Multistate lawsuit could lead to better protection for workers

• Several states, including Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York, filed a federal lawsuit that could result in better reporting of workplace health and safety.
• The new rule strengthens public reporting of workplace health and safety information and is slated to go into effect in January.
• Under the Biden administration, OSHA has reversed its position and issued rules even more stringent than proposed in 2016: detailed injury and illness reporting requirements for employers with 100 or more workers in high-risk industries.
• With the new rules, the multi-state lawsuit is now moot and will be dismissed, according to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
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Tent collapse prompts OSHA investigation

• OSHA is investigating after at least 26 people were injured in a tent collapse in southwest suburban Bedford Park, Illinois.
• Another five people were seriously injured in the incident. All were taken to local hospitals for treatment.
• The tent was set up in the Cintas parking lot, 5600 W. 73rd St., when part of it collapsed around 10:45 a.m.
• The tent had been set up in the parking lot of Design Collective by CINTAS for a yearly outdoor luncheon. The collapse was apparently caused by an apparent freak gust of wind.
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Operator at grain silo killed on job

• OSHA is investigating how a 59-year-old worker at a Colquitt, Georgia, grain silo became engulfed and suffocated in April 2023 and found the operator could have prevented the fatality by following required grain-handling safety regulations.
• The agency learned an employee of Cedar Head LLC entered a half-full bin to unclog clumps of grain as the bin’s auger turned below.
• As they stood atop the grain, the pile shifted and quickly engulfed them. One other worker onsite rushed over and saw a rope that was tied to the worker disappearing into the grain but could not rescue their co-worker.
• Cedar Head LLC faces $41,303 in proposed penalties for its violations.
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Feds look to crack down on longshoremen’s workers’ safety

• The U.S. Department of Labor proposed revisions for assessing penalties against employers and insurance carriers for the violation of reporting requirements under the Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.
• The proposed rulemaking focuses on the process used to assess civil penalties against entities that fail to report worker injuries in an accurate and timely manner.
• The LHWCA provides for the payment of compensation, medical care, and vocational rehabilitation services to employees disabled from on-the-job injuries that occur on the navigable waters of the U.S., or in adjoining areas customarily used in the loading, unloading, repairing, or building of a vessel.
• The proposed rule provides that the penalty assessed will increase for each additional violation the employer has committed over the prior two years.
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