The absolute figures are misleading, as Black and Hispanic/Latino employees are killed at higher rates than whites working in similar industries.
- White workers experienced a death rate of 3.3 per 100,000 workers, compared to Black workers’ rate of 3.5, and to Hispanic or Latino workers’ even higher death rate of 4.5.
Contractor cited again
- Federal safety investigators found a Schaumburg, Ill., excavating contractor has again failed to follow federally mandated safety measures to protect workers from potentially deadly trenches cave-ins.
- An OSHA inspector observed two employees of A. Lamp Concrete Contractors Inc. in a 7-foot-deep trench in Broadview working on municipal sewer and water lines without adequate cave-in protection or safe ways to get in and out of the trench.
- Following its investigation, OSHA cited the company for three repeat, one serious and one other-than-serious violation of federal trenching and excavation standards, and proposed penalties of $118,962.
- The agency cited A. Lamp Concrete in 2018 and 2021 for exposing workers to cave-in hazards.
Updated rules for falls
- Washington state revised fall protection rules to align with federal OSHA
- During construction projects involving roofing work on a low-pitched or roof and constructing a leading edge, the threshold height for required fall protection was lowered to 6 feet from 10 feet.
- The updated rule states that using a safety watch system must involve one employee conducting work – other than construction – on a low-pitched roof not within 6 feet of the roof edge.
- A second employee would act solely as a safety watch, with no other duties.