Painting company faces OSHA fines

• OSHA proposed $60,000 in fines for Doctor Colors LLC for not conducting required lead testing or providing protective gear for employees before sandblasting steel beams as part of a job at a parking garage in downtown Providence.
• Two members of the  IUPAT District Council 11 filed the complaint after visiting the site in September and noticing clouds of dust from a block away.
• A video showed Hill swabbing steel beams in the parking garage on Weybosset Street for lead several times. He said the five beams he tested came back positive for lead.
• OSHA announced it would fine Doctor Colors LLC for not taking proper precautions, claiming the company exposed employees to lead by not testing for it or providing equipment like coveralls and respirators.
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OSHA joins restaurant association to discuss indoor heat

• OSHA joined Restaurant Opportunities Centers United for a listening session with restaurant workers on the importance of protecting workers from extreme indoor heat in the workplace on Feb. 21, 2024.
• The discussion, held at ROC United’s New York City headquarters, highlighted the experiences of restaurant workers with the ways extreme indoor heat affects their health, safety, and livelihood.
• OSHA officials discussed the agency’s commitment to addressing heat hazards in both outdoor and indoor environments, prevention methods to mitigate risks, and how OSHA can help empower workers to raise their workplace safety and health concerns with employers and advocates without retaliation.
• Many restaurant kitchens across the country – most notably in commercial kitchens – reach above 100 degrees Fahrenheit on any given day, exposing restaurant workers to extreme heat and humidity.
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North Carolina company faces penalties after worker dies

• A business in Laurinburg, N.C., was cited with two violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina following an inspection into an incident that left a teen dead in August, according to N.C. Labor Dept. officials.
• A 19-year-old man died after being badly injured by a machine while on the job at Edwards Wood Products Inc., officials said.
• The N.C. Labor Dept. cited Edwards Wood Products Inc. with two alleged serious violations of the OSHA regarding the incident with the total penalty being $18,325.
• The maximum penalty for each serious violation is $15,625.
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Brooklyn had the most construction deaths

• The York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health report found that Brooklyn has had the most deaths of workers.
• A study by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health found construction fatalities rose for the third year in a row in 2022, the most recent year that data was available.
• There were 19 OSHA-investigated fatalities in 2022, of which Brooklyn led the way with eight, followed by Queens and Manhattan with four each, then two in the Bronx, and one on Staten Island.
• A spokesperson from the Department of Buildings says most of the deaths in the NYCOSH report are outside the agency’s jurisdictional authority. DOB numbers show 11 fatalities for that year.
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