Target faces $227K fine for emergency exit hazard citations
Fed-OSHA has fined Target more than $227,000 for emergency exit hazards cited at two Massachusetts stores. Inspectors allegedy found fire exit routes in backroom storage areas at stores in Danvers and Framingham blocked by packing boxes, products, rolling carts, metal bars, portable ladders and a powered industrial truck. WCVB (Boston)
Overloaded crane caused beams to fall on Cleveland garage, say investigators
Fed-OSHA has determined that a Cleveland construction company overloaded a crane, causing tons of steel beams to crush a parking garage under construction in October. The agency has cited the company for three serious violations: loading rigging equipment in excess of its rated capacity, not ensuring the nylon straps used to lift the beams were free of burns, melting, snags or worn stitches, and failing to ensure no employees were working directly below the load. News 5 (Cleveland)
Florida mobile home mover fatally crushed
A man who was part of a crew attempting to transport a mobile home became trapped under the collapsed home in Jacksonville, Florida and died at the hospital Tuesday. CBS 47 (Jacksonville, Fla.) [with video]
Employee falls to death from ladder at Georgia poultry plant
A 38-year-old employee died Wednesday after falling from a short ladder at a poultry plant in Murrayville, Georgia last week. He reportedly had been working for the company for five years and was on the sanitation team. Gainesville Times
Amputation incident spurs $317K in fines to Ohio flooring manufacturer
Fed-OSHA has proposed nearly $317,000 in fines against a Fostoria, Ohio manufacturer of vinyl flooring after an employee lost part of an arm and four fingers from the other hand while attempting to remove a jam from a lamination machine. Toledo Blade
Body of worker trapped in collapsed trench at Raleigh-Durham area construction site recovered
Four workers were caught in a trench collapse at a Raleigh-Durham area gas station construction site Wednesday, one fatally, according to authorities. The hole was estimated at least 6 feet deep when it collapsed. WXII (Winston-Salem, N.C.) [with video]
States increased worker safety inspections in FY 2019
Workplace safety inspections by state agencies increased 2.3 percent in fiscal year 2019, according to new data. However, the 2019 total is below the level of two to five years earlier. Bloomberg Environment
New federal injury prevention, reemployment initiative launched
According to the Labor Department, in 2019 the FECA program paid more than $3 billion to more than 200,000 injured workers and survivors, and more than 100,000 new claims are filed each year. The new “PEER” (Protecting Employees, Enabling Reemployment) initiative directs federal agencies to reduce total injury and illness case rates in general and lost-time cases in particular; improve the timeliness of overall claims in general and wage-loss claims in particular; increase the rates at which employees return to work within 45 days of an injury and in cases of moderate to severe injury or illness; and make full use of electronic filing. FedWeek