“Next month, OSHA will formally launch a new policy that increases our proposed penalties,” agency boss Dr. David Michaels told the Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission Annual Judicial Conference in Charleston, SC this past Tuesday, September 14.
Speaking at the Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission Annual Judicial Conference in Charleston, SC this past Tuesday, September 14, OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels explained the agency’s use of the General Duty Clause:
Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, told the Voluntary Protection Program Participants’ Association (VPPPA) meeting in Orlando, FL:
OSHA has announced that it has concluded a special evaluation of state-run occupational safety and health programs under its jurisdiction. Enhanced Federal Annual Monitoring and Evaluation reports provide detailed findings and recommendations on the operations of state-run OSHA programs in 25 states and territories. The enhanced review was initiated after a 2009 special OSHA report on Nevada’s program, prompted by numerous construction-related fatalities in Las Vegas, identified serious operational deficiencies in that state.
In a Federal Register notice, OSHA announced it is accepting comments on a proposed Baseline Safety and Health Practices Survey, which will be sent to 14,202 private sector establishments in nonagricultural industry, as a one-time survey. The goal of the survey is to help OSHA develop industry-specific, statistically accurate estimates of the safety and health practices currently used among establishments. The estimates will be used to support a rulemaking effort directed toward requiring injury and illness prevention programs.
Here are highlights of remarks by OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels speaking last week at the Sixth EU-US Joint Conference on Health and Safety at Work in Boston:
The Justice Department has decided not to revoke probation that the government had imposed on BP as part of an agreement to address safety violations at the company's Texas City refinery, site of a deadly 2005 explosion. The decision comes despite a government warning earlier this year that it might revoke the company's probation if BP failed to address OSHA’s continuing concerns about safety at the refinery.
EPA and the U.S. Justice Department announced that Murphy Oil USA has agreed to pay a $1.25 million civil penalty to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act at its petroleum refineries in Meraux, La. and Superior, Wis. As part of the settlement, the company will spend more than $142 million to install new and upgraded pollution reduction equipment at the refineries and also spend an additional $1.5 million on a supplemental environmental project.
The Obama administration has put forward what it calls an “aggressive” restoration plan, including a call for dedicated funds, to help strengthen the gulf region’s environment, economy, and health following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to the White House.
BP announced today it will create a new safety division with “sweeping powers to oversee and audit the company’s operations around the world,” according to a press statement.
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