President Obama yesterday – for the first time in history – set in motion a new national policy aimed at both increasing fuel economy and reducing greenhouse gas pollution for all new cars and trucks sold in the United States, according to a White House press release.
As part of this past weekend’s coordinated heat illness prevention inspections triggered by the area’s high temperatures, the Department of Industrial Relations’ Cal/OSHA took action against two farm labor contractors and shut them down for violations of the heat illness prevention regulations designed to safeguard employees, according to an agency press release. Jose Alfaro Labor Contractor and Estrada Farm Labor Services, both working in the Stockton/Farmington area, were shut down after investigators found that their provisions for shade and water were inadequate, and they had no heat illness prevention training and no emergency response procedures.
The stars of stage and screen — actors, musicians, Broadway performers, comedians, writers and crew — are voicing their support of the Employee Free Choice Act in a new online video called “Artists4WorkersChoice” (www.artists4workerschoice.org), according to an AFL-CIO press release. Many have Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony awards and nominations, and they have one thing in common — they’re all union members, and they all share the experience of working every day for a living, struggling to find jobs and pay the bills.
President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Thomas Frieden, currently Commissioner of the New York City Health Department, as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday, according to a White House press release.
The National Business Group on Health (NBGH) issued the following statement regarding proposals from some policymakers that would increase taxes on American workers’ health benefits to finance health reform. NBGH represents 300 large employers — including 60 of the Fortune 100 — providing health benefits to over 55 million Americans:
With a triple-digit heat wave rolling through the Golden State, Cal/OSHA issued a press release last week urging employers to observe the precautions specified in its heat illness prevention regulation. To ensure compliance Cal/OSHA will have teams of investigators inspecting outdoor employers for heat illness prevention requirements. For employees working outdoors, the hot sun with high temperatures can be life-threatening.
In 2003, the United Nations adopted the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). Countries are now adopting the GHS into their national regulatory systems. OSHA is considering modifying its hazard communication standard to make it consistent with the GHS. This would involve changing the criteria for classifying health and physical hazards, adopting standardized labeling requirements, and requiring a standardized order of information for safety data sheets.
OSHA detailed the need for a silica dust standard in its latest regulatory agenda issued last week. The next step in the rulemaking process is to initiate a peer review of health effects and risk assessment set for June, 2009.
OSHA is proposing $175,000 in penalties against W.G. Yates & Sons Construction and Spectrum Concrete Services following the November, 2008 collapse of a wood shoring system at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center's medical towers addition in Meridian, Miss., according to an agency press release.
National Transportation Safety Board Member Deborah A.P. Hersman testified yesterday before Congress about the safety of hazardous materials transportation, according to an NTSB press release. She focused her testimony on the transportation of lithium batteries, the use of wet lines on tanker trucks, and the loading and unloading of hazardous materials from tank trucks and railroad tank cars.
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