Company where workers died had OSHA violations

• The body of a missing worker was recovered after a violent explosion at a Newburyport, Massachusettes, pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.
• Four workers were taken to local hospitals, where they were treated and released.
• An industrial-sized vat from inside the building had moved about 30 feet because of the explosion and caused it to land in a nearby parking lot.
• The pharmaceutical company has changed its name from PCI Synthesis to Seqens and has several OSHA violations.
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• There are 900 federal and 971 state inspectors responsible for inspecting 10.8 million workplaces, according to the AFL-CIO’s 2023 edition of Death on the Job.
• Federal OSHA has 145 more inspectors than in the fiscal year 2021 but still only enough to inspect workplaces once every 190 years.
• There is one inspector for every 77,334 workers, which has raised some concerns among the union.
• The current OSHA budget amounts to $3.99 to protect each worker, according to AFL-CIO officials.
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Mississippi company could face $200,000 in fines after blast

• A Bentonia, Mississippi, company could be fined $200,000 by OSHA for violations that led to a deadly explosion last year.
• That blast killed one man and injured six other workers at a saltwater disposal site.
• OSHA investigators have now determined workers were welding pipes to connect two saltwater disposal tanks so they could install a catwalk.
• The company is under investigation for seven violations of agency standards, five of which could lead to fines against the company.
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Worker dies at Hyundai plant

• A construction worker died after falling from a structure at a Hyundai plant in Ellabell, Georgia, where electric vehicles are being manufactured.
• The death happened when a worker fell from a three-story structure in the area of the plant’s paint shop. Initial information indicates part of the worker’s safety harness failed, the company said.
• OSHA is investigating the accident.
• The automaker is investing $5.5 billion in the Georgia plant, which will eventually employ more than 8,000 workers.
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