OSHA fines construction firm after workers die in trench collapse

• OSHA cited Triumph Construction for four serious safety violations after two construction workers were killed in a trench collapse at Kennedy International Airport while removing soil from beneath a concrete slab that the Bronx firm employing them failed to prop up.
• The agency cited the firm for failing to properly support the slab and failing to instruct the workers on how to safely dig beneath it, among other violations.
• OSHA’s findings were the fifth time since 2008 that Triumph had been cited for failing to adequately protect workers doing excavation-related work, according to agency records.
• In 2014, records show, a worker was seriously hurt when he was trapped beneath chunks of concrete after a trench caved in at a Triumph site in Manhattan.
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Dog bite prompts worker safety concerns at White House

• President Joe Biden’s pet dog Commander reported bit 11 federal employees, including US Secret Service members.
• This has prompted a Republican lawmaker to probe worker safety at the White House.
• In a letter sent Wednesday, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) asked the Biden administration to provide the same type of detailed workplace injury documents that OSHA will require of private employers beginning Jan. 1.
• OSHA already requires many private employers to provide data on injuries.
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Alloy manufacturer cited for failing to protect workers

• A fabricator of advanced alloys in Massachusetts failed to adequately protect its employees against exposure to the toxic substance beryllium adequately.
• OSHA inspectors found IBC Engineered Materials Inc., doing business as IBC Advanced Alloys Inc., overexposed employees to airborne concentrations of beryllium as they performed handheld grinding and parts fabrication operations on beryllium aerospace components in the plant’s foundry and grinding room.
• OSHA has cited IBC for 11 serious violations and one other-than-serious violation for these hazardous conditions and proposed $69,251 in proposed penalties. View the citations.
• “OSHA’s inspection found IBC Advanced Alloys Inc. failed to provide adequate and effective safeguards required to protect employees against this harmful hazard,” said OSHA Area Director Sarah Carle in Andover, Massachusetts.
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Carbon monoxide exposure hospitalizes four in Chicago apartment building

• Four workers had to be taken to the hospital for carbon monoxide exposure, after using gas-powered power washers inside an apartment building in Logan Square in Chicago.
• Chicago Fire Department officials called in a hazardous materials response at a 5-story apartment building due to carbon monoxide levels of more than 500 parts per million.
• Any level above 50 parts per million can be dangerous to health, according to OSHA.
• The source of the carbon monoxide was power washers being used inside the building and the four workers were taken to the hospital in serious to critical condition.
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