Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Thousands of retail facilities face stricter requirements under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Risk Management Program (RMP) because of a controversial Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) interpretation of an exemption under the Process Safety Management (PSM) standard. Today we will review EPA’s reaction to OSHA’s narrowing of the retail exemption. Beginning in July 2016, […]
In 2013, the trucking and road construction industries initiated a case to prevent the EPA from waiving federal emissions standards for nonroad diesel engines to allow the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to impose its own more stringent standards on those vehicles. The outcome of that dispute will carry major consequences for California businesses and, […]
At a strip mall in Indianapolis in a storefront that was being repurposed as a tattoo parlor, the new occupants wanted to open up the space. To do so, they tore out the walls around the sprinkler control room and finished by drywalling over the sprinkler riser and control valve. The only access they left […]
Have you included e-cigarettes in your smoking policy? The federal government is discouraging vaping at work for a number of safety reasons. These reasons include a recent federal study that found a number of hazardous chemicals in the flavorings in e-cigarettes. The results of a BLR® human resources poll show that one-half of respondents (50%) […]
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use. Four of those states and D.C. have also legalized the recreational use of marijuana. A growing number of other states are considering legalization. So, how are pesticides being regulated in marijuana fields, and what are the protections for field workers from pesticides […]
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use. Four of those states and D.C. have also legalized the recreational use of marijuana. A growing number of other states are considering legalization. So, how are pesticides being regulated in marijuana fields, and what are the protections for field workers from pesticides […]
Peabody Energy Corporation, the largest publicly traded coal company in the world, was recently muscled by the state of New York into revising its shareholder disclosures with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to include financial risks associated with climate change and potential regulations. Yesterday we reviewed SEC risk disclosure requirements. Today we will discuss […]
Earlier this year, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was brought to trial on charges of conspiracy to violate mandatory federal mine safety and health standards, conspiracy to impede federal mine safety officials, making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and securities fraud. Blankenship faced up to 31 years in prison on the […]
What’s the relationship between labeling under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom) and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) labeling requirements? Which label must you use? Can you use both? Today we will help answer these questions, and tomorrow we will offer some placarding tips for shipments of DOT-regulated hazardous […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been under pressure to update and better manage its Clean Air Act Risk Management Program and is moving ever closer to a proposed rule that will modify the program. The Agency continues to scrutinize facilities that are required to have risk management plans. Today we will review a […]