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Two Rhode Island companies, under separate, recently proposed settlements with the EPA, have been ordered to pay combined fines of approximately $280,000 due to alleged violations of reporting requirements for their uses of anhydrous ammonia and metals. The companies alleged violations stem from compliance with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and the […]
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought renewed attention to the hazard of infectious diseases in the workplace. Could you find yourself having to comply with a federal or state infectious disease standard?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited a Georgia farm for forklift, General Duty Clause, hazardous waste operations and emergency response (HAZWOPER), and walking-working surface violations following an employee fatality.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets and enforces safety standards for the workplace. It’s a simple job description but a huge undertaking. And given that negative attitudes toward the agency are pervasive among U.S. employers and workers, OSHA’s authority has taken on an almost mythical quality, and many misconceptions about the agency’s powers […]
An employee of a California school district recently wrote to experts at Safety.BLR.com®, asking how ergonomic issues in the workplace can be addressed when no ergonomics standard from OSHA exists. It’s a good question—and while there is no standard, there are resources available. See what the experts had to say on the matter.
The applicability of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Risk Management Program (RMP) is reasonably clear, but facilities with chemicals in amounts less than the RMP thresholds are finding themselves in trouble with the EPA because they are overlooking EPA’s General Duty Clause (42 U.S. Code 7412(r)(1)). Several times over the last 6 months the […]
OSHA uses the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) as a “gotcha” or “catchall” for hazards with no established standards, the members of a federal review board recently said.
The General Duty Clause (Clause) of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act has been in effect since the Act was passed in 1970 and, therefore, should be an important consideration in employer worker safety and hazard reduction plans. But while most employers that are familiar with the OSH Act and federal and state worker-protection […]
An OSHA standard to mitigate workplace violence in healthcare facilities does not appear to be on the horizon, but this is not because OSHA is not aware of the main provisions that would be included in such a standard. In fact, it is not uncommon for OSHA to issue citations against healthcare employers whose employees […]
In conjunction with a new report by Public Citizen, 130 groups have petitioned U.S. OSHA to initiate rulemaking for the first federal standard to protect indoor and outdoor workers from occupational exposure to excessive heat.