President Barack Obama has signed an executive order raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for U.S. government contract workers in the future. The order applies to U.S. contractors such as National Park Service concessions workers and military food-service employees, according to a White House fact sheet. The 39% increase from $7.25/hour will take […]
Author Archives: FOA
OSHA has recently stated that cellphone tower contractors and the companies that hire them need to strictly comply with safety standards. The warning letter followed an increase in just the past year in fatalities among tower climbers, a job once called the most dangerous in the U.S. The agency is concerned about the possibility of […]
Serious workplace safety violations led to the explosion that killed one workers and injured another at a wastewater plant in Canastota in September 2013, according to federal safety investigators. OSHA said M. Hubbard Construction, Inc. of Mottville, and a subcontractor, Joy Process Mechanical, Inc. of East Syracuse, failed to ensure safeguards and to train workers […]
A qualitative study from the Emergency Nurses Association shows that culture change and training are needed to help prevent violence against nurses. The study involved 46 emergency department nurses who wrote about their experiences with violence in the workplace. The respondents described a culture in which hospital administrators, prosecutors and judges accepted violence against nurses […]
Supporters and opponents of the state Labor Law 240, also known as the Scaffold Law, came to Albany last week to engage in lobbying combat. The law specifically impacts the lives of minority contractors and workers. Scaffold Law places heavy liability on contractors and property owners for a broad class of injuries caused by falls […]
Mayor Bill de Blasio has declared in his State of the City address that he will encourage state lawmakers to grant NYC the power to raise its own minimum wage instead of having to go through Albany. This campaign, however, could face even more resistance in Albany to increase taxes on the rich to fund […]
13 AT&T workers were suspended without pay for reporting workplace injuries, which has prompted a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Labor. The department filed the lawsuit against the Ohio Bell Telephone Company, which operates as AT&T, on behalf of 13 employees who received unpaid suspension after reporting work-related injuries from 2011 to 2013. “It […]
OSHA has cited Lucas Marine Acquisitions Co. for 22 safety violations following an inspection prompted by a worker’s death. The employee died while participating in a storm protection project in August of 2013. He was doing surface supplied-air diving during underwater construction activities. This was the second violation for the company in 5 months, according […]
An explosion at a NH ball-bearings plant has injured 15 people, including at least two seriously. First responders attempted to determine the cause of the blast, which could be felt from a quarter of a mile away. The report said none of the injuries were thought to be life threatening. Aerial video showed windows blasted […]
A Williamsburg industrial recycling facility got hit with a $40,500 fine by the federal government after a worker collapses and died of heat-related causes last July. Cooper Tank Recycling, a transfer station on Maspeth Ave., was cited for 8 “serious health and safety” violations. OSHA launched an investigation after Aldero Cosme, 64, died from heat […]