Court to Force USPS Whistleblowers Subpoenas

The US Labor Department is asking the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to enforce its subpoenas issued by OSHA as part of a whistleblower investigation of the U.S. Postal Service in New Salem, Pennsylvania.
OSHA opened the probe in October 2023 after an employee alleged in a whistleblower complaint that she was suspended after reporting safety hazards involving an assigned vehicle and a work-related injury.
After the agency issued a document subpoena to obtain relevant documents and information, USPS refused to produce certain documents. The department’s petition asks the court to enforce both of these subpoenas.
Since 2020, DoL has filed nine federal lawsuits to protect USPS probationary employees fired after reporting injuries in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.
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OSHA has issued current policy information and guidance with respect to its authority over people working on vessels and facilities on or adjacent to U.S. navigable waters and on the Outer Continental Shelf, including renewable energy facilities.
The 64-page publication primarily addresses memoranda of understanding between OSHA and the U.S. Coast Guard and the application of OSHA general industry, shipyard employment, marine terminals, longshoring, and construction standards to these situations.
OSHA’s coverage extends three nautical miles seaward from the general coastline, except for Puerto Rico and the Gulf Coast of Florida and Texas, where the agency’s coverage extends for nine nautical miles.
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Labor officials in Hong Kong may start using drones to carry out worksite safety inspections and gather evidence, reports the South China Morning Post.
The move comes after 11 people died in industrial accidents in the first half of 2024, with authorities issuing 3,600 orders by September to contractors to improve or halt their projects.
“Our department is looking into building our drone fleet for aerial photography and using the images collected to produce three-dimensional photorealistic models to aid evidence collection and law enforcement operations,” Deputy Commissioner for Labour Vincent Fung Hao-yin recently told a manpower panel meeting
The department had conducted 55,446 safety inspections at construction sites this year as of September, issuing 3,600 suspension or improvement notices with 1,852 prosecutions initiated.
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The MEMIC Safety Research Center is offering up to $30,000 in grants to researchers in U.S. higher education to support projects aiming to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses.
The submission deadline for applications is Dec. 20, 2024.
The eligible projects must be completed within two years and demonstrate measurable impacts on workforce safety.
“MEMIC Safety Research Center grants are an opportunity for researchers to intensively examine workforce safety challenges, gain high-profile publicity for their work and create positive change for the American workforce in partnership with MEMIC,” said MEMIC Group President & CEO Michael Bourque.
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