OSHA has cited Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for inadequate crowd management following the Nov. 28, 2008, death of an employee at its Valley Stream, N.Y., store. The worker died of asphyxiation after he was knocked to the ground and trampled by a crowd of about 2,000 shoppers who surged into the store for its annual "Blitz Friday" pre-holiday sales event.
On May 21, the California OSHA Standards Board adopted, by a unanimous 6 to 0 vote, the first U.S. workplace standard designed to protect workers from aerosol (airborne and droplet) transmitted diseases.
Findings from five years of grassroots health care public engagement across the United States were shared today as CodeBlueNow!, a non-profit, non-partisan organization, released, “In Their Voices: Common Ground, Common Sense and Consensus on Reform.,” according to an organization press release. The report consists of the words of the American people as they have expressed their values, concerns, and wishes for a reformed health care system.
Fire Protection in Shipyard Employment, contamination issues related to Hexavalent Chromium and Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are three additions to the Shipyard Industry Standards, a revised guidance document recently published OSHA that provides employers and workers with an overview of all safety and health standards associated with the shipyard industry, according to an OSHA press release.
As we approach the beginning of another summer travel season,
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Mark V. Rosenker
reminded Americans in a press statement that a few simple safety precautions
can keep us safe while we spend time with family and friends.
Administrator Lisa P. Jackson yesterday committed to a federal leadership role in expediting the ongoing cleanup of the Michigan Dow Dioxin site and an acceleration of the Environmental Protection Agency’s overall scientific review of dioxins, according to an EPA press release.
The Obama administration is taking its time to find a permanent OSHA chief, but that’s not stopping the Department of Labor from moving quickly to try to fix programs with bureaucratic problems, or to send clear signals that some program priorities have changed from the previous administration.
In a speech May 5 to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO National Nurses Congress in Washington, DC, acting OSHA chief Jordan Barab outlined the “new OSHA” publicly for one of the few times in his short tenure.
The Obama administration has put the electric paddles to OSHA’s enforcement program after eight years of the Bush administration’s preference for cooperation and consultation. OSHA did go after the “worst actors” during the Bush years, but an across-the-board ramping up of OSHA enforcement is already underway.
RSS