On December 12, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule revising its construction industry personal protective equipment (PPE) standard to require that PPE fit workers properly (89 Fed. Reg. 100321).

The revision aligns construction industry requirements with those for general industry and shipyards. The final rule revises paragraph (c) of the agency’s criteria for PPE (29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §1926.95), requiring that employers provide PPE that’s “of safe design and construction for the work to be performed” and that “properly fits each affected employee.”

According to OSHA, PPE fit is a long-standing concern among women in construction and “physically smaller or larger workers.”

“I’ve talked to workers in construction, particularly women, who have spoken of personal protective equipment that didn’t fit or was simply unavailable at the jobsite in their size,” Doug Parker, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, said in an agency statement. “PPE must fit properly to work. I’m proud of the broad support from both employers and unions for OSHA’s efforts to make clear that employers must provide the right PPE for each worker who needs it.”

According to the agency, improperly sized PPE can be ineffective in protecting workers; create new hazards for workers, such as oversize gloves or protective clothing becoming caught in machinery; and discourage PPE use due to discomfort or poor fit.

The final rule becomes effective January 13, 2025.

Airline must pay wrongly fired cargo pilot $2 million

The Department of Labor ordered Asia Pacific Airlines to pay more than $2 million in wages, damages, and attorneys’ fees to an employee who was reprimanded, suspended, and then fired for raising aircraft safety concerns and refusing to fly a cargo plane the employee believed had an unreliable engine, OSHA announced December 11.

OSHA investigators found that the Guam airline, operated by Aero Micronesia Inc., dismissed the pilot’s concerns and retaliated against the pilot for exercising federally protected rights to raise safety concerns.

Agency investigators learned that the pilot repeatedly voiced concerns that the airline’s maintenance team approved aircraft maintenance and repair reports without correctly diagnosing engine problems. According to OSHA, a parallel investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration determined that the pilot accurately assessed that the airline’s maintenance team used the wrong procedure to troubleshoot and diagnose engine malfunctions, making it impossible to identify the cause of the problem and fix it before clearing the aircraft to fly.

While the airline’s then chief pilot and director of operations maintained throughout OSHA’s investigation that disciplining and terminating the employee was legitimate, the agency concluded that the pilot’s reporting safety concerns contributed to Asia Pacific’s disciplinary actions.

OSHA’s whistleblower protection authority was established in the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970 to protect workers who lodge safety or health complaints or who cooperate with agency investigations of workplace safety and health violations. OSHA is now responsible for investigating whistleblower complaints under more than 20 federal statutes.

Georgia contractor cited in arborist’s electrocution

OSHA has cited Serious Tree Services LLC, a Marietta, Georgia, tree-trimming contractor, in the fatal electrocution of a 38-year-old worker whose equipment came into contact with an unprotected power line less than 10 feet away from an Acworth, Georgia, worksite, the agency announced December 11.

The agency proposed penalties totaling $29,035.

On May 20, an arborist employed by Serious Tree Services was fatally electrocuted when the employee’s stabilizing line made contact with a residential power line while the employee was trimming the lower branches of a 60-foot-tall tree.

Agency investigators determined that the company exposed employees to electrical hazards by allowing the arborist to climb, trim, and cut trees within 10 feet of an energized and ungrounded power line while using a conductive stabilizing line that had a steel core. The employer also allowed employees to do this work without using arc-rated PPE, according to OSHA.

“Serious Tree Services failed to meet their obligation to protect workers by adhering to industry safety standards, resulting in a preventable tragedy,” Jeffery Stawowy, OSHA’s Atlanta-west area office director, said in a statement.