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Reactions to OSHA’s proposed rule to protect workers from exposure to crystalline silica have come swiftly from the EHS community, along with the industry and business sectors.

OSHA took industry and EHS professionals by surprise late Friday by announcing what some call a long-overdue proposed rule to  lower worker exposure to crystalline silica – a substance that causes cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease in those who are exposed to it.

OSHA has cited N.E.J. Abatement Group Inc. for six serious violations involving lead hazards at a Pittsburgh work site. An April inspection was prompted by a referral from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and conducted by OSHA under its National Emphasis Program on Lead.

Industrial lighting, welding helmets that appeal to gamers and a cut-resistant mechanic’s glove are among this week’s top EHS-related products as featured on ISHN.com:

OSHA backs down from proposed changes to its On-Site Consultation Program, good news about U.S. mining fatality rates and reasons why some construction workers don’t report injuries are among the top EHS-related stories featured this week on ISHN.com:

The American Trucking Association (ATA) lost its bid to have U.S. Transportation Department hours-of-service (HOS) regulations overturned by the Court of Appeals in Washington earlier this month. A three-judge panel most of the arguments made by the ATA as “highly technical points best left to the agency.”

OSHA has cited Best Logging, a company based in Ripley, for 14 alleged serious and four other-than-serious violations – including tree felling hazards – found at a Rock Castle, W.Va., work site. OSHA's February inspection was initiated following the fatality of a worker, who was struck by a tree during logging operations.

A preliminary total of 4,383 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2012, down from a revised count of 4,693 fatal work injuries in 2011, according to results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2012 total represents the second lowest preliminary total since CFOI was first conducted in 1992.

A warehouse operator’s decision to seal exit doors and block emergency exit routes in order to gain additional storage space for hazardous materials “placed the workers in great jeopardy," said OSHA’s Galen Lemke, who pointed out that the blocked exits could have devastating results in the event of an ammonia leak from piping located throughout the facility.

A lawsuit filed by the Indiana Department of Labor alleges that Indiana Bell Telephone Co., an AT&T subsidiary, “has a practice and policy” of suspending employees after they report work-related injuries.