Fake Safety Cards Land NY Business Owner Jail Time

• The owner of a Brooklyn, New York company that provides jobsite safety training and certification has been sentenced to six months in jail for making and selling dozens of fake safety cards to New York construction workers who never received the required training.
• Benedetto Bonello pleaded guilty to second-degree falsifying business records and his company, National Site Safety pleaded guilty to a violation before a Brooklyn Supreme Court.
• Bonello was an authorized OSHA trainer but, according to the investigation, did not provide the required training.
• Workers on larger and more complex construction projects requiring permits by New York City’s Department of Buildings  are required to take safety courses approved by the U.S. OSHA, which provides for the issuance of a 10-hour training certification for entry-level workers and a 30-hour training certification for safety managers and coordinators.
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Mineworkers Chief Calls NIOSH Cuts ‘Cowardly’

• United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil E. Roberts Friday called last week’s layoffs at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health “cowardly” and they will lead to increases in injuries.
• “What happened at NIOSH last night is nothing short of shameful. Telling hardworking, dedicated employees that they no longer have a job at 6:30 in the evening — after the workday is done and with no forewarning — is cowardly, heartless, and utterly unacceptable,” Roberts said in a statement.
• He said the cuts will eliminate the leading defense against black lung disease and other respiratory illnesses that affect miners.
• The division is responsible for developing life-saving coal dust and silica monitors. It runs the miner X-ray surveillance program and it oversees MSHA’s Part 90 program.
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Massachusetts Advocates Say Job-Fatalities Still Alarming Despite Decline

• The annual report from the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO shows 40 people died from traumatic injuries while on the job in 2024 and eight firefighters who died from occupational-related disease.
• The report suggests that at least an additional 21 workers died from suicide or fatal drug overdoses.
• The groups are urging state lawmakers to adopt regulations to hold employers more accountable for employee safety.
• The report suggests that the Trump Administration is backtracking on its commitments to worker safety, leading to dangerous worker conditions.
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