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The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) inspected and issued citations at several more workplaces for violations of the General Duty Clause and the state’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19 exposures.
On December 22, 2020, the EPA announced final revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). These changes mark the first updates to this rule since it was created in 1991 to control lead and copper in drinking water.
Each year, the EPA publishes annual inflationary increases to the fine amounts for civil penalties assessed under its authority.
The word “why” is a small word, but it can have a huge impact on a safety program. When asked in the proper context, it can mainstream safe behavior. When answered completely, it can make your safety program a cohesive and complementary entity.
Drivers with impaired vision in one eye could operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate transportation without first obtaining an exemption from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) under a proposed rule published January 12 (86 FR 2344). The proposed change would end the agency’s vision exemption program.
On January 8, following an outbreak of violence at the U.S. Capitol, AIHA, also known as the American Industrial Hygiene Association, called for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish a safety standard for workplace violence prevention.
In conducting COVID-19-related inspections, OSHA has frequently cited employers for violating certain standards. In the fourth quarter (Q4), OSHA cited 176 employers for COVID-19-related violations, including failure to protect employees from exposure to COVID-19 and not following respiratory protection standards. These penalties resulted in $2,936,089 in fines, ranging from $1,000 to nearly $33,000.
In the fourth quarter (Q4), the EPA finalized 150 settlement agreements with companies small and large across the United States. This represents a significant decrease in enforcement actions—down from 327 penalties issued in Q3 for 2020. The actions taken resulted in $4,582,755 in fines.
On January 7, President-Elect Joseph Biden named Boston Mayor Marty Walsh his nominee for secretary of Labor. Walsh would be the first labor union member to serve as labor secretary in nearly half a century, according to the Biden-Harris transition team. Before turning to politics, Walsh held a number of labor union leadership positions, heading […]
In December, the EPA released its final risk evaluation for 1,4-dioxane, a chemical “currently used as a solvent in a variety of commercial and industrial applications such as in the manufacture of other chemicals, a processing aid, functional fluid, a laboratory chemical, in adhesives and sealants, in spray polyurethane foam, in printing inks, and as […]