Government Safety Regulations

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In formally requesting input from stakeholders about its bid to update chemical permissible exposure limits, OSHA is “initiating a national dialogue” about ways to prevent work-related illness caused by exposure to hazardous substances.

OSHA today announced the publication of a Request for Information (RFI) to stakeholders and others requesting recommendations on how the agency might update its permissible exposure limits (PELs) for hundreds of chemicals, many of which have exposure limits dating back to 1970. 

Hazardous waste generators in California recently received an alert from the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) by mail. The DTSC’s letter addresses a growing problem with Hazardous Waste Manifests: DTSC finds mistakes on many of the roughly 500,000 Manifests it receives and compiles in the Hazardous Waste Tracking System (HWTS) each year.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced an extension of the comment period for proposed new alcohol and drug testing requirements for railroad maintenance workers. The regulations, which were unveiled in July, would mean an expansion of drug and alcohol testing that is already in place for conductors, engineers and dispatchers. 

UPS and Fedex workers at three different locations were potentially exposed to hazardous materials, because companies shipping toxic chemicals by air failed to comply with labeling and packaging regulations, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

If you plan on buying a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Jaguar, you don’t need to worry that your vehicle doesn’t meet federal safety standards. Those makes and others will be allowed to be imported into the U.S., even though they don’t fully comply with safety requirements, under an exemption announced recently by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho against Sandpoint Gas 'n' Go & Lube Center Inc., in Sandpoint, Idaho, and its owner Sydney M. Oskoui, individually, for violating the whistleblower protection provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

September 2014 marks the one-year anniversary of the forced resignation of Cal/OSHA Chief Ellen Widess and the start of direct rule by Department of Industrial Relations Director Christine Baker. A year later there is no permanent leadership team, the roster is riddled with vacancies, and policy decisions have lurched between “political spin” crises and administrative diktats in response.