Occupational

What would Paul Ryan’s budget mean for OSHA?

Most positive outlook: a “flat-line” budget

March 15, 2013

With $4.6 trillion in cuts proposed over the next decade, it’s difficult to predict what effect Rep. Paul Ryan’s ambitious GOP budget plan would have on specific programs and agencies, such as OSHA, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Supreme Court ruling affects OSHA’s statute of limitations

Citations must be for recent violations

March 6, 2013

A recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court means that employers “should not accept an OSHA citation alleging violations more than six months old,” according to two lawyers who specialize in occupational safety and health law.

Cleaning jobs linked to asthma risk

Occupational asthma underrecognized, says study author

March 4, 2013

A new study indicates there is a strong link between professional cleaning and the risk of developing asthma. Researchers at the Imperial College London have tracked the occurrence of asthma in a group of nearly 9,500 people born in Britain in 1958.

Weekly News Round-Up

Water safety, safety standdown in W.V. mines

March 2, 2013

From OSHA Chief Dr. David Michaels talking to his troops to mixed reactions to a proposed fee on greenhouse gas emitters, here are the top OEHS-related news stories of the week as featured on ISHN.com:

BCSP releases OHS salary survey results

Pay, bonuses, benefits compared

February 20, 2013

Want to compare your salary with those of your fellow safety professionals? The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) has released results of a salary survey conducted in conjunction with the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE).

A complicated challenge: Ensuring health and safety in supply chains

Workers can be safeguarded through cooperation

February 20, 2013

Increasingly, businesses are outsourcing their activities and processes. But what implications does the growing importance of supply chains have for working conditions? A new report from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) sheds light on occupational safety and health (OSH) within these complex networks of suppliers and service providers.

OSH pros demand end to silica standard delay

Two-year delay at White House angers occupational health experts

February 15, 2013

In the two years that a proposed rule to protect workers from exposure to dangerous levels of silica dust on the job has been held up by the White House, more than 100 workers have died and thousands have been sickened by preventable exposure to silica dust.

OSHA issues fact sheet on “Working Safely with Nanomaterials”

February 7, 2013

“Working Safely with Nanomaterials” is a new four-page PDF fact sheet published by OSHA. According to the fact sheet: “Workers who use nanotechnology in research or production processes may be exposed to nanomaterials through inhalation, skin contact, or ingestion.

ACGIH board ratifies 2013 TLVs and BEIs

February 4, 2013

ACGIH® announced that its Board of Directors ratified the 2013 Threshold Limit Values (TLVs®) for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biological Exposure Indices (BEIs®). The Board also approved recommendations for additions to the Notice of Intended Changes (NIC).

Weekly News Round-Up

February 2, 2013

Chevron gets fined a million but earns a billion; noise hazards found at both hockey arenas and foundries; Solis and LaHood step down and yet another explosion at a rural Texas oil site injures members of the public. Here are the week's top EHS-related stories as featured on ISHN.com: