OSHA’s final COVID hearings are set for September
- OSHA’s emergency temporary standard requiring numerous regulatory requirements for COVID-19 was withdrawn in December 2021.
- OSHA will roll out permanent COVID-19 regulations in September.
- Many of the requirements in the ETS are expected to be introduced again in the new final rule.
- Health care employers should prepare now to ensure compliance if OSHA publishes its new final rule.
Worker injured by a stray bullet
- A worker in Alameda County, Calif., was injured by a bullet fired from a mile away following the Oakland Athletics game.
- Overall, six people were injured from gunfire that evening but they are expected to recover.
- Three people were injured by bullets, a fourth person turned up at a hospital and two others suffered other injuries after the game.
- A county employee required surgery after a whole bullet lodged in her hand.
S.C. gun store owner fined after workers killed during ‘prank’
- South Carolina OSHA fined Coastal Firearms in South Carolina $3,000 for two violations after the deadly incident.
- Store owner Jon Whitley allegedly shot and killed an employee during a prank.
- Whitley told sheriff deputies he bought a BB gun and placed it among the other real firearms “with the intent of pranking his friend,” but mistakenly picked up a real firearm.
- The victim was identified as 36-year-old Stefan Mrgan, an employee of the store.
Michigan OSHA launches heat safety program
- Michigan OSHA introduced a State Emphasis Program to help reduce exposures to heat-related hazards in the workplace.
- Director Bart Pickelman emphasized the preventability of heat-related illnesses with rising temperatures throughout the month of July.
- The MIOSHA is allowed by the federal program to perform comprehensive inspection targeting and outreach which educate companies on the steps they can take to prevent dangerous health situations.
- Officials said that employers can use the MIOSHA prevention plan as a template to establish procedures that can help prevent heat illness among employees.