A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues
2 firefighters killed as blaze rages in northern California REDDING, CALIF. —The National Park Service reports a second firefighter has died while battling the Ferguson Fire in Mariposa County. On Sunday morning, Capt. Brian Hughes of the Arrowhead Interagency Hotshots was killed. According to the National Park Service, 33-year-old Hughes was on the east side of…
I took a week off compiling this list. No change in the deadly work that American workers do, except that workers have fewer rights than they did two weeks ago — especially public employees. In other news, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed an appropriations bill requiring OSHA to start listing names of workers killed on their…
Genesee Power Station employee dies in workplace accident FLINT, MI – An employee died in an industrial accident at the Genesee Power Station last week. CMS Energy, which owns the facility, released a statement Monday confirming the worker’s death. The worker’s name and the circumstances leading to his death were not released. CMS is the parent…
Today is Memorial Day when we remember those who gave their lives defending this country and the freedoms we defend every day. Workers Memorial Day is passed, but remember that some of these workers are veterans, and others who defend the country internally, like NYPD Officer, Scott Blackshaw, who died of cancer related to his work…
Workers Memorial Day events were held around the world last weekend. Here are some articles about many of the US events. Others weren’t covered in the press. California “Worker’s Memorial Day” Celebrates California’s Fallen Providers Gov. Brown Declares April 28 as Workers Memorial Day Coming together for a safer Tesla on Workers’ Memorial Day Annette Brooks, Caltrans worker killed in…
Firefighter battling SoCal wildfire dies from ‘thermal injuries, smoke inhalation’ SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A firefighter died Thursday while working a colossal wildfire burning in coastal mountains northwest of Los Angeles that has become the fourth largest in California history. Cory Iverson was an engineer with a state fire engine strike team based in…
At a Congressional hearing last month, Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta extolled the virtues of compliance assistance, cooperation over confrontation and the Voluntary Protection Program. But he also repeated several times that the agency’s compliance assistance program “has to be balanced by a vigorous enforcement program” and especially when the employer engages in repeated and willful…
Auto shop worker fatally pinned in Montevideo MONTEVIDEO, Minn. (AP) — Police say the death of an auto shop worker in Montevideo is accidental. Authorities said Monday 55-year-old Richard Fultz was pinned between a pickup truck and a tool chest that was up against a concrete wall when the owner of Backstreet Auto accidentally stepped…
Tim Craig has written a very good, if disturbing article in the Washington Post about hazardous conditions for dairy farm workers in Idaho. Alberto Navarro Munoz had been working on the farm for only two weeks when he encountered one of the most gruesome hazards that a dairy worker can face. His tractor tipped over…
Worker Dies in Industrial Accident at Northern Idaho Mill ATHOL, Idaho (AP) — Authorities say a worker at a northern Idaho lumber mill died in an industrial accident on Friday. The Kootenai County Sheriff’s office says the 45-year-old man was fatally injured while trying to clear a broken piece of wood from a machine at the Merritt Brothers…