A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues
Owner killed in explosion PHILIPPI, WV — After further investigation of an explosion in Barbour County on Wednesday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports that one of the two individuals killed was the owner of the gas company. An explosion at Midland Resource Recovery Inc., a gas company located on Barbour County Highway in…
Death in the workplace does not stop for Workers Memorial Day Cab driver shot and killed while on duty NEW ORLEANS, LA – Ali Khan, a 38-year-old United cab driver was shot and killed while on duty early Friday morning, according to information acquired by the New Orleans Advocate. The incident occurred just before 7:30…
Another week of workers being killed in the workplace by being crushed, dying in falls, killed in traffic accidents, shot, stabbed and electrocuted. My rant this week is that the media often does not print the names of workers killed, pending notification of family, but then loses interest in the case once the family is…
Home Sweet Home: Congress is home for two weeks. Hopefully all of you are planning on talking to your Senators and Congresspersons at their office or doing district meetings about how cutting OSHA’s budget will mean that more workers will get hurt and die. Blood on the Steering Wheel: The discussion about the carnage in…
Since I restarted this blog last month, I’ve mostly focused on policy and political issues, because, well….we’ve been overwhelmed by daily attacks by Congress and the Trump administration that undermine workplace safety standards and OSHA’s budget. But ultimately, we’re only fighting the policy and political issues because working people are getting hurt and killed every day in the…
OSHA today officially renewed its Regional Emphasis Program (REP) targeting auto parts establishments in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Following the devastating Bloomberg Business Week article about preventable fatalities and injuries in foreign-owned auto parts facilities in the South, Confined Space learned that OSHA’s auto parts REP had expired on February 4, 2017 and had not been…
In the wake of yesterday’s devastating article in Bloomberg Business Week about the carnage in foreign-owned auto parts facilities in the South, Confined Space has learned that OSHA has apparently stopped doing programmed (or pro-active) inspections in Southern auto parts plants. In my summary and analysis of the Business Week article, I discussed OSHA’s Regional Emphasis…