Florida firm faces penalties after workers’ death

• A Florida fireworks display company violated workplace safety regulations that could have prevented a warehouse fire and explosion that left four employees dead and one severely burned last year.
• OSHA ordered the company — Magic in the Sky — to pay $109,375 in fines after an investigation into the fire after the agency found that it had “failed to protect its employees by following established safety protocols.”
• OSHA cited 10 serious violations, including a failure to safely store explosive materials, a lack of an emergency action plan, and a failure to develop and put in place workplace safety procedures.
• Fireworks shot out of the warehouse as emergency crews tried to rescue workers who were trapped inside on the night of the accident.
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OSHA offers guidance for poor air quality

• OSHA is offering employers important information to help protect outdoor workers from exposure to wildfire health hazards.
• A comprehensive website has safety tips and resources to help employers and workers reduce their exposure to smoke during wildfires.
• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health also offers resources for outdoor workers exposed to wildfire smoke.
• When allowing respirators for voluntary use, employers must provide employees with the advisory information in Appendix D of OSHA’s Respirator Protection Standard.
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OSHA renews alliance with Albuquerque Mexican Consulate

• OSHA’s area offices in El Paso and Lubbock, Texas, and the Albuquerque Mexican Consulate entered into a two-year alliance to provide Spanish-speaking workers in West Texas with information, guidance, and access to workers’ rights resources.
• The alliance provides workplace safety and health outreach and training to the region’s Mexican nationals, including materials for Spanish-speaking workers about their rights, OSHA standards, and other assistance.
• Workers will be provided with information on safety and health issues such as falls from elevated work surfaces, electrocution, heat illness, exposure to hazardous chemicals, and being struck by and caught in or -between hazards.
• “OSHA’s alliance with the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque will prevent many Spanish-speaking people working in West Texas from needless injuries or worse,” said OSHA Area Director Elizabeth Linda Routh.
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OSHA investigating teen’s death

• OSHA has opened an investigation after a teenager was killed at a landfill in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
• Police identified the teenager as 16-year-old William M. Hampton of Lee’s Summit who was a sophomore at Lee’s Summit High School.
• Investigators said Hampton died while working at Lee’s Summit Resource and Recovery Park after being pinned between a semi and its trailer.
• OSHA is determining how the accident happened and whether Hampton was legally employed.
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