Category: EHS Administration

Fishing Vessel Facing $208K in OSHA Fines

The owner and operator of a 472-ton Alaskan seafood processing vessel faces $208,983 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties, the agency announced February 16. OSHA cited Christos Tsabouris and East West Seafoods LLC for 2 repeat serious violations, 17 serious violations, and 1 other-than-serious violation on the F/V Pacific Producer. During a joint […]

Ensuring Your Employees Have and Use PPE

You must provide your employees with personal protective equipment (PPE) when other methods higher in industrial hygiene’s “hierarchy of controls” like elimination, substitution, engineering controls, and administrative controls are not enough to protect their health and safety. PPE protects workers’ eyes, faces, feet, hands, and heads, and protective clothing may protect the entire body from […]

OSHA Withdraws Arizona State Plan Revocation

On February 15, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) withdrew its proposed revocation of Arizona’s state workplace safety and health program (88 Fed. Reg. 9796). The federal agency had proposed withdrawing final approval of the state’s plan after Arizona failed to adopt OSHA’s healthcare COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS). The Industrial Commission of Arizona […]

Illinois Grain Cooperative Faces $630K OSHA Fine in Amputation

An Illinois grain cooperative is facing a $629,946 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalty for its failure to follow required safety procedures that contributed to a 27-year-old worker suffering a partial amputation of his right leg when a paddle conveyor was left running when he and two other employees entered a soybean bin for […]

Back to Basics: OSHA Inspections 101

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine OSHA inspections and what employers can expect to happen during an inspection.   This week is EHS Daily Advisor’s Compliance Week, which exists to help safety professionals stay up to date […]

Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 Released

The EPA recently released Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 (Plan 15), which lays out how the Agency will work to protect the nation’s waterways by following science and the Clean Water Act (CWA) to develop technology-based pollution limits and studies on wastewater discharges from industrial sources. The plan focuses on evaluating the extent and nature […]

EPA Proposes Enforcement Initiatives

On January 19, 2023, the EPA announced its proposed 2024–2027 National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives (NECIs). Every 4 years, the Agency selects national initiatives to focus resources on serious and widespread environmental problems where federal enforcement can make a difference. The primary objective of these initiatives is to protect human health and the environment by […]

Biden Administration’s Guidance on Climate Change and Environmental Justice

In the last few weeks, the Biden administration issued guidance in two areas: 1) Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change and 2) Environmental Justice (EJ) in Air Permitting. To be prepared for new regulatory actions and practices, it’s important for industry seeking federal permitting or funding to be informed about how their projects will be […]

FMCSA Seeks More Input on Autonomous Trucks

On February 1, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requested additional input on regulatory changes necessary for the introduction of highly and fully automated commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) on the nation’s roadways (88 Fed. Reg. 6691). The supplemental advance notice of proposed rulemaking (SANPRM) revisits issues beyond those covered in advance notices of proposed […]

California Nonemergency COVID-19 Rules Take Effect

California’s nonemergency COVID-19 prevention regulations (California Code of Regulations Title 8 sections 3205 through 3205.3) took effect February 3 following approval by the state’s Office of Administrative Law. The new regulations, which take the place of the state’s emergency temporary standards (ETSs), remain in effect through February 3, 2025, and recordkeeping provisions of the rules […]