Lawmakers hear concerns about Amazon
- A congressional hearing was held to examine warehouse safety nationwide, particularly at Amazon warehouses.
- South Jersey Congressman Donald Norcross requested the hearing before the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee after three New Jersey Amazon workers died in one month last summer.
- Amazon said one of those deaths was not work-related and is cooperating fully with OSHA.
- The injury rate inside Amazon’s New Jersey warehouses jumped more than 54% compared to 2020, according to a Policy Perspective and Rutgers University study.
OSHA training now required
- California requires certain vendors, contractors, and subcontractors to ensure their workers set up, tearing down, and operate live events at public entertainment venues to complete an OSHA 10 or 30-hour training course.
- These rules apply to work done on areas owned by the State of California or any county within the state must
- Training must be provided by an OSHA-authorized Outreach trainer or taken via an OSHA-authorized online 10-hour or 30-hour course.
- The law applies to affected personnel employed at any state-operated fairground, county fairground, state park, California State University, University of California, or auxiliary organization-run facility that hosts live events.
Nebraska man electrocuted
- Raymond Sexton Jr., 31, was electrocuted while working for Autographix in Omaha.
- Witnesses told police that Sexton accidentally touched a power line.
- Federal regulators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating.
- Sexton was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but he later died from his injuries.
OSHA partners with the brewing industry
- OSHA and three trade organizations formed a two-year alliance to provide New York’s brewing industry with information, guidance, and access to training resources to help them protect the safety and health of workers.
- The effort will seek to prevent and reduce exposure to hazards during brewing, storing, containerizing, handling and delivery of beer to final locations.
- It will also promote an understanding of workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
- The agreement will expire on Nov. 9, 2024.