OSHA extends the period for Arizona work-safety proposal
- OSHA is extending a public comment period in its ongoing case to strip the state of Arizona of its authority to regulate workplace safety.
- Arizona’s local workplace safety authorities have failed to maintain adequate standards in the state for years, according to OSHA.
- OSHA is mulling over whether to revoke the state’s ability to regulate its own safety standards.
- OSHA was also tentatively scheduled to hold a public hearing in the case on Aug. 16, but the event has been postponed indefinitely.
Feds order Louisiana helicopter ambulance service to reinstate Utah pilot
- An investigation found a Shreveport, La,-based provider of helicopter ambulance services retaliated against a pilot in Utah who refused to fly amid concerns about limited visibility.
- OSHA examined the pilot’s complaint against Metro Aviation LLC after the employer forced him to resign, retire, or be involuntarily separated from the company two weeks after the refusals.
- OSHA found that Metro Aviation’s actions violated the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century.
- The department ordered the company to reinstate the pilot and pay them more than $171,000 in back wages and $17,000 in other damages.
Lawsuit after construction worker buried alive
- Family members have filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging a Las Vegas construction worker was buried alive when a trench collapsed.
- The family of Rigoberto Canas Ramos filed the lawsuit in Clark County District Court, naming KB Home Nevada and Customized Safety & Quality Solutions as defendants.
- Ramos went into the trench to get his tools and to help in pouring cement, but fellow employees later noticed he was not with them and later found him buried under the dirt.
- The suit is seeking more than $15,000 in special, general, and punitive damages.
OSHA developing new rules
- OSHA is developing six rule-makings to prevent major chemical accidents and workplace violence in healthcare and social assistance.
- The agency plans to hold stakeholder meetings soon on a rule-making to revise the agency’s PSM standard to better prevent major chemical accidents and workplace violence prevention.
- The agency is looking at safety for a communications tower safety standard and emergency preparedness and response.
- OSHA plans to consider new rules for infectious diseases standards and a patchwork of standards applies to hazards in tree care operations.