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Maryland lawmakers introduced a bill this week that would require companies to meet safety standards as a prequalification for working on public projects in the state. House Bill 951 (with 22 sponsors) and Senate Bill 774 (with 13 sponsors) were introduced by Maryland Delegate Brian McHale (D-46) and Senator Karen Montgomery (D-14).

While federal regulatory action get the lion’s share of the attention, EHS professionals should pay even more attention to what happens at the state level, according to American Industrial Hygiene Association® (AIHA) government guru, Aaron K. Trippler, for a variety of reasons.

In the end, the question that must be answered is “will this proposal be better or worse for employee health and safety?” To this, AIHA believes the answer is a resounding “yes”, and AIHA supports OSHA efforts to move forward with the proposed rule.

OSHA may be “puny” relative to other government agencies but it is far from puny for its regulated community jurisdiction, particularly, for safety professionals and our employers, when the leadership of OSHA is all about radical left wing political agenda.

ASSE commends OSHA for addressing this issue through rulemaking in an effort to further reduce the incidences of occupational illnesses such as silicosis and cancer in general industry, maritime and construction work. While some may debate the science underlying the findings set forth in the proposed rule, overexposure to crystalline silica has been linked to occupational illness since the time of the ancient Greeks, and reduction of the current permissible exposure limit (PEL) to that recommended for years by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is long overdue.

OSHA’s beleaguered proposal to reduce silica exposure levels for workers has encountered yet another delay, due to possible public confusion over an error on www.regulations.gov, the federal government's online portal for submitting rulemaking comments.

Advocacy group Public Citizen is characterizing opposition to OSHA’s proposal to require electronic reporting of injury and illness data as corporations worried about being “named and shamed” by the online posting of the data that is part of the proposal.

A new OSHA proposal to create a public data base of workplace injuries and illnesses is receiving immediate opposition from the business community, specifically the manufacturing sector.

OSHA held a web chat last week on its proposed rule on Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica that gave small businesses and other stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions about a proposal that OSHA predicts will prevent thousands of deaths from silicosis, lung cancer, and other diseases among the American workforce. Following are some of the exchanges that took place during the web chat:

OSHA held a web chat last week on its proposed rule on Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica that gave small businesses and other stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions about a proposal that OSHA predicts will prevent thousands of deaths from silicosis, lung cancer, and other diseases among the American workforce.