Oregon proposal to indefinitely extend masks, social distancing prompts backlash

As states around the country lift COVID-19 restrictions, an Oregon OSHA official is considering indefinitely extending rules requiring masks and social distancing in all businesses in the state until they are “no longer necessary to address the effects of the pandemic in the workplace.” The administrator of the agency says the move addresses a technicality in state law that requires a “permanent” rule to keep current restrictions from expiring. The idea has prompted a flood of angry responses. KTVZ (Bend)

 

U.S. House passes legislation to protect healthcare employees

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved the bipartisan Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill that would direct Fed-OSHA to issue a standard requiring health care and social services industries to develop and implement workplace violence prevention plans to protect nurses, physicians, social workers, emergency responders and others. The bill is supported by the Emergency Nurses Association. Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

Colorado employee dies in trench collapse

A construction worker died on Friday when he fell into a partially collapsed trench that filled with water on a worksite near Johnstown, Colorado. The crew of four employees of an excavating company were attempting to connect a sewer pipe from a house under construction to the public sewer main. They had been using a sump-type device to remove water from the hole, as water continued to flow into the hole. First responders arrived within 10 minutes and found three of the man’s coworkers in the trench, attempting to rescue him. KUSA (Denver)

 

Employee killed in North Carolina bridge collapse

Fed-OSHA is investigating after one employee was killed and a second one injured Wednesday when a section of the old Bonner Bridge on North Carolina’s Outer Banks collapsed. Crews were dismantling most of the bridge over Oregon Inlet and converting the remaining portion into a fishing pier. A local resident said he felt the bridge, which opened in 1963, was unsafe for years. WRAL (Raleigh, N.C.) [with video]

 

Iowa corrections officials ask for help to investigate prison killings

Iowa corrections officials have brought in investigators from Minnesota and South Dakota to investigate the killings last month of two Anamosa State Penitentiary employees, allegedly by two inmates who were staging an escape attempt using hammers and a grinder obtained from a tool shed. The out-of-state team are expected to review the events, conditions at the prison, policies and procedures, the way prisoners are classified, and what steps are needed before the prison, which has remained on heightened security since the killings, can return to normal operations. Des Moines Register

 

Employee’s death in Kentucky grain bin leads to $70K fine

A Kentucky agricultural employer has been fined $70,000 following the March 2020 death of an employee in an 80,000-bushel grain bin that was approximately half full with corn. The employee was walking down the corn with a PVC pipe to loosen the corn, so it would flow out the side of the bin. Instead, it caved in on the employee, causing a fatal asphyxiation. WLKY

 

TOSHA investigating fatality at highway worksite

Tennessee OSHA is investigating a fatal incident involving a construction worker that occurred Thursday at a worksite on the Oak Ridge Highway. WVLT (Knoxville, Tenn.)