Wisconsin bill aims to reduce workplace violence at hospitals

A bipartisan bill in the Wisconsin legislature would hold individuals responsible when they harm any health care provider working at a hospital. Under current law, people only face Class H felony charges if they hurt emergency room staff, EMS personnel or an ambulance driver. The bill would not charge someone who has a brain injury/disorder, developmental disability or serious mental health illness. WKOW (Madison, Wisc.)

 

Ohio foundry settles with Fed-OSHA over burn incident

Whemco Ohio Foundry Inc., an industrial supplier for the metals, power generation, mining and shipbuilding industries, has reached an informal settlement with Fed-OSHA in connection with a 2018 molten metal spill that burned four employees at its Lima foundry. The company has agreed to pay nearly $21,000, reduced from the almost $30,000 in penalties originally proposed. LimaOhio.com

 

Opinion: New York City needs to better regulate noise

Noise levels in New York restaurants are regularly measured at 90 decibels and sometimes higher. Workspaces, schools, streets, and other places of public accommodation are more difficult to avoid. Too much loud noise is a growing public health concern that local government should step up and combat, writes environment reporter Sarah Sax. City & State

 

North Carolina: Fleet Readiness Center East receives VPP Star

Fleet Readiness Center East, a facility on base at MCAS Cherry Point, is now a designated Star Site in Fed-OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program. WNCT

 

Roaming robot dogs could streamline jobsite documentation

HoloBuilder, whose software helps builders document and analyze their underway projects, has partnered with the robotics firm Boston Dynamics to create a semi-autonomous solution to document under-construction projects. The robot is first semi-manually trained to walk its reality capture route via a user’s phone. Architect’s Newspaper

 

South Texas construction worker killed in trench collapse

A 36-year-old construction worker was killed Tuesday in a trench collapse in Gregory, Texas. Fed-OSHA is investigating. A law enforcement officials says construction workers were digging with a backhoe when the trench collapsed, trapping the man. KRIS (Corpus Christi)

 

Plumbing contractor found guilty in 2016 Boston trench deaths to be sentenced

The owner of a plumbing company found guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of two employees in October 2016 in Boston is scheduled to be sentenced. Fed-OSHA cited the company for 18 violations. WCVB (Boston) [with video]