Even with a tight economy parents and students still need the back-to-school shopping trip for clothes, backpacks, computers and school supplies. A survey conducted by the National Retail Federation found that this year consumers expect to spend an average of $606 for back-to-school needs, according to a recent press release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
OSHA hosted a Web Forum, August 16, 2010, to seek stakeholder input in identifying hazardous chemicals for which OSHA should develop exposure reduction strategies, according to an agency press release.
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, last week issued the following statement on the manager’s package for The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Harkin has been working on a bipartisan basis with HELP Committee Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY), authors of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) and lead cosponsors Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Burr (R-NC) on the proposal.
Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH is an assistant research professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, and one of the occupational health and safety field’s most prolific bloggers, posting almost daily at The Pump Handle. She worked for David Michaels at George Washington University before he was confirmed as head of OSHA in December 2009, and recently posted this commentary regarding her former boss:
The American Society of Safety Engineers announces a new group for the Safety Standards afficianados out there. This group will address the technical and professional issues surrounding voluntary national consensus standards for A10, A1264, Z15, Z117, Z244, Z359, Z390, Z490, and the Z590 Canvass Standards. This group addresses floor/walkway openings, construction and demolition operations, motor vehicle operations, confined space entry, lockout-tagout, fall protection/arrest, training and overall safety, health and environmental issues.
In a letter written August 6, 2010 to BP’s new CEO, Robert Dudley, the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s President Michael Brandt offered congratulations and a standing offer of assistance. Here is the full text of the letter:
OSHA announced in a press release yesterday that BP Products North America Inc. will pay a full penalty of $50.6 million stemming from the 2005 explosion at its Texas City, Texas, refinery that killed 15 workers and injured 170 others. The agreement resolves failure-to-abate citations issued after a 2009 follow-up investigation. In addition to paying the record fine, BP has agreed to take immediate steps to protect those now working at the refinery, allocating a minimum of $500 million to that effort.
As part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s commitment to strengthen and reform chemical management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing several actions to improve reporting on chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), according to an EPA press release.
OSHA has cited M&G Equipment Group Ltd., doing business as M Construction in Alamo, Texas, with two alleged willful and six alleged serious violations following the death of an employee who was working in a trench installing a storm drainage system, according to an agency press release.
The new ISO 21931-1:2010 standard is aimed at improving the environmental performance of buildings by providing an internationally agreed framework for methods used in assessing their environmental stewardship, according to an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) press release.
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