Unhealthy air created by smoke

• Smoke from countless wildfires in Canada has blanketed communities from New York City to Charlotte with unhealthy air this summer.
• Over 125 million people in the region were under an air quality alert and the air quality in New York City registered as the worst in the world
• NIOSH cautioned that exposure to wildfire smoke can cause many respiratory symptoms and worsen other illnesses.
• During pregnancy, exposure to wildfire smoke can even affect fetal development according to NIOSH.
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OSHA mandate covers violent crime

• Even the most extreme criminal attacks are covered by OSHA’s recordkeeping mandates cover injuries and fatalities for even the most extreme violent attacks, according to the agency’s new compliance guidance.
• OSHA released a standard interpretation letter that addressed when employers are required by agency rules to list on-the-job injuries and deaths caused by violent acts in their OSHA logs.
• The letter responds to a request from an attorney in Charlotte, N.C., who asked whether a company must include in its log an incident where a worker was traveling between work sites.
• The questions stemmed from a worker fatally shot during truck theft while on the clock.
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OSHA upholds citations against Brooklyn contractor

• An administrative law judge upheld a settlement between OSHA and Brooklyn-based WSC Group LLC for citations a requires the company to pay $50,000 in penalties for the violations.
• OSHA found WSC Group LLC willfully failed to provide an adequate protective system for employees working in a trench and exposed them to other serious excavation hazards.
• These infractions contributed to the death of a WSC employee in a September 2018 trench collapse in Brooklyn.
• In the settlement, the employer ceased operations and will not perform any future construction work, and Liu will not own, operate, supervise, or manage any company performing construction work.
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Falling equipment leads to fatality in factory

• An employee at a factory in Clearfield, Utah, was killed after being hit by falling equipment.
• The 27-year-old man was working at the Utility Trailer Manufacturing factory with other employees just after 6:30 a.m. when equipment suspended over the workers fell.
• First responders and firefighters arrived and found coworkers attempting CPR on the man, but after being transported to a hospital where he died shortly after due to the head injury he suffered.
• OSHA is currently on the scene and is investigating the death.
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