COVID-19

Denver Gazette by Kristian Hernandez Fort Worth, TX – Federal and state agencies tasked with enforcing workplace safety rely on whistleblower complaints, but the agencies are so understaffed it can take years for complaints to be investigated, experts say. Advocates say the delays and the stigma associated with whistleblowing dissuade most workers who witness unsafe conditions…

NBC by Berkeley Lovelace, Jr. Baltimore, MD Some employees at the Emergent BioSolutions plant in Baltimore failed to shower or change clothes, which is required when working in the factory and it likely played a role in ruining millions of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 doses, according to a memo released Wednesday by a key House committee. Inspections of the Bayview…

Tampa Bay Times by Sarah Jane Tribble McPherson, KS – Pfizer’s management knew last year there was “a mold issue” at the Kansas facility now slated to produce the drugmaker’s urgently needed COVID-19 vaccine, according to a Food and Drug Administration inspection report. The McPherson, Kansas, facility, which FDA inspectors wrote is the nation’s largest manufacturer of…

EHS Daily Advisor by Guy Burdick National – ASTM International, a standards-setting organization formerly known as The American Society for Testing and Materials, is developing a new specification for face coverings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended cloth face coverings for the general public to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases,…

CDC National – CDC has developed helpful checklist to share ways employers can protect construction workers and slow the spread of COVID-19, as well as steps employees should take to protect themselves and others. These tool align with What Construction Workers Need to Know about COVID-19. Click here for the full text.

CPWR National – COVID-19 is airborne and spreads faster and further in enclosed areas than outdoors. As temperatures drop, construction work is moving inside, work areas are being enclosed, and temporary warm-up stations are being set up. Since ventilation guidance issued by OSHA,1 the CDC, 2 and other organizations largely focuses on workplaces with working HVAC systems,…

CNN by Keri Enriquez National – The coronavirus pandemic triggered a sudden intense need for masks that had Americans making masks at home out of T-shirts and bandanas. Hundreds of new and untested products flooded the marketplace with almost no oversight or regulation, making consumer masks the Wild West of personal protection equipment. That is set to…

Everyday Steps, Steps When Someone is Sick and Considerations for Employers