A Pennsylvania hair salon has been ordered to pay thousands of dollars to a stylist who was fired after her husband reported workplace safety and health hazards to OSHA.
After an investigation by the agency, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has entered a consent judgment ordering Blown Away Dry Bar and Salon – based in Kennett Square – to pay a $40,000 settlement to the terminated stylist. The legal action resolves a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor.
In a landmark case, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) has ruled that Integra Health Management, a social service employer, is accountable for failing to protect workers from workplace violence.
Integra was cited for safety violations following the tragic death of an employee who was stabbed nine times, then left bleeding on a front lawn after a December 2012 home visit to an agency client with a history of mental illness and violent criminal behavior.
Manufacturing locations can be dirty, dusty environments by nature, depending on what is produced in a given location. As a result, many manufacturers are no stranger to airborne dust and the health hazards it can pose to workers regularly exposed to it.
In Ohio:
Musical instrument maker exposed workers to copper dust
An Ohio musical instrument manufacturer has been cited by OSHA for exposing workers to copper dust and machine hazards. Conn-Selmer, Inc., is facing penalties of $200,230 for two repeated and seven serious safety and health violations. OSHA inspectors determined that the company exposed workers to copper dust in excess of the recommended permissible exposure levels and machine hazards that included failure to provide machine guarding and adequate controls to minimize exposure.
OSHA has cited Crown Roofing LLC for allegedly exposing employees to fall hazards at two separate residential worksites in Port St. Lucie and Naples, Florida. The Sarasota, Florida-based contractor faces penalties of $265,196.
OSHA initiated the inspections in August and October of 2018, as part of the agency's Regional Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction, after inspectors observed the company's employees working on roofs without fall protection.
There is a network of thousands of miles of pipes underlying the frenzied oil and gas development in the Permian Basin of Texas. Nationally, more than 450,000 miles of such gathering lines snake underground from wells, and reports of death and injury have emerged from Texas to Pennsylvania.
U.S. Congressman Don Bacon’s (R-NE) efforts to help protect the nation’s workers have won him recognition from the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) in the form of a Legislative Leadership Award. The award was presented to Bacon on February 26.
With so much going on, it can often be difficult to spot the contrasting elements. The ability to discern a human being from their environment shouldn’t be as challenging as spotting a chameleon. Of the many concerns we have as drivers, the safety of pedestrians should be a cornerstone.
Women got the vote. Prohibition began. The National Football League was founded. And, the construction industry was forever changed by the invention of an often overlooked but significant worker safety advancement – the hard hat.
The employers of a worker killed on a light rail tunnel project in San Francisco failed to identify potential hazards and to train workers on safety procedures, according to Cal/OSHA, which has issued $65,300 in penalties in the fatality.
The incident occurred last August, while employees were using heavy equipment and tools to work in and around the tunnel.