Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Expert warns of spread of Delta variant; OSHA cites doctor

Jun. 15, 2021 09:49 AM EDT
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus will pose a serious risk this summer to people who are not fully vaccinated,...

FILE - Shown in this Feb. 8, 2017, file photo, is Iowa Senate Secretary Charlie Smithson at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. Smithson threatened retribution against a GOP appointee who oversees workplace safety after inspectors said they would make public their concerns about COVID-19 risks at the Capitol. Notes show Smithson, the secretary of the Senate, criticized Iowa Labor Commissioner Rod Roberts for "not knowing better" and told inspectors at an April 2, 2021, meeting that the issue would be raised at his next conformation hearing. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Iowa Senate official warned of payback over COVID-19 inquiry

By Ryan J. Foley Jun. 11, 2021 01:54 PM EDT

In this image for the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism, a blackboard at Lindy's Seafood Inc. in Woolford, Md., displays prices for crabs, April 21, 2021. The company relies on temporary workers from Mexico hired through the U.S. Department of Labor's H-2B visa program to help process crabs during high season. The government authorized more than 12,000 H-2B workers nationwide in 2019-20 for jobs at seafood plants. (Carmen Molina Acosta/University of Maryland via AP)
COVID-19 protections not offered to migrant seafood workers

By Vanessa Sánchez Pulla, Trisha Ahmed, Brittany Nicole Gaddy, Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi, Carmen Molina Acosta, Sophia Sorensen And Aadit Tambe/The Howard Center For Investigative Journalism May. 12, 2021 12:36 PM EDT

In this image for the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism, shoppers walk out of a Walmart store in Waldorf, Md., May 7, 2021. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has not cited the nation's largest retailer despite employee complaints, illnesses and deaths at Walmart facilities across the country. The company says there is no proof that employees contracted COVID-19 at work. (Brittany N. Gaddy/University of Maryland via AP)
Walmart sales soared, essential workers got scant protection

By Gracie Todd, Molly Castle Work, Natalie Drum, Nick Mcmillan, Kara Newhouse, Jazmyn Gray, Aneurin Canham Clyne, Jack Rasiel, Sahana Jayaraman And Haley Chi-Sing/The Howard Center For Investigative Journalism May. 12, 2021 12:31 PM EDT

Mass. health boards overwhelmed, unready to protect workers

By Shannon Iriarte, Shwetha Surendran And Maggie Mulvihill/The Howard Center For Investigative Journalism May. 12, 2021 12:25 PM EDT
BOSTON (AP) — With federal regulators missing from the field and state leaders scrambling to manage the COVID-19 crisis, Massachusetts’ 351 overtaxed local...

Complaint may spur review of meat industry's virus response

By Josh Funk Apr. 07, 2021 05:42 PM EDT
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A union complaint about whether an Oklahoma meatpacking plant is doing enough to protect workers from the coronavirus could test the...

Another Florence restaurant fined over COVID-19 restrictions

Feb. 24, 2021 06:23 PM EST
FLORENCE, Ore. (AP) — State officials have fined another Florence restaurant for several violations of guidelines meant to protect employees from COVID-19. ...

OSHA offers new virus safety guidance for employers

By Joseph Pisani Jan. 29, 2021 05:12 PM EST
President Joe Biden's administration released new workplace guidelines Friday that signaled a more proactive approach to protecting workers from the...

Unions file OSHA complaint over no Capitol mask mandate

By David Pitt Jan. 21, 2021 06:14 PM EST
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A labor union representing state workers has filed a complaint with the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration, arguing...

Fines dismissed over President Trump's northern Nevada rally

Dec. 18, 2020 11:22 AM EST
MINDEN, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada agency that oversees businesses compliance with state coronavirus directives has dismissed fines it imposed after President...

Medical staff work at a COVID-19 testing site at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Conn., on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. An increase in demand for coronavirus testing in advance of Thanksgiving has led to hours-long lines across Connecticut as providers scramble to add capacity and hire new workers. (Mark Mirko/Hartford Courant via AP)
Virus testing centers see hourslong lines as demand spikes

By Pat Eaton-Robb Nov. 19, 2020 12:20 PM EST

Labor, civil rights groups: Iowa failed to protect workers

By David Pitt Nov. 13, 2020 02:38 PM EST
Eight Iowa labor and civil rights groups filed a federal complaint Friday alleging the state has failed to protect workers in meatpacking, dairy, construction,...

Nevada fines airport, county over crowd size at Trump rally

By Ken Ritter Oct. 26, 2020 06:45 PM EDT
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada officials are fining a northern county and an airport a total of more than $5,500 for allowing a campaign event for President Donald...

Agriculture workers risk safety and health during pandemic

By Frank Hernandez Of Midwest Center For Investigative Reporting. Sep. 26, 2020 01:01 AM EDT
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Pedro Cabrera Flores, 70, had spent the past eight summers packing green beans into cans in Gillett, Wisconsin. In order to be hired...

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2014 file photo, work continues on the Iowa Premium Beef plant in Tama, Iowa. Iowa regulators have issued their first citation to a meatpacking plant with a large coronavirus outbreak that sickened its workforce — a $957 fine for a minor record-keeping violation. The outbreak at the Iowa Premium Beef Plant in Tama in April resulted in 338 of the plant's 850 workers testing positive for the virus, 80 more than the state previously acknowledged, according to inspection records released Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020.  (Matthew Putney/The Courier via AP, File)
Iowa fines beef plant $957 after huge coronavirus outbreak

By Ryan J. Foley Sep. 24, 2020 02:47 PM EDT

FILE - In this April 8, 2020, file photo, a truck bearing Weld County insignia sits outside the administrative office entrance at JBS USA in Greeley, Colo. A union representing workers at a JBS USA meatpacking plant in Colorado where six workers have died of the coronavirus and hundreds more were infected is protesting a $15,615 fine against the company for failing to provide safe working conditions at the plant in Greeley. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union says JBS failed to protect workers from getting sick and didn't compensate them for working under the risk of contracting COVID-19. (Alex McIntyre/The Greeley Tribune via AP, File)
Colorado workers protest COVID-19 fine issued to meat plant

By Patty Nieberg Sep. 16, 2020 06:39 PM EDT

FILE - In this May 20, 2020, file photo, residents cheer and hold thank you signs to greet employees of a Smithfield pork processing plant as they begin their shift in Sioux Falls, S.D. Federal regulators said Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, they have cited Smithfield Foods for failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus at the company's Sioux Falls plant, an early hot spot for virus infections that hobbled American meatpacking plants. (AP Photo/Stephen Groves, File)
Smithfield Foods pork plant faces OSHA fine from outbreak

By Stephen Groves Sep. 10, 2020 04:42 PM EDT

Editorial Roundup:

By The Associated Press Aug. 24, 2020 10:00 AM EDT
The Dallas Morning News. Aug. 21, 2020. Austin made a bad choice with its police, but Gov. Abbott shouldn’t interfere ...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Republicans eye sweeping shield from coronavirus liability

By Andrew Taylor Jul. 17, 2020 04:58 PM EDT

FILE - In this March 25, 2020, file photo, a man walks by a tattoo parlor closed and boarded up due to coronavirus in Las Vegas. State inspectors say they found one in four bars, businesses, gyms and salons in and around Las Vegas not complying with Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s order for people to use face coverings in public places to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Thursday, July 2, that compliance statewide was about 80% since the governor’s mask mandate took effect June 26. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Nevada OSHA: 1 in 4 sites in Las Vegas violate mask mandate

Jul. 02, 2020 02:35 PM EDT