Oklahoma worker suffers fatal asphyxiation 

• An Oklahoma City employer’s failure to follow federal safety procedures left a 30-year-old worker suffering fatal asphyxiation as they tried to make repairs inside a water tank at a McClain County wellsite in September 2023, a federal investigation has found.
• OSHA determined the worker had entered a permit-required confined space to fix a leaking bulkhead valve in a production tank and then lost consciousness.
• Two co-workers entered the tank in a failed rescue attempt and suffered effects from exposure to low atmospheric conditions.
• OSHA investigators found the employer, C&M Roustabout Services LLC failed to evaluate the tank for hazardous conditions and proposed $103,232 in penalties for its violations.
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Lawmakers still mulling face mask standard

• A deadline by the White House to impose a nationwide face mask standard in workplaces wasn’t met because more information is needed.
• President Biden had directed OSHA to determine by Monday, March 15, if such a standard is needed.
• An emergency temporary standard on face masks in the workplace is ultimately expected to be issued. Still, the analysis has not yet been completed, three people familiar with the process told CBS News.
• OSHA workplace standards are enforceable and usually take years to implement, so an emergency temporary standard has occasionally been used to avoid normal rulemaking procedures so that grave dangers facing workers can be addressed.
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Stand Up 4 Grain to promote workplace safety

• Mitchell, South Dakota will host the national kick-off of the 2024 Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week on March 25.
• The event is a joint effort of OSHA, the Grain Handling Safety Council, the Grain Elevator and Processing Society and the National Grain and Feed Association.
• Since 2017, the annual Stand Up 4 Grain Week has served to remind agriculture industry employers and workers of the potentially deadly hazards present in confined spaces, including grain engulfment.
• Through OSHA’s Cooperative Alliance Program, the agency has collaborated with states’ workplace safety officials and industry stakeholders to help reduce the fatal engulfment rate in the U.S. by 17 percent from 2021 to 2022.
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Georgia pesticide manufacturer fired employee for safety complaint

• The U.S. Labor Dept. filed a complaint against a Lawrenceville pesticide and agricultural chemical manufacturer after the company allegedly terminated a worker’s employment in retaliation for filing a safety and health complaint with the department.
• The complaint proposes Avenger Products LLC and its parent company Kittrich Corp. pay the former customer service manager back pay, compensatory and punitive damages to address lost wages, other financial losses, and emotional distress related to their termination and forbids the company from future retaliation.
• “Employers are required to comply with all applicable anti-retaliation laws, including those meant to ensure worker protection when raising health and safety concerns in the workplace under the OSH Act,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Tremelle Howard in Atlanta.
• OSHA alleges that Avenger Products violated the Occupational Safety and Health Act by ending the worker’s employment because they exercised their rights protected under the act.
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