Occupational Safety

The family of a Baltimore man killed when a trench collapsed on him in Ellicott City three years ago has sued his former employer, saying the company did not take steps to prevent the cave-in.The wife and five children of Robert Eugene Jones seek $15 million in damages from T. M. Moylan Plumbing & Heating Inc. of Catonsville, court records say.Mr. Jones died Sept. 15, 1989, when a deep trench in which he was working caved in, burying him under tons of dirt and debris, the suit says. He was 40 years old.The trench was dug for water and sewer lines that were being installed for a new housing development in the 2900 block of Timber Trails Court in Ellicott City.

The Bush administration is to announce today policy changes that it says will give the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration more power to crack down on companies that persistently flout workplace safety rules. Under the new policies, OSHA officials will be directed to conduct more follow-up inspections of companies that commit safety violations of "the highest severity," according to a memorandum obtained by The New York Times. Companies that fail to correct violations will in some cases find themselves facing contempt-of-court orders from federal judges to force action.

A construction worker died yesterday after being crushed in a crane high above a building site near Annapolis in an accident that comes as state officials are looking for ways to tighten safety regulations for such heavy equipment. The laborer, identified by police as Denis Umanzor, 44, of Silver Spring, was killed while working at Annapolis Towne Centre, a $400 million residential, office and shopping complex under construction in Parole. Although authorities have yet to determine what went wrong, a portion of a crane apparently came loose and pinned Umanzor as it was being dismantled - a step described by experts as particularly risky.

Although Maryland workplaces, on average, have among the top safety records in the nation, the state's safety regulatory agency is one of the most overwhelmed. The 43 Maryland Occupational Safety and Health inspectors can visit only a tiny percentage of the state's more than 70,000 work sites. But controversy has erupted over MOSH's most recent effort to address the problem. Union officials say the state may endanger workers if MOSH adopts a 2-year-old federal experiment in which safety agencies offer exemptions from surprise inspections to companies with approved safety programs.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland has the 12th lowest rate of workplace fatalities among the 50 states, but don't breathe a sigh of relief yet. Maryland's job safety record is favorable only when compared with the troubling number of deaths and injuries at worksites elsewhere in the country.More than 10,000 American workers are killed on the job each year -- one worker for every hour of the day, according to a study released yesterday by the AFL-CIO. Six million workers are injured annually, and 60,000 are permanently disabled due to workplace illnesses and injuries, the report said.

The state's chief occupational safety officer says a preliminary investigation shows the Crofton excavation site that collapsed Tuesday, crushing a worker to death, was improperly reinforced.Craig D. Lowry, chief of compliance for the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health office, said yesterday that the 12-foot-deep hole dug by a plumbing firm did not have sloped sides and apparently lacked anything to hold back the dirt."The investigation is focusing on these things," Lowry said. "There is evidence that none of these things were provided.

Nursing can be a real pain in the back."You can feel it in your back after a 12-hour shift, there's so much moving and lifting" of patients, says Marjorie Simpson, a registered nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital's intermediate care unit. She hurt her back a year ago, trying to move a heavy patient on her own.The lesson: "You practice good body mechanics, and you learn to rely on other nurses to help you with a 'boost.' "Despite the perils of working among deadly germs, disabling chemicals and dangerous equipment, the No. 1 cause of disability for hospital and health care workers remains the injured back.

A federal health agency says it is "greatly expanding" an investigation of the potential hazards of diacetyl and other flavoring chemicals that have been linked to nearly 200 cases of lung disease among factory workers who make or use the chemicals. In related moves, some members of Congress are accusing agencies responsible for worker health of not doing their jobs. And public health professionals nationwide are being told how to identify and report the disease. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has assigned additional teams of physicians, toxicologists and industrial hygienists to work with the industry and with state and local health departments that have identified workers who might have contracted the disease, bronchiolitis obliterans, which can destroy lungs.

Federal and state health officials are investigating working conditions at a massive Baltimore County maintenance facility in Glen Arm where at least a dozen workers have developed rashes and other ailments since last fall.Inspectors collected air and dust samples this month from the Glen Arm Maintenance Facility after union officials sought a review by both the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH)."My concern is what's going on up there and what health hazards my people face up there," said James F. Clark, president of the Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees.

WASHINGTON -- Two large unions and dozens of leaders in public and occupational health are petitioning the federal government to use its emergency powers to control worker exposure to a chemical in butter flavoring that has sickened hundreds across the country. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and the Teamsters union said they will formally ask the Department of Labor today to immediately issue an emergency temporary standard that would set a maximum for exposure to diacetyl and, among other steps, require employers to provide workers with air-purifying respirators.