Note to our valued subscribers: OSHA Today will be taking its annual holiday break starting Thursday, December 22. We will resume daily netletter publication Wednesday, January 4, 2022. We wish all of our subscribers Season’s Greetings and a Happy New Year.
OSHA moves to further protect healthcare workers
- OSHA is moving forward with a permanent standard to protect healthcare workers from exposure to COVID-19 on the job.
- The agency submitted a final rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and Office of Management and Budget for review.
- The details haven’t yet been made public.
- Unions have pushed for greater protections for healthcare workers with personal protective equipment, or PPE, and measures to protect workers from viral transmission.
Workplace violence ruling sent back for further review
- A workplace violence citation against psychiatric hospital UHS of Denver Inc. had been affirmed by an administrative law judge.
- However, th decision has been sent back for more legal review.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission wasn’t convinced the administrative law judge had correctly considered the economic feasibility of new safety practices OSHA recommended to UHS.
- OSHA said workers there had “suffered serious workplace violence-related injuries such as concussions, broken skin, bruising, scratches, sprains and strains, and injuries to the head and torso.”
OSHA, El Paso Consulate General of Mexico renew 2-year commitment
- OSHA and the Consulate General of Mexico have signed an alliance to provide Spanish-speaking workers in West Texas with information, guidance, and access to workers’ rights.
- The two-year alliance will provide safety and health outreach and training to Mexican nationals working in the region.
- This voluntary alliance provides Spanish-speaking workers with outreach materials, workers’ rights, OSHA standards, and assistance in Spanish.
- Some of the safety and health issues that will be covered include falls from elevated work surfaces, electrocution, heat illness, exposure to hazardous chemicals, and struck-by and caught-in or -between hazards.
Investigation into fatal trench collapse
- OSHA launched an investigation into the death of an Elmwood Park man buried Monday night after a trench collapsed in front of a Buffalo Grove home.
- The hole might have lacked adequate cave-in protections, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Nikodem Zaremba, 27, was pronounced dead at 7:22 p.m. after he was taken to a local hospital after rescuers pulled him from the hole.
- It appeared there was no cave-in protection at the site while they were performing the work, according to OSHA.