Archives

Changes Issued to Simplify Exceptional Events Rule

EPA’s 2007 Exceptional Events Rule (EER) was intended to give state and local agencies an avenue to remove data about certain types of monitored air pollution from area attainment/nonattainment designations under the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). However, the EER required states to support their applications for data exclusion with analyses that were so […]

House Passes Joint Resolution to Block CPP

The U.S. House welcomed President Obama’s return from the Paris climate change conference by passing a joint resolution to block the EPA from implementing its Clean Power Plan (CPP) to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants.

Compliance with the Final Hazmat Rule is January 1, 2016 – Or is It?

By Elizabeth Dickinson, JD The “Hazardous Materials: Harmonization with International Standards (RRR)” final rule was issued on January 8, 2015. Voluntary compliance with the new rule began January 1, 2015, with mandatory compliance delayed until January 1, 2016, unless otherwise specified (as it is for numerous provisions).

Out of Sight and Out of Danger: Control the Risks of Working Alone

When Donald Megge arrived for work at 5:30 am at the Fiat Chrysler plant in Detroit on May 5, 2015, he went almost immediately to work on the wastewater filter press in the plant’s wastewater treatment area. At 6:30 am, coworkers found 53-year-old Megge unresponsive; he had been crushed to death in the filter press. […]

Out of Sight, but Still at Risk: Do Your Employees Work Alone?

Working alone can be dangerous, even for the most mundane jobs. In July 2015, James Flannery was just doing his job—delivering pizza to an East Columbus, Ohio, address—when things went wrong. His “customers” shot the 59-year-old delivery man in the chest and robbed him before he was able to flee in his van. He didn’t […]

Prescription Drugs Are Driving Up Your Workers’ Comp Costs: What You Can Do

Do your workers have a problem with prescription painkillers? Odds are that some of them do—and that the number is increasing. Use of opioid painkillers like OxyContin®, Vicodin®, and Percoset® has increased throughout the United States since the 1990s, when new formulations made the drugs practical to use for long-term, chronic pain. The drugs are […]

VPP: Voluntary Protection Benefits Workers and Employers

At thousands of U.S. worksites, OSHA compliance is considered the bare minimum for safety excellence. These workplaces, members of OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), have earned the right to call themselves overachievers when it comes to worker protection.