Measure for oversight of public workers introduced in Pa. 

• Democrats in the Pennsylvania House and Senate are trying to extend OSHA protections to state and municipal employees.
• Under current law, public-sector workers in Pennsylvania are covered under Accident and Illness Prevention Programs, with individual agencies permitted to select what components to implement.
• This year a bill was introduced that would extend OSHA protections to public workers in the state.
• The Pa. Department of Labor & Industry estimates the costs of adopting OSHA standards for public-sector employees under the governor’s jurisdiction at $54.8 million at baseline and $14.4 million for the first year.
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Alabama paper company faces fines

• An Alabama mill is being accused of bypassing safety regulations, which led to the death of one of its workers last year.
• South Coast Paper’s facility in Maplesville, Alabama, allegedly violated its safety standards by failing to turn off machinery during maintenance.
• The allegations are part of an investigation OSHA took part in following the death of a 36-year-old worker who was electrocuted while working on a machine on September 28, 2022.
• OSHA has proposed $227,040 in penalties against South Coast Paper for the violations, citing them with one willful violation for allowing employees to perform maintenance on machinery without ensuring the development and documentation of hazardous energy control procedures.
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Union wants more fungal testing after outbreak at paper plant

• The United Steelworkers union wants more testing and cleaning at paper mills across the industry following an outbreak of blastomycosis at a Michigan paper mill that has killed one worker and sickened others.
• The outbreak happened at Escanaba Billerud Paper Mill, where the local health department, Public Health Delta and Menominee Counties, was first notified that several employees at the mill were sick with atypical pneumonia.
• In all, 97 cases are employees or contractors at the mill, 12 have been hospitalized and the worker who died was a contractor
• Billerud, the mill owners, are working with OSHA, union leadership, mill employees, the local health department, and others to address the problem.
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VA healthcare facility has violations

• OSHA found that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs endangered maintenance workers at its healthcare facility in Prescott, Arizona, by allowing them to work on steam lines without ensuring they followed required safety procedures.
• The agency identified one willful violation and two repeated violations by the department’s Northern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System and issued three serious notices for exposing employees to burns and other serious injuries.
• The findings come less than two years after a pair of workers died at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in West Haven, Connecticut, after suffering fatal burns while working on a steam line.
• For similar violations, a private sector employer could face penalties of up to $315,875.
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