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Macon, Georgia, plumbing contractor Pyles Plumbing and Utility Contractors Inc. faces $308,125 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties following a fatal trench collapse that claimed the life of a 20-year-old worker and hospitalized another, the agency announced February 29. OSHA investigators learned that on August 10, 2023, two employees were installing sewer-line piping […]
Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine how to protect lone workers. If you have workers working alone or in remote areas, you need to ensure that they’re safe on the job. Lone workers include people who don’t work […]
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) defense of “demonstrated” as an element of imposing best available control technology (BACT) in prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permitting. CAA regulations The federal Clean Air Act (CAA) authorizes the EPA to establish nationwide air pollution standards, including standards for emissions […]
Unfortunately, workers more often than not have to deal with assorted aches and pains (and worse) due to on-the-job injuries. This Song of the Week deals with the subject of pain courtesy of Philadelphia’s The War on Drugs. “Pain” is the second song on the band’s 2017 album A Deeper Understanding. Led by singer-guitarist Adam […]
On January 11, 2024, the EPA announced a proposal to strengthen Clean Air Act (CAA) standards for large municipal waste combustors (LMWC) that burn municipal solid waste (MSW). LMWCs are incinerators that combust greater than 250 tons per day (tpd) of MSW. “If finalized, the updated standards would reduce emissions of nine pollutants, including smog- […]
The EPA recently announced a proposed rule to assess a charge on certain large emitters of methane waste from the oil and gas sector that exceed emissions intensity levels set by Congress. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 amended the Clean Air Act (CAA) to add Section 136: Methane Emissions and Waste Reduction Incentive […]
Henry Brick Co. Inc., a Selma, Alabama, brick manufacturer, faces $124,212 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties for exposing employees to respirable crystalline silica, the agency announced February 27. Exposure to crystalline silica can lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney disease, and lung cancer. OSHA cited Henry Brick Co. with 11 serious […]
A metal tube ruptured within a reactor charge furnace during a unit start-up, releasing hot renewable diesel and hydrogen and resulting in a fire that seriously injured an employee at the Marathon Martinez Renewables facility in Martinez, California. The employee suffered third-degree burns to most of his face and body, the U.S. Chemical Safety and […]
The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) has published the first national voluntary consensus standard addressing heat stress for workers in construction and demolition operations. “This new industry consensus standard is an important development because there is no federal regulation focused on heat stress,” said ASSP President Jim Thornton, CSP, CIH, FASSP, FAIHA, in a […]
MDLG Inc., a Phenix City, Alabama, sawmill, faces $2,471,683 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines following a worker’s death, the agency announced February 22. A 67-year-old sawmill supervisor at MDLG, operating as Phenix Lumber Co., had climbed on top of an auger to access a difficult-to-reach area to unclog a woodchipper. The employee was […]