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Worker safety advocates, scientists, and some state OSHA authorities have been contending for years that OSHA’s permissible exposure levels (PELs) for lead in the workplace are inadequate to protect workers from the multiple adverse health effects associated with the metal.
With the recognition that exposure to lead in the workplace can cause a host of short- and long-term illnesses, many industrial sectors have phased out its use and found substitutes. That still leaves many other sectors—at least 22, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)—where workers are more likely to inhale […]
Q: Is the wearing of shorts in a parts warehouse permitted by OSHA?
Brett Kavanaugh has been announced as President Donald Trump’s choice to replace Anthony Kennedy on the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s a brief summary of the judicial nominee’s decisions, rulings, and court opinions on various EHS-related cases in recent years on the D.C. Circuit.
Summer is in full swing, and many teens and young adults are working summer jobs to earn money and gain job experience. Yet these young workers are often at greater risk of on-the-job injury than their older counterparts as a result of their inexperience. OSHA recently announced that it has entered into a voluntary agreement […]
U.S. OSHA confirmed the July 6, 2018, effective date for amendments to the final general industry standard for exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds (January 9, 2017, Federal Register (FR)). OSHA issued the amendments in a direct final rule (May 7, 2018, FR) to address the application of the standard to materials containing trace amounts […]
The House Appropriations Committee released its 2019 budget bill to the full Senate and included a modest $4 million increase for OSHA, from $552,787,000 in 2018 to a recommended $556,787,000 in 2019.
Q: We currently have locations across the US that pay our employees for their lunch break. If an hourly employee leaves the premises, while on a “paid” lunch break, would the employer be liable if they were to get into an accident or incur an injury?
The deadline for affected employers to electronically submit calendar year 2017 injury and illness data to OSHA is just days away. By July 1, 2018, all employers covered by OSHA’s electronic recordkeeping requirements are required to submit data from their calendar year 2017 300A form (Annual Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses).
Temporary staffing agencies (or primary employers) and entities who are sent temporary employees (or host employers) may agree that temporary workers are entitled to all the worker protections full-time employees receive, but they may not agree or even know which employer is responsible for ensuring that those protections are implemented.