Blog Has Moved

Please go to my new website at http://www.greennews4u.com/ I am still working on it and trying different templates. Let me know what you think!

Announcement: In April 2011, GreenNews4U will be starting a weekly Environmental Podcast touching on topics that the listener should find interesting and informative. The podcast will be avaliable on I-tunes, Smart Phones, GreenNews4U Blog, and for download on other venues to be announced.

Some items that will be covered in the first podcast will be Bedbugs, Hotels, Illegal Workers, Safety Fines, Environmental Toxins, and other topics. You will have to listing to hear what I have in store for the first podcast.

Because this is a new venture I am looking for constructive feedback from the listeners on topics that will be covered.

Please help spread the word on this new and Exciting project.

Intermediat School Evacuated in Blue Island, IL

BLUE ISLAND, IL — according to the Chicago Tribune nearly two dozen student and 10 adults from an intermediate school were taken by ambulance to seven near by hospitals because of hazardous materials exposure.

According to Mayor Don Peloquin, a janitor mixed bleach with drain cleaner and was overcome by fumes.

The nursing supervisor at the Metro South Medical Center said the students brought to the hospital were observed for any adverse effects from the fumes, were treated and released, the article stated.

My Notes:

Who in the world trained this person, and why do they have Bleach in a school? Have you ever picked up an MSDS sheet on Bleach? It can cause Death, and mixed with a drain cleaner, your just asking for trouble. That's why MSDS, Blood Born Pathogens, and Right to Know training are very inportant. I belive in the dilution system where chemicals are premixed for you. Lesson to learn... NEVER MIX CHEMICALS!

Click here to read the complete article.

240 Janitors Fired after Imigration steps in

Minneapolis, MN - Federal immigration authorities investigated Harvard Maintenance who allegedly hired workers who did not have the proper documentation, according to Minnesota Public Radio.

As a result Harvard Maintenance will be dismissing 240 employees, that's more than half its Twin Cities workforce.

On another note, two years ago, more than 1,200 janitors at ABM lost their jobs after a similar immigration audit.

ABM signed a non-disclosure agreement with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but Department of Homeland Security documents obtained by MPR News show ABM was fined $108,000 — or about $85 for each janitor who was dismissed.

Employers caught with undocumented immigrants on the payroll can face civil fines and possible criminal charges.

Click here to read the complete article.

Georgetown University - Woman Killed by Lift

Just after 8:00 a.m. Wednesday Morning a female construction worker was killed on the campus of Georgetown University while operating a lift at the site of the new science center near the Leavey Center. Reports say she got stuck between an overhead scaffolding and railing. When emergency services arrived coworkers were prefoming CPR, the woman was not breathing. She was transported to George Washington University Hospital.

DC Police Department and OSHA are investigation. Whiting Turner is overseeing the entire construction project.

UPS Fined $1.3M by New York State

It seems that UPS has great procedures for inspecting vehicles but they fail to use them. The Investigation found that UPS was inspecting and passing their own vehicles even though they were in very poor condition. Becuase UPS has such a large fleet of vehicles they are licensed to condut their own inspections. They now must pay $1.3 million to New York State. As part of the agreement UPS now has an independent inspector who is approved by the attorney general's office to conduct vehicle inspection for five years.

One of their own mechanics blew the whistle on the company after he removed four truck from service in 2006 because they had cracked frames. UPS allowed the truck back on the road with out being repaired. It seems, throught the investigation, that this has been going on since 2004.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman stated "UPS knowingly endangered not only the lives of their own employees but the lives of the driving public by keeping these rotting and decaying trucks on the roadways, UPS was an accident waiting to happen."

OSHA Whistleblower Protection

What rights do you have when your employer takes action against you because you reported them to OSHA for safety violations in the workplace? Know your rights as an employee, everyone deserves to work in a safe environment and should not be forced to preform duties that endangers your livelihood.

For more information on how to report unsafe situations go here.
For more information about Title 29 of Code of Federal Regulations.