worker safety News

Cal/OSHA Beefing Up Safety Enforcement to Protect Workers Against Silicosis

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health reports seeing growing number of silicosis cases among stone workers in California, and the agency is launching efforts to beef up its enforcement efforts. Since 2019, more than 100 California stone workers have …

Deadly US Oil Blast Exposes Risks of Pushing Profits Over Safety

The explosion that rocked Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s Galveston Bay oil refinery one year ago trapped Rigoberto Guillen 75 feet in the air. Stranded on a metal platform, he and a colleague crouched low as black smoke engulfed them. “I couldn’t …

California Workplace Violence Law a Best Practice No Matter What State You’re in

California Senate Bill 553 is groundbreaking legislation that aims to prevent workplace violence and enhance employee safety and security in California. The law elevates California’s commitment to protecting workers, customers, and companies by recognizing the impact of workplace violence and …

California Construction Company Fined $371K for Fatal Trench Collapse

Cal/OSHA cited D’Arcy & Harty Construction Inc. $371,100 for failing to protect employees working in a trench excavation at a construction site in San Francisco. On Sept. 28, 2023, an employee was replacing sewer parts inside the eight-foot-deep trench at …

Death Toll From Italian Hydroelectric Plant Explosion Rises to 7

Divers in northern Italy have recovered the last two bodies of workers killed by an explosion that collapsed and flooded several levels of an underground hydroelectric plant, bringing to seven the number of confirmed dead, officials said Friday. The explosion …

Deadly Blast at Enel Plant in Italy Came Amid Maintenance Work

A deadly explosion at an Enel SpA hydropower facility in northern Italy that left at least three people dead occurred as works to renew facilities at the 1970s-era plant were concluding. The accident took place some 40 meters (131 feet) …

Suncor’s Syncrude Canada to Pay C$390,000 After Worker Fatality

Oil sands producer Syncrude Canada, majority-owned by Suncor Energy, will pay C$390,000 ($287,187.04) after pleading guilty to a health and safety charge relating to the death of a worker on one of its sites in June 2021, the Alberta government …

Phoenix Ordinance Adds Rules to Protect Workers from Extreme Heat

With hundreds of heat related deaths in and around Phoenix, Arizona last year, a new city ordinance has taken a “critical first step” to protect workers for city contractors from the dangers of extreme heat. That was the praise from …

California Work Safety Board Approves Indoor Heat Rules, But Another State Agency Raises Objections

As global warming raises temperatures, a California work safety board has approved standards that would require companies to protect employees from excessive indoor heat, particularly in warehouses. The rules still need to overcome opposition by another state agency. The rules …

Pinnacol in Colorado Issues $15M Dividend to Businesses

Pinnacol Assurance issued $15 million general dividend to businesses throughout Colorado. This is the ninth straight year Pinacol has issued dividends to customers. Pinnacol Assurance operates similarly to a mutual insurer, treating customers as its owners, which makes them eligible …