OSHA NEWS March 2026

OSHA News for April 2026 Hello, It was a Busy month of dial-a-weather wheel. 79 degrees and blizzard all in 7 days I looked at 40 “drowning” deaths from 2023 to 2025. Here is exactly what is killing workers around water: 🚜 25% Mowing & Landscaping Rollovers: Zero-turn mowers and tractors getting too close to unguarded pond edges, rolling over, and pinning operators underwater. ⚓ 20% Falls from Marine Vessels & Docks: Workers on barges, docks, or bridges without U.S. Coast Guard-approved PFDs. A survivable slip instantly becomes fatal. 🚧 17.5% Heavy Equipment Entering Water: Skid steers, excavators, and UTVs driving off unguarded docks or rolling down embankments, trapping operators inside enclosed cabs. ⚙️ 12.5% Engulfment & Confined Space: Lift stations suddenly filling with water, flooded trenches, or burst valves. These are massive LOTO and isolation failures. I can make a case to retire the OSHA trench emphasis program since there was 19 deaths. There were 50 deaths in the highway contractor fields in the last 12 months. Mid March. Today a safety director said- "We are in litigation on a case involving an injured person. The plaintiff attorney asked for our safety program, training records, all audits, all daily job briefs, all photos, all emails, and tool box talks. He was aggressive in saying 4 tool box talks a year makes it hard to show we take safety serious" This month PPT is Welding and hot work safety. I have not sent it out since 2018. Hot works has changed much since then. Concrete pumpers can tip over high wind. Usually over 40 mph is the limit for many of these pumping machines. The manual will tell you though. safe wind speed. 122 people have passed BCSP Certification this year. Congrats! John OSHA News Update 1. OSHA worker Memorial Day Week https://www.osha.gov/workers-memorial-day 2. A Connecticut contractor faces three criminal charges, including first-degree manslaughter, following the death of a worker in a trench collapse. Amilcar Deandrade, 51, the owner of Diamond Plumbing & Heating LLC of Norwich, is also charged with criminally negligent homicide and first-degree reckless endangerment. The charges stem from a cave-in around 6 p.m. June 13 in Norwich. Michael DiRocco Sr., 60, of Norwich was partially buried in the trench, which was between 4 feet 10 inches to 5 feet 4 inches deep with vertical walls. https://www.equipmentworld.com/regulations/safety-compliance/article/15819736/contractor-charged-with-manslaughter-after-trench-collapse-death 3. OH Ford worker dies in a press. OSHA investigating. https://www.wlwt.com/article/worker-dies-pinned-under-press-ford-motor-company-sharonville/70761214 4. Silicosis cases up in countertop mfr. CA has 529 silicosis cases, 29 deaths. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qflEQ3GR0nk 5. OSHA investigationg. Eight workers taken to the hospital at the Byron clean energy plant formerly known as Byron nuclear. They just said undisclosed chemical leaked in the turbine building. 6. Labor Department attorneys should refrain from pursuing legal enforcement in unionized workplaces, Labor Solicitor Jonathan Berry said in an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg Law. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/top-dol-lawyer-urges-relaxed-enforcement-in-union-workplaces Other News 1) No one killed in Valero Explosion in TX https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/large-oil-refinery-explosion-texas-coast-forces-residents-shelter-plac-rcna264853 2) An initial summary from LyondellBasell officials published late Friday said the incident released over 15,000 pounds of the highly flammable asphyxiant n-butane, along with large volumes of isobutane and carbon monoxide. All personnel are safe and accounted for, and no off-site impact was expected, the company said. After a unit upset at 7:45 p.m. Thursday, the plant's emergency flare system activated. But the company said that when the facility's valves opened to relieve pressure from tanks and columns full of flammable gases, "a piping fire occurred" near the continuous flare system. Officials first hinted at what triggered the incident Friday morning: A "process upset" had resulted in the release of flammable product that was ignited by the pilot light of a flare operation, the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office said. 3) A proposal for a $20 billion data center campus outside Chicago has been recommended for approval by the local planning commission. The project, known as the Joliet Technology Center, would be developed by PowerHouse Data Centers on a 795-acre site near S. Rowell Road and Bernhard Road. Current plans include 24 two-story data center buildings, each offering around 144,500 sq ft, built across four phases. Each phase would also include the construction of a six-acre substation to support power requirements. 4) A Madison County jury has awarded $241,000,000 to the family of a man who died while transporting dry ice as part of his job as a courier. The verdict includes $49.5 million in compensatory and $191.5 million in punitive damages against the company. https://www.salvilaw.com/press-release/prairie-farms-dairy-verdict-dry-ice/ OSHA CITATIONS 6/20/2025 This is discontinued Safety Training at Non-Profits (Check Sites for Starting Dates) OSHA 7115 Lockout online Apr 8 Harwood Grant Machine guard lockout Apr 6 2026 Naperville Harwood Grant Machine guard lockout Apr 14 2026 Rockford Harwood Grant Confined Space Fire Apr 23 2026 Naperville OSHA 510 CSC Apr 6-9 OSHA 511 sold out Apr 1-4 For free Harwood grant training https://cpelearn.niu.edu/susan-harwood-training-grant-program/ NIU is Northern Illinois University OSHA Education Center http://www.nsec.niu.edu CSC is the Construction Safety Council in Hillside. Www.Buildsafe.org TRMA is Three Rivers Manufacturers Association www.trma.org I usually teach only 10-hour and the 500 series. I have taught 663 people this year. I teach evenings, weekends, and early mornings too. I teach in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, and Indiana. The PowerPoint is posted free at usmwf.org. https://www.usmwf.org/powerpoints-and-safety-information.html I use your feedback to make changes to make corrections. -- John Newquist 815-354-6853