immigrant workers

A Confined Space blog post

Workplace fatalities rose in 2016

December 20, 2017

In the unlikely event that anyone out there was thinking that workplace fatalities were fading into the past, check out the newest Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries that was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today. According to BLS, 5,190 fatal work injuries died on the job in 2016, a 7-percent increase from the 4,836 fatal injuries reported in 2015 and the third year in a row the number has increased.

Mugno faces Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday

Jordan Barab

November 30, 2017

Scott Mugno, President Trump’s choice to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next Tuesday at 10:00 am for his confirmation hearing. Mugno is Vice President for Safety, Sustainability and Vehicle Maintenance at FedEx Ground in Pittsburgh and was formerly Managing Director for FedEx Express Corporate Safety, Health and Fire Protection in Memphis. You can watch it LIVE here.

Teen worker struck by car, killed

November 29, 2017

A traffic accident in Brooklyn, New York last week took the life of a young worker and forever changed that of the driver who killed him. News sources reported that 14-year-old Edwin Ajacalon, who was making restaurant deliveries on his bicycle, was struck by a car and killed on Saturday evening.

They got hurt at work. Then they got deported.

How insurance companies use a Florida law to get undocumented immigrants arrested and deported when they get injured on the job — and what it means in Trump’s America

Michael Grabell

Howard Berkes

August 18, 2017

At age 31, Nixon Arias cut a profile similar to many unauthorized immigrants in the United States. A native of Honduras, he’d been in the country for more than a decade and had worked off and on for a landscaping company for nine years. The money he earned went to building a future for his family in Pensacola, Florida. His Facebook page was filled with photos of fishing and other moments with his three boys, ages 3, 7 and 8.

Report finds safety violations at most NYC construction sites

January 19, 2017

A new report identifies an “astounding” increase in worker fatalities in New York State and New York City, as well as safety violations at 90 percent of construction fatality sites. "Deadly Skyline: An Annual Report on Construction Fatalities in New York State,” released by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), alleges that that employers routinely violate legal regulations with impunity.

OSHA: Se habla español

September 6, 2016

Every page on OSHA's website can now be translated into Spanish with one click of your mouse or tap of your finger. Just go to the Spanish link at the top right corner of every webpage to have the text instantly translated.

New York passes law to protect nail salon workers

June 22, 2015

Employees of the estimated 3,000 nail salons in New York state have some new regulatory protections, after the passage of bills A. 7630A and S. 05966 by the state legislature. The legislation ensures that trainees have access to proper training on safety and preventing infection and allows the state to shut down salons that repeatedly flout the law and evade health and safety inspections by operating without a license.

New report slams NYC's construction industry as unsafe

NYCOSH wants safety violators to face criminal charges

May 12, 2015

Although construction accounts for less than four percent of the jobs in New York City, it represents 20 percent of the on-the-job deaths, according to a report released yesterday by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health (NYCOSH).

Taken for a ride: Temp agencies and ‘raiteros’ in immigrant Chicago

Low wage workers pay to work

Michael Grabell

May 3, 2013

Ty Inc. became one of the world's largest manufacturers of stuffed animals thanks to the Beanie Babies craze in the 1990s. But it has stayed on top partly by using an underworld of labor brokers known as raiteros, who pick up workers from Chicago's street corners and shuttle them to Ty's warehouse on behalf of one of the nation's largest temp agencies.

NC occupational fatality report highlights enforcement weaknesses

State fines far below what’s allowed by OSH act

May 1, 2013

A report focusing on the nearly 150 worker deaths in North Carolina in 2011 demonstrates the effect of lax enforcement and weak fines, according to the National Council of Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), which issued the document.