Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Hospitals are among the most dangerous workplaces in the country, averaging nearly seven work-related injuries and illnesses for every 100 full-time employees. That’s nearly twice the rate for private industry as a whole. Cases of nonfatal occupational injury and illness for healthcare workers are among the highest of any industry sector.
When you think of dangerous industries, “retail” is probably not the first one that springs to mind. And while retail employees aren’t generally exposed to the types of machinery hazards that industrial workers face or to the kinds of health hazards that healthcare workers face daily, there are some persistent issues that crop up during […]
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) updated guidance document, Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs, released in mid-October, includes downloadable program materials, links to additional resources, and two new sections that address program evaluation and improvement and managing health and safety in multiemployer workplaces.
In a notice and as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the EPA has issued its fourth contaminant candidate list (CCL 4). CCLs comprise contaminants that are not subject to any proposed or promulgated federal drinking water standards, are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems (PWSs), and may require regulation […]
In one of its major end-of-year actions, the EPA on Wednesday, released its final renewal fuel standards (RFS) for 2017 and, for biomass-based diesel, for 2018. The Agency increased the RFS percentages across all categories of biofuels, an action that was welcomed by RFS advocates and criticized by the petroleum industry as burdening consumers with […]
Q. How do I find out if the EPA or the State is the regulatory authority for controlling stormwater runoff at my construction site?
On November 28, 2016, the U.S. EPA published in the Federal Register (FR) the Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule (Final Rule). Proposed in September 2015, the Final Rule overhauls and updates the decades-old EPA regulations for hazardous waste generators and, in the EPA’s opinion, makes the generator rules easier to understand, facilitates better compliance, and […]
The EPA recently issued its fall 2016 Regulatory Agenda, which lists 49 actions in “final rule stage.” Some of these actions are technical or noncontroversial or intended to reduce compliance burden. But a large number of them will increase or potentially increase regulatory responsibilities either for specific or multiple industrial sectors.
In mid-October, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released an updated guidance document, Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs, to help employers establish comprehensive safety and health programs in their workplaces. The updated guidance is more user-friendly than the previous edition and includes two new sections.
When we think about workplace violence, thoughts turn to shootings and other person-to-person violence. But suicide is also a serious risk. Keep reading for important information about the signs that an employee may be considering taking his or her own life and to find out which industry’s workers are especially at risk.