Updated rule provides extensive public health protections, slashes costs of compliance
January 15, 2013
Today, in compliance with settlement agreements, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized revisions to standards to reduce air pollution from stationary engines that generate electricity and power equipment at industrial, agricultural, oil and gas production, power generation and other facilities.
Want more transparency from your government agencies? How about learning of their work via a webcast? The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazardous Investigation Board (CSB) will make its public meeting in Washington, D.C. on Thursday available to all, through a webcast.
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) met with Abu Dhabi Environment, Health and Safety Center officials in the United Arab Emirates recently to assist them in developing the country’s first Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Strategy aimed at reducing work-related injuries and fatalities and building a preventative safety culture.
The number of federally-approved OSHA Voluntary Protection Program sites has declined in the past two years, after peaking at 1,720 in 2010. As of December 31, 2012, 1,633 sites were enrolled in the VPP. At the end 0f 2011, the number stood at 1,688 sites, according to data posted on OSHA’s web site.
The Massachusetts FACE Project—in conjunction with the national Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction, and with input from local industry and labor safety experts, contractors, and researchers—has updated and published a series of four residential construction fall prevention brochures for contractors.
Two papers published in the January issue of Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (JOEH) address noise hazards in a work environment not usually studied for noise hazards: sports venues. Noise controls are often enforced only when workers have been exposed to noise levels beyond recognized standards, and only in workplaces and industries known for frequent noise exposure, such as manufacturing and construction.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL),has added sweating thermal manikins to its research efforts aimed at measuring heat transfer through various fabric ensembles of specific types of garments worn in occupations such as firefighting, healthcare, and mining.
A new compilation, ASTM Standards for Accident and Disaster Control, is now available on CD-ROM from ASTM International. The compilation includes 185 of the latest ASTM standards for accident and emergency management from ASTM Committees E54 on Homeland Security; F12 on Security Systems; F32 on Search and Rescue; and F30 on Emergency Medical Services.
From Hilda Solis' resignation as Secretary of Labor to a new study on workplace wellness programs and the savings they can produce in health costs to the way Americans are continuing to endanger our health, here are the week's top EHS-related stories as featured on ISHN.com: