OSHA Extends Comment Period on Management Guidelines
If you were considering submitting comments on OSHA’s proposed Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines, but haven’t done it yet, you’ve got an extra week.
Archives
Sitting, Standing, and Moving on the Job: Get the Facts
A couple of years ago, we started hearing that “sitting is the new smoking,” an alarming claim about the potential risks of spending hours every day in a chair. This Compliance Report goes beyond the headlines to examine the risks and benefits of sitting, standing, and moving at work.
A Welder’s Leak Test Goes Wrong—Watch Out for Incidental Welding Hazards
Welding has a lot of hazards, but they’re not all directly related to the welding equipment or process. California’s Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (CA-FACE) program recently investigated an incident in which a welder was killed while performing a leak test after completing a welding repair. All welders can learn some valuable lessons from his […]
Hazardous Chemicals, Fire Hazards, Electrical Hazards: Welding’s Got It All
Welding is a hazardous activity that poses a unique combination of both safety and health risks to more than 500,000 workers in a wide variety of industries. Because it is a common operation in many workplaces, its hazards are often underappreciated. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that more than four deaths […]
EPA Ordered to Meet Deadline
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the EPA to fulfill its obligations under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) to initiate financial assurance rulemaking for the hard rock mining industry. The court order responds to a joint motion filed by six environmental groups and the […]
Amendments Proposed for National Contingency Plan
In a proposal, the EPA has described how it intends to align its National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (more commonly called the National Contingency Plan or NCP) with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) National Response Framework (NRF) and National Incident Management System (NIMS).
Bill Introduced Would Delay Compliance with Brick MACT
Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House to block the EPA from requiring compliance with its National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the brick and structural clay products manufacturing and clay ceramics manufacture maximum achievable control technology (collectively, Brick MACT) until any judicial proceedings, including appeals, addressing the rule are final.
Potential Benefits of the Hazardous Waste Generators Improvements Rule
The EPA published its proposed Hazardous Waste Generator Improvement rule on September 25, 2015, that it says addresses problems the Agency identified with the current generator regulations:
What You Can Do to Avoid Vapor Hazards When Opening a Tank Hatch
Improperly opening a storage tank hatch can be deadly for oil and gas workers. In a new report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlight nine sudden deaths caused by inhalation of hydrocarbon gases and vapors and oxygen deficiency among oil and gas extraction workers from January 2010 to March 2015. Four of […]
Does Your Asbestos Training Stack Up?
Yesterday we talked about some hefty fines that OSHA recently imposed on companies for exposing their workers to asbestos during a building renovation project. Today we will review required training for employees who must work with asbestos-containing material (ACM) in construction activities. In addition to the basic asbestos training requirements for general industry, OSHA has […]