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☆ Amazon cited by Labor Department for exposing warehouse workers to safety hazards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued citations against Amazon at three of its warehouses for exposing workers to safety hazards, the department announced Wednesday. Amazon also faces a separate investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office's civil division that centers around worker safety hazards at the e-retailer's facilities nationwide. Amazon warehouse workers have previously complained that the company's pace of work prevents them from taking adequate bathroom and rest breaks, and leads to unfair disciplinary actions. In April, workers at an Amazon warehouse on New York's Staten Island voted to form the company's first U.S. union. Workers at another Staten Island facility rejected a union, while a second election at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama is being contested.

☆ Amazon is breaking the law by putting warehouse workers at risk for back and joint injuries, federal regulators say in new citations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Federal safety regulators fined Amazon $60,269 for putting workers at risk for back, joint injuries. Injuries linked to the "high frequency" of "repetitive tasks" at Amazon warehouses, regulators said. The citations are the latest in a series of regulatory actions targeting Amazon's warehouse injuries. Workers at Amazon warehouses are four times as likely to suffer such injuries as workers in non-Amazon warehouses, a review of Washington state workers' compensation data showed. Federal safety inspectors with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited three Amazon warehouses, in Florida, Illinois and New York.

☆ American Airlines retaliated against cabin crew who reported illnesses caused by toxic fumes on aircraft, say federal investigators
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

American Airlines retaliated against employees who reported work-related illnesses, per the DOL. Cabin crew said they were discouraged from reporting illnesses after jet fumes entered the cabin. In a statement, the Department of Labor (DOL) said flight attendants reported worker illnesses to the airline caused by jet fuel fumes seeping into aircraft cabins. But an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) — initiated by a whistleblower tip-off — found that upon reporting these illnesses, the airline retaliated against employees. The effects on passengers of toxic jet fumes entering the cabin are unclear.

American Airlines illicitly retaliated against flight attendants who reported toxic fumes entering airplane cabins, according to an investigation by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). According to a whistleblower investigation initiated in August, the Texas-based carrier responded to the flight attendants' complaints by docking attendance points and discouraging them from reporting work-related injuries and illnesses. "The fact that American Airlines is assigning points that can lead to termination for lingering effects of toxic fume inhalation and other work-related injuries is unacceptable," the association said. In a statement, American said: "The safety of our team members and customers is always American’s top priority. We are reviewing the findings of the OSHA investigation."

☆ Labor Department Issues Citations Against Amazon Over Warehouse Injuries
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Sebastian Herrera | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Amazon has faced inquiries in recent years over workplace protocols and safety at its facilities. Federal authorities have issued citations against Amazon.com Inc. at six of the company’s warehouses for failing to adequately report injuries. The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, issued citations on Thursday after conducting workplace safety inspections at Amazon facilities outside of New York City: Albany, N.Y.; Denver; Boise, Idaho; Chicago and Orlando, Fla., according to a spokesman from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. OSHA investigated after it received referrals for potential workplace hazards that included Amazon’s required pace of work for employees.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a part of the Labor Department, said it had cited Amazon for 14 separate recordkeeping violations, and the company faces $29,000 in fines. OSHA fines generally cannot exceed about $14,500 per violation, and are often much lower for recordkeeping violations. The company's safety record came under renewed scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic and after an Illinois warehouse collapsed during a tornado last year, killing six workers. OSHA said on Friday that Amazon had failed to keep proper records at a warehouse near Albany, New York, where workers in October voted against joining a union. Washington state's labor department in March fined Amazon $60,000 for violating workplace safety laws by requiring warehouse employees to perform repetitive motions at a fast pace, increasing their risk of injury.

☆ Amazon slammed by US government for failing to record warehouse-worker injuries. The investigation is ongoing.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US government is investigating Amazon warehouses in five states. Federal regulators slapped Amazon with 14 citations for failing to record workers' injuries. The company's self-reported data to the Department of Labor shows that Amazon warehouse employees get hurt roughly twice as often, on average, as non-Amazon workers in the same industry. One worker at an Amazon warehouse in Colorado, for instance, reported shoulder pain after repeatedly lifting packages. Following referrals from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the Department of Labor began investigating the Amazon warehouses this summer.

☆ A topless bar unlawfully fired strippers after they complained about unsafe working conditions, labor board finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Star Garden bar strippers were unlawfully fired, the National Labor Relations Board said . They dancers said they worked in unsafe conditions including rat infestations and rusty nails. The group of strippers were blocked from working at the Star Garden in February and have since been staging regular demonstrations outside the venue. They claimed that Star Garden committed 30 breaches of OSHA regulations that "protect workers' rights to safe and healthy workplaces." The women submitted a petition in March calling for the Star Garden to treat them with "basic dignity and humanity."

☆ Construction workers who helped build Tesla's gigafactory in Austin file complaints claiming unpaid wages and fake workplace safety certifications
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Construction workers who helped build Tesla's gigafactory in Austin filed multiple workplace complaints on Tuesday. Workers accused their subcontractors of withholding wages and failing to keep workers safe, documents say. The construction workers accused their subcontractors — those who employed and paid the workers — of withholding wages from some workers, according to a complaint sent by an attorney at the Workers Defense Project, the nonprofit that's representing the construction workers. Even so, this isn't the first time that Tesla has faced complaints about its working conditions. The construction workers are seeking to recover their lost wages, according to the complaints.

☆ A foundry worker on his 9th day in the job fell into a vat of molten iron and was 'immediately incinerated'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A foundry worker in Mapleton, Illinois, died in June after falling into a vat of molten iron. Federal investigators say inadequate safety protections may be to blame for the worker's death. They proposed a fine of $145,027 for foundry operator Caterpillar. The worker was "immediately incinerated" in the incident, which occurred in June, per the Department of Labor. Federal investigators say that inadequate safety protections may have contributed to the worker's death and propose to fine the foundry operator Caterpillar of $145,027.

☆ Food sanitation company accused of employing at least 31 children on graveyard shifts in slaughterhouses
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

A leading sanitation company is accused of employing dozens of children to clean the killing floors of slaughterhouses during graveyard shifts, the Department of Labor announced. The Department of Labor’s Child Labor Regulations designates many roles in slaughterhouse and meatpacking facilities as hazardous for minors. That order requires PSSI to “immediately cease and refrain from employing oppressive child labor” and comply with the Department of Labor’s investigation. Yet, the children working overnight on the kill floor of these slaughterhouses cannot wait,” the complaint states. When they are hired by PSSI, workers sign paperwork assuming the risk of death and injury on the job, NBC News reported last year.

☆ The US never banned asbestos. These workers are paying the price.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Kathleen Mcgrory | Neil Bedi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +39 min

But protocols failed to match reality at the Niagara Falls plant, according to more than a dozen workers. In addition to those signature diseases, which are rare even among asbestos workers, the tiny strands can harm the body in other ways. In the 15 years that followed, congressional attempts to ban asbestos would continue to fall short. OSHA declined to make an official available for an on-the-record interview or comment on ProPublica's findings at the Niagara Falls plant. At the OxyChem plant in Wichita, union president Keith Peacock said he was comfortable with the way asbestos was handled.

☆ SpaceX was fined more than $18,000 after an incident that put one of Elon Musk's workers in a coma for months
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

SpaceX was fined just over $18,000 following an accident at its facility in Hawthorne, California. Elon Musk's firm was charged with two violations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said in an accident investigation summary that it fined SpaceX $18,475 for two safety violations following the incident, which was first reported by Semafor. The engineer was Francisco Cabada, a father of three from Los Angeles, former SpaceX intern Julia CrowleyFarenga told Insider. In the investigation summary, OSHA said he was performing checks on a Raptor V2 engine in January when he "suffered a skull fracture and head trauma and was hospitalized in a coma for months."

☆ Abbott plans new $500 million infant formula facility as shortage continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Katherine Dillinger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Abbott Nutrition plans to build a $500 million nutrition facility for specialty and metabolic infant formulas, Chairman and CEO Robert Ford said Wednesday. The announcement comes as the US formula shortage continues and experts have called for more domestic production and diversity among suppliers. “We’re currently in the final stages of determining the site location and will work with regulators and other experts to ensure this facility is state-of-the-art and sets a new standard for infant formula production. More than 40% said they had only a week’s supply or less on hand. “We also boosted production in our global network to increase infant formula supply to the US.

☆ Why the 'Amazonification' of startups isn't always a good thing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Plus, we've got news on actual robots, who are threatening to pit humans against machines. That's not always a good thing. Companies love to hire Amazon alumni who inject their firms with Jeff Bezos' metrics-focused style. Amazon-trained leaders (sometimes known as "Jeff Bots") have founded more than 650 startups, and swaths have joined the industry's top C-suites, contributing to the "Amazonification" of said firms. Now, humans need to determine how to synchronize our labor with the souls of new machines — before things get out of hand.

Circuit Court of Appeals in New York reversed a federal judge's ruling that said only the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had the power to review complaints about Amazon's workplace safety practices. The case involves workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island that employs about 5,000 people and had become the company's first unionized facility earlier this year. On Tuesday, workers at an Amazon warehouse near Albany, New York, voted nearly two to one to reject a union campaign in the company's fourth union election this year. Amazon has denied wrongdoing and said it took various steps to protect warehouse workers. The 2nd Circuit on Tuesday reversed with respect to the workers' claim that Amazon violated a New York state workplace safety law by failing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Companies Amazon.com Inc FollowOct 18 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) must face a claim that it failed to protect New York City warehouse workers and their families from COVID-19, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday while dismissing the bulk of a 2020 lawsuit. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York reversed a federal judge's ruling that said only the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had the power to review complaints about Amazon's workplace safety practices. The case involves workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island that earlier this year became the company's first unionized facility. The outcome of Amazon's fourth union election this year, at a warehouse near Albany, New York, is expected as early as Tuesday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A SpaceX engineer was knocked unconscious in January and placed in coma after conducting a routine rocket test
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Kate Duffy | Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A SpaceX engineer was injured while testing a rocket part, leaving him in a coma for months, sources say. The regulatory agency fined SpaceX more than $18,400 over two safety violations from the accident. OSHA fined SpaceX more than $18,400 over two safety violations from the accident in January. The attorney of Cabada told Semafor that an investigation into what caused the accident was underway. Semafor reported that former employees said SpaceX hasn't made a public announcement about the accident.

☆ Oil giant Exxon was ordered to reinstate 2 employees and pay $800,000 for illegally firing them after suspecting them of leaking information to the media
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Exxon Mobil fired two workers it suspected of leaking information to the WSJ, the DoL said. The company has been ordered to reinstate them and pay them $800,000 in back wages and damages. Employees had told the WSJ in 2020 they thought Exxon's growth plans in Texas were unrealistic. The company has been ordered to reinstate the employees and pay them $800,000 in back wages and damages, the DoL said. OSHA said that neither of the fired scientists were revealed as sources for the article.

[1/4] A Hyundai auto plant is seen from inside a Greyhound bus outside of Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., August 13, 2008. REUTERS/Shannon StapletonLUVERNE, Alabama, July 22 (Reuters) - A subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co has used child labor at a plant that supplies parts for the Korean carmaker's assembly line in nearby Montgomery, Alabama, according to area police, the family of three underage workers, and eight former and current employees of the factory. Underage workers, in some cases as young as 12, have recently worked at a metal stamping plant operated by SMART Alabama LLC, these people said. In a "human rights policy" posted online, Hyundai says it forbids child labor throughout its workforce, including suppliers. Many of the minors at the plant were hired through recruitment agencies, according to current and former SMART workers and local labor recruiters.

☆ A lumber manufacturer faces a near-$54,000 fine after a worker was struck by a forklift and died
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-24 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A worker died after a forklift struck her at a shipping yard in Alabama in November, the DOL said. Sunbelt Forest Products failed to follow safety standards and faces a $54,000 fine, the DOL said. Sunbelt Forest Products is owned by UFP Industries. Sunbelt Forest Products and UFP didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment made outside of regular working hours. At the time of the incident, Sunbelt Forest Products President Ken Dell Donne told News 19 that the company was investigating.

☆ An employee at an Illinois food manufacturer lost a finger after getting it stuck in a machine, the labor department said
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-27 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A worker at an Illinois food manufacturer lost their finger after it got stuck in a machine, the DOL said. The DOL cited Hearthside Food Solutions and asked it to pay $231,625 in penalties. In a press release, the Department of Labor said Friday that it has cited Hearthside Food Solutions 20 times "for exposing workers to amputation and other serious hazards." In the citation, OSHA asked Hearthside to pay $231,625 in penalties for three violations related to the carton-closing machine. Hearthside Food should immediately re-evaluate its training and safety procedures at all of its facilities."

☆ A Texas farm owned by one of the US' biggest potato growers paid over $1.3 million in back wages to workers after denying them overtime pay
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-21 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A farm in Texas owned by one of the US' biggest potato growers didn't pay overtime premiums, the DOL found. The DOL says it had since recovered more than $1.3 million in back pay for almost 500 warehouse workers. The Dalhart, Texas farm – operated by Blaine Larsen Farms, one of the US' biggest potato growers – also failed to properly report an outbreak of COVID-19, the DOL said. The department said that it had recovered almost $1.35 million in back wages for the warehouse workers. The labor department said it also investigated Larsen Farms twice in 2020.

☆ A Florida security contractor fired a worker via Signal chat 10 minutes after they raised concerns about COVID-19 safety, lawsuit says
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-16 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Florida security contractor fired a worker after they raised concerns about COVID-19 safety, a lawsuit says. The worker also raised concerns about firearm storage, said the Department of Labor, which is bringing the suit. Employees at companies including Amazon, GameStop, and Instacart have complained about unsafe working conditions during the pandemic, including a lack of personal protective equipment, hazard pay, and clear COVID-19 safety policies. The worker raised concerns about the relocation in a group chat with supervisors on encrypted-messaging app Signal, citing concerns about COVID-19 policies and secure firearm storage, the lawsuit says. VRP Group fired the worker in the Signal chat "less than ten minutes after his first text asking about the COVID-19 protocols," the DOL says in the lawsuit.

☆ Стресс на рабочем месте ‒ один из самых серьезных вызовов XXI века
▼ + stars: | 2020-11-20 | by ( Наталья Хадыркэ | ) vocea.md time to read: +6 min

Стресс на рабочем месте считается вторым по величине риском в области охраны здоровья и безопасности труда. После проведения ряда исследований, в том числе Европейского исследования о новых и возникающих рисках на предприятиях, Всемирная организация здравоохранения объявила стресс, который испытывается на рабочем месте, одним из самых серьезных вызовов XXI века. компаний из 33 стран, вопросы касались менеджмента охраны здоровья и безопасности труда и, в частности, управления психосоциальными рисками. В опросник также были включены вопросы о дигитализации, предоставляя целостный взгляд на текущие практики в области охраны здоровья и безопасности труда в Европе. По оценкам, затраты, которые несут предприятия и общество из-за стресса на рабочем месте, значительные, и составляют миллиарды евро на национальном уровне в стране, большей, чем Республика Молдова.

Persons: Александр Дарабонт, Елена Каркилан, Хавьер Ирасторза, Елена Антон Organizations: Всемирная организация здравоохранения, Румынский координационный центр, Европейское агентство безопасности труд и трудовое здравоохранение, Национальным институтом научные исследования и разработок в область охраны труда, Инспекция труда, Центр непрерывного медицинского обучения медицинское Locations: Румыния, Бухарест, Европа, Республика Молдова

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