Articles Tagged with ''ASSP''

While the educational sessions will be the central focus of most of those who head to Orlando June 8 – 11 for Safety 2014, there are lots of social activities to help round out the convention experience. The American Society of Safety Engineers Foundation’s golf outing will get underway with a Shotgun Start at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 8 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club® Orlando.

Safety professionals who are heading to Orlando for the Safety 2014 conference and exposition June 8-11 can take advantage of a number of certification exam workshops being held in conjunction with the event. CSP, OHST, CHST, STS and Math Review workshops are scheduled from June 5 through June 14, with multiple date and time options available for most workshops, allowing Safety 2014 attendees to schedule them around sessions they want to attend.

OSHA’s effort to reduce the permissible exposure limits for silica began a new phase this week, with an intensive three week period of public hearings that wrap up on Friday, April 4. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels said his agency’s rulemaking is an open process, “and the input we receive will help us ensure that a final rule adequately protects workers, is feasible for employers, and is based on the best available evidence."

American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) President Kathy Seabrook has issued the following response to OHSA’s electronic reporting proposed rule:

With more than 200 speakers presenting sessions at Safety 2014, it can be a little daunting trying to decide which ones you want to add to your schedule. To help you decide, ASSE has invited all of its speakers to create short videos introducing their sessions.

North American Occupational Safety and Health Week, or NAOSH Week, occurs every year during the first full week of May. Occupational Safety and Health Professional Day (OSHP Day) falls on the Wednesday of that week. ASSE urges everyone to get involved in NAOSH Week in an effort to better educate the public about the positive benefits a safe workplace provides not only for workers, but for their families, friends, businesses, their local communities and the global community.

The public comment period on OSHA’s proposal to reduce worker exposure to silica dust ended this week, leaving the agency with more than 2,700 responses to process. The rule would decrease the permissible exposure limit for crystalline silica dust – a substance that causes cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease in those who are exposed to it.

Planning on attending Safety 2014? Make sure you mark your calendar for June 11 – the day the Executive Summit takes place in Ballroom H of the Orlando Convention Center.

ASSE commends OSHA for addressing this issue through rulemaking in an effort to further reduce the incidences of occupational illnesses such as silicosis and cancer in general industry, maritime and construction work. While some may debate the science underlying the findings set forth in the proposed rule, overexposure to crystalline silica has been linked to occupational illness since the time of the ancient Greeks, and reduction of the current permissible exposure limit (PEL) to that recommended for years by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is long overdue.

The EHS year in review, dangerous noise, ASSE extends its global reach and the explosion of a train carrying crude oil in North Dakota were among this week’s top stories on ISHN.com.