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Labor is now growing increasingly concerned as a number of rules that were proposed by OSHA and designed for employee health and safety have been withdrawn by the Obama administration. The AFL-CIO's director of health and safety, Peg Seminario, said, “All of these actions are coming because of the November elections and the fierce business opposition to anything. Just because the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups scream doesn't mean there is a legitimate reason to retreat. There are real negative impacts here that can harm workers”. On the 19th of January, OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, withdrew its proposed reinterpretation that would have strengthened its standard relating to noise occurring at the workplace. Then, on Tuesday, the federal agency again withdrew its proposed regulation that would have restored a column for musculoskeletal disorders on the logs that recorded employee injury and illness. According to Seminario, there isn...

The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center has recently received a few more OSHA citations that deal with violations in workplace safety. 27 citations were reportedly given out to the center on Monday and another 20 are expected to be given in the next few days. The center’s commander, Maj. Gen. McMahon, has taken full responsibility for creating a safe working environment. According to him, his job is all about creating a safe working environment for the employees to be able to work properly. The center received 13 citations last May. The citations had to do with the employees being potentially exposed to excessive levels of lead, cadmium and chromium in a building, where nearly 200 workers were present. The latest citations on the other hand came because the OSHA inspectors continued to inspect the center and its maintenance processes at a number of different locations right through to January this year. The citations that were received on Monday fell into 3 basic categories: exposure to...

OSHA recently announced that it has withdrawn its proposal to restore a column for work related musculoskeletal disorders on employer injury and illness logs on a temporary basis. The federal agency has taken this step with a view of seeking maximum input from all small businesses on the impact the proposal will have on them. This will be done through outreach in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Material Safety Data Sheets accounted for around 28 per cent of all the reported workplace injuries and illnesses in the year 2009. This proposed rule will not alter the existing requirements of when and under what circumstances the employers should record MSDS on their illness and injury logs. Although a large number of employers are supposed to maintain these logs, many of the small business owners are not required to keep these records. The federal agency and the U.S Small Business Administration'...

OSHA has recently penalized roofing contractor Sheriff-Goslin Co. of Mansfield for failing to provide any kind of fall protection for those employees working on a roofing project at Sandusky. The company received one willful and one repeat safety violation. The total penalty that the company faces amounts to $86,500. This citation comes right after an investigation that was conducted on Nov.9, 2010. Sheriff-Goslin has been slapped with one willful violation with a penalty of $70,000 for allowing workers to be exposed to a 27 foot fall hazard without providing them with any fall protection. Fall are the main cause of death and injury at any workplace and Sheriff-Goslin has reportedly had a long history of failing to comply with OSHA and protecting workers from fall hazards. What’s more, Sheriff-Goslin has also been issued with one repeat violation citation with a penalty of $16,500. This is for failing to protect workers from overhead hazards by providing them with adequate heard protec...

On the 19th of January, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it is withdrawing its proposed interpretation titled “Interpretation of OSHA's Provisions for Feasible Administrative or Engineering Controls of Occupational Noise”. This proposed interpretation would have properly clarified the term “feasible administrative or engineering controls” that is described in the noise standard laid down by OSHA. “Hearing loss is caused by excessive noise levels and remains a serious occupational health problem in this county”, said Dr. David Michaels, who is the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “However, it is clear from the concerns raised about this proposal that addressing this problem requires much more public outreach and many more resources than we originally anticipated. We are sensitive to the possible costs associated with improving worker protection and have decided to suspend work on this prop...

Recently, it was reported that a man hurtled 30 feet towards the ground when his scaffolding collapsed in Boston. The worker was found to be unconscious and has been since transferred to the Beth Israel Hospital. Work at the scaffolding site was stop until OSHA personnel arrived on the scene for further investigation. The company happened to be a New England scaffolding firm. Steve MacDonald, the man behind Boston Fire, has said that the man actually fell from the 6th floor right down to the 4th floor. The man was reportedly banged up quite a bit, but has however, not suffered any serious injuries. The Boston Fire Department has further commented on the incident, stating that it had occurred on 10 Vining Street. The condition of the worker is unknown as of now. Steve MacDonald also went on to say that he was not entirely sure whether the scaffolding fell on the person or whether the worker was on the scaffolding when it collapsed.

The very idea of Democrats and Republicans coming together and enacting a legislation for the sole purpose of protecting American workers from on-the-job injuries and fatalities seems inconceivable. But this is exactly what happened almost 40 years ago. On the 29th of December, 1970, President Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) Act into law. This act was a compromise that sought to assure that every man and woman in the nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources”. The OSHA Act has been successful in saving many thousands of lives. If the workers had the same risk of death as they had in 1933, the death rate would have gone up by 40,000 more workers per year. However, the OSHA Act has not been properly updated since the time it became law. OSHA has become hopelessly overmatched and struggles to look after 21st century workplaces with 20th century tools. Each year, nearly 5,000 American workers pay the price for this, with thei...