Has the Occupational Safety and Health Administration effectively evaluated the impact of penalty reduction incentives on workplace safety and health?

A new report from the inspector general of the Labor Department, of which OSHA is a part, says that many of the cuts in penalties are made without cause.

The reductions in fines are handed out as an incentive to correct safety problems, but the report says that in practice the decreased penalties often did not lead companies to fix hazards.

During the 2-year audit period, 98 percent of citations for safety and health violations received reductions. Penalties of $523.5 million were reduced by $351.2 million, or 67 percent.

The inspector general examined penalties from inspections conducted from July, 2007, to June, 2009. According to the  Center for Public Integrity , the report found that the initial penalty was reduced in 98 percent of the more than 140,000 cases.

The U.S. Department of Transportation unveiled new safety tests for cars, making it harder for cars to earn five-star ratings.

Besides adding tougher tests to the mix, the annual evaluation of new vehicles adds a new measure: the impact of collisions on drivers and passengers - using female crash test dummies for the first time.

"Through new tests, better crash data and higher standards, we are making the safety ratings tougher and more meaningful for consumers," Secretary of Transportation Ray H. LaHood said in a statement.

Under the old rating system, 99 vehicle models achieved the highest safety rating, five stars, in two of three categories, and 11 got five stars in all three categories.

In the first batch of ratings, 55 vehicles were tested. According to the DOT website, safercar.gov, the only two models to receive an overall score of five stars were the BMW 5 Series 4 DR RWD and the Hyundai Sonata.

Graco issued a safety advisory regarding some of its strollers this week after receiving reports that a hinge mechanism injured children.

Graco said it received reports that five children had their fingertips severed and two had fingertip cuts.

The strollers are made by Graco and distributed by Elfe Juvenille products. The products are sold under the following brand names: Graco brand Passage, Alano and Spree. About 30,000 affected strollers were sold in Canada between Oct. 2004 and Jan. 2010.

According to a USA Today report, safety investigators reviewing a deadly commuter train crash in California last year want railway companies to install audio and video recorders in locomotive cabs.

The recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Boards follows a lengthy investigation into the head-on collision between a commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth, Calif. Twenty-five people died and more than 100 were injured in the accident on Sept. 12, 2008.

The final report on the Metrolink train crash concluded that veteran engineer Robert Sanchez was distracted by texting and failed to see a red signal after his northbound locomotive pulled away from Chatsworth Station on the afternoon of Sept. 12, 2008. His train smashed into a southbound Union Pacific freight train minutes later. Sanchez died in the crash.