It’s a pretty big breakfast meeting and it takes place every four months or so. Approximately 200 members of the General Building Contractors Association’s (GBCA) Philadelphia chapter get together with OSHA representatives three times a year to learn more about improving safety in Philadelphia area construction projects.

From east to west, north to south, both federal OSHA and state-level agencies say busy conducting investigations and issuing citations to companies who violate safety regulations. This review of recent cases indicates a variety of citations issued, for confined space, fall and trenching hazards, among others.

OSHA has cited Sabel Steel Service Inc. – based in Montgomery, Alabama – for exposing employees to amputation, fall, and other hazards at four of the company's facilities. The manufacturer faces $320,261 in penalties.

An OSHA investigation into an accident in which a construction worker had his foot and ankle crushed has led to multiple citations against two companies. The employee suffered the injuries at a Fort Lauderdale, Florida worksite when the lattice boom section of a crane fell on him during disassembly.

OSHA State Plans: love ’em or hate ’em, but we have to live with them. The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, Ohio Valley ReSource and the Center for Public Integrity have just put out a devastating series of articles and audio reports about serious flaws in Kentucky’s state run OSHA program, and raised serious questions about the ability of many of OSHA’s other twenty-seven state plans to protect workers effectively.

Without saying why, federal traffic safety officials have quietly altered crash data, revealing that more than three times as many people die in wrecks linked to tire failures than previously acknowledged. For several years, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that the annual death toll from tire-related crashes was 200. Then last year NHTSA abruptly ramped up the estimate, stating on its website that 719 people had died in 2015 in such crashes.

Heat stress illness among United States Postal Service employees in Las Vegas has resulted in a $129,336 fine against the USPS. An OSHA investigation revealed that at least four USPS employees at the Silverado Station branch in Las Vegas received treatment for heat-related illness this year, including one hospitalization.

OSHA has cited Northeast Framing Inc. – based in Lunenberg, Massachusetts – for exposing workers to falls and other hazards following an employee’s fatal fall at an East Boston, Massachusetts, worksite in May 2018. The company faces $311,330 in penalties, the maximum allowed by law.

An Amazon warehouse wall collapses, killing two workers; OSHA issues a final rule on crane operators and managers at one company are indicted for obstructing an OSHA fatal accident investigation. These were among the top occupational health and safety stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA®) and OSHAhave renewed a partnership aimed at fostering safer and more healthful American workplaces. Through the alliance, the two organizations will pursue the following national priorities, among others: young worker health and safety; temporary workers; workplace hazards within emerging industries; disaster preparedness, response and recovery; and opioids in the workplace.