No investigation into farm digester fatality

Iowa OSHA is not expected to look into the death last week of an experienced, 54-year-old scuba diver who failed to surface from a dive to repair a broken cable at the bottom of a million-gallon anaerobic digester near the Quad Cities where cattle manure and food waste generate bio-gas. The diver was a self-employed contractor and exempt IOSHA inspections, according to an official with the agency. KPVI/Globe Gazette

 

Agriculture employees are especially vulnerable during heat wave

Over the past week, temperatures have exceeded 100 degrees in multiple states. Compared to other outdoor employees, thow who work on farms are especially vulnerable to heat hazards if they’re earning a piece-rate wage instead of being paid hourly, because that’s an incentive to not slow down or take breaks, according to the director for strategic campaigns at United Farm Workers. Some advocates are doubling down on efforts to make sure such employees are taking extra precautions and staying hydrated. ABC News

 

Study: People with back pain miss fewer workdays after treatment

University of Utah researchers recently released their findings that people with lower back pain injury miss 11 more days of work in a year when they only receive treatments for lower back pain that are not recommended by medical guidelines, in comparison to people treated according to guidelines. People who received recommended treatments combined with non-recommended treatments saw an intermediate benefit, missing a median of eight workdays within the year as compared to those who exclusively received recommended treatments. Big News Network

 

Paving machine severs employee’s foot

A 51-year-old Massachusetts man who was working with a Plymouth paving firm had his foot amputated on Thursday when a paving machine ran over it on a driveway project, according to a fire official, who said a failure of the trailer hitch was involved. Fed-OSHA is expected to investigate. WCVB (Boston)

 

Attorneys discuss Fed-OSHA’s rulemaking on new and altered hazard communication regs

Although couched as simple changes that will bring Fed-OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard in alignment with international standards for management of hazardous materials, the agency’s proposed rulemaking has broad implications, particularly for materials that may not have been classified as hazardous in the past, write three attorneys at Jackson Lewis P.C. National Law Review

 

Fed-OSHA partners with North Dakota companies on trench safety

Fed-OSHA has investigated six trenching-related deaths in North Dakota within the last decade. On Monday, the agency signed an agreement with multiple North Dakota safety companies aimed at educating and training businesses in an effort to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities caused by trenching and excavation practices. Fed-OSHA issued almost $745,000 in fines specifically for trenching violations in North Dakota in fiscal year 2020 alone, more than double the penalties issued in the previous fiscal year. The Forum/WDAY