Limits to reporting on small farms

• Congress has banned OSHA from investigating worker deaths, injuries and complaints on farms with fewer than 11 workers unless those farms have employer-provided housing known as a temporary labor camp.
• In New York and Vermont, worker advocates claim they don’t bother calling investigators when workers die or get hurt on small farms because they’re so used to the agency saying it can’t investigate.
• In Wisconsin, investigations are opened for dairy worker deaths on small farms when those farms provide housing to immigrant workers. In these cases, OSHA has called that housing a temporary labor camp that gives it jurisdiction to inspect.
• OSHA officials said the agency has a consistent national policy on how it views temporary labor camps.
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OSHA issues alert on power lines

• OSHA has issued a hazard alert because of the number of deaths with a guy wire being worked on contacted an energized high-voltage power line;
• The agency said its investigations revealed that the guy wires weren’t grounded and had insulators positioned incorrectly.
• Guy wires are installed on poles for support.
• Workers on the ground can be exposed to electrical hazards when: installing a new guy wire on a pole with energized lines; adjusting the tension to remove slack from a guy wire; and, replacing a guy wire after an incident or natural disaster.
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Another death at South Carolina shipyard

• The worker who fell to his death at Detyens Shipyard in North Charleston, South Carolina, was not wearing a safety harness when found, according to investigators.
• At least three other fatalities have occurred at Detyens Shipyards since 2022, according to the OSHA.
• “This is just basic safety. This is not sophisticated safety stuff,” said Jim Maddux, former director of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration office that sets maritime safety standards.
• In the latest incident, a worker on a ship had fallen a couple of decks through an open hatch.
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Colorado contractor sentenced to jail after worker’s death

• A Colorado contractor who pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter for the death of an employee in a trench collapse in 2021 has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and four years of probation.
• Peter Dillon, 54, was also sentenced to 300 hours of community service.
• The former owner of A4S Construction of Vail was charged following the death of employee Marlon Alfredo Diaz, 23, who was installing a sewer line on November 16, 2021, at a residential construction site overlooking the Breckenridge Ski Resort.
• OSHA determined there was inadequate cave-in protection, among other violations. On December 20, 2021, OSHA inspectors also observed a similar violation of workers on the same construction site in a section of a trench that did not have cave-in protection.
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