OSHA is now posting descriptions of on-the-job fatalities on a weekly basis. Employers must report these incidents to OSHA within eight hours. Here are summaries from November 4 to December 11, the most recent incidents posted on OSHA’s web site.
In an effort to address transportation-related incidents, which are still the number one cause of on-the-job deaths, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) recently announced the approval of a new voluntary consensus standard, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/ASSE A10.47-2009 “Work Zone Safety for Highway Construction”, according to an ASSE press release.
OSHA is proposing 41 safety and health violations against Birdsong Corp.’s facilities in Sylvester and Blakely, Ga., according to an agency press release.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a recent advisory, urges people affected by the ongoing cold weather to take steps to protect themselves, and to check to be sure their families, friends, and neighbors stay safe and warm this winter.
Is cold weather good or bad for your health? It depends. Cold weather can be hard on your health in some ways, but it may also be good for it, reports the January 2010 issue of the Harvard Health Letter.
EPA has announced it is seeking public comment on draft interim preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) for cleanup of dioxins in soil. The announcement fulfills a commitment by EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson to announce interim cleanup goals by the end of 2009. Dioxins are contaminants that are very widespread in the environment that have been of concern to EPA and the public health community for decades. This action would strengthen EPA’s preliminary remediation goals at dioxin contaminated sites.
EPA will hold five listening sessions to provide information to the public about a potential rule to strengthen stormwater regulations and to establish a comprehensive program to reduce stormwater from new development and redevelopment. These potential regulations would help to reduce stormwater discharges that can harm water quality into nearby waterway, according to an agency press statement.
OSHA has issued CES Environmental Services Inc. willful and serious citations after an investigation into a fatal explosion at the company's Griggs Road facility in Houston. Proposed penalties total $1,477,500, according to an OSHA news statement.
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) President C. Christopher Patton, CSP, noted in a letter sent recently to Assistant Secretary of OSHA David Michaels that ASSE supports the goal of the Hazard Communication proposed rule, a rule that seeks to ensure that the hazards of all chemicals produced or imported are evaluated and communicated to employers and employees, according to an ASSE press release. ASSE notes that modifying OSHA’s existing Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) is a step forward in harmonizing chemical hazard communications worldwide and will help U.S. employers compete in the international marketplace as well as increasing work safety.
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