Walmart cited for safety infractions

• A federal panel has affirmed Walmart violated federal workplace safety standards at a warehouse in Johnstown, New York, when stored merchandise injured an employee in 2017.
• The decision found OSHA cited the retailer correctly for failing to meet the agency’s safety standard for the storage of material, which requires that stored items must be stable and secure.
• SHA investigators determined that the Walmart warehouse worker suffered a long-term injury when his head and neck were struck by a package that fell from storage racks above.
• OSHA then issued Walmart Inc. a citation for violating the agency’s standard for secure storage and proposed a $10,684 penalty.
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Food-chain suppliers at high risk

• Researchers used a database maintained by OSHA to investigate all severe injuries in the six years from 2015 to 2020 in the food supply chain.
• Their results documented 1,084 severe injuries and 47 fatalities during the six-year period although the researchers noted that actual figures could be twice as high.
• Data indicated that 2020 saw a significant increase in severe injuries as compared to previous years.
• Researchers reported that fractures of the lower extremities were most prevalent, with the most frequent accident event type being transportation-related, such as pedestrian-vehicle incidents.
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Safety tow truck bill passes in Washington

• The Washington State Senate approved a measure designed to improve safety for tow-truck operators.
• The measure was in response to tow-truck operators having a death rate 15 times higher than the national average, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
• The bill allows tow trucks and other emergency responders to use rear-facing blue flashers, which are more visible when they reach roadside emergency zones.
• State law already permits them to use red flashers on the way to the scene, the release stated.
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Balcony collapse kills worker

• OSHA is investigating after a balcony on a high-rise condominium on the New Jersey shore collapsed and killed a construction worker.
• An eighth-floor balcony at the Spinnaker condominium in Sea Isle City collapsed onto the seventh-floor balcony shortly before 2:30 p.m.
• One worker was trapped and two others sustained minor injuries at the nine-story complex, which was built in the 1970s.
• Jose Pereira, 43, of Philadelphia, a contractor working on the outside of the building, died after being pinned under a concrete slab.
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