In the wake of a rise in fatal trenching cave-ins, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has begun a targeted education and enforcement program to try to reverse the trend.
Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in late September vetoed a bill that would have directed California municipalities to create a database of structures that would be at risk of collapse as a result of seismic events.
The dust has settled from a methane explosion last month that brought down the roof of a sludge concentration building at the Calumet water reclamation plant on Chicago’s far south side, but there is still uncertainty as to what triggered the blast.