Wisconsin: Construction worker killed at Green Bay industrial site

A 52-year-old man died following a vehicle accident at a Green Bay, Wisconsin paperboard mill worksite on Friday morning. Fed-OSHA is investigating. Green Bay Press Gazette

 

Department of Transportation to distribute 100M masks for travelers

Just days after transportation employees complained to a House panel about the lack of enforceable standards to protect them from COVID-19, the federal government announced it would distribute nearly 100 million cloth facial coverings to aviation, transit and passenger rail transportation sectors for passengers to use. About 86.8 million of the masks will go to airports, and 9.6 million will be distributed to 458 transit agencies and Amtrak for passenger use. Roll Call

 

FAQs issued on masks in the workplace

Last week, Fed-OSHA issued guidance aimed at educating employers and employees on how to properly use face coverings at work, the latest word from the agency on what workplaces can and should do to protect employees during the pandemic. The agency makes it clear that face coverings do not eliminate the need for social distancing in the workplace, writes Megan Baroni of Robinson & Cole LLP. National Law Review

 

Chinese company faces federal charges in ‘fake’ N95 respirator case

A Chinese manufacturer has been charged with producing and exporting to the United States nearly half a million misbranded and defective masks that falsely purported to be N95 respirators for allegedly violating the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. According to the complaint, the company manufactured 495,200 defective and misbranded masks, embroidered with “N95,” even though they fell well below the minimum 95 percent filtration standard, that it claimed to be N95 respirators and had them imported into the United States. MassDevice

 

IOSHA receives record number of complaints

Indiana OSHA reports it has received over 9,000 complaints dating back to mid-March, 7.5 times more than their yearly average at 1,200 complaints, about half of which concerned the reopening of essential or nonessential businesses, the other half from people concerned about safety in the workplace. WNDU (South Bend, Ind.) [with video]

 

Panel rejects AFL-CIO’s request for emergency temporary standard

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court has ruled Fed-OSHA acted reasonably in determining that an emergency temporary standard is unnecessary during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency sets emergency temporary standards if it determines workers are in grave danger, due to exposure to toxic substances or agents. Courthouse News Service