OSHA’s new National Emphasis Program (NEP) to ensure and promote the accuracy of workplace injury and illness recordkeeping is bound to attraction attention in the coming months as the agency begins to publicize violators.
OSHA recently revised the steel erection compliance directive for the agency's Steel Erection Standard to change two enforcement policies related to tripping hazards and installation of nets or floors during steel erection.
OSHA has cited S.D. Warren Co. for 19 alleged violations of workplace safety standards at the company's Somerset Mill in Skowhegan, Maine. The paper manufacturer faces proposed fines totaling $136,000.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last week announced a series of actions the Obama administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) are taking to help put an end to distracted driving.
EPA is taking a significant step to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act. A proposal will require large industrial facilities that emit at least 25,000 tons of GHGs a year to obtain construction and operating permits covering these emissions. These permits must demonstrate the use of best available control technologies and energy efficiency measures to minimize GHG emissions when facilities are constructed or significantly modified.
OSHA has begun working on a compliance directive to address process safety hazards posed by reactive chemicals, according to Aaron Trippler, director of government affairs for the American Industrial Hygiene Association.
EPA is establishing a new transparent process that will allow the public to review and comment on risk assessments and proposed registration decisions for pesticides. This expanded process will apply to all new pesticide active ingredients and first food uses, first outdoor uses, and first residential uses.
“Still no word as to when David Michaels might have his confirmation hearing in the Senate,” writes Aaron Trippler, director of government affairs for the American Industrial Hygiene Association, in his latest dispatch, “Happenings From the Hill.”
As transportation crashes continue to be the number one cause of on-the-job deaths in the U.S., causing 2,053 workplace fatalities in 2007, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) notes in its revised “Distracted Driving in Motor Vehicles” position statement that “the issue is worthy of public debate since the inappropriate use of an electronic device while operating a vehicle can have catastrophic consequences for individuals, families and employers” and lays out a series of recommendations to address the issue.