Jordan Barab

A new and improved Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA) has been introduced into the House of Representatives by Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT). Similar versions of this bill has been introduced every year for over a decade. The bill number is H.R.1074.

A construction worker has died after he fell 40 feet down an elevator shaft Wednesday at the Salt Lake City International Airport, airport officials confirmed Saturday. The man, 50, worked for Holder-Big D Construction and the company released a statement about his death. “We are deeply saddened that the worker injured on Jan. 30 has passed away,” the statement says. “Our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends and coworkers.”

The newly christened House Education and Labor Committee has announced its sub-committee assignments for the 116th Congress. The Workforce Protections sub-committee which covers workplace safety and health issues, workers compensation and trade, international labor rights, and immigration issues as they affect employers and workers, will be chaired by Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC). Bradley Byrne (R-AL) will be the Ranking Member.

Just days after OSHA rushed its final “Electronic Recordkeeping” regulation into OMB review, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against OSHA’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Public Citizen concerning OSHA’s suspension of requirements in its “electronic recordkeeping” regulation.

Excuse the length of this depressing exercise, but I’ve been away for a couple of weeks and unlike me, workplace death takes no vacation. The usual falls, machinery deaths, vehicle accidents. Also several sanitation workers lost their lives over the past several week, as well as retail workers shot on the job.

At 5:30 in the morning on November 20th, a huge explosion tore through Consolidation Coal’s Number Nine mine. The force of the blast could be felt for miles. There would be dozens of other explosions in the days to come and intense fires. Ninety-nine miners were underground at the time; 21 managed to make it to the surface, the other 78 all died. Nineteen bodies were never recovered.

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.

Over 2400 nurses are victims of workplace violence every year and the number increased 30% since 2012 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hospitals consider attacks and threats against health care workers to be “part of the job.”

EAST ST. LOUIS, IL – Two suspects are under arrest after a high-speed chase from Washington Park Illinois into East St. Louis on westbound I-64. KTVI-TV reports around 5 p.m. Saturday, officers from the Washington Park Police Department were chasing two suspects in a vehicle when it struck two cars on the Poplar Street Bridge.

Lots happening these days: the grizzly murder of a Saudi journalist, baseball championships (Go Dodgers!!), mid-term elections, Presidential temper tantrums about “Horseface” and “Pocahontas.” The usual. But by far the most important thing happening today is the Fall 2018 Regulatory Agenda. Release of the Regulatory Agenda is a much anticipated (for regulatory geeks) semi-annual event that gives the President the opportunity to boast about his efforts to allegedly “Cut Burdensome Red Tape and Unleash the American Economy.”