OSHA announced in a press release 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.
Protect the public’s health by letting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) move ahead with urgently needed new rules to curb global warming pollution. That’s the message of a new joint letter from 120 of America’s top public health organizations and experts, including the American Public Health Association (APHA), the American Nurses Association (ANA), the American Academy of Pediatrics (APA), the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Lung Association (ALA), according to APHA press release.
Nearly two-thirds of home fire deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms or with smoke alarms that do not function properly. With that in mind, Domino’s Pizza®, a world leader in pizza delivery, has announced its fall fire safety campaign to encourage customers to focus on home smoke alarms for safety. Fire Prevention Week is October 3 through October 9, and participating markets will deliver the message of “Smoke Alarms: A sound you can live with!” on pizza boxes during that week, says an NFPA press release.
The Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced in a recent press release new screening criteria for the “pattern of violations” (POV) enforcement program, which gives the agency additional enforcement tools to use at mines with a history of violating safety standards. This is a critical first step in reforming the current pattern of violations enforcement program. The agency announced plans to draft new regulations governing the program in the spring, and the new criteria follow calls by Congress and the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General to fix serious flaws in the current system. MSHA will implement new screening criteria and a new review process for determining whether a mine has exhibited a potential pattern of violations for its 2010 review of mine safety records.
OSHA has cited Miskeen Originals LLC for workplace safety and health violations, including employee exposure to methylene chloride. Proposed penalties total $43,150. Miskeen Originals LLC is a clothing manufacturer with 12 employees at the Camden location.
OSHA is issuing seven serious and two repeat safety citations against Flexible Foam Products Inc. in Miami, Fla., for exposing workers to combustible foam dust and other workplace hazards. Proposed penalties total $72,000.
EPA is adding seven new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.
EPA today announced it intends to propose a rule to reduce mercury waste from dental offices. Dental amalgams, or fillings containing mercury, account for 3.7 tons of mercury discharged from dental offices each year. The mercury waste results when old mercury fillings are replaced with new ones. The mercury in dental fillings is flushed into chair-side drains and enters the wastewater systems, making its way into the environment through discharges to rivers and lakes, incineration or land application of sewage sludge. Mercury released through amalgam discharges can be easily managed and prevented.
Investigators from the California Labor Commissioner’s Office issued fines to restaurants during an enforcement sweep for violations of state labor laws addressing workers’ compensation and proper payment of wages, according to a recent press release. The statewide enforcement resulted in 88 citations being issued to 79 restaurants with total penalties of $448,950.
State and local health departments have made significant progress toward improving public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities, says a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
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