Pennsylvania looking at OSHA expansion

• AFSCME Council 13 Executive Director David Henderson urged lawmakers to pass policies that would improve safety and security for both Pennsylvania’s current and retired public workforce.
• A recent Joint Democratic Policy Committee hearing in Pennsylvania was mainly focused on the issue of OSHA protections for public employees.
• Henderson asked that OSHA-level safety standards for public employees working for state and local governments in Pennsylvania remain in place.
• Both the issues of public sector OSHA and a COLA are at the forefront for public employees and retirees.
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Probe continues for chocolate factory blast

• OSHA investigators are trying to determine what causes a deadly explosion at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory.
• Seven people were killed and several others wounded in the powerful blast at the R.M Palmer Co. plant in West Reading, Pennsylvania, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
• The investigation is difficult because the wreckage was picked apart and moved around during the search for victims and survivors.
• OSHA issued one violation at the West Reading plant over the past five years. In 2018, an employee lost the tip of a finger during the cleaning of a pneumatically pressurized ball valve and the company agreed to pay a $13,000 fine.
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OSHA investigating injury at computer chip factory

• OSHA is investigating an incident at GlobalFoundries’ Fab 8 computer chip factory that resulted in the employee being injured badly enough that they had to be brought to the hospital by ambulance.
• GlobalFoundries, which confirmed that it is working with OSHA, would not disclose the details of the incident or the employee’s specific injuries but said the employee is recovering.
• “We can confirm an employee at our Malta facility had an injury on site, was taken to the hospital, and is under medical care where they are safe and with their family,” GlobalFoundries spokeswoman Erica McGill wrote in a statement.
• OSHA has jurisdiction over worker conditions and safety programs at more than 7 million employers across the U.S. Companies must report all work-related employee inpatient hospitalizations to OSHA within 24 hours. OSHA can fine companies over certain incidents.
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Mass casualty inflatable incident

• Officials in Transylvania County, North Carolina, confirmed seven people were injured, following an inflatable house incident because of high winds.
• Both children to adults were injured during the incident, with four taken to a nearby hospital,
• Investigators determined that at least seven people were injured in the incident.
• Enoch Rea, who owns Incredible Inflatables and Amusements based in Hendersonville, said those who rent the houses are responsible under a waiver to follow safety precautions, particularly if there are winds.
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