Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The Obama administration announced last week that it would set limits on permissible levels of a new set of toxic chemicals in drinking water. These standards will now include perchlorate, a toxic compound used in rocket fuel, which has been found in water supplies in 26 states. The nation’s clean water laws have not kept […]
Is your workplace prepared for an emergency or disaster? A new poll shows that many employers may not be as well prepared as they should be. More than a decade after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, only a third of surveyed organizations believe they are well prepared for threats and disasters, even though about […]
House Republicans have had enough of the Chevron Deference—a 30-year-old doctrine that gives U.S. executive branch agencies considerable latitude to take “reasonable” regulatory actions that have an ambiguous foundation in U.S. law. In a July 12, 2016 vote, the House passed the Separation of Powers Restoration Act of 2016 (H.R. 4768). The bill would amend […]
Snow will soon be falling in many parts of the country. Time to get out the shovel or fire up the snow blower. Just don’t forget about safety. With winter less than a month away, in many parts of the country it’s time (or maybe already passed time) to start preparing for snow removal. If […]
The EPA has issued a final rule that finds that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from aircraft contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and the welfare of future generations. Having made that determination, the EPA is now obligated by the Clean Air Act (CAA) to propose and issue final […]
In January 2024, the EPA proposed new effluent limitations guidelines (ELG) that would bring meat and poultry processing (MPP) facilities under EPA authority by requiring MPP facilities to add expensive water filtration systems to comply with the proposed regulation. According to an EPA Fact Sheet on the proposed rule, pollutants discharged from MPP facilities include […]
Injury and illness prevention is always a big issue for safety professionals especially when incidents result in days away from work. Many companies are responding with injury and illness prevention plans. According to BLS, the total number of injury and illness cases requiring days away from work to recuperate was in 2011(the most recent year […]
Both the law and sound business practice compel you to look beyond specific regulations to assess safety training needs and to plan for effective training. Before you can roll out a successful safety training program, you have to assess training needs and plan for effective training. Fail to identify needs, and training will miss the […]
Got safety plans to ensure OSHA compliance? These employers didn’t, and look what happened to them. Here are some recent OSHA enforcement actions that highlight the need to implement effective safety plans to avoid accidents, injuries, and OSHA breathing down your neck. OSHA Says Manufacturer Willfully Exposed Workers A manufacturer in Ohio faces $536,000 in […]
There’s no OSHA standard for it. And for the most part, you can’t see it or touch it. But the potential risks are significant. We’re talking about indoor air quality (IAQ). IAQ refers to the quality of the air inside buildings as represented by concentrations of pollutants and thermal conditions like temperature and humidity. These […]