Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
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 […]
Late last year, three Austin, Texas-based employers were fined a total of $112,000 for exposing their workers to asbestos. Let’s see what happened in the Lone Star State and consider how you can avoid asbestos-related citations and fines. All three employers were involved in a commercial real estate renovation project at a residential apartment construction worksite […]
OSHA recently certified New Jersey’s state plan for protecting the safety and health of state and local government workers. The New Jersey Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health State Plan covers more than 530,000 state and local government workers. The New Jersey state plan was initially approved in January of 2001, and certification became effective […]
More Americans than ever—some 50 million—report suffering from chronic pain and may be taking prescription pain medications. Some of these meds have potentially dangerous side effects. Moreover, more people are becoming addicted and may continue using the drugs even after they’re no longer medically necessary. These realities can have a profound effect on safety in […]
Is fit testing required for all respirators? Are there circumstances where fit testing is not required?
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared the Zika virus and its suspected link to brain-damaged babies a public health emergency of international concern. The main concern is a link to microcephaly—a condition that causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and, in the vast majority of cases, damaged brains.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed what it calls the Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements on September 25, 2015. An extended comment period closed December 24, 2015. The Agency has received over 230 comments on the proposal. The Advisor reviewed a number of them and will give you the gist of what people are saying […]
Last fall, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule that would make significant changes to regulatory requirements for hazardous waste generators. Comments were accepted until December 24, 2015. Let’s take a look at what a sampling of stakeholders had to say about EPA’s proposed amendments to hazardous waste generation under the Resource […]
Federally recognized Indian tribes with reservations may soon be able to apply to the EPA to run Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(d), the total maximum daily load (TMDL) program for U.S. waters located on those reservations.
The EPA is proposing to reissue its hotly debated Pesticide General Permit (PGP) under authority of the CWA Section 402—the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The existing 5-year PGP expires midnight, October 31, 2016. According to the Agency, the proposed reissued PGP has the same conditions and requirements as the existing PGP. The proposal […]