Two years after the death of Lorna McMurrey at a Massachusetts marijuana manufacturing facility owned by Florida-based Trulieve Cannabis Corp., state and federal regulators labeled ground cannabis dust as a “hazardous chemical” for employees, according to a new health and safety bulletin.
McMurrey’s sudden death was attributed to inhalation of the dust, which triggered a fatal asthma attack.
The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission said this week that it’s urging marijuana businesses to closely adhere to workplace safety guidance from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration in order to keep workers safe, and that OSHA has been on the proverbial warpath to enforce relevant rules.
“Going forward, the Commission is advising licensees engaged in marijuana processing to protect employees from hazards associated with cannabis dust exposure by using engineering controls like local exhaust ventilation, plus administrative controls like limiting employee exposure during the workday,” the CCC said in a press release. “ The Commission recommends that licensees provide personal protective equipment and appropriately manage medical situations when they arise.”
The bulletin notes that while Trulieve eventually settled the question of legal culpability this past summer with both the state and OSHA – with a $350,000 fine to the state and its initial $15,000 fine to OSHA – regulators have since cited other cannabis companies in Massachusetts and other states for also “failing to evaluate and classify ground Cannabis dust as a hazardous chemical.”
Federal law, the bulletin notes, “requires that employers evaluate the hazards of chemicals they produce and prepare Safety Data Sheets (SDS) to convey the hazard to downstream customers and exposed workers.”
“All licensees should be aware that ground cannabis dust is a hazardous chemical and that OSHA has issued citations to licensees who have failed to evaluate and classify accordingly,” the bulletin warns. “Licensees should evaluate the workplace safety and health risks including, but not limited to, skin and respiratory sensitization by an allergen associated with ground cannabis dust generated during the processing of marijuana in their workplace.”
The CCC also noted in the bulletin that apart from federal rules, state law requires that licensed marijuana companies “follow written workplace safety and health standard operating procedures and take necessary steps to ensure safety for employees,” and reiterated that it had put out a bulletin on that topic back in February.
“All licensees, like any business, are required to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and are subject to oversight from OSHA,” the CCC said.
McMurrey’s death in 2022 was eventually ruled to be the first ever instance in the U.S. of a cannabis industry worker dying from asthma as a result of exposure to ground cannabis dust, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in 2023.
But it wasn’t necessarily the last; another worker in Illinois also died under similar circumstances last year, at a manufacturing plant owned by Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries. That led to a call for action by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for more government oversight and worker protection in the cannabis business.
The family of McMurrey also filed a trio of wrongful death lawsuits against Trulieve a year ago, following the release of the CDC report that found several other workers at the same manufacturing facility were also suffering other symptoms from exposure to ground cannabis dust. Those suits are all still open, according to Massachusetts court records.
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