New York Paralegal Blog

Affirms musculoskeletal disorder should be recorded on OSHA 300 Injury and Illness Log  PEORIA , Ill. — An administrative law judge with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission in Denver, Colo., has affirmed an other-than-serious safety citation issued to Peoria-based Caterpillar Logistics Services by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration in June 2009. The company was cited for failing to record a worker's musculoskeletal disorder on the company's OSHA 300 log and assessed a proposed penalty of $900. "Musculoskeletal disorders are very prevalent and are significant workplace injuries and illnesses," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels, who praised the decision. "It is imperative that these types of work-related illnesses are logged appropriately so workers and managers are made aware of them as well as their causes, and so that we can all learn how to be...

Tyson Foods Inc. was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Arkansas to pay the maximum fine for willfully violating worker safety regulations that led to a worker’s death in its River Valley Animal Foods (RVAF) plant in Texarkana, Ark., the Justice Department announced. The court ordered Tyson Food to pay the $500,000, the maximum criminal fine as well as serve one year probation. According to the court documents filed in the case, Tyson operated several RVAF plants that recycled poultry products into protein and fats for the animal food industry. As part of the rendering process in four of the plants, the company used high-pressure steam processors called hydrolyzers to convert the poultry feather into feather meal. Decomposition of biological material such as poultry feathers produces hydrogen sulfide gas, an acute-acting toxic substance. Employees at the Tyson facilities often were exposed to the toxic gas when working on or near the hydrolyzers, which required frequent adjustme...