Buzzi Unicem USA fighting penalties

• Buzzi Unicem USA faces fines after violating OSHA standards by failing to ensure workers wear personal floatation devices and by not providing guardrails to prevent workers from falling off the dock barge. An employee drowned last February after falling from a barge into the Mississippi River.
• The other three citations are unrelated to the employee’s death, with violations including a lack of first aid training and no eyewash station.
• A Buzzi Unicem spokesman said the company “objects to any characterization by OSHA that the citations are a final determination that the company violated any OSHA regulation or caused the death of [its] employee.”
• In addition to the two violations Buzzi Unicem USA aims to refute, the company is also contesting elements of the other three.
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OSHA credentials leaked

• The National Safety Council’s website was the victim of a cyberattack, resulting in the leaking of nearly 10,000 emails and passwords of its members, including OSHA.
• This breach exposed 2,000 companies, including governmental organizations and big corporations to further privacy issues.
• On its digital platform, NSC provides online resources for its nearly 55,000 members spread across different businesses, agencies, and educational institutions.
• The organization’s website was left vulnerable to cyberattacks for five months, according to the Cybernews research team.
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Black lung screenings completed

• Officials with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) screened more than 200 coal miners for black lung in Letcher and Pike counties in Eastern Kentucky.
• NIOSH wanted to come to the region because of the higher rates due to accessibility and proximity.
• An agency spokesman said the services are important so that folks can know what they are living with and how to treat it.
• People that were were screened will receive their results in eight to twelve weeks and then get a  follow-up about resources for treatments.
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Union workers get earning boost but raise OSHA concerns

• The United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ultium Cells LLC confirmed that the union-represented workforce at the plant near Lordstown, Ohio, ratified an interim wage increase by an acceptance vote of 97.6%.
• The agreement, reached late last week, gives an immediate pay increase averaging 25% to all current Ultium Cells hourly employees.
• The bargaining team traveled to Washington, D.C.,  to talk to policymakers about issues such as exposure to chemicals that are not yet regulated by OSHA and how employees are getting sick and passing out.
• All eligible employees will receive back pay for every hour worked since Dec. 23, when the workforce chose to unionize.
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