Administrative Law Judge Covette Rooney has recently ruled to uphold the U.S. Department of Labor’s eight citations for excavation violations, numerous construction hazards, and $91,200 in fines issued to a Boston contractor for insufficient work safety at a jobsite in Newton, Massachusetts. Shawn Telsi, doing business as Life Time Homes,…
Failure to carry workers’ compensation coverage for employees in Massachusetts is currently only a misdemeanor. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has recently pushed for more serious punishment against employers who do not provide workers’ compensation for their employees. Under Coakley’s proposed bill, failure to carry workers’ compensation will be a…
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the U.S. Department of Labor recently withdrew two separate proposals that are key to safety at the workplace. On January 25, the agency temporarily withdrew a proposed regulation that would have reinstated a column on work-related employer logs that would have required…
Multiple roofs in Massachusetts have recently collapsed with the downpour of snow over the past few days. In Easton on Wednesday, the roof of a commercial building collapsed with workers inside the structure. All of the workers in the building escaped unscathed. Also on Wednesday, at the Norwood Airport, a…
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently revised its National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Microwave Popcorn Processing Plants in order to reduce worker exposure to the chemical diacetyl. Diacetyl is a chemical used to add flavor and aroma to food and other products. Some workers who breathe diacetyl on…
On January 20, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Durasol, Corp., which manufactures hard gum erasers, for 13 serious violations of workplace health and safety standards at its plant in Amesbury. The manufacturer faces $43,800 in proposed fines. The citations were issued for…
On Saturday, January 22nd, the Friends of Jim Young fundraising committee will host an event on behalf of the Young Family at the Moose Lodge in Merrimac. The committee was formed after Mr. Young was severely injured in an electrical accident while working for Georgetown Electric last September. He was…
Working alone on Wednesday after the most recent blizzard to hit the East Coast, a Plainville school department employee suffered a serious hand injury while clearing snow at the Jackson School on Route 106. The man stuck his hand in the jammed snowblower to clear an obstruction and, subsequently, got…
On Monday, The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued JE Amorello Inc. willful and serious citations for exposing workers to trenching hazards at a Quincy worksite. OSHA’s inspection found Amorello employees working in a trench deeper than 8 feet that lacked proper shoring or sloping…
The The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ended the year with a refreshed perspective on roofing worker safety, opting to replace the Clinton-era safeguards with a more robust directive to protect against falling accidents during residential construction jobs. According to Assistant Secretary of Labor for…