Utility employee injured in Virginia while restoring power
After being injured while restoring power to a Pittsylvania County, Virginia customer Tuesday morning, a lineman improved to stable condition at a North Carolina hospital. The employee reportedly was burned while restoring power to a customer who lost service during the winter storm over the weekend. WFXR (Roanoke, Va.)
Montana company, staffing contractor fined more than $264K for various violations
Fed-OSHA has cited a Montana employer and its staffing contractor and assessed a total of more than $264,000 in penalties, for violations including failing to install guards on various equipment, control hazardous energy, test workers for hearing damage due to noise overexposure, and report an accident that resulted in a partial finger amputation within 24 hours as required. Daily Inter Lake (Kalispell, Mont.)
Death of Buffalo nursing home employee under investigated
After learning about it from a Buffalo News story, Fed-OSHA is investigating the death of a Buffalo man employed at two nursing homes. An online Fed-OSHA document shows that the agency’s Buffalo office initiated a fatality investigation into the employee’s primary employer more than five weeks after he died. Buffalo News
Crystalline silica can be found in many different materials, including concrete, sand, mortar, other minerals, granite, and artificial stone. Silicosis is one of a group of medical conditions known as pneumoconioses, which are caused by breathing in different kinds of dust particles, usually in a work environment, that causes scarring inside the lung. The symptoms of silicosis often don’t appear until 10 to 20 years of exposure to silica in a work environment. Verywell Health
Could mandatory vaccination policy violate Fed-OSHA retaliation rules?
Some employers are considering mandating COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment, but the vaccine has only been granted emergency use authorization, raising the possibility that an employee could use this status to claim a health risk, writes Jonathan Crotty of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP. JD Supra
Amendments to Hazard Communication Standard proposed
Fed-OSHA this week published a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the Hazard Communication Standard, the federal-level legislation that sets forth the classification, labeling, Safety Data Sheet and training requirements for hazardous chemicals intended to be used, handled, or stored in workplaces. Here are highlights of several major changes, according to Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. National Law Review