Note to our valued subscribers: OSHA Today will be taking its annual summer starting Friday, July 3, 2020. We will resume daily publication Monday, July 20, 2020.

 

Aircraft manufacturer fined $13K for explosion hazards

Fed-OSHA has handed down more than $13,000 in penalties against an aviation manufacturer following an explosion in December at its plant in Wichita, Kansas. The agency alleges that the manufacturer of Cessna and Beechcraft aircraft failed to protect employees from autoclave explosion hazards. AIN Online

 

Fed-OSHA issues guidance to ensure uniform enforcement of silica standards

Fed-OSHA has issued a compliance directive designed to ensure uniformity in inspection and enforcement procedures when addressing respirable crystalline silica exposures in the general industry, maritime and construction sectors. The agency began enforcing most provisions of the construction standard in September 2017, with enforcement of the requirements for sample analysis starting in June 2018. Construction & Demolition Recycling

 

N95 masks being reused in Minnesota

Three months into the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses and other clinicians are being forced to reuse hospital masks in ways that would have gotten them written up a year ago. With too few respirators to go around, hospital administrators are left to decide how best to protect their staffs, even as some evidence suggests health care workers are transmitting the virus among themselves while at work. Minneapolis Star-Tribune

 

Minnesota ag department informs farmers of new COVID-19 preparedness requirements

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has created a preparedness plan template that includes all required plan components and is available in Hmong, Somali and Spanish. Farms, farmers markets and other agricultural businesses were designated critical businesses under an executive order from the governor that was announced in April. St. James Plaindealer

 

Pennsylvanians weigh risks, benefits of job reopenings

By July 3, all of Pennsylvania is supposed to have entered the “green” phase of reopening, when most kinds of businesses can restore limited operations after three months of restrictions. Now, many jobless employees are being called back. Pre-existing medical conditions and workplace safety are other factors weighing on individual employees considering a return to their jobs. WHYY

 

Practical considerations for the post-shutdown workplace

Now that your business is reopened, what happens if an employee contracts COVID-19? Are you required to grant an employee’s request for leave related to COVID-19? Are you still required to accommodate requests to telework? TCBN