Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Q. I manage our filter cake waste as a hazardous secondary material (HSM) and notified the EPA and state environmental protection agency before managing the waste as a HSM. Are there any other reporting requirements after the initial notification?
On November 28, 2016, the EPA published the final Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule, providing a much-needed update to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste generator regulations. By enhancing facility safety and the communication of onsite risks to emergency responders, the revisions are a significant attempt to address the challenges hazardous waste […]
Evacuating employees safely in a workplace emergency is a major issue in preparedness planning. And an important part of that planning for many employers is accounting for workers with disabilities. It’s hard enough for the average worker to make a safe escape from the workplace in an emergency. But the problem is much tougher for […]
Last fall, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule that would make significant changes to regulatory requirements for the management of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals. Comments were accepted until December 24, 2015. Let’s take a look at what a sampling of stakeholders had to say about EPA’s proposed amendments to the management of […]
Atlanta chemical manufacturer Southern Industrial Chemicals Inc. (operating as SIC Technologies) is facing $289,439 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties following agency safety and health inspections, OSHA announced March 8. The agency cited the employer with 67 serious violations, and it reported finding both safety and health hazards, like chemical exposures and struck-by […]
A company in Waverly, Ohio, was recently fined over $56,000 for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) lead standard concerning exposure monitoring and the use of personal protective equipment. Today we will review the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for lead, take a look at what happened in this particular case, and urge […]
Wal-Mart’s BIG Fine for No RCRA Training Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., has pleaded guilty in cases filed in California to six counts of violating the Clean Water Act by illegally handling and disposing of hazardous materials at its retail stores across the United States. The Arkansas-based company also pleaded guilty in Missouri, to violating the […]
At a municipal storage facility in Danville, Pennsylvania, a painting contractor was conducting abrasive blasting to remove paint from water tanks. An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection showed that the workers were overexposed to airborne lead. As a result, OSHA issued several serious and willful violations against the employer for violations of the […]
Things are getting hot on this week’s installment of the EHSDA Song of the Week. We’re throwing it back to 1974, a time when lapels were huge and the bell bottoms were huger. The Ohio Players went all the way to #1 on the Billboard singles chart with the supremely funky “Fire,” which still pops […]