#has violated several osha rules

[conspicuous-clown-car]

considering how fnaf was based off of chuck e cheese, them doing this sly 'fnaf but not legally fnaf' cash grab just proves my point of how spot on scott cawthon was with making fazbear entertainment a shitty company. CEC Entertainment really is that bad

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

After the NRA’s wildly successful lobbying to turn the Second Amendment into an absolute individual right was emboldened by the Bruen decision, several states have been toeing the line to determine what prohibitions, if any, stand in the way of gun ownership. One of them, Missouri, passed a law that put a chilling effect on state and local law enforcement from enforcing federal gun laws in Missouri. The Show Me State just got shown that it can’t do that. Not for now, anyway. From Reuters:

“A Missouri state law that declared several federal gun laws 'invalid' is unconstitutional, a U.S. federal judge ruled on Tuesday, handing the U.S. Justice Department a victory in its bid to get the law tossed out.

At issue was a measure Republican Governor Mike Parson signed into law in 2021 that declared that certain federal gun laws infringed on the rights of individuals to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.

U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes in Jefferson City, Missouri, said the state’s Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA) violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which holds that federal laws take priority over conflicting state laws.”

The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution is like the Commerce Clause and the Insurrection Clause in some ways — they are some of the threads that bind together an otherwise mostly independent series of states. And as neat as it is to think of the states as individual laboratories of democracy, there has to be some overlapping and enforceable code of conduct that can separate otherwise good science from a bumbling series of OSHA violations in a lab coat.

“Wimes, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, in a siding with Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration called the practical effects of the Republican-led state’s law ‘counterintuitive to its stated purpose.’

‘While purporting to protect citizens, SAPA exposes citizens to greater harm by interfering with the federal government’s ability to enforce lawfully enacted firearms regulations designed by Congress for the purpose of protecting citizens,’ he wrote.”

It it pretty hard to argue against that — just take a look at this clip that goes into detail about how laws like SAPA would make it harder for the police who aren’t killing unarmed protestors to do domestic abuse calls.

As expected, Missouri has already announced that it will appeal the decision.

“Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, in a statement promised an appeal, saying he was committed to ‘defending Missourians’ fundamental right to bear arms.’

‘If the state legislature wants to expand upon the foundational rights codified in the Second Amendment, they have the authority to do that,’ he said.”

Sure would be nice if some Missouri representatives were more committed to defending Missourians’ fundamental right to live. Missouri has the fourth highest gun death rate in the nation, due at least in part to the vigorous defense of the Second Amendment by representatives like Bailey. As easy as it is to view this as a concrete example of the tension between state rights and federal authority, let’s not forget about the real consequences we have to stomach in the process.

[tuhbanbuv]

Since Sonic Plus is 2nd on the AU poll, I’ll rant about it here! Not sure if I actually posted about it or not but I’ll make sure with this.

TW: Death, Severe Injury, Body Horror mention.

Sonic Plus takes place after Sonic Frontiers; Eggman is rethinking his “bad-guy” persona now he has a daughter and the family he’d always wanted. Annoyed, he decides to have a 1-on-1 battle with Sonic again, only for his mech to malfunction, killing Eggman and severely wounding Sonic.

Sonic basically loses his speed and really any ability to walk, let alone run. He and Tails by proxy are adopted by two of the first Freedom Fighters (going by Archie rules where there’s two wars, one before and after Sonic lol). Needless to say, Sonic’s put through the emotional ringer. He loses his speed, his main enemy and is thrown into early retirement and a new family and is just…expected not to react?

He eventually does improve and gains the ability to walk and even run, though he can’t match the same speed he had because of the muscle damage.

Both Backup Not Found and Maria The Darkling exist in this same AU; Maria is basically turned into a human-Black Arms because Gerald was willing to do anything to save her, even if it meant conducting alien DNA experiments that would probably violate OSHA laws if I even knew what OSHA is. That and Sage is reeling from Eggman’s death and Orbot’s salty so he’s taking over the Eggman Empire. He’s having a bit of a girl boss moment rn.

[dritaassociates]

Forklift in spanish

Wurtz will continue to be engaged with Soundview as its chairman and as a significant investor. Soundview Paper Co., Elmwood Park, New Jersey, has announced that George Wurtz has retired as president and CEO. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known, according to OSHA.Ī spokesperson for Matalco Inc., Matalaco US’s parent company in Ontario refused comment. These hazards resulted in the issuance of two serious violations. The agency also says it found that live electric equipment operating at high voltages was not guarded against human contact. OSHA issues repeat violations if an employer was previously cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.ĭuring the inspection, workers were found standing on aluminum blocks elevated by a forklift to perform tasks on a furnace, which exposed workers to falls of at least 8 feet, OSHA says. The administration previously cited the Matalco facility for the same violation in 2012. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement or with plain indifference to employee safety and health, according to OSHA.Īt the Canton facility, employees were exposed to a fall hazard of more than 23 feet because the company had not installed guardrails over an open pit, and employees that worked in the pit area were not provided fall protection, OSHA says. A second willful violation was cited for failing to remove a crane with broken safety mechanisms from service. OSHA says its inspection found one willful violation for insufficient machine guarding on a robot cell that exposed workers to amputation hazards. “By placing Matalco US in our Severe Violator Enforcement Program, OSHA is putting the company on notice that this is unacceptable.” “This company allowed workers to stand on blocks elevated by a forklift, and that’s just one visible example of the total disregard for worker safety and health at this plant,” says Howard Eberts, OSHA area director in Cleveland. on OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program. OSHA says it also has placed Matalco US Inc. The inspection was initiated following a complaint. Over time this may lessen the need to provide OSH Act training in other languages.The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties totaling $130,200 for the aluminum firm Matalco following an inspection at the company’s Canton, Ohio, plant on March 24, 2014. Of course, employers may also provide instruction in learning the English language to non-English speaking employees. Similarly, if the employee's vocabulary is limited, the training must account for that limitation.īy the same token, if employees are not literate, telling them to read training materials will not satisfy the employer's training obligation.Īs a general matter, employers are expected to realize that if they customarily need to communicate work instructions or other workplace information to employees at a certain vocabulary level or in a language other than English, they will also need to provide safety and health training to employees in the same manner. In practical terms, this means that an employer must instruct its employees using both a language and vocabulary that the employees can understand.įor example, if an employee does not speak or comprehend English, instruction must be provided in a language the employee can understand.

[mystlnewsonline]

Missouri Attorney General Files Amicus Brief

Missouri Attorney General Files Amicus Brief in Support of Ending Unlawful CDC Mask Mandate JEFFERSON CITY, MO (STL.News) Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that his office joined 22 other states in filing an amicus brief in Health Freedom Defense Fund Inc. vs. Joseph R. Biden, opposing President Biden and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) interstate travel mask mandate.  The attorneys general argue that the district court correctly vacated the federal mask mandate, which exceeds the CDC’s authority and infringes on each state’s ability to enact its own public health rules. “The district court correctly ruled that the Biden Administration and the CDC have no authority to force people to wear masks on flights or on buses,” said Attorney General Schmitt.  “It’s far past time that we allow Americans to make their own decisions related to their health and well-being without the federal government overstepping its authority and attempting to force masking on everyday people.  I’ve fought these public health bureaucrats and petty tyrants at every turn and will continue to push back on this unprecedented government overreach.” In a brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, the attorneys general argue that the CDC’s unlawful mandate exceeds the agency’s authority in several ways.  First, the CDC grounds its authority to issue a mask mandate in its power to require “sanitation” measures under 42 U.S.C. § 264(a).  That authority cannot support the mandate.  Additionally, according to the statute, CDC cannot demand that domestic travelers be examined without evidence that they are carrying disease—but that is what the mandate requires, a visual inspection of every traveler without any individualized suspicion. The brief also argues that the mandate is invalid because it failed to go through notice and comment procedures.  The CDC’s rule is arbitrary and capricious, with numerous exceptions that the agency did not explain or justify.  Beyond that, the rule violates the CDC’s own regulations.  The brief states: “CDC regulations say that it cannot act unless it finds local measures inadequate.  But here, CDC never even studied local measures, much less developed a method to determine whether those measures are adequate.” The Missouri Attorney General’s Office has been a leader in battling forced masking at both the national and local levels.  His office was a member of the original lawsuit against the CDC’s mask mandate on public transportation.  Attorney General Schmitt filed suit against a number of Missouri school districts for continuing to force the masking of schoolchildren.  Nearly all districts dropped their mask mandates following the lawsuits.  Attorney General Schmitt was also the first to file suit against OSHA’s private employer vaccine mandate and delivered a historic win defeating that mandate at the United States Supreme Court. In addition to Missouri, the attorneys general of the following states joined the brief: Florida, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia. SOURCE: Missouri Attorney General Read the full article

[eebydeebyderby]

NSFW headcanons for the ghostbusters please please please please??

Literally says in the blog description that I don't do nsfw stuff, but just this one time I'll make an exception.

NSFW Ghostbuster Headcanons

Peter Venkman

This man is the poster boy for OSHA violations. He will stand on the top wrung of a ladder, operate saws without machine guards, and skip wearing protective equipment if he finds it even slightly uncomfortable. Somehow, he manages to avoid getting any of the grievous injuries he risks on a daily basis.

Peter will often skip washing his hands before eating. Being covered in grime and ectoplasm after a gnarly bust won't stop him from eating a sandwich on the drive home if he's hungry enough. Not necessarily a safety hazard, but definitely something the other boys find repulsive.

Peter loves to wander into Egon's lab for the sole purpose of being a nuisance. The two are in a constant arms race of Egon devising complex locking mechanisms for keeping Peter out of his supplies and Peter developing more convoluted ways of bypassing them.

Peter loves to hide behind corners and scare the crap out of any passers-by, but it yields him mixed results. Ray is unflappable when a screaming Peter jumps out at him, simply saying pleasantly, "Oh, hi Pete," without looking up from his clipboard. He's also learned to be more cautious when trying this stunt around Janine, because he learned the hard way that Egon had gifted her a homemade canister of pepper spray. Peter went blind for two days, but he quickly bounced back.

Winston Zeddemore

Winston is a firm believer that expiration dates on foods are totally moot. If it looks okay and smells okay, then it's totally fine to eat. To prove his point, he cracks open a 2-years-expired can of beans and gobbles them up with no problem. The smell is enough to nauseate anybody nearby, but Winston is perfectly happy with the snack. Egon keeps several notes on Winston's dietary tolerances and theorizes that he has some form of anosmia. Egon is well-known for his sweet-tooth, but Winston claims the throne to having the most indestructible stomach.

Winston is a pretty easy-going guy, but he's very strict when it comes to the other boys maintaining the safety on their proton guns, and won't hesitate to scold them. During his time in the marines, one of the boys in his platoon tripped with a loaded rifle pointed at his own face. The resulting sight is something Winston is reminded of often whenever the boys are readying their equipment, so he monitors them like a hawk.

Even so, Winston is no stranger to horsing around. It's a very common sight to see Winston trotting around the firehouse with Ray on his back, or sword fighting Peter with PVC pipes. If they get too rowdy, Janine will spritz them with a spray bottle to calm them down a bit.

Egon Spengler

Literally tried to kill a guy because he works for the Environmental Protection Agency (and it was hot & he should do it again).

Egon lives by the rule of "it's only illegal if you get caught." Rules and regulations only work to stifle progress and are written by those who do not truly understand the true nature of science, which is fearless and willing to take risks. This man is 90% responsible for Walter Peck's nervous breakdown in 1990.

Lab accidents are not uncommon with his combination of chronic sleep deprivation, garbage dietary habits, perpetual dehydration, and wanton treatment of safety precautions. A quick glance at his hands will reveal several cuts, bruises, burns, and callouses in various stages of healing because he never bothers to wear gloves, unless he feels it might affect his lab results.

Any form of safety regulation or illegality will not stop Egon from getting ahold of research supplies in the slightest. Unstable isotopes, invasive fungal species, unregulated medical supplies, and banned lab equipment are all things in his possession at any given time. It's a good thing Callie was born two years before the Ghostbusters started out, because the level of residual radiation in this man has probably rendered him sterile.

Ray Stanz

Ray is the least reckless of the boys, and he often voices his concerns when he catches the boys doing something unsafe (which is very, very often.) He trusts his friends to take care of themselves for the most part, but he still worries if he feels something is risky. The boys will usually fix themselves to make him feel better, but return to their usual bad habits by the next day.

Why pay to take the Ecto-1 to an expensive caddy dealership when he can fix her up himself with a sawed-off socket wrench and some gorilla glue? Somehow, his Victor Frankenstein approach to maintaining the Ecto-1 keeps her in tip-top shape. She's never once failed a smog test under his care. Anyone who's not Ray will have absolutely no idea what's going on if they lift up the car hood.

When one of the other boys is yawning, Ray will sometimes decide to impulsively stick his finger in their mouths. This yields a variety of results based on who his victim is: Winston will comment that he's flattered, but happily married; Egon will crack up and smack his hand away; and Peter will bite the absolute crap out of him.

[littlesailorinthesun]

is love nikki osha compliant?

Inspired by Brian David Gilbert's legendary Unraveled video "Smash Bros. owes millions of dollars in OSHA violations", I became curious how this would apply to Love Nikki suits. I looked through a few suits of choice to determine how OSHA-compliant they are.

First of all, I would like to say that while I have previously worked in a Health and Safety department, I apologize for any mistakes I make. This is not work (even if real Nikkis' lives are at stake here!)

For the Smash Bros. video, BDG looked primarily at the safety of various fighting arenas. Given that Love Nikki is a dress up game, I will of course be primarily looking at PPE (personal protective equipment) which falls under 1910 Subpart I; however, there are some instances where it is clear the environment is also unsafe.

The issue with determining what is proper PPE is mostly that it varies depends based on the environment you find yourself in. Given that *most* suits don't come with huge background props or backgrounds, I will just be extrapolating based on the item descriptions and the little context we have.

Heavy Machinery

One of my favorite suits, yet one of the worst offenders, Heavy Machinery actually calls out its own violation in the suit itself. If Miraland had OSHA, Heavy Machinery would unfortunately be breaking the rules.

According to OSHA's Nail Gun Safety Guide, people using nail guns should have the following PPE (in addition to the safety goggles): safety shoes (steel toed boots), hard hats, and hearing protection. Unfortunately, while maybe the shoes might have steel toes (though they don't look like they do), Heavy Machinery does not have a hard hat nor any hearing protection that I can see. This puts her in general violation of 1910.132(a).

One of the more frustrating parts is that she has eye protection, but she isn't actually using it! The item description for the goggles even says, "A mechanic can easily hurt his eyes, so it's good to wear goggles. Don't act cool and put them on your head!" Yet, she is doing just that, which causes her to violate 1910.133(a)(1). Please, don't follow her example and make sure to wear your goggles.

I will give her kudos for having the knee pad(?) but the rest of her clothing could probably do a better job. Unfortunately, Heavy Machinery is not OSHA-compliant.

The final comment I'd like to make on her is that if she is really wearing a battery on her back, I will have to give her kudos because those motherfuckers are heavy.

Adventurous Journey

A new environment! Actually, Adventurous Journey is adventuring throughout all of Miraland, and her item descriptions make mention of her visiting many several different places: an abandoned base, an old ruin, even a cave? 

Adventurous Journey is wearing some pretty practical clothing, and her hand and foot protection look more than adequate. Her hammer looks like it's in great shape and, like Heavy Machinery, she even has her hair tied back. Her headlight is also a great choice.

While entering unknown spaces like caves can be dangerous, they typically aren't considered confined spaces. Besides that, it sounds like Adventurous Journey only went inside the cave to take shelter from the sandstorm instead of to explore.

Overall, I believe Adventurous Journey is OSHA-compliant. Have fun on your adventures!

Glacier Treader

Ada just wanted to learn something about penguins, but unfortunately she may end up learning something about ice water if she keeps up these unsafe practices.

According to 1910.28(b)(3)(i), employees should be protected from falling in holes by guardrails, covers, or something similar. Unfortunately, there is a giant hole in front of Ada and she has nothing keeping her from falling inside. The straps on her coat aren't attached to anything and that thing looks like it's about to fly off anyways. There may be a penguin in the hole, but such matters do not excuse Ada's research group's lack of fall protection. 

On the bright side, the band-aids on Ada's face means that she has access to first aid and medical care!

Horn of Surprise

As fun as it would be to ride a giant candy train, it is unfortunately not OSHA-compliant.

As per 1910.21(b), a walking-working surface is any surface where an employee walks, works, or gains access to another work area. As the train conductor, Shebel is working on the top of the train, and thus it is subject to OSHA guidelines.

Unfortunately, the train is quite high off the ground - definitely more than 4 feet. Because of this, under 1910.28(b)(15), Shebel should have some sort of protection from falling to the ground below her, whether it be a guardrail, safety net, or another personal fall protection system.

She should probably also be wearing better PPE, too.

Ocean Lullaby

According to this suit's lore, Relly swims all the way to the deepest part of the ocean with only a narwhal. From the depiction of her and the fact that she apparently lost consciousness while at the bottom of the ocean, it seems pretty clear that Relly wasn't using proper PPE while swimming.

The most frustrating part about this suit is probably the fact that even the fish have PPE while Relly has nothing (though the efficacy of the snorkels is questionable). She should definitely have some air, and following the proper SCUBA diving procedures (1910.424) would be a great start.

Toy Carnival

What looks like an innocent, fun carnival game is actually an example of a potentially dangerous situation which requires a lot of work and planning. The crane machine is an example of a confined space, which is defined as a space that is large enough to do work, but has limited means for entry and exit, and isn't designed for continuous occupancy. Toy Carnival's crane machine appears to be a small space which doesn't have any immediately apparent way to get out.

There are no hazardous chemicals which would be present inside a claw machine. However, there is a physical hazard, which is the claw crane. Because of this, it is a permit-required confined space.

Toy Carnival is doing a lot of things right. She has an attendant outside (Momo), meaning she is compliant with 1910.146(d)(6). As long as Toy Carnival has a permit and followed all of the necessary procedures, she would be OSHA compliant if not for one thing: There is no visible sign designating the claw machine as a confined space. (1910.146(c)(2))

I will hold out hope that there is a sign on the back, because she was so close.

Explosion

We're going to ignore for the time being that Explosion takes place entirely inside a video game because well, it's all inside a video game one way or another, right? Anyways, you can tell a lot about Explosion just from the name.

Patrice is evidently in some kind of war-like environment. Not only are there guns and cannons going off everywhere, the "explosion" her suit is named for is the explosions of smoke grenades. She uses these to take cover and disguise herself.

While the gas mask is an excellent choice, unfortunately it's not enough. Due to the flying hazards (and probably the smoke too), Patrice needs to be wearing eye protection in order to be in compliance with 1910.133(a)(1), and head protection in order to be in compliance with 1910.135(a)(1).

Now onto another concern, no less pressing than the last: She's also apparently killing people. 1926.900 deals with explosives, and many of the standards mention avoiding the harm of other employees, which gives the impression that it generally isn't allowed. Not warning the others using warning signs, flags, or barricades before killing them with explosives is in direct violation of 1926.900(i).

I will commend Patrice on one thing, which is proper use of the buddy system as defined in 1910.120(a)(3) in the presence of unknown hazards. It sounds like she and Kuma work well together.

Honorable Mentions

Apocalyptic Angel, for her clothes and hair literally being on fire. I don’t know which OSHA violation that is, but it’s definitely something.

Crime Buster, for firing guns any which way without even looking. I don’t even want to touch that can of worms.

Space Fantasy, for not wearing gloves. In outer space.

Ingenious Trend, for allowing bats to carry needles. Again, not sure how that’s illegal, but it must be one way or another.

Appendix

1910.28(b)(3)(i) Each employee is protected from falling through any hole (including skylights) that is 4 feet (1.2 m) or more above a lower level by one or more of the following: 1910.28(b)(3)(i)(A) Covers; 1910.28(b)(3)(i)(B) Guardrail systems; 1910.28(b)(3)(i)(C) Travel restraint systems; or 1910.28(b)(3)(i)(D) Personal fall arrest systems.

(Glacier Treader)

1910.28(b)(15) Walking-working surfaces not otherwise addressed. Except as provided elsewhere in this section or by other subparts of this part, the employer must ensure each employee on a walkingworking surface 4 feet (1.2 m) or more above a lower level is protected from falling by: 1910.28(b)(15)(i) Guardrail systems; 1910.28(b)(15)(ii) Safety net systems; or 1910.28(b)(15)(iii) Personal fall protection systems, such as personal fall arrest, travel restraint, or positioning systems.

(Horn of Surprise)

1910.132(a) Protective equipment, including personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, and extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices, and protective shields and barriers, shall be provided, used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever it is necessary by reason of hazards of processes or environment, chemical hazards, radiological hazards, or mechanical irritants encountered in a manner capable of causing injury or impairment in the function of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation or physical contact.

(Heavy Machinery)

1910.133(a)(1) The employer shall ensure that each affected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation.

(Heavy Machinery, Explosion)

1910.135(a)(1) The employer shall ensure that each affected employee wears a protective helmet when working in areas where there is a potential for injury to the head from falling objects.

(Explosion)

1910.146(c)(2) If the workplace contains permit spaces, the employer shall inform exposed employees, by posting danger signs or by any other equally effective means, of the existence and location of and the danger posed by the permit spaces. NOTE: A sign reading DANGER -- PERMIT-REQUIRED CONFINED SPACE, DO NOT ENTER or using other similar language would satisfy the requirement for a sign.

(Toy Carnival)

1910.146(d)(6) Provide at least one attendant outside the permit space into which entry is authorized for the duration of entry operations;

(Toy Carnival - compliant)

1926.900(i) Employees authorized to prepare explosive charges or conduct blasting operations shall use every reasonable precaution including, but not limited to, visual and audible warning signals, flags, or barricades, to ensure employee safety.

(Explosion)

[ahnsael]

We had a guy in the casino two nights ago. We know him to wear a “face shield” instead of a mask. Which is allowed under our current regulations.

He was wearing a mask this night. EVERY time I passed by him, I tried to give him an audible cue by jangling mt five sets of keys more than they naturally jangle (♫I got keys that jingle-jangle-jingle♫ -- with five sets of keys dangling from my belt. it’s HARD to not hear me coming even if I don’t walk in a way than makes them make MORE noise).

And EVERY time I passed by him, I had to ask him to turn his chinstrap back into a facemask.

He just doesn’t get it.

I wish I had his phone number so I could call him a week from now and say “Hey, thanks, for making me unemployed again, you selfish jerk.”

I may NOT end up unemployed again, but...our county has gone into the “red zone,” so if the Governor shuts businesses down again, we very well may be on the list.

We could have this thing under control in my area if only people weren’t looking for EVERY excuse or chance to flout the mandates meant from spreading the virus. But this community REFUSES to play along and do their part...which is why we are now considered a bad county as far as the virus is concerned. At this point, I WANT us to get shut down. It will mean no money for me (other than whatever unemployment I have left), no vacation pay in two weeks (the last time we were shut down was just before a week of paid time off, which was cancelled -- so, much like last time, I expect I wouldn’t be paid for this vacation pay (which is scheduled for the week after next) either, as it was all cancelled last time since we were closed).

And I’m not mad at the company at all. I’m mad at the people who put us in this position by pretending “being told to wear a mask is a violation of my personal freedumbs.”

I WANT to stay open. But I want to do so responsibly. But we cannot do that if our guests don’t accept their portion of the responsibility.

And it’s the SAME PEOPLE every night that I have to keep reminding to put their masks on. These are people who LLIKE spending time in our casino. But if I cannot convince then to leave their masks on (with exceptions for taking their mask down to take a sip of their drink, or take the mask down to take a puff from a cigarette, then put the mask down after exhaling the smoke), then it’s not just me losing my livelihood, but them losing their hang-out. And even when I explain to them that we may be a week or less before I’m out of a job again, and before all casinos are shut down (again) and they have nowhere to hang out at night, they STILL won’t listen.

I’ve done everything I can. I’ve tried to be nice about it. When I explained to someone this morning that the reason I kept asking him to put his mask back on (fines from $25,000-$250,000 PER PERSON not wearing their mask), he asked why I was ruining his night. It’s not my call...it’s a mandate from our Governor that our county Sheriff refuses to enforce (several deputies have walked through mask-less and if we ask about masks, they say “WE don’t have to wear them” -- cops are apparently above Governmental mandates), so it’s on me since OSHA and GAMING are BOTH fining us over guests not wearing them. So if we get shut down again? It’s gonna SUCK for me, personally. I will have no income (not sure how much unemployment I have left, but the extra federal money is gone, since the federal government has done NOTHING to mitigate this since the initial bill, and things are worse now than they were then). But...I mean, unless the general public starts taking this seriously, and following guidelines, we’re done at least for the near future. If people keep doing whatever they can to get around the rules, we’re done (at least for a while). But I cannot force people. I COULD throw them out, but my boss doesn’t want me to do that. I COULD be blatantly honest with them, which I try to be, but that takes a certain approach about explaining the position that we’re in about the fines we face and the likelihood of us remaining open and me having a job, which doesn’t always go down well (I can’t count how many times people have said “I don’t give a damn about fines you have to pay or your job; as long as they aren’t fining ME, I don’t care”). I try to tell them that, if we get shut down, every other casino in the county will be shut down and they say “Doesn’t matter -- I don’t NEED to gamble.” Which is fair, but I NEED gamblers in order to keep my job. It’s such a tightrope right now, and I don’t have a balance bar. I’m just trying to take things as they come and do the best I can. We may find out next Tuesday what our future holds (our Governor said just over a week ago that if case numbers didn’t come down, he may put in more restrictive measures, after asking people to go into “stay at home 2.0″ mode. And our county is officially high-risk now. So I don’t have high hopes for getting my paid week off in two weeks. We may be closed by then. But we’ll see. But if you go out, WEAR YOUR MASK. By God, my future is in your hands.

Again, I kind of WANT us to get shut down again.

It will SUCK for me financially, but maybe it will FINALLY teach people that their actions have consequences. And maybe, if they FINALLY come around, it could benefit workers in the future when we can reopen again.

But I doubt it. I live in a VERY stubborn county, and I don’t see this area going all “we’ve gotta protect our workers” when they’re all about selfishness over the public good.

[rayveewrites]

So as a simultaneous end of the year/ completion of Golden Echoes/ launch of Buried Gold celebration, I thought it would be neat to go through every chapter and post my favourite line/phrase/sentence/paragraph/etc from each. Why? Is this a genuine celebration? Do I think I’m funny and laugh at my own jokes? Am I actually just procrastinating? Yes. (Very obviously spoilers for the entire fic.)

Prologue: Lost  Darkness, pierced by the faint glow of sunlight through the holes in the ceiling. The sound of dripping water, pooling in the centre of the room.

Prologue: Found It remembered a time of life and colour, when it danced and played and sang, when children flocked around him and fed off its happiness and energy and gave him their own. Would it ever experience that again?

Prologue: Name  Old, brittle bones grinded. Rusted metal sounded against the tiled floor. Colourless eyes softly glowed silver.

Returned ...whoever thought it was a good idea to create a horror attraction out of the actual murders of actual children needed to have their heads readjusted. Forcefully. With a mask full of crossbeams and wires.

Exploration ...servos and circuits, they had been at this location for an hour and Freddy was already having a terrible day. Also it was 10 AM. The location operated at night. Why.

Darkness  So young, and left without a voice. I ask you now to make your choice. Clean the tiles of blood and tears? Or let them suffer with their fears?

Void He called up a memory, of turquoise eyes and golden fur, of whispers in the night that meant nothing and everything, of a feeling of happiness, that nothing would ever change, because the world was already perfect. 

Balloons Of course this place has wonky physics.

JJ “So let me get this straight. A potentially dangerous supernatural rabbit wants me to take a cryptic message to a potentially dangerous animatronic rabbit, and then somehow convince the other potentially dangerous animatronic rabbit and his potentially dangerous animatronic friends that the first potentially dangerous animatronic rabbit is not, in fact, the definitely dangerous child-murdering serial killer who’s...somewhere else. Have I got all that?”

Rabbit Part of his mouth twitched, as if he was trying to make a facial expression, but couldn't. 

Arcade The Void was not cooperating.

Parts Things had always seemed much brighter when they were two.

Guard Whatever came to one or the other's mind, in the breaks between people coming through and Sam playing creepy sounds over the speakers because 'a couple of teenagers are smooching on cam six, do they you realize I can see you, jesus christ, why are you even snogging in a horror attraction anyway, I really don't get the appeal, I swear to god-' or something along those lines, anyway.

Adventure Peace wasn't a feeling the ghost had had for a very long time.

Notes ...it had been a handful of wild yellow daisies a little girl had found, and he’d woven them into a ‘flower crown’ (actually more of a flower bracelet- the girl had picked as many as she could hold, but children had small hands) and put it on Fredbear’s hat when his partner wasn’t looking. Fredbear had promptly worn it all that night and the next day, daisies and all. Spring hadn’t been sure if he’d noticed or not, but either way, it had been very cute.

Cupcakes If the kid wanted a dinosaur, the kid should get a dinosaur, as far as he was concerned. Clothes were clothes. Why did people kick up such a stink about it sometimes?

Tapes “Uh, hello? Hello, hello! Uh, there’s been a slight change of company policy concerning use of the suits. Um, don’t.” “Oh gee,” JJ muttered, “imagine. It’s almost as if they were giant metal deathtraps.”

Talk ...she didn’t need to understand every aspect of Springtrap's life. That was Springtrap’s job, and he was apparently terrible at it.

Performance “It smells like something crawled in there and died.” 

Gold Fredbear had been Springtrap’s heart and soul; as much as he loved the children and gave each performance his all, his real reason for living was in the bear who sang beside him. Springtrap remembered singing on stage, a guitar in his hands and love in his soul. He remembered stolen kisses in the night, waltzing on cool tiles with music nobody else could hear. He remembered stealing Fredbear’s hat dozens of times, running off wearing it and giggling like a small child himself. He remembered quiet nights, when the only sounds were his guitar and Fred’s soft humming, sometimes the same tune, sometimes not, but neither of them ever cared. He remembered curling up together, watching stars twinkle in the night sky beyond the walls of the little diner, and truly believing that the time they had together was infinite. 

Stage He was holding something. He looked down, opened his hand and saw a gleaming purple microphone, accented with gold. It had been years, decades, since he had last seen it, but he recognized it. He knew what it meant. "Even after everything, I’m still with you." 

[Note: this is also the chapter that contained Springtrap’s poem. I’m quite proud of that one, despite how much of a pain it was to write. So, honourable mention]

Notes [Note: wait, crud, there’s two chapters named Notes? I’m gonna have to change one of those later.]

Maybe she just needed to hit something.

Knife [Note: I forgot to actually title this one in AO3. Welp. Better fix that later]

It was slightly strange, a Freddy’s-related crime that was just… basic burglary. It was always the unusual crimes that happened- murder, manslaughter, OSHA violations (so many OSHA violations). But theft? That was new.

Shadows

They lapsed back into silence for a moment. “So, this place… is it real?” In a fashion. It was created from your memories of what is gone. “So… if Fredbear isn’t here…” He is unreachable. “Where?” I cannot tell you. “You don’t know, do you.” The Shadow-Bear was silent, telling Springtrap all he needed to know. 

Puppet RWQ… Yes? Stop tormenting the rabbit. You’re no fun. Puppet? She hissed at the purple bear. Stop tormenting the rabbit. “And why would I listen to you?” Because, Shadow Freddy said as the Puppet was slowly levitated up into the air, all four limbs flailing, he’s needed. And also, you are being, as Springtrap so eloquently called RWQ earlier, an asshole.

Voice Specifically, it was more a mixture of blood, rotting flesh, and whatever other bodily fluids lingered in William Afton’s partially mummified decomposing head and was accessible via Springtrap’s mouth, without opening said mouth to the point where someone would notice said partially mummified decomposing head.  [Or] Springtrap was displaying remarkable self-restraint. First, he hadn’t punched the Puppet in the face for threatening his friend’s life. Then, he hadn’t punched the Puppet in the face for implying he had a problem with the golden bear. Now, he wasn’t squeezing the life out of JJ in a hug.

Ghosts “No. The thing is, I’ve never had a name I felt truly fit before it. I can’t be Bonnie any more; the Classic model has taken that name, and he is welcome to have it. Spring Bonnie was the name the Man Behind the Slaughter used; I never truly referred to myself with it. Some employees called me Golden Bonnie, to fit with the whispers of a Golden Freddy, but that was never truly a name either, although I suppose I could have gotten used to it eventually. But Springtrap? It lets me keep my past, and it lets me have a future. Sure, it’s a little odd, but I don’t mind. I kind of like it. It’s unique.”

Humans Oh, Spring has a key. That explains where the spare went! When did he get that? Jake’s been looking for it for ages. Not that it’s my business. He says he technically works here, so it’s not stealing. Cheeky. He’s right though.

Henry “I’m not sure whether I should be pissed about the weird way he’s been constructed, or impressed he hasn’t collapsed yet. What the hell is holding him togeth- wait what the hell is that.” Springtrap winced. He knew he should’ve warned them beforehand, but he still tended to hide the rotting corpse. It was instinctive, a sort of habit- born from the fear he would be scrapped is the workers found out, and increased by the fact he was being blamed for murder.

Sound No matter how bad Springtrap’s eyesight could get, no matter how often his joints locked up, Springtrap had always had his rabbit hearing. It had saved his life several times, back when the Classics were hunting him. He had figured out a basic method of echolocation for when his eyes were useless. He relied on his ears, and now they were letting him down for the first time in his life. It scared him.

Doors “Freddy! We have a problem!”

Attack He did. He needed a hand. God, it hurt. Where was his arm? Was that his arm? No, it couldn’t be. He was gold. Not green. Or maybe it was. It was hard to think. Thinking. What a strange concept. The Greeks had invented thinking, hadn't they? Why would they do that?

Rest There were voices. Voices. His voicebox had lungs. His lungs were in his spine. His spine was being held together by lungs. His spine attached to his legs. He had no legs. He heard voices. He couldn’t hear. The grass was nice. Cool. Soft. Green. Like his eyes. Not like his eyes. Like his fur. He had no fur. Like his plush. His plush was green. Or gold. Or red. Or brown. He couldn’t remember which. Maybe it was all of them There was a breeze. It was nice. Warm. Hot. It was sunny. The sun was a star. He liked stars.  Stars meant Fredbear. And dancing. Where were his legs? He wanted to dance with the stars. Or with Fredbear. Fredbear. His Fredbear. He missed Fredbear.

Epilogue: Box Smeared down the plaster, it started about six feet up, and grew thicker toward the ground. It looked like Springtrap, or the Purple Guy, had slid down the wall until they were sitting. The tile beneath was stained heavily, and Freddy marvelled at how much blood was in a human body.

Epilogue: Opening ... no killing. That was the new rule. It was a strange one, for Master, but he supposed Master knew what he was talking about. He had changed, too; he had scratched behind his ears a couple days ago and it had felt so good.

Epilogue: Spark He remembered a time of life and colour, when he danced and played and sang, when children flocked around him and fed off his happiness and energy and gave him their own. He would experience that again.

[richaardcoohn]

Trucking Compliance in The USA: All That You Need to Know

Trucking compliance in the USA is now stricter. All the truckers and commercial vehicle drivers need to follow this compliance strictly to get the best out of them. This compliance is set and regulated by the DOT all over the United States. The Texas trucking authority says that over the years several refinements were made in the trucking compliances in the USA that has made this compliance much easier to be understood by transporters and drivers.   Inability to be DOT compliant is the violation of these standards. Violators are liable to sanctions that can incorporate budgetary punishments (fines), suspension of an organization's authorization to carry on its business vehicle fleet, or even prison.    Who must follow?

Branch of Transportation associated with Trucking compliance decides to apply to vehicles that are needed to enlist with the DOT and get a USDOT number. 

These can be commonly depicted as business vehicles; however, more explicitly the DOT rules concern engine vehicles working under at least one of these standards: 

1. Transport of dangerous materials of type and amount indicated by DOT 

2. A gross vehicle weight rating or gross mix weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross blend weight  of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more 

3. Transport of in excess of eight travelers (counting the driver) for remuneration  4. Transport of in excess of 15 travellers, including the driver   Purpose of the compliance

1. Get new drivers qualified.  2. Train them to an acceptable level.  3. To keep the vehicles rolling 

If discovering quality drivers aren’t fulfilling, the DOT and other state and nearby administrative organizations are intently working on Texas trucking authority to help both drivers and transporters.   Enduring to your CSA Scores can influence your notoriety and your primary concern. High driver turnover, severe DOT guidelines, and contrasting state laws -  all add to HR and operational bad dreams when on boarding and security methods aren't appropriately followed.    Securing your disrepute for being a protected fleet is useful for business. Ensure your fleet chief and security chief have these components set up:    1. New Driver Safety Training  2. DOT Mandated Training  3. New Driver Checklists  4. Ongoing CSA BASICS Monitoring  5. Issue Remediation  6. Regulatory Updates    Main set of rules of truck compliance set by the highest trucking authority contains:   1. Clean Air Act  2. EPA risky waste guidelines  3. OSHA Hazard Communication  4. OSHA Respiratory Protection  5. OSHA work environment wellbeing and security  6. Forklift Safety  7. Personal Protective Equipment  8. OSHA lock-out/tag-out methods    Ensure that you are employing and on boarding measures are as productive and connecting with as conceivable to help hold the great drivers:    1. Driver Qualification File Management  2. HR Forms (W-4, I-9)  3. Employee Handbook  4. Code of Conduct  5. Harassment Prevention Training  6. Drug and Alcohol Policy    How long does it take to recruit and locally available a driver?   It depends on the number of days every month your truck is on the roads. For every trucker, scenario could be different.   By coordinating the entirety of your on boarding driver capability structures, preparing and schedules through an online system, you make it simpler and quicker for your drivers to finish what's needed to get this show on the road at the earliest opportunity. 

[law-office-of-spiro-k-pistiolas]

Why are Californian workers more likely to die in Construction Accidents?

Why are Californian workers more likely to die in Construction Accidents?

 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), California has a higher fatality rate in construction accidents than any other state. In 2015, there were 937 worker deaths in California, representing 21% of the national total. What is the reason for this disparity?

 Several factors contribute to the high fatality rate in California. In this blog, we will discuss this staggering fatality rate.

 Construction Accidents and California

 Construction workers face many risks on the job. But those in California are more likely to die in an accident than any other state. A recent investigation by NBC Bay Area News found that California construction workers are 3.5 times more likely to die on the job than those in other states.

 There are many reasons for this, including the high number of construction projects in California, the large number of undocumented workers, and the lack of safety regulations. In addition, construction workers in California are often not given the proper safety training, and they often work long hours for little pay.

 Undocumented Workers

 According to a UC Berkeley Labor Center study, undocumented Californian workers are more likely to die in construction accidents than their documented counterparts. The study also found that these workers are often reluctant to report injuries or dangerous working conditions for fear of being deported.

 This is troubling, as undocumented workers are essential to the construction industry. They perform the most dangerous and demanding jobs and are often paid less than their documented counterparts. It is time for California to recognize the contributions of undocumented workers and do more to protect their safety on the job.

 Lack of Safety Regulations

 In the past, California has been a leader in worker safety. However, the state’s lack of safety regulations has cost many workers their lives. For example, in 2014, an entire crew of workers died when buried alive in an avalanche of dirt while working on a freeway project.

 Since then, the state has made some progress in safety regulations, but there is still a lot of work to be done. For example, no rules require organizations to offer safety education to their employees. As a result, many employees aren't safely skilled to cope with risky situations.

 Construction accidents in California often lead to fatalities because of the lack of safety regulations. Some people might argue that the workers are more likely to die because they are not adequately trained, but they are more likely to die because there are no safety regulations in place. This is a significant issue because companies can get away with providing minimal safety training and not following any safety protocols.

 Steps have been taken by Californian Govt. to ensure the protection of Construction Workers.

 California has a number of the stringent employee protection legal guidelines with inside the country. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) is accountable for implementing those legal guidelines. DOSH is responsible for inspecting construction sites, investigating workplace accidents, and issuing citations and fines to employers who violate safety laws.

 Some of the essential worker safety laws that DOSH enforces are:

- The Cal/OSHA construction safety standards

- The Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP)

- The Scaffold Law

- The Tower Crane Operator Certification law

 Further, the California government has been taking several steps to protect the health and safety of construction workers. One recent step was the enactment of Assembly Bill 675, which requires Cal/OSHA to develop new regulations for protecting workers from heat illness. The bill was brought in reaction to the demise of a construction employee exposed to extreme temperatures.

 Other recent steps taken by the California government to protect construction workers include the passage of Senate Bill 462, which requires employers to provide training on heat illness prevention, and the launch of the Cal/OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Campaign.

 Further, all employers must have a state-mandated workers’ insurance program, also known as Workers’ Compensation.

 To know more about workers’ compensation and construction accidents, visit here.

 If you've gotten injured while operating on a construction site, you will be eligible to report a workers' comp claim and attain the compensation you deserve. It’s essential to speak to an attorney to learn more about your rights and what steps you need to take to file a claim. For more information, please visit our website at Pistiolas Law or give us a call today at 844-414-1768.

 https://workerscomplawcalifornia.com

#workercompensatioanttroney

[importantballooncrusade]

Appeals court stays vaccine mandate on larger businesses

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court on Saturday temporarily halted the Biden administration’s vaccine requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the action stops President Joe Biden “from moving forward with his unlawful overreach.”

“The president will not impose medical procedures on the American people without the checks and balances afforded by the constitution,” said a statement from Landry, a Republican.

The U.S. Labor Department’s top legal adviser, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda, said the department is “confident in its legal authority to issue the emergency temporary standard on vaccination and testing.”

OSHA has the authority “to act quickly in an emergency where the agency finds that workers are subjected to a grave danger and a new standard is necessary to protect them,” she said.

A spokesman for the Justice Department, Anthony Coley, said in a statement: “The OSHA emergency temporary standard is a critical tool to keep America’s workplaces safe as we fight our way out of this pandemic. The Justice Department will vigorously defend this rule in court.”

Such circuit decisions normally apply to states within a district — Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, in this case — but Landry said the language employed by the judges gave the decision a national scope.

“This is a great victory for the American people out there. Never before has the federal government tried in a such a forceful way to get between the choices of an American citizen and their doctor. To me that’s the heart of the entire issue,” he said.

At least 27 states filed lawsuits challenging the rule in several circuits, some of which were made more conservative by the judicial appointments of President Donald Trump.

The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way to end the pandemic that has claimed more than 750,000 lives in the United States.

The administration says it is confident that the requirement, which includes penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation, will withstand legal challenges in part because its safety rules preempt state laws.

The 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, said it was delaying the federal vaccine requirement because of potential “grave statutory and constitutional issues” raised by the plaintiffs. The government must provide an expedited reply to the motion for a permanent injunction Monday, followed by petitioners’ reply on Tuesday.

Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and director of the World Health Organization’s center on global health law, said it was troubling that a federal appeals court would stop or delay safety rules in a health crisis, saying no one has a right to go into a workplace “unmasked, unvaxxed and untested.”

“Unelected judges that have no scientific experience shouldn’t be second-guessing health and safety professionals at OSHA,” he said.

[clubofinfo]

Expert: It’s more than doors between government and the businesses that they supposedly regulate that go round and round.  One of the other swinging doors is between the Democratic and Republican Parties. A second door Perhaps the best known case is when Al Gore ran for president in 2000, he picked Joe Lieberman as his running mate.  Then, in 2008, Lieberman showed up at the Republican national convention to endorse John McCain for president.  Between those two campaigns, John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, was rumored to be leaning to ask Republican John McCain to be his running mate. Had Al Gore won, Lieberman would most likely have been the subsequent Democratic nominee for president.  Had John Kerry won with McCain on the ticket, McCain would have been the heir apparent to the “Democratic Party” crown.  Whether Lieberman or McCain, Democrats across the country would have been told to bow in reverence to their party’s red-blue nominee for president. This was hardly the first time such a switcheroo blossomed in American politics.  In 1864, Republican Abraham Lincoln dumped his sitting vice-president to ask Democrat Andrew Johnson to be his running mate.  After Lincoln’s murder, US voters, who had selected a Republican to be their president, found him replaced by a Democrat. Though such examples at the presidential level may be enshrined in history books, they happen all the time at the local level.  In 1963, the Texas Young Democrats allowed high school chapters for the first time.  I was 15 years old then and organized the state’s first Young Democrats chapter at Lamar High School in Houston.  We invited a teacher who had been elected to the Texas Legislature to speak to our chapter on “Why Am I a Democrat?”  His answer was simple.  He was a Democrat because that was the only way to get elected in Texas of the early 1960s. The next year, he came out as a Republican.  That was the time of the exodus of southern Dixiecrats from the Democratic to the Republican Party. Fast forward half a century and I was the 2016 Green Party nominee for governor of Missouri.  I participated in the debate with Democrat Chris Koster and Republican Eric Greitens.  Greitens, riding the election on Trump’s wave, has since become internationally infamous for an affair in which he allegedly tied his victim to his basement exercise equipment, hit her, took nude photos of her, threatened to publicize the photos if she ever told anyone what he did, and continued various sex acts without her consent. During the campaign, both the Democrat and Repubican made TV ads showing themselves with automatic weapons.  Besides being partial to gun violence, they had something else in common.  Both had switched parties.  The Republican Greitens was a former Democrat and the Democrat Koster was a former Republican.  Like most others greedy for power, they decided which way the winds were blowing, calculated where they could most effectively hustle votes, and adjusted their public images and party affiliation accordingly.  (Greitens resigned as governor in May 2018.) Flip-flops between the corporate parties are hardly peculiar to Missouri.  Evan Jenkins was the runner-up in the May 2018 Republican primary for the West Virginia US senate seat.  Jenkins had been elected as a Democrat to the West Virginia legislature, but hopped to the Republican side to win the third district US house seat in 2014. During the 2018 race, the former Democrat boasted a perfect rating from the National Rifle Association as well as a 100% “pro-life” record saying, “I am a West Virginia conservative who is working with President Trump each and every day for our shared conservative values.” That was nothing new for the state.  Its billionaire governor Jim Justice started out as a Republican, became a Democrat in 2015 to win the governor’s race and switched again to the Republicans in 2017 to bask in Trump’s glow.  These people are as dedicated to the colors of their party as a chameleon is to staying green when it’s opportune to turn yellow. The original door Do you remember when the “revolving door” was first noticed?  It was due to people like Michael R. Taylor who rotated between regulatory agencies and the corporations they were supposedly regulating.  Taylor began as a Monsanto lawyer.  Then he became a staff lawyer for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and helped it to hassle Amish farmers for selling whole milk while giving companies like Monsanto the green light to sell genetically contaminated products without labeling them.  Then, he cycled back to Monsanto, becoming its Vice President for Public Policy.  In 2010, he flipped back to being the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Foods. The scenario was quite a bit different for Richard Gephardt, former speaker of the US House and darling child of business unions and anti-NAFTA coalitions in the early 1990s.  When I was working with Public Citizen to oppose NAFTA, a friend who had just been to Mexico told me that Gephardt had spoken in Monterrey promising to get NAFTA through the US House.  So I spent several afternoons at the Washington University library until I found the Mexican paper Excelsior recording his comments. I documented Gephardt’s statements in an Op-Ed piece in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of June 1, 1993 and reported his two faces during the next Public Citizen conference call.  There was stony silence for several seconds.  Then Lori Wallach let everyone know “Dick Gephardt is the best ally in Washington that we have.” Though Gephardt gave clear warnings of his true colors, leftists paid to lobby politicians had a devout faith that an ally scheming to stab you in the back is better than no ally at all.  A few years later, the left did turn on Gephardt – but only after he publicly displayed his contempt for progressives.  In 2005, he abandoned his distinguished career as public servant and formed Gephardt Government Affairs which allowed him to pocket almost $7 million lobbying on behalf of clients such as Goldman Sachs, Boeing, Visa Inc and Waste Management Inc. Of course, Gephardt was not the typical revolving door guy.  Instead of being an agency bureaucrat      he was elected to public office.  And he did not wait to resign from his governmental post to serve industry because he was apparently working both sides regarding NAFTA at the same time. A third door This brings us to a third way the door revolves  – the way that policies and practices get tossed from one corporate party to the other.  When I was a kid, the saying went “The Democrats bring war and the Republicans bring recession.”  But no more.  With rapacious Wall Street increasing its appetite for expansion as its human host decays, the Democrats and Republicans shadow box to see which can simultaneously be more violent and make the quality of life deteriorate faster. Perhaps the old saying stemmed from the way Woodrow Wilson won the presidency with the slogan “He kept us out of war” and then proceeded to take the US into WWI.  A few decades later Lyndon Johnson ridiculed Barry Goldwater’s threat to bomb Viet Nam back into the stone age.  After LBJ won the election, he did his best to carry out Goldwater’s plan. For about half a century, the Republicans won the reputation of being the most anti-Communist.  Yet, it was John and Bobby Kennedy who tried to invade Cuba, went off their chain to pit bull Fidel Castro, and began the very long series of attempts to assassinate him. Years later, the rapidly anti-Communist Richard Nixon ascended the throne, recognized China, and visited Beijing.  In case you missed it, the right-wing Nixon reversed course and realized a progressive idea.  It was hardly the only positive event that happened during the reign of one of the most degenerate presidents of all time.  The following occurred during his presidency: end to the Viet Nam war, beginning of the Food Stamp Program, creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, passage of the Freedom of Information Act, formal dismantling of the FBI’s COINTEL program, decriminalization of abortion, creation of Earned Income Tax Credits, a format ban on biological weapons, and passage of the Clean Water Act. One of the crowning achievements during the Nixon era was the April 28, 1971 founding of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  Shaun Richman describes in The Unionist how OSHA “has the authority to promulgate industry-specific workplace safety rules and to fine companies that violate them. The law also provides for workplace safety inspectors, whistleblower protections for workers who report potentially unsafe conditions and legal protections for workers who go on wildcat strikes to put an end to a dangerous situation.” Do Democrats in power provide some sort of assurance because they “call for” more environmental protection than do Republicans?  During the 1990s, St. Louis environmentalists were trying to block the construction of a dioxin incinerator.  There was a Democrat in the White House, a Democratic Governor of Missouri, and a Democratic County Executive.   We persuaded the Democratic majority on the County Council to pass an ordinance requiring dioxin incinerators to operate according to EPA standards, which seemed like a victory since no incinerator can meet those standards. We stopped going to County Council meetings because we thought we had “won.”  Then the Council repealed the ordinance we had lobbied for.  Bill Clinton got his Missouri dioxin incinerator.  When do Democrats stab you in the back?  Whenever your back is turned. In 2018, Donald Trump is justly despised because of his racist hate campaign against people of color, especially his ripping immigrant children apart from their parents and putting them in cages.  But let’s not forget the continuity between Obama and Trump.  As Tina Vasquez writes in Rewire News: When he first announced DACA in 2012, President Obama boasted of ‘putting more boots on the southern border than at any time in our history.’ Obama sought to ‘centralize border security’ on the pretext of deporting violent criminals and gang members—now Trump’s cause … The anti-immigrant zeal that Trump used to get elected is in many ways closely aligned with the history of America’s immigration system, which gave priority to white immigrants and sought to limit entry by other groups. Every administration, Republican or Democrat, has maintained this system’s injustices. A major difference between the two presidents is that press outlets like MSNBC tended to ignore actions by Obama but shrieked in horror when Trump followed suit.  Clearly, the outrage against Trump positively lessens the attacks, but it makes one wonder: If a Democrat replaces Trump and commits the same atrocities against immigrant children, will media again muffle its anger? These examples of Democrats and Republicans swapping platforms and policies do not even scratch the surface.  Their views are so interchangeable that one could write a 10 volume collection of the way they imitate each other and still barely cover the tip of all the stories out there. Progressive Democrats? Does this mean that there is no one running for office as a Democrat who sincerely wishes to move in a more progressive direction?  Of course not.  There are many, many candidates who start out running for local office as a Democrat and stay at the bottom of the Party’s hierarchy because it is structured to keep them there and use them as bait to lure and defang other progressives. Progressive Democrats at the base level do not script the Party’s major directions, which is as firmly controlled by big business as is the direction of the Republican Party.  While they may propose reforms in their communities, they must march in line with candidates for national office if they are to get funding to run at a higher level.  Those higher-up Dems are the ones most skilled at collaborating with Repubs, echoing their policies, and even fluttering over to the GOP side if the time is right. While the Republicans and Democrats are able to twist and turn on any dime lying in the street, there is at least one item for which they have a mind-meld.  The top concern of their corporate benefactors is “How do we reverse the gains of the New Deal?”  Bosses of both parties seek to undo the New Deal – the biggest difference between them is how to pull it off. The Dems generally use finesse with a stiletto, carving out gains one-by-one, weeping and sobbing as they do so.  The public face of the Repubs screams in delight as it whacks off gains with a meat cleaver.  The difference in rhetoric is vastly greater than any difference in the end result.  So many politicians can alternate policies and, at times, party affiliation because they see elections as a thermometer measuring if it is the hour for the delicate blade or the butcher knife. The great virtue of the Democrats is creating hope.  The great virtue of the Republicans is being a bit more honest about their long term goals.  The perception of vice or virtue in either depends on the mood of the observer. Do Democrats and Republicans quarrel with each other in front of TV cameras?  Obviously yes – but it’s merely a mock lovers’ spat crafted for public consumption.  Once the cameras are off, they embrace in excited passion while collapsing onto the bed of cash provided by corporate donations to both parties. In our darkest hour Understanding that the unified goal of both parties is to turn back New Deal gains leads us to ask how those victories were won.  It was because of the massive strikes, exploding labor movement, and unprecedented growth of the Socialist and Communist Parties that made a New Deal necessary.  Key corporate players decided that it was more discreet to allow some demanded changes than to suppress mushrooming mass movements. Hop forward to the Nixon years.  The many accomplishments won during his term were not because that vicious anti-communist fell on his knees, beheld a shining light, and vowed to tread the path of righteousness.  It was due to a strong labor movement, a massive anti-war movement following on the heels of the civil rights movement, and a growing women’s movement demanding reproductive freedom (along with many other more radical movements). Hop forward again to the depravity of the Trump administration.  As humanity faces extermination from increased production of fossil fuels, opposition bubbles up at an equal rate.  Even though Republican state legislatures agreed to continue undermining public schools, in Spring 2018 teachers decided that they had had enough. West Virginia had a Republican governor and a Republican majority in both houses of the legislature.  But West Virginia teachers went on strike anyway and were followed by teachers from Oklahoma and other states likewise dominated by anti-labor Republicans.  Even though illegal, the strike won because teachers stood together with janitors, bus drivers, food service workers and other state employees. As Bruce Dixon laid it out in Black Agenda Report: …successful strikes are possible wherever an overwhelming majority of the workforce is committed to it, whether or not those workers are in a ‘right to work’ state, and whether or not the strike is endorsed by their union if they have a union at all. Neither of West Virginia’s two teachers unions endorsed the strike, and the leaders of both unions initially and repeatedly attempted to ‘settle’ it for far less than the striking workers demanded. The three revolving doors are just other ways that big business manages government while pulling the wool over people’s eyes.  Corporate flunkies transfer between their bosses and agencies to ensure agencies do their bidding.  Professional politicians go back and forth between parties according to their career opportunities.  Parties grab policies from each other to see who can hoodwink the most voters. The Democrats and Republicans are parts of a single gestalt that creates the illusion of meaningful difference when there is none.  If you are part of an organization that gets caught up in the revolving door, don’t keep going around in circles – find another way out.  In times of the darkest despair, solidarity is still the road to victory. http://clubof.info/

[shirlleycoyle]

Extreme Heat Is Killing Workers, So the White House Is Adding Protections

As a summer that saw record heat grip the country ends, the Biden Administration has announced plans to establish a federal labor standard aimed at protecting workers from extreme temperatures.

Next month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will begin developing and enforcing a federal standard to limit heat illness and death in the workplace, amid the growing threat of the climate crisis, the White House announced on Monday. 

“Millions of U.S. workers are exposed to heat in their workplaces, and essential jobs with high exposure levels are disproportionately held by Black and Brown workers,” the White House press release on the announcement reads. “Recognizing the seriousness of this threat, the Biden Administration is taking immediate action on heat hazards to protect workers and communities as part of a broader commitment to workplace safety, climate resilience, and environmental justice.” 

The commitment is a multi-agency one, calling on: the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Agriculture; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to act to reduce heat-related illnesses in and beyond work. 

The rulemaking process will likely take many months, Politico noted on Monday, but work toward accomplishing many of the Biden Administration’s short-term goals will begin sooner. OHSA will also establish enforcement interventions and a workplace inspection program for 80°F+ days, formalize a National Emphasis Program to target interventions toward high-risk industries, and form a Heat Illness Prevention working group of stakeholders to continually address issues around workplace heat hazards.

Numerous environmental and labor advocacy groups that have long pushed for greater protections around heat in the workplace, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Earthjustice, and the AFL-CIO, expressed that the move was long overdue. 

“We’ve known for decades that keeping workers cool, hydrated, and rested saves lives,” Juanita Constible, senior advocate in the climate and health and climate and clean energy programs at the NRDC told Motherboard in an email. “Heat waves will continue to get stronger, longer, and more severe even with aggressive pollution limits.”

Indeed, periods of extreme heat are growing in frequency and severity across the globe, posing risks for outdoor and indoor workers alike. According to the EPA, the average number of heat waves per year has tripled since the 1960s, and have steadily grown in length, duration and intensity.

Extreme heat is the most lethal natural disaster in the U.S., disproportionately impacting communities without access to air conditioning, shade, cooling centers, or other ways to escape it. This means that low-income and unhoused individuals, outdoor workers, and elderly and disabled communities and those who live in isolation experience the worst effects. Long-term exposure to heat can lead to heat stroke, cramps, exhaustion and respiratory hospitalization. According to fatal injury data from heat stress injuries killed 815 U.S. workers and seriously injured more than 70,000 between the years 1992 and 2017 (the most up to date statistics currently available.) Some firms have even moved their work hours to keep employees out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day. 

Hot days also come with increased risk of accident, a June study from the University of California, Los Angeles found. Hotter temperatures are associated with approximately 20,000 additional injuries per year, the study found. Days above 90 degrees Fahrenheit—when workers are prone to poorer cognition and decision-making—come with a 6 to 9 percent increase in the risk of worker injury than days in the 50s or 60s. 

“Climate change, it doesn't hit everyone the same,” said Raul Garcia, legislative director for healthy communities at Earthjustice, a non-profit environmental law firm. “This is something we're all going to have to learn to live with… but first, it's going to hit those vulnerable populations.” 

Despite the known risks heat poses to workers, OSHA has long ignored recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a temperature floor above which working conditions are deemed inherently unsafe, an August investigation by Politico and E&E News found. The federal push to establish a heat standard comes only after nine administrations worth of reluctance, the outlets reported, and as the agency faces what Constible calls “chronic” understaffing, questions remain about its ability to enforce heat-related labor laws once passed.

Meanwhile, some states are weighing bills that would strip workers of their right to protections from the growing burden of heat. In Texas, a Republican push in August to eliminate requirements for 10-minute water breaks every four hours in Austin and Dallas succeeded in the Senate and Governor’s offices, now lying in the hands of the state House. 

The bill garnered intense criticism from labor advocates, who called it a human rights violation. But a federal standard would set a baseline for working conditions that states cannot erode. 

“This needs to be a warning to all those states like Texas, that are looking to cut protections, that this is not allowed,” Garcia said.

The forthcoming federal heat standard follows in the footsteps of similar legislation in California, Minnesota, and Washington—the only three states in the country with permanent heat standards, all of which fall short of protecting all at-risk workers in some way. 

California, for example, adopted the country’s first set of worker protections from heat stress in 2005, requiring employers to provide workers with access to at least one quart of filtered drinking water per hour, shade when experiencing heat illness, and training around heat-related risk factors. Albeit groundbreaking at the time, the legislation only covers outdoor workers, and has recently garnered criticism for being ineffective as California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) struggles to fund inspections. 

Likewise, Washington’s permanent heat rule only applies to outdoor workers for part of the year; Minnesota’s legislation, for its part, only covers indoor workers. 

The federal standard, however, would fill these gaps—and bolster an ongoing conversation about adapting to the threat of the climate crisis, Constible believes. 

“Heat is an under-appreciated threat to our health,” she said. “We need to get serious about protecting ourselves.”

Extreme Heat Is Killing Workers, So the White House Is Adding Protections syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[michiganprelawland]

Result of the Death of Six Poultry Plant Workers

By Brooke Wilke, Michigan State University Class of 2022

August 10, 2021

Earlier this year, a tragic accident took place at a poultry plant. Foundation Food Group, out of North Georgia, which runs the Gainesville plant in question used supercooled nitrogen to quick freeze chicken patties, tenders, etc. which were sold to restaurants and such. On January 28th, the freezer which used the supercooled nitrogen as coolant failed. Multiple employees were attempting to fix the leak and fell victim to the gas as it spread. When nitrogen is supercooled it typically turns into a liquid, and when liquid nitrogen gas is leaked into a confined space it can expel the oxygen from the air and the lungs. So, what happened was when the employees were trying to fix the leak, they were overcome by the liquid nitrogen which caused unconsciousness and lethal asphyxiation. It was reported that some of the fallen employees also had severe freezer burns. This accident killed six employees and left at least a dozen more injured.

This has not been the first accident in a plant or even in the Gainesville plant itself. About a month prior to this incident, two workers at a Golden West Group plant in southern California also passed away from a nitrogen leak, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. As well as back in 2017, Foundation Food Group paid over $40,000 to settle incidents involving employees losing their finger, and in 2019 paid $3,750 to settle violations regarding employee eye and face protection. However, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration agency does not have the authority to permanently shut down the business.

The United States Labor Department and its Occupational Safety and Health Administration agency (OSHA) investigated the Foundation Food Group plant and discovered 59 citations and fines against them. Among the 59 citations includes six “willful” citations, which means that an employee/employer either knowingly did not follow the law or acted with plain difference to safety. These types of fines are a higher penalty cost wise. They also faulted two associated companies as well- Messer LLC (a nitrogen gas company) and FS Group Inc. (a food processing equipment maker). Labor Secretary, Marty Walsh, told reporters that this tragedy was entirely preventable. Their investigation showed that the company’s failure to implement necessary safety protocols to prevent the gas leak and the fact that the workers were not given proper equipment or training or taught about the dangers of nitrogen resulted in negligence by the company. Kurt Petermeyer, a regional administrator for OSHA, also says on record that Foundation Food Group had operated one year without a safety director.

After continuing operations and issues arising, Georgia Familias Unidas filed a complaint with OSHA against Foundation Food Group. ->  https://lclaa.org/following-labor-delegation-visit-ga-familias-unidas-files-an-imminent-danger-complaint-with-osha-against-foundation-food-group/

In the past few days, OSHA fined Foundation Food Group along with the other companies involved nearly $1 million. It is noted however that the companies can appeal and attempt to negotiate lower fines. Some, like Walsh, feel this penalty is not enough as it would be about $166,000 per death. Walsh is pushing for congress to allow OSHA to give out higher fines.

There seems to be a legal battle between OSHA and Foundation Food Group as the agency said in Federal Court that the company is creating roadblocks to their investigation. On the other hand, the company is saying OSHA is harassing them and threatening to arrest for not complying with a warrant. The warrant was put in place to inspect the facility following the nitrogen leak.  A U.S. District Judge, Richard W. Story, agreed with the magistrate’s ruling on the warrant, denying the company’s emergency motion for reconsideration.

______________________________________________________________

Mckay, Rich. “After Six Worker Deaths at Georgia Chicken Plant, U.S. Issues $1 Million in Fines.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 24 July 2021, www.reuters.com/world/us/after-six-worker-deaths-georgia-chicken-plant-us-issues-1-million-fines-2021-07-24/.

Kate, Kate. “Deaths of 6 Poultry Plant WORKERS ‘Entirely AVOIDABLE," Labor Secretary Says.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 23 July 2021, www.cbsnews.com/news/liquid-nitrogen-leak-deaths-factory-georgia-poultry/.

“Records Show Lengthy Battle between Foundation Food Group, OSHA Over Facility Inspection After Fatal NITROGEN LEAK.” Gainesville Times - Gainesville Times, www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/public-safety/foundation-food-group-osha-battling-court-over-warrant-inspect-facility-after-fatal-nitrogen-leak/.

[natesafety]

Your Reputation is at Stake: Responding to an OSHA Press Release or Catastrophic Incident

1. OSHA Issues Press Releases to Publicize its Citations and Penalties 

Following a high profile accident, fatality or catastrophe, federal OSHA will often conduct an inspection. Within the next six months, OSHA may choose to issue citations. Unbeknownst to many employers, OSHA regularly publishes news releases, often accompanied with factual allegations about an employer’s failure to abide by safety rules. See http://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/ enforcement. 

OSHA alleges penalty amounts and severe characterizations of any citations issued. OSHA press releases were a favored tool of the agency during the Obama administration: Dr. David Michaels favored press releases as a “shaming” technique that he believed could magnify the effect of safety enforcement in the industry. While the number of press releases declined during the Trump administration, the agency used the tactic aggressively during the COVID-19 pandemic to publicize the agency’s COVID enforcement efforts. We anticipate that under the Biden administration OSHA may utilize the press release tactic with greater frequency. 

2. Reputational and Business Harm from OSHA Press Releases 

OSHA’s press releases -- founded on the mere allegations in OSHA citations -- can have damaging effects on an employer’s reputation and business relationships. OSHA press releases are often picked up and mentioned in local or national news outlets, magnifying the negative publicity in the region. 

Employers may face adverse professional rankings from third party safety tracking services and even receive bans from certain customers for bidding on potential contracts or work projects. Worse still, based merely on those allegations, OSHA may place the employer on its Severe Violators Enforcement Program (https://www.osha.gov/dep/enforcement/ svep_white_paper.pdf), further branding the employer as a “severe” violator of the OSHA regulations. 

3. Responding to OSHA Press Releases 

Serious incidents stir strong emotions, and employers must be careful, thoughtful, and deliberate in how they respond to OSHA press releases. Media may analyze and comment on the employer’s response (or lack of response) to an OSHA press release. Any comment could have serious repercussions for the employer, and risk worsening the reputational harm. 

Depending on the industry and the public-facing nature of the company, the employer may consider preparing an affirmative press release and talking points to counter OSHA’s narrative in a professional and respectful manner. Employers may choose not to communicate at all with the media. If you do decide to engage with the media, we recommend preparing appropriate comments rather than stating only “no comment.” We recommend the following themes and talking points: 

1. Acknowledge that a serious incident or a major inspection occurred. 

2. Offer respectful condolences and concern for the health of any injured employees or other individuals. 

3. State that the company’s investigation into the accident is ongoing.

4. State that the company has and will continue to work cooperatively with OSHA and any other applicable government agency during their inspections of the worksite. 

5. Do not criticize OSHA or its personnel. 

6. Respectfully suggest that the company disagrees with OSHA’s issuance of any citations, and that the company will continue to discuss a resolution of the citations. If necessary, also indicate that the company has contested the citation through the appropriate change. 

7. Do not speculate as to the cause of the accident, admit fault, offer an apology, or suggest that the company violated any OSHA regulations or its own policies.

8. Do not blame any employee for the occurrence of the accident. Though the accident in fact may have been the result of unforeseeable employee misconduct, a press release or media comment is not the proper forum to assert that affirmative defense or fault on the part of the employee. 

9. Do not suggest that any employee involved in the incident is suspected to have been asleep or impaired by drugs or alcohol. 

10. Maintain employee privacy; do not disclose the name of any individuals involved in the incident.

 11. Note the company’s longstanding commitment to keeping all employees safe and healthy at the workplace.  

With these tips, employers can navigate the stressful process of responding to OSHA press releases and avoid hasty and misguided press releases which create a false impression regarding the employer and its commitment to employee safety and health.  

See our other article to understand the broader effort to manage post-accident communications, including internal emails, to preserve legal privileges and limit liabilities. Employers should be closely assessing any OSHA citations issued, and consider filing a notice of contest within 15 working days of receipt of the citation if the employer is unable to reach an informal resolution with the agency.

For more information relating to defending OSHA citations, responding to OSHA press releases, or any other safety law topic, please contact Mark A. Lies, II at mlies@seyfarth.com or Adam R. Young at ayoung@ seyfarth.com. ●  

Mark A. Lies, II is a Labor and Employment Law attorney and Partner with Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Mr. Lies can be contacted at 312-460-5877 or mlies@seyfarth.com.  

Adam R. Young is an attorney in the Workplace Safety and Environmental Group in the Chicago office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Mr. Young can be contacted at ayoung@seyfarth.com or 312-460-5538.