Note to our valued subscribers: OSHA Today will be taking its annual holiday break starting Monday, December 20. We will resume daily netletter publication Monday, January 3, 2022. We wish all of our subscribers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Kentucky OSHA to investigate after tornado-related deaths at factory

The Kentucky Division of Occupational Safety and Health Compliance will look into the deaths of eight people who were killed at a candle factory during the violent weather that spawned tornadoes in five states. nitially, authorities feared a much higher death toll at the factory because dozens of employees were working late to make candles for holiday orders. Bradenton Herald

‘If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen’

Fed-OSHA announced in October it will publish an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to confront heat-related illnesses in the workplace. This could be an issue for bakery operations. Baking Business

Family of employee killed in Ohio power plant collapse files wrongful death lawsuit

One year after the deadly collapse of an Adams County, Ohio power plant, the family of an employee who was killed has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the companies hired to demolish the plant. Cincinnati Enquirer

Employee safety still an issue in meatpacking plants

Earlier this year, Debbie Berkowitz, a safety and health expert and former senior policy advisor for Fed-OSHA, testified at a congressional hearing following the release of a report that found more than 59,000 employees at the nation’s top meat processing companies’ plants were infected with the coronavirus in the first year of the pandemic and at least 269 workers died. These figures were three times higher than previous estimates. The report is one of the few documents that has offered some insight into the tragic outbreaks that swept through the nation’s meatpacking plants last year. Iowa Public Radio