Articles Tagged with ''chemicals''

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) this week sent its official comments to OSHA on the agency's Request for Information (RFI) to the Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard, which was published in the Federal Register on December 9, 2013, Volume 78, No. 236, beginning on Page 73756. OSHA said RFI was in response to an Obama Administration request that the agency identify issues related to modernization of its PSM standard and related standards necessary to meet the goals of preventing major chemical accidents.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has requested $12.25 million for fiscal year 2015 – an increase over the $11.484 million it requested in 2014. Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso said thefunds will enable the agency to continue to investigate high consequence chemical accidents, perform chemical safety studies, and advocate for effective safety recommendations.

The 2012 rupture of a Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation natural gas pipeline in West Virginia was caused by external corrosion that could have been discovered by the pipeline operator, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report released earlier this week.

The CSB has released its second safety message in an occasional series focusing on the impacts  of chemical accidents  on people’s lives. The short video features Amy Gumbel, sister of Matt Gumbel - one of the workers fatally injured in the 2010 explosion and fire at the Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes, Washington.

Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) released a draft bill entitled the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA) on Thursday, Feb. 27 that provides no significant improvements in protecting public health and the environment from toxic chemicals. Many of the provisions in the draft bill maintain the already deficient approaches to health protections now included under the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), our nation's outdated and ineffective chemical safety law.

The Chevron refinery fire in California in 2012 – the West Texas explosion last year – the West Virginia water crisis in January: All of these were preventable accidents. The United States is facing an industrial chemical safety crisis. After all of these accidents, we hear frustration and heartbreak.  Workers, emergency responders, and the public continue to die and suffer injuries.

OSHA rulemaking, temp workers around the world and the high fall fatality rate of communications tower workers were among the top EHS-related stories this week on ISHN.com.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is demanding access to the Tesoro refinery in Martinez, California, in order to investigate a Feb. 12 chemical spill that resulted in first- and second-degree burns to two workers.

OSHA has cited Artbeats Inc. for repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards at its Cheshire facility. The company, which manufactures reproductions of prints and paintings, faces $56,430 in proposed fines following an inspection by OSHA's Bridgeport Area Office begun Dec. 3, 2013, in response to a worker complaint.