UHS of Delaware, UHS of Fuller to pay penalties

• A federal administrative law judge in Boston determined that UHS of Delaware Inc. and UHS of Fuller Inc. exposed their employees at Fuller Hospital in Attleboro to workplace violence.
• An inspection by OSHA prompted by employee complaints found the hospital had a lack of safeguards and subjected staff to workplace violence.
• Incidents included workers being kicked, punched, slapped, bitten and having their hair ripped out. Certain staff members also suffered repeated concussions.
• A judge sanctioned both companies for destroying surveillance videos showing workplace violence and ordered the companies to pay the department $20,175 in attorneys’ fees.
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Group wants more oversight after fire

• Federal worker safety and chemical regulators should boost oversight of plants that handle common pool cleaning chemicals, according to the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.
• The increased regulations could prevent future industrial fires like the one at a BioLab Inc. plant more than two years ago.
• The analysis focused on the August 2020 fire that destroyed much of the BioLab plant in West Lake, La., after a warehouse was damaged by Hurricane Laura.
• BioLab’s parent, KIK Consumer Products Inc., spent $250 million to rebuild and reopen the plant, and now there is a call for more OSHA and EPA regulations.
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New solvent rule poses possible challenges

• The EPA’s proposal to limit a potentially deadly solvent’s use and production could be a challenge for businesses.
• There are potentially more rules on the horizon restricting widely used chemicals, according to an industry attorney.
• A proposed rule the Environmental Protection Agency would ban methylene chloride in all consumer products and most commercial and industrial ones.
• The rule would require factories and military sites that continue to make or use the solvent to cut workers’ exposure significantly below the limit set by OSHA.
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OSHA investigating Illinois chemical explosions

• An OSHA  investigation is underway after an asphalt tank at a petroleum plant in Lemont, Illinois, exploded.
• Dru Worker, 25, of Homewood, Illinois, was killed in the incident and another worker was injured.
• An autopsy is to determine the exact cause of death, according to the Will County Coroner’s Office.
• Emergency crews from Lemont as well as from Romeoville, Downers Grove, and the Citgo Refinery responded to the scene, which saw multiple road closures and downed power lines.
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