by Secretary Tom Perez- I am a big believer in basic fairness: if you play by the rules, you should have the opportunity to succeed. That’s true in life and also in business. The vast majority of employers understand this principle and abide by it every day with measurable success. But I think we can all agree that those businesses that break the law by cutting corners at the expense of their workers should not benefit from taxpayer-funded federal contracts.

Alfa Laval Inc. faces $477,900 in proposed penalties after OSHA inspections discovered dozens of serious workplace safety violations, five of which were identified in previous inspections. Federal investigators found five repeated and 45 serious violations on a range of health and safety issues at the company's Broken Arrow facility, including inadequate protection of workers from machinery, a lack of respiratory equipment and training for hazardous chemicals.

Drivers use the brake almost a million times per year, usually with no problem. But each year, approximately 16,000 preventable crashes occur due to pedal error when drivers mistake the accelerator for the brake. Pedal error crashes can present serious safety risks to the vehicle occupants, surrounding motorists, pedestrians, and property.

We estimated that about 1 in 10 nonsmoking, working women of reproductive age in the United States are exposed to secondhand smoke at work. Women working in the accommodations and food services industry (women working in hotels, restaurants, or bars) were more than twice as likely as women employed in other industries to be exposed to secondhand smoke at work.

Posted with permission from Fairwarning.org: A new study has found that firefighters have a greater than average risk of developing some types of cancer, and that black and Latino firefighters face the highest risk of all.

As of June 1, chemical manufacturers, importers, distributors and employers are required to provide a common approach to classifying chemicals and communicating hazard information on labels and safety data sheets.

Professional development is fundamental to the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo being held this week in Salt Lake City, and a key component of that development is the ability to take a hard look in the mirror and assess your abilities and your skills gaps, according to Ashley Alewelt, an EHS manager for Caterpillar, the global manufacturer with more than 290 work sites and about 120,000 employees.

The evolution of the EHS field, which has been ongoing for 10-15 years since the effective conclusion of the activist OSHA era, is on display here at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo being held this week in Salt Lake City. EHS professionals in 2015 are no longer looked at as “the safety man” or the “industrial hygiene techie” if they position themselves properly, according to speakers.