Flash: CDC: Vaccinated May Gather Without Masks
If you are fully vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control says you can gather with others without masks. Is this a ray of hope for the workplace? And do the Cal/OSHA Emergency Requirements fly in the face of this new thinking? Cal-OSHA Reporter
CDC: More than three-quarters of COVID hospitalizations were overweight, obese
An overwhelming majority of people who have been hospitalized, needed a ventilator or died from COVID-19 have been overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study released on Monday by the agency found the risk for hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths was lowest among individuals with body mass indices under 25. The risk of severe illness “sharply increased,” however, as BMIs rose, particularly among people 65 and older, the agency said. CNBC
Teenage employee dies after being shocked at Twin Cities apartment construction site
An 18-year-old who suffered an electric shock March 3 while working at an apartment site near the Minnesota Vikings’ Eagan training campus has died. He was working for a subcontractor at the time. Minnesota OSHA is investigating. Bringmethenews.com
Grocery chain rehires employee who was fired for raising COVID-19 safety concerns
A New York City Trader Joe’s employee who was fired in late February after raising concerns with the grocer’s chief executive over workplace COVID-19 safety protocols has been reinstated to his former position at its Upper West Side location. NY Eater
Employee hospitalized after fall at Massachusetts construction site
A construction worker was flown to a Boston hospital Friday after he fell 15 to 20 feet at the construction site of Needham’s new public safety facility. The man who fell was working on a section of the facility that will house a new police station. Workplace accidents in the area resulted in four deaths and two injured last week. Sentinel & Enterprise
Victim of Boston-area parking garage stairwell collapse identified
The construction worker who died when a concrete stairwell collapsed at a city-owned parking garage in Cambridge, Massachusetts, last week been identified as a 56-year-old Connecticut man. He apparently was removing metal railings on a stairway located on the fourth floor of the building during a restoration project on Tuesday when it collapsed, causing him to fall and then pinning him. Fed-OSHA is investigating. Another construction worker, a 41-year-old man, sustained critical injuries. WBUR (Boston)
West Virginia employee dies after falling into industrial machine
A 27-year-old employee of a West Virginia mulch business died of his injuries after falling into an industrial machine on Wednesday. Fed-OSHA is investigating. WBOY
Even vaccinated employees must continue wearing masks
Now that COVID-19 vaccines are starting to roll out, employees who have been vaccinated are questioning whether they are still required to wear face masks and practice social distancing. JD Supra