Hunter
04/20/21
Iowa’s OSHA has cited the Iowa General Assembly for a handful of workplace safety violations, and identified issues with the legislature’s COVID-19-related precautions that are listed as a violation of state law.
KCRG TV reports that the workplace group issued the report last week after conducting inspections at the Statehouse between January and April.
One serious citation was found during their January 28th inspection. They discovered a faceplate on an outlet box that had been removed, which was a shock or burn hazard to employees. Four other citations were categorized as other-than-serious, but the violations found consist of fines totaling over $10,400.
OSHA has agreed to cut the fine in half if the Statehouse complies with remedies to the violations. The station reports that the original complaint was filed with OSHA by an employee on behalf of the AFSCME and Iowa AFL-CIO labor unions.
The COVID-19 related issues have been pointed out before. They include a lack of consistent social distancing between individuals, inconsistent temperature checks and health screenings for people entering the Capitol building, employees not required to report a positive COVID-19 test to statehouse leaders, and no indications if the cases reported were work-related.
General Assembly officials will correct the violations and provide documentation to OSHA confirming their remedies. Inspectors may return to analyze the coronavirus issues again with the next six months.
