MasTec Unit at Fault for Boom Operator’s Death, 11th Cir. Says
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Houston Specialty Insurance Co. sued United Service Cos. to avoid paying legal costs in asbestos litigation, arguing its insurance policy excludes asbestos-related injuries and workplace exposures.
Artificial intelligence in the workplace has employers grappling with a new legal issue: whether to accommodate employees seeking exemptions from using the technology because of their religion.
The US Department of Labor filed suit against Stone Hill Excavation LLC and its successor Split Rock Sand & Gravel for the wrongful termination of an employee who reported a severe work-related injury involving second- and third-degree burns, seeking reinstatement, back wages, damages, and $100,000 in punitive damages, the agency announced.
The EPA’s recent proposal to remove pyrolysis units from incinerators regulated under the Clean Air Act endangers public health, according to environmental groups that pummeled the idea during public meetings Monday.
The US Labor Department would receive $9.9 billion in fiscal year 2027 under President Donald Trump’s budget blueprint, a 26% reduction to current funding levels, after Congress bucked similar cuts to this year’s budget.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration issued a final rule delaying the compliance date for the Biden-era silica regulation for metal and nonmetal mines indefinitely.
A debate over which federal office should be the primary regulator of hazardous chemical safety in the workplace is playing out in courts and Congress.
The Trump administration is moving to strip education requirements and create skills-based tests in hundreds of federal jobs as it seeks to reshape the civil service to be younger and more accessible to workers without a college degree.
Cases brought by stoneworkers alleging chronic illnesses linked to silica and other substances could be covered under liability insurance policies, a California federal judge said.


As employers are making plans to return to their workplaces. How quickly they succeed will likely depend on how many of their employees get vaccinated.
Employer contests a four-item serious citation in 11 parts and $53,976 fine. The serious citation includes the alleged violation of 29.C.F.R. 1910.134(c)(1), for failure to establish and implement a written respiratory protection program with worksite-specific procedures; 29.C.F.R. 1910.134(e)(1), for failure to provide a medical evaluation to determine an employee’s ability to use a respirator before the employee was required to use the respirator in the workplace; and 29.C.F.R. 1910.134(f)(2), for failure to ensure that an employee using a tight-fitting face-piece respirator was fit tested prior to initial use of the respirator. (20-0329)
Employer contests a three-item serious citation and $6,998 fine and a repeat citation and $8,906 fine. The serious citation includes the alleged violation of 29.C.F.R. 1926.102(a)(1), for failure to ensure that eye and face protective equipment was used when machines or operations presented potential eye or face injury; 29.C.F.R. 1926.1053(b)(1), for failure to secure portable ladders used to access an upper landing surface against displacement; and 29.C.F.R. 1926.1053(b)(13), for failure to ensure that the top step of a stepladder was not used as a step. (20-0330)
Employer contests a two-item serious citation and $12,337 fine and a two-item other-than-serious citation with no fine. The serious citation includes the alleged violation of 29.C.F.R. 1910.36(d)(1), for failure to ensure that employees were able to open exit route doors from the inside at all times without keys, tools, or special knowledge; and 29.C.F.R. 1910.178(l)(4)(iii), for failure to conduct an evaluation of each powered industrial truck operator performance at least once every three years. The other-than-serious citation includes the alleged violation of 29.C.F.R. 1910.157(e)(3), for failure to perform annual maintenance checks on fire extinguishers. (20-0317)
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