Pa. company had no procedures leading up to a deadly explosion

• The National Transportation Safety Board has released new documents related to the deadly chocolate factory explosion in Pennsylvania last year.
• On March 24, 2023, seven employees were killed, nearly a dozen were injured and residents in West Reading had to leave their homes.
• The NTSB  found that the company’s emergency preparedness plan addressed food and safety but had no procedures regarding natural gas emergencies.
• In October, OSHA said in its report that RM Palmer could have prevented the tragedy by following required safety procedures and evacuating employees when they smelled the gas leak.
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Family wants answers after worker killed

• The North Carolina Department of Labor is reporting the death of a person at the Butterball plant in Duplin County.
• The agency received information about a fatality related to a contractor at the Mt. Olive location.
• Virginia’s family wants answers about a shipyard worker’s death at the plant located on Garner Chapel Road.
• Butterball said the contractor was working on a project at the plant when the accident happened but offered no other details on the mishap.
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Rust movie trial cites New Mexico OSHA

• The trial of “Rust” movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez with the prosecution claiming she did not always adhere to “essential” safety procedures and the defense describing the set as “chaotic.”
• The weapons handler has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot by actor Alec Baldwin on the Santa Fe set while he was handling a prop gun.
• She was also subsequently charged with tampering with evidence, with prosecutors alleging she handed off a small bag of cocaine after her interview with police following the shooting on Oct. 21, 2021.
• Defense attorneys cited the New Mexico Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s investigation into the shooting which they said found numerous faults on production’s part, not on Gutierrez-Reed.
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Fire chief responds to new OSHA rules

• Somerville, Maine, Fire Chief Mike Dostie offered his thoughts on a rule proposed by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for emergency responders.
• The proposed rule, entitled “Emergency Response Standard,” was posted online in the Federal Register with a request for public comments on Feb. 5. Local fire departments and state-level experts alike are still “wading through” its language to determine what exactly its implications will be, Dostie said.
• The U.S. Department of Labor stated the proposed rule was “a critical step” to ensure the safety of emergency responders across the nation.
• Dostie suggested that if the rule goes into effect with no subsidy or other financial support, local departments – especially small, volunteer departments like Somerville’s – would lack the financial resources necessary to become compliant.
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