Hazardous materials were found in town hall

• Fair Haven, Vermont, has been fined after the state found it didn’t screen the first floor of the Town Hall for hazardous materials during renovation work last year.
• The town agreed to pay $8,375 for a citation with two parts from the Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Vermont OSHA).
• The first part of the amended citation document, “Citation I Item 1 a,” states that the town was supposed to determine the presence of asbestos on the first floor of the Town Hall before the renovation work commenced.
• The amended citation documents removed mention of town employees in the “item 1b” section.
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Collapse at Idaho airport kills three, injures nine

• OSHA and local investigators are investigating what caused an airport hangar under construction to collapse in Boise, Idaho, killing three people and injuring nine others.
• There was a large-scale collapse of the building and its framework.
• Three people died at the scene. Nine other people were injured, including five who were in critical condition at local hospitals, the city said in a statement on its website.
• A crane at the construction site also fell during the incident.
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Illinois plant being scrutinized by OSHA

• Requests from emergency medical services and the local fire department show emergency responders were dispatched to Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) West plant in Decatur, Illinois, at least 68 times between January 2023 and October 2023.
• Within that period, emergency medical services were called to the Decatur plant 51 times to handle incidents like employees falling and breaking their legs, passing out, or having a stroke.
• There were 13 calls for fire-related incidents. Most of those incidents do not meet the criteria for OSHA inspections.
• OSHA has investigated the conditions at the plant five times this year alone because of accidents causing injury or death among its employees. OSHA has fined ADM almost $350,000 so far for six violations, most of which stem from an explosion in April.
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Emergency responder rule open for public comment

• A new OSHA proposal for workplace protections for firefighters and workers in similar emergency jobs is closer to getting updated.
• A notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on Feb. 5 and says OSHA will accept public comments through May 6. The agency released an advance copy of the notice on Dec. 21.
• It would likely take at least a year for OSHA to respond to comments and issue a final version of the regulation.
• The agency described the proposed rule as a “performance-based” standard.|
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