US Department of Labor investigation finds Birmingham construction company willfully exposed workers to trench collapse at Bessemer worksite

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US Department of Labor investigation finds Birmingham construction company willfully exposed workers to trench collapse at Bessemer worksite BIRMINGHAM – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found numerous safety hazards at a civil construction employer’s worksite following a trench collapse in Jefferson County. The department’sOccupational Safety and Health Administration investigators found CB&A Construction LLC workers removed and installed drain pipes for Jefferson County under a suspended load, without hard hats, and at the edge of an excavation that lacked protective restraints.OSHA cited CB&A Construction with a willful violation and proposed $170,145 in penalties.CB&A Construction LLC has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Penalties and citations may...
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Department of Labor plans to restructure workplace safety, health regional operations strategically to protect workers

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Department of Labor plans to restructure workplace safety, health regional operations strategically to protect workers
WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced strategic changes to the structure of its Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regional operations designed to direct its resources effectively and make the agency more resilient. The changes include the creation of a new OSHA regional office in Birmingham, Alabama, overseeing agency operations in the state, and those in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee as well as the Florida Panhandle. The Birmingham Region will address the area’s growing worker population and the hazardous work done by people employed in food processing, construction, heavy manufacturing and chemical processing.OSHA is also planning to merge Regions 9 and 10 into a new San Francisco Region to improve operations and reduce operating costs. As part of the changes, the agency will also rename its regions to associate them by geography, rather than its current practice of assigning numbers to regions. As such, the area OSHA calls Region 4 will be renamed the Atlanta Region with jurisdiction over Florida, excluding the Panhandle; Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The current Region 6 will be renamed the Dallas Region and have jurisdiction over workplace safety issues in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The composition of OSHA’s other regions will remain the same. When completed the agency will rename its regions as follows:Current regional assignmentNew regional designationRegion 1Boston RegionRegion 2New York City RegionRegion 3Philadelphia RegionRegion 4Atlanta RegionRegion 5Chicago RegionRegion 6Dallas RegionRegion 7Kansas City RegionRegion 8Colorado RegionRegions 9 and 10San Francisco Region Birmingham RegionView a map of OSHA’s new regional structure and boundaries.“The changes reflect the nation’s demographic and industrial changes since the passage of the OSH Act and will allow our professionals to better respond to the needs of all workers, including those historically underserved,” explained Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “With a stronger enforcement presence in the South and more consolidated state oversight and whistleblower presence in the West — an area dominated by states that operate their OSHA programs — we can direct our resources where they’re needed most.” OSHA plans to fully transition to its new regional structure later in fiscal year 2024. Once implemented, the agency’s regional maps and contact information online will be updated publicly. 

Published at May 08, 2024 at 05:00AM
Read more at https://dol.gov

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