Fed-OSHA investigating explosion at Idaho sugar beet factory

Fed-OSHA is investigating an explosion in a pulp steam dryer of a Nampa, Idaho sugar beet processing facility, that sent one employee to the hospital and injured four others early Monday. Property damage initially appeared minimal, and officials had not immediately concluded what caused the explosion. Idaho Press

 

Fire breaks out at New Orleans hotel collapse site

Demolition contractors were cutting steel girders with blowtorches on Monday morning when sparks ignited a pile of roofing materials at the site of the collapsed Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans. No injuries were reported. The incident occurred as the one-year anniversary of the collapse, which killed three construction workers and injured dozens of others, approaches. New Orleans Times-Picayune

 

More than 600 COVID-related complaints from North Carolina in last 4 months

Fed-OSHA has received more than 600 coronavirus-related complaints in North Carolina during the last four months, according to an online database. Many of the complaints relate to employers keeping the workplaces clean, availability of personal protective equipment or notifying employees if co-workers tested positive for COVID-19. More than one-third came in the employers in manufacturing industry, which includes the state’s poultry-processing plants, with another 15 percent coming in healthcare and social assistance. CBS 17 (Raleigh, N.C.)

 

OSHRC issues spate of pro-employer decisions

Melanie L. Paul, Of Counsel in the Atlanta office of Jackson Lewis P.C., discusses three recent unanimous decisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. These decisions, all of which involve citations for machine guarding, signal a trend toward holding Fed-OSHA and the Department of Labor accountable for the citations they issue to employers for alleged safety and health violations, writes Paul. National Law Review

 

Construction worker killed at Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

An employee of a drywall contractor was killed Monday morning when he fell from a hoist while working on a renovation of the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. Fed-OSHA is investigating. Washington Post

 

Overstretched wildland firemen risk lung, heart maladies: Report

For decades, researchers have studied occupational health risks for cancer rates among structural firemen. But there have been fewer studies on wildland firemen, who battle increasingly long and hostile fire seasons. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that from 2000 to 2019, 400 wildland firemen died on the job, but this may hide slower, quieter illnesses and death. The biggest problem is smoke. Investigate West

 

Florida construction contractor fatally injured while tearing down bridge

An employee of a contracting firm died at a Naples, Florida water park on Tuesday, while tearing down a bridge, according to local law enforcement. Fed-OSHA is investigating. NBC-2 (Fort Myers, Fla.)