Nevada citation decision raises questions over propriety

• After a training accident last December that injured two firefighters, Nevada OSHA cited The Boring Company for three willful violations and more than $400,000 in proposed penalties.
• The Elon Musk-owned company then contacted the governor’s office, a meeting was quickly arranged and the citations were dropped. So were documents of the meeting itself.
• The events have raised alarms and had a chilling effect in Nevada OSHA, and raises questions about bending regulatory guardrails for a powerful business.
• A spokesman for the state says the documentation irregularities were “innocuous mistakes” which have been corrected, and the citations were improperly issued in the first place. The Boring Company has blamed the December incident on the fire department.
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Predictive Technology to Improve Warehouse Safety

• Warehouses are one of the most hazardous working environments, with workers in that industry twice as likely to be injured compared to the overall national average.
• But new predictive technology promises to ease the burden on warehouse managers’ shoulders.
• This technology combines artificial intelligence, machine learning, data mining and predictive modeling to quickly forecast future “events and opportunities.”
• Predictive tech is being installed in cameras and sensors to prevent injuries and detect signs of faulty machinery.
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Holiday headaches to avoid

• The winter season and snowy conditions are just around the corner, and when weather conditions make it difficult for staff to get to work, employers have a legal obligation to maintain a safe workplace.
• Lower temperatures also pose safety risks for employees who work primarily outside.
• Employers should conduct a hazard assessment to determine what steps they need to take to protect staff from freezing temperatures. For instance, is the personal protective equipment they use in the summer appropriate for the winter?
• There also are tangential issues, such as the risks of wearing additional clothing. An employee wearing thick gloves could get caught in machinery, or goggles could fog up due to a change in temperature. Is alternative PPE available?
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