Author: Guy Burdick, EHS Daily Advisor

Contractor Facing $199K OSHA Fine After Fatal Hangar Collapse

Meridian, Idaho, building contractor Big D Builders Inc. faces $198,586 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after an airport hangar collapsed near the Boise Airport, killing three workers and injuring at least eight others, the agency announced July 29. OSHA investigators responded to the scene and discovered that Big D Builders had begun […]

EPA Proposed Changes to Preconstruction Permitting Regulations Under NSR Program

The EPA is reviewing comments on proposed revisions to the preconstruction permitting regulations that apply to modifications at existing major stationary sources in the New Source Review (NSR) program under the Clean Air Act (CAA).  The proposed revisions include: The NSR program requires certain stationary sources of air pollution to obtain permits before construction. The […]

Back to Basics: Chemical Hazard ‘Worker Right-to-Know’ Compliance

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine chemical hazard “worker right-to-know” compliance. Both communities and workers need to understand the chemical hazards they might encounter. Hazard communication, or “worker right-to-know,” is the workplace counterpart to community right-to-know. While […]

Six Sizzling Ways to Beat the OSHA Heat This Summer

The summer heat is in full swing and so are ramped-up compliance efforts from OSHA. This alert provides you with six quick tips to help avoid and minimize any “heat” from OSHA this summer. 1. Make sure your business is fully aware of the new Hazard Communication Standard. OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard is already one of […]

Back to Basics: Recognizing the Warning Signs of Workplace Violence

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 recognize the warning signs of workplace violence. Workplace violence has a been a major concern for businesses for years now, but it’s especially topical as some states begin passing legislation […]

EHSDA Song of the Week: Planet of Sound

Hearing conservation is an important part of workplace safety to protect employees from noise-induced hearing loss. This week, EHS Daily Advisor wrote about the importance of having a hearing conservation program in place. In that vein, the Song of the Week is a noisy indie rock ripper from the Pixies, “Planet of Sound.” The song […]

New Jersey Contractor Facing $485K OSHA Fine

U.S. Tank Painting Inc., a New Jersey water tank painting contractor, is facing $485,580 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after a worker’s 80-foot fall from a Bayville, New Jersey, water tower, resulting in severe injuries, the agency announced July 24. Agency investigators determined that U.S. Tank Painting employed workers to sandblast and […]

EPA Erred in its January 2021 PFBS Toxicity Assessment

The EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a report that found the Agency didn’t follow the typical intra-agency review and clearance process during the development and publication of the January 2021 perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) toxicity assessment. During the final clearance process for the assessment, a Trump political appointee ordered a last-minute review […]

Group Says Soil is Toxic Near Ohio Train Derailment, Petitions EPA

Last month, the Government Accountability Project (GAP), filed an Emergency Administrative Procedure Act (APA) petition with the EPA to spur the Agency to take action to warn residents in and around East Palestine, Ohio, not to eat homegrown garden produce due to dioxin and other chemical contamination in the soil from the Norfolk Southern train […]

The Demise of the Chevron Deference and the Future of Administrative Law

On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) made history in issuing a landmark 6-to-3 ruling overturning a 40-year-old administrative law standard known as Chevron deference. The ruling opens the door for a tsunami of legal challenges to federal rulemaking. Federal regulations affect nearly every facet of daily life, from the cars we drive […]