One of the topics OSHA says it will have an open ear to at the February 11 public “listening” session held to help OSHA leadership assemble its priorities is the on-going saga of how to update chemical exposure limits
Year one of the new OSHA regime – 2009 – was a time for laying down markers: The sheriff is back on the job, said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. More inspectors will be hired. VPP may not be all that glitters – stronger oversight is needed. Recordkeeping under-reporting is a concern and must be investigated. Special inspection SWAT teams swoop down on Texas contractors. Ergonomics is a political football OSHA is ready to tackle, said acting OSHA chief Jordan Barab.
OSHA announced in a recent press release that the agency is proposing $217,500 in penalties against Hearthmark LLC, doing business as Jarden Home Brands, for safety violations at its Birmingham location.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced federal guidance to expressly prohibit texting by drivers of commercial vehicles such as large trucks and buses, according to a Department of Transportation press release. The prohibition is effective immediately and is the latest in a series of actions taken by the Department to combat distracted driving since the Secretary convened a national summit on the issue last September.
In a letter to U.S. Senator Johnny H. Isakson (R-GA), a leader in occupational safety and health issues, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) urged support for provisions in OSHA reform legislation that would provide federal-level safety and health protections for the more than eight million state and municipal workers now without coverage, noting that the only practical solution is a federal solution, according to an ASSE press release.
Westar Energy has agreed to spend approximately $500 million to significantly reduce harmful air pollution from a Kansas power plant and pay a $3 million civil penalty, under a settlement to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act, EPA and the U.S. Justice Department announced yesterday. As part of the settlement, Westar will also spend $6 million on environmental mitigation projects.
The U.S. Department of Labor yesterday made six high-value datasets publicly available — twice the number designated as the first target in the Obama Administration’s Open Government Initiative. The datasets released today include information from the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which will make it possible for anyone in the public to better track health and safety conditions in the American workplace. Earlier this month — two weeks ahead of schedule — the Labor Department launched its own transparency Web page www.dol.gove/open. The page tracks the department’s efforts to comply with the administration’s Open Government Directive.
EPA yesterday announced a new national air quality standard for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). This new one-hour standard will protect millions of Americans from peak short-term exposures, which primarily occur near major roads, according to EPA. Short-term exposures to NO2 have been linked to impaired lung function and increased respiratory infections, especially in people with asthma.
EPA’s top 10 Green Power Partners increased their voluntary green power commitments by more than 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2009, while 300 new organizations joined the Green Power Partnership, according to the agency. Overall, the 1,200 partners are buying nearly 18 billion kWh of green power annually, equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide emissions from electricity use of more than 1.6 million average American homes.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today voted to initiate an investigation of recent accidents at the DuPont chemical complex in Belle, West Virginia, following a release of highly toxic phosgene on Saturday that fatally injured a veteran operator, according to a CSB press release.
RSS