Washington Proposes Construction PPE Update Requiring Proper Fit Washington State’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health proposed rulemaking Oct. 6 that would require employers to ensure that personal protective equipment properly fits each affected employee. The state’s current construction PPE rules have no such fit requirement. DOSH intends to adopt the revised rule March […]

  Worker Dies After Becoming Trapped in Equipment at Paving Stone Plant A worker died Oct. 10, after becoming trapped inside mechanical equipment at the Nicolock Paving Stones plant in Sparta Township, N.J., according to Sparta Township police. The type of equipment involved has not been released. Coworkers removed the man from the equipment and […]

  OSHA Investigating EV Battery Maker after Worker Hospitalized with Burns The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has an open investigation into the EV and storage battery maker Gotion Illinois’ plant in Manteno after a worker was hospitalized with burns Sept. 28. The Manteno Fire Protection District was called to the plant just before midnight […]

  Excavation Firm Faces $250K in Penalties Over Fatal Trench Collapse The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed $254,884 in penalties against Jonas David Wagoner, doing business as J.D. Wagoner Excavating, for willful and serious violations after a trench collapse killed one of his workers on April 2 at a construction site in Hamilton […]

  Public Agencies Fined $121K under New Safety Law Maryland Occupational Safety and Health has issued $121,150 in fines to public employers since the Davis Martinez Public Employee Safety and Health Act took effect in October 2025. Before the law, civil penalties were not issued for workplace safety violations by public employers. Between Oct. 1, […]

  New York Urged to Investigate Amazon Warehouse for Safety Violations A coalition of labor, worker advocacy and community groups, including the Teamsters and Amazon Labor Union-IBT Local 1, sent a letter Oct. 6 asking the New York State Department of Labor to investigate Amazon’s alleged violations of the state’s Warehouse Worker Protection Act, Warehouse […]

  Worker Suffers Life-Threatening Injuries in Paving Roller Incident A paving worker suffered severe, life-threatening injuries Monday morning when a heavy paving roller ran over him in the driveway of a home on Maiden Lane in Bedford, New Hampshire, according to emergency radio dispatch traffic. Bedford police and firefighters responded and prepared to administer CPR […]

  OSHA Awards $10.2M in Worker Safety Training Grants to 67 Organizations The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration awarded roughly $10.2 million in grant funds to 67 organizations nationwide through the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program to support worker safety education and training. The grants fund instructor-led training for workers and […]

  Union Pacific Ordered to Pay $304K for Firing Worker After He Raised Safety Concerns The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered Union Pacific Railroad Co. to pay a North Little Rock, Arkansas yardman $304,869 in back wages, lost benefits, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney’s fees for firing him […]

  OSHA Probes Framing Company after Juvenile Worker’s 30-Foot Fall The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating Detweiler’s Building Co., LLC, a West Farmington, Ohio-based framing contractor, after a juvenile male worker was hospitalized with a serious head injury following a roughly 30-foot fall from a construction site on Sept. 17. Records show OSHA […]