Mosaic Fertilizer LLC, a Lithia, Florida, phosphatic fertilizer manufacturer, faces a $30,649 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fine following a 29-year-old process operator’s death, the agency announced January 16.

The employer didn’t ensure the rotating portion of the east and west industrial ribbon blenders in its Mulberry, Florida, facility—a device that mixes the finished fertilizer with a coating oil—had the proper guarding in place or was secured, according to OSHA. A worker who was collecting a sample for analysis suffered fatal injuries after falling into the unguarded ribbon blender.

The agency cited Mosaic Fertilizer with two serious violations of the machine guarding standard. OSHA’s machine guarding standard (29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §1910.212) is its tenth most frequently cited standard, OSHA announced in September. It cited 1,541 machine guarding violations in fiscal year (FY) 2024.

“This unfortunate incident could have been prevented had Mosaic Fertilizer LLC ensured all machines were secured and guarded,” Danelle Jindra, OSHA’s Tampa, Florida, area office director, said in an agency statement. “In this case, the employer failed to protect workers as the law requires. No employee should lose their life because an employer neglects basic safety measures.”

OSHA joins motor vehicle safety initiative

On January 16, OSHA announced it joined the National Safety Council (NSC) and the Road to Zero Coalition to help prevent fatal motor vehicle incidents.

The joint initiative aims to reduce and prevent roadway deaths by fostering a culture of safety and preventive practices to protect workers on the nation's roads. The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found in 2023 that transportation-related incidents caused 36.8 percent of the 5,283 fatal work injuries in the United States.

OSHA said it intended for employers to integrate safe driving and transportation practices into their businesses' safety and health management systems.

“Unlike other workplaces, the roadway is not a closed environment,” Doug Parker, outgoing assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, said in an agency statement. “Preventing work-related roadway incidents requires a combination of traffic safety principles and sound safety management practices. By collaborating with the National Safety Council and the Road to Zero Coalition, we can promote safe driving policies to prevent needless tragedies.”

Seven ‘economically significant’ OSHA rulemakings remain

In the final days before a change in leadership, OSHA listed seven economically significant rulemakings in the DOL’s fall 2024 regulatory agenda.

On January 17, the DOL released the unpublished text of the document slated for February 12 publication in the Federal Register.

The agency’s process safety management and prevention of major chemical accidents rulemaking remains in the pre-rule stage. The six rulemakings in the proposed-rule stage include:

• Infectious diseases. OSHA recently terminated its healthcare COVID-19 rulemaking to shift its focus to developing a standard for infectious disease exposures in health care.
• Communication tower safety.
• Emergency response. In September, OSHA responded to concerns about the rulemaking’s impact on volunteer emergency responders in states with their own safety and health programs.
• Tree care.
• Workplace violence in health care and social assistance.
• Heat injury and illness prevention in outdoor and indoor work settings.