The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited PEP Direct LLC, a mailing and printing company based out of Wilton, New Hampshire, with 17 willful and serious citations for violating workplace safety protocol, accompanied by fines of $170,000. OSHA has cited and fined this company for the following serious safety…
Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog
OSHA Updates Procedures to Help Workers Report Employer Violations of Nuclear and Environmental Safety
The Occupational Safety Health Administration has recently updated procedures to help whistleblowers who believe that their employers are not following safety laws in relation to nuclear and environmental safety or security, clean air, safe drinking water, solid waste, and toxic substances. Now consistent with OSHA’s other whistleblower procedures, the new…
Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Rate Freeze
Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office announced last week that an agreement has been reached that will prevent an increase in rates paid by businesses for workers’ compensation insurance in Massachusetts until September of 2012. The Workers’ Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts (WCRIBMA), the organization that oversees workers’ compensation…
OSHA Produces Guide for New Crane and Derrick Standard
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recently released a compliance guide to help small construction businesses adhere to an important new rule for the use and operation of cranes and derricks. The new standard, Cranes and Derricks in Construction, was introduced in August of 2010, and had not been…
Pep Boys Charged With $75,000 for Workplace Safety Violations
The Philadelphia retail and car service company, Pep Boys, has been charged by the US Labor Department’s OSHA with repeat and serious citations. After an inspection at the company’s Hamden, Connecticut, facility, OSHA found that workers were exposed to numerous work safety hazards, including potential electric shock due to damaged…
OSHA Cites Two Massachusetts Contractors for Trench Violations
Two Massachusetts contractors have been cited for similar trench violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration within the past week. On February 25, 2011, the first contractor cited was A.A. Will Corp., of Stoughton, for willful and repeat violations of workplace trench safety at the…
Coverage Questioned for Rutland Firefighter Injured on Ambulance Duty
Paul Newcomb, a Rutland firefighter, was injured on the job while on ambulance duty. He ruptured a disc in his back when lifting a patient into an ambulance on February 2, 2010, and has since been out of work. After an operation to remove the disc and implant titanium rods…
OSHA Celebrates 40 Years of Workplace Safety
It was forty years ago that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was founded on April 28, 1971. The Occupational Safety and Health Act was signed by President Nixon in December of the previous year, marking a starting point for healthier workplaces and a decrease in workplace deaths and injuries…
Massachusetts Contractor Fined for Safety Hazards at Hultman Aqueduct Project
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recently cited a Masssachusetts contractor currently working on the Hultman Aqueduct project in Weston for repeat and serious violations of workplace safety. The Barletta Heavy Division Inc., from Canton, has been charged with a $52,500 fine for these…
Chemical Company Agrees to Clean Up and Pay $800,000 for Asbestos in Massachusetts
W.R. Grace, the chemical company that is accused of asbestos contamination throughout the United States, will pay over $800,000 and will continue cleaning their nine contaminated sites in Massachusetts. Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office, who made the claims on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), has recently…