“Fred Loya Insurance Agency needlessly exposed employees in its Fort Collins’ office to co-workers with COVID-19 symptoms,” OSHA area director Amanda Kupper said in a release. “This company showed an indifference toward the safety and well-being of its employees, including one who fell victim to the coronavirus.” Credit: Nattakorn/Adobe Stock.
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will potentially levy fines against an insurance agency for exposing workers to COVID-19, while a health care facility in Bloomington, Indiana, was cited for failing to protect workers from the virus.
Auto policy writer Fred Loya Insurance Agency Inc. was found to have ignored coronavirus safety requirements and allowed employees displaying symptoms to work at a Denver location where an employee had died from COVID, according to OSHA, which started an investigation following a whistleblower complaint. The investigation found the agency failed to safely distance employees, didn’t implement health and safety plans and allowed symptomatic workers to remain on site. The company faces $23,406 in proposed penalties.
