Fed-OSHA cites Georgia telecom company in employee trench death
Fed-OSHA has fined a Moultrie, Georgia, telecommunications installation contractor just over $58,000 for trenching and excavation standards violations after an employee was fatally injured in a trench collapse while performing fiber optic connections at a De Soto, Georgia worksite. The agency initiated the inspection as a result of the incident and as part of the National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavation. Moultrie Observer
Chicago employee fatally struck by forklift
A 57-year-old man was fatally struck by a forklift at a business on South Side of Chicago last Monday. Fed-OSHA is investigating. Chicago Sun-Times
Fed-OSHA fines Long Island personal care products company $200K
A home and personal care fabric products manufacturer with facilities in three New York communities has been fined $200,000 by Fed-OSHA after an employee sustained broken bones and another lost a finger in separate incidents last year. It is the largest such settlement on Long Island in at least five years. Newsday [may require registration]
House Republican introduces bill to provide tax credit to businesses for PPE
U.S. Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) last week introduced legislation that would provide a tax credit for businesses to safely reopen and pay for extra safety measures is intended to encourage and enable businesses to take the recommended steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in their workplaces. The credit is limited to $1,000 per employee for a business’s first 500 employees, $750 per employee for the next 500 employees and $500 for each employee after that. The Hill (Washington, D.C.)
Pennsylvania frontliners may be eligible for hazard pay
Pennsylvania’s frontline employees may have the opportunity to receive increased pay through the COVID-19 Hazard Pay Grant Program under the CARES Act federal stimulus. Recipients will be chosen based on risk of exposure to COVID-19 by industry, prevalence of the virus in the area and average hourly pay. The risk to employees has been defined by four categories based on Fed-OSHA standards. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Can employer be held responsible for COVID after employees return to work?
Legal experts say there are only certain situations in which someone would be able to sue an employer if COVID-19 was contracted after returning to the workplace. Dallas Morning News
Fed-OSHA issues COVID-related guidance for the oil & gas industry
Fed-OSHA has issued COVID-19 guidance oil and gas industry employees. The guidance is not unlike other best practices Fed-OSHA has recommended for other employees in the general industry, write Jane H. Heidingsfelder and Patrick J. Veters, both partners at Jones Walker LLP. National Law Review