The Chicago Tribune reports that a local manufacturer is facing a total of at least $50,000 in OSHA fines for violations of employee safety standards.

OSHA, an arm of the Department of Labor, is entrusted with protecting employee safety and has recently come under fire for failing to protect workers against long term exposure to dangerous materials, chemicals, and manufacturing processes.

OSHA, however, is very well set up to inspect and fine companies for more routine, established risks such as fall safety, electrical hazards, and vision protection.

One local business, Phoenix Electric Mfg. Co., has discovered, the hard way, that OSHA is very good at inspecting heavy machinery to determine whether they might pose a risk to employees.  OSHA inspections are a big danger to businesses, but with the proper legal counsel, they can pose a greatly diminished threat.

The situation that Phoenix faces illustrates this point well.

The Chicago Tribune report on a fire-breathing actor who was injured during his routine provides a model lesson for employers on worker safety and potential administrative action for failing to adhere to OSHA regulations for employee safety.

Here, the employee was an actor who happened to very publicly injure himself when his face and throat caught on fire while attempting a fire breathing routine.

The media firestorm, however, quickly engulfed reality and blew the matter out of proportion.  It was so widely reported that an OSHA investigator reportedly showed up at the Civic Opera House to speak to officials and investigate their compliance with OSHA regulations.

As the calendar year turned, many new local, state, and federal laws came into effect.  One of the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which is also called "Obamacare", has raised the hackles of a pair of privately held corporations.  These  corporations are religiously objecting to complying with PPACA's birth control access requirements, because as we know, corporations are people except for the purposes of carpooling, but they must have religious beliefs, right? As it turns out, (surprise!) not many courts are buying the argument that closely held private corporations have religious beliefs.  Clearly these Court have not run into the cultish Apple devotees.

Weak jokes aside, Hobby Lobby's attempt to escape the regulatory clutches of PPACA is a novel attempt at imputing further First Amendment rights on corporations.  It is a bold strike at enlarging recent caselaw and enhancing their position as a corporation.

A Cook County jury awarded an iron worker, who fell at a jobsite and was left paralyzed and in need of 24 hour care for the rest of his life, $64 million in total damages.  The company responsible is planning an appeal but the case is a lesson to both workers and construction companies in compliance with workplace safety procedures and policies.  OSHA compliance is critical for the long term survival of both workers and companies.