Government Safety Regulations

RSS

One of the questions I am constantly asked is “why can’t OSHA get anything done?” A fair question with a difficult answer. It would be easy to simply respond that OSHA is subject to a lot of politics, and I mean a lot of politics. It would also be easy to simply answer that it depends on who asked the question, and more importantly, when they asked it.

OSHA will be spending the rest of 2014 holding public hearings and reviewing the approximately 3,000 comments it has already received on its proposed crystalline silica rule. Although OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels has stated the the silica rule – which would reduce occupational exposure limits to the substance – is the agency’s top priority, the issue is “a long, long way from every being finalized,” according to Aaron K. Trippler of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA).

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced a proposed rule to establish a drug and alcohol clearinghouse for all national commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders. The agency said the clearinghouse would help improve roadway safety by making it easier to determine whether a truck or bus driver is prohibited from operating a commercial motor vehicle for failing to comply with federal drug and alcohol regulations, including mandatory testing.

If you plan to comment on OSHA’s propsed rule to change tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses, you should do it soon. The agency has announced that the comment period on the proposal, which is says will help imrove workplace safety and health, will close on March 10, 2014.

The public comment period on OSHA’s proposal to reduce worker exposure to silica dust ended this week, leaving the agency with more than 2,700 responses to process. The rule would decrease the permissible exposure limit for crystalline silica dust – a substance that causes cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease in those who are exposed to it.

Deepwater Horizon cases and Walmart’s hazardous waste policies were among the cases pursued by the EPA last year. The agency’s annual enforcement report shows a focus on major violators that have the most impact on public health.

While pilots and co-pilots are prohibited from using cell phones and other personal electronic devices (PEDs) inflight, the jury is still out on whether passengers will get to wirelessly chat while en route to their destinations.

Female high school students in states with indoor tanning laws -- particularly those with parental permission laws and age restrictions -- were 42 percent less likely to engage in indoor tanning compared to students in states without any laws, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study published online by the American Journal of Public Health.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week today issued a final rule that reinforces that airline pilots cannot use PEDs for personal use in all operations.

OSHA’s proposal to safeguard workers by reducing silica exposures disregards “the unique nature of roofing work” and may actually making roofers’ jobs more dangerous, according to the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA).