A Louisiana-based scaffolding company wants the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a $12,675 citation it received after a worker drowned in Texas’ Galveston Bay, in a case that could explore when employers can raise a defense for not complying with safety standards.
Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. has asked a U.S. court to keep OSHA from obtaining documents related to employee reports of illness, Covid-19 test results, and interviews with its South Dakota plant workers.
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Makers of certain spray-on insulation foams are being given 60 days to research safer chemical alternatives in their products after California officials called an industry analysis insufficient and inadequate.
The most commonly cited violation of OSHA’s rule protecting construction workers from toxic silica dust is employers failing to use approved tools and methods for cutting and grinding stone and cement, an agency official said.
The EPA’s Office of the Inspector General will examine how the agency plans to safeguard employees during the pandemic as some of them start to return to the workplace.