OSHA has cited StanChem Inc. for 13 serious violations of workplace safety standards at its East Berlin, Conn., manufacturing plant. The manufacturer of specialty coatings and polymers faces a total of $55,300 in proposed fines following an inspection by OSHA's Hartford Area Office.

MFA Inc. has been cited for 13 serious safety violations by OSHA after a worker was fatally injured on Aug. 26 at the Aurora-based milling plant. The worker landed on a first floor concrete area after falling about 40 feet from a man lift used to transport materials in the facility.

Congress is using an omnibus appropriations bill scheduled to be voted on this week to remind OSHA of a 36-year-old Congressional exemption that keeps small farms out of the agency’s regulatory reach. The language added to the bill “makes crystal clear…that OSHA policies and inspectors better get in line with the law,” according to U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.).

OSHA steps on toes with its grain bin safety initiative, demolition specialist exposes employees to asbestos and the year ends with an upsurge in U.S. mining deaths. These are among the top EHS-related stories featured on ISHN.com this week:

OSHA personnel who followed up on a complaint and inspected a Georgia elementary school that was being demolished found that Thompson Building Wrecking Co., Inc. was knowingly exposing workers to asbestos-containing debris being moved by a skid steer loader with a grapple attachment. The debris had been allowed to accumulate on the ground.

Sen. Chuck Grassley has joined 42 other senators in requesting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to stop unlawful regulations on small family farms.

Terrell's Potato Chip Co. Inc. faces $115,500 in OSHA fines after being cited for 23 violations of workplace safety standards at its manufacturing plant in Syracuse, NY. The inspection was conducted under the agency's Site-Specific Targeting program.

A New York paining and stucco contractor with a long history of fall protection and scaffold safety violations has wracked up a new set of OSHA violations, with a $460,350 price tag.

The responsibilities and expectations placed on supervisors are enormous at times—production, workforce management, quality control, budgets, and of course safety. These “deliverables” communicated to them by management require the supervisor to work within the employers system to effectively perform their duties.