State News

Denver — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) has signed legislation that includes funding aimed at establishing recovery friendly workplaces and supporting people in recovery from substance use disorders.

Springfield, IL — Legislation intended to protect workers from retaliatory conduct by employers, as well as strengthen current protections under Illinois state law, is awaiting approval from Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D).

Hartford, CT — Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) has signed into law legislation that expands the state’s 13-year-old paid sick leave law.

Washington — Fifty million workers will have to endure “excruciating heat” in the coming months, according to a Public Citizen report that examines state efforts to protect against the hazard.

Boston — Workers in Massachusetts who reported a job-related injury in the past 10 years were 35% more likely to have died of an opioid-related overdose, the state’s Department of Public Health says.

New York — Although deaths at New York City building construction sites fell to their lowest level in nearly a decade in 2023, work-related injuries rose 25%, reports the city’s Department of Buildings.

Portland, OR — Responding to the 19 fatal falls involving construction workers in the state since 2018, the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences has issued a hazard alert.

Sacramento, CA — The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health recently launched a campaign to increase awareness of the dangers of silica dust in the engineered stone industry.

Washington — OSHA has unveiled a new mission statement that “more fully reflects the agency’s purpose and the work we do to serve that purpose.”

Trenton, NJ — New Jersey’s Senate Labor Committee has advanced a bill that would require the state to establish a heat stress standard by June 1, 2025.