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Guidance from OSHA on Understanding HCS 2012 Hazard Definitions

One of the greatest changes to OSHA’s hazard communication standard as a result of HCS 2012—OSHA’s adoption of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS)—was its standardization of chemical hazard classifications. Some of these classifications are modified from what they were in the 1994 hazard communication standard (HCS 1994), and others […]

OSHA and EPA Penalties on the Rise

Beginning this summer, it is going to be substantially more expensive to violate the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) standards. Penalties for violating U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules will also go up, but not as much as OSHA’s. Here’s why and what to expect for violations of safety standards.

New Climate Change and Health Document Includes Effects on Workers

The potential health effects of climate change on workers is now available in a new report just released by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. The report, U.S. Global Change Research Program Climate and Health Assessment provides a comprehensive overview of the potential health effects of climate change across the United States. Included in the […]

NIOSH Identifies the 2 Deadliest Herbicides. Are Your Workers Exposed?

If you need to kill a plant, you’ll probably use an herbicide. They’re used in agriculture to control weeds on crops of all types. They’re used by the state highway department to wrangle weeds along the roads. They’re used by landscapers to maintain pristine lawns.

12 Tips to Protect O&G Workers from Gases and Vapors

You come to your well site one morning and find a 20-year old worker dead on the well pad. He had been gauging a crude oil tank. That’s the stuff of nightmares for all safety managers at oil and gas (O&G) sites. This particular nightmare came true for one safety manager and serves as an […]

Climate Change—What’s a Safety Manager to Do?

In a new report recently issued by the Obama Administration, it states that “every American is vulnerable to the health impacts associated with climate change.” Yesterday we reviewed findings in the report that apply specifically to U.S. workers. Today we will consider what safety managers can do to help safeguard their workers from the heat-related effects […]