Half of Texas’ nurses experience workplace violence

For decades, healthcare employees have faced rampant violence in the workplace. Well over half of Texas’ nurses reported being subject to workplace violence in their career, according to a 2016 state study, but there are no federal laws that specifically target such violence. If passed this year, new legislation would place Texas in a vanguard of states that have backed protections for nurses. KENS

Nevada OSHA investigates fatal incident at Las Vegas-area rock quarry

Nevada OSHA is investigating the death Friday of a 42-year-old employee at a Henderson, Nevada rock quarry from from blunt force injuries. Las Vegas Review-Journal

IOSHA fines employer more than $14K in fatal storm sewer incident

The employer of three employees who died while working on a storm sewer in Columbia City, Indiana last summer has been fined $14,400. Autopsies found the men died of asphyxia due to low oxygen conditions and subsequent drowning. WANE

Mining: Understanding why employees fall

Falls continue to make up a large portion of fatal injuries in mining, and they’re the second-leading cause of nonfatal injuries that occur at mine sites. “Slip or fall of person” accounted for 11 percent of the 479 fatal injuries at U.S. mines from 2006 through 2015. Nearly 60 percent of all fatal slips or falls could be attributed to falls from heights. Pit & Quarry

Is Fed-OSHA inching closer to binding COVID-19 standards?

“Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace,” issued by Fed-OSHA at the end of last month, does not create a new standard or regulation, but suggests the agency is edging ever closer to issuing binding COVID-19 legal requirements, writes Patrick J. McMahon, associate with Foley & Lardner LLP. National Law Review

Updated communication standard focuses on hazardous chemicals

Fed-OSHA late last week proposed an update on the Hazard Communication to help protect employees who use hazardous chemicals on the job. It is intended, among other goals, to address issues that have come up since implementation of the 2012 standard and improve the information on the labels and safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals, increasing employee protections and reducing chemical-related occupational illnesses and injuries. Cleaning & Maintenance Management