Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Global Methane Initiative—A Trash to Treasure Story, Part 1 According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), methane “accounts for 14 percent of global GHG emissions with an estimated 7,196 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2E) of anthropogenic [manmade] emissions in 2010.” Although methane is emitted in smaller quantities than carbon dioxide (CO2) […]
Maybe you have to have a safety committee because state law requires you to. Maybe you thought it was a good idea when you started it, but it has never worked out like you hoped. Maybe you poured your efforts into establishing a safety committee, but workers never seemed to trust it fully. What’s keeping […]
SPCC Violations Underscore Importance of Facility Response Plans In December 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with an Alaska-based oil field services company for multiple violations of the SPCC rule, including failure to submit an FRP. Under the SPCC regulations, there are two scenarios that require preparation and submission of […]
January is National Mentoring Month (www.nationalmentoringmonth.org), so each Friday this month, we’ll explore different aspects of mentoring and how this form of training can benefit your organization. Today, we hear from mentoring experts, Beth N. Carvin and Kerrie Main, in an article they wrote that first appeared on HR.BLR.com®.
In the fall of 2014, OSHA inspected a manufacturer of rice cakes and other healthy snack products after a worker suffered an electrical injury in August 2014. While OSHA was on-site, the Agency discovered that another worker had missed 20 days of work and spent another 22 days on restricted duty after part of his […]
Tips for Assessing Applicability with the SPCC Rule Tip—Know the qualifying factors for coverage under the SPCC rule. The SPCC rule applies when the following are met at a facility*: The facility stores, transfers, uses, or consumes oil or oil products, such as diesel fuel, gasoline, lube oil, hydraulic oil, adjuvant oil, crop oil, […]
Click through articles from this past week’s Environmental Daily Advisor
A 20-year-old employee at a manufacturer of rice cakes and other snack products was shocked while performing service work on an electrical panel on August 18, 2014. The employee missed 2 days of work. After hearing of the injury, OSHA inspected the facility and identified several problems with the employer’s electrical safety work practices.
On August 6, 2012, a fire at a refinery in California shut down the facility for months and sent more than 15,000 nearby residents to local hospitals with breathing problems. The fire occurred when a 52-inch section of pipe leading from a crude oil distillation tower began leaking flammable hydrocarbons that formed a vapor cloud […]
2014 EPCRA Enforcement Roundup What do a wood door manufacturer, an organic food company, a wire manufacturer, a cheese manufacturer, and an oil sands crude refinery have in common? On the surface, it would appear they are pretty different, but when it comes to compliance with EPCRA, all reached settlements with the EPA during […]