Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
In November 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended the Pesticide Worker Protection Standard (WPS). There are staggered compliance deadlines and a dizzying array of issues with which those affected by the amendments must contend. What are the critical changes in the amended standard and when are the deadlines for compliance? The final rule […]
Laboratories are dangerous places, and university laboratories have proved deadly with disturbing regularity in recent years. In 2008, for example, a lab research assistant at the University of California, Los Angeles, was killed in a flash fire. In January 2010, an explosion at Texas Tech University cost a graduate student three fingers and caused severe […]
Recently, we received the following question from a subscriber:
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) personal protective equipment (PPE) standards for construction require that protective clothing be maintained “in a sanitary and reliable condition.”
In April 2014, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised its Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution rule (29 CFR 1910.269). The revised rule includes new requirements for estimating the heat energy that workers might be exposed to in the event of an electric arc, and how to select appropriate personal protective equipment based on […]
This is Thanksgiving week and as environment, health, and safety (EHS) professionals, we all want to make sure employees are at home celebrating with their families and not at the hospital, or worse, because of an inadvertent exposure to chemicals on the job. Yesterday we offered three tips for preventing chemical exposure in the workplace […]
Employees who work at hazardous waste sites are exposed to dangerous substances, some of which may not even be known. Developing a decontamination plan is part of an employer’s responsibility to protect workers from the effects of hazardous substances. Today we will outline the six steps that must be addressed in a decontamination plan, and […]
As late as 2014, workers who died during tank gauging and other activities that involved opening the thieves’ hatch on oilfield tanks were recorded as resulting from “natural causes.” As a result, surviving family members were not eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. A recent court case out of Colorado could change that. Jim Freemyer, a […]
In December, 2014, OSHA formed an Alliance with NIOSH and the National Service, Transmission, Exploration & Production Safety (STEPS) Network to identify hazards faced by oil and gas workers, and to make protective recommendations. Earlier this year, the Alliance issued a Tank Hazard Alert aggregating its findings on oilfield hazards and possible solutions. Some of […]
When we think of people who handle medical waste, workers at healthcare facilities generally come to mind. However, there is a whole array of other folks, from transporters to landfill staff, who could also potentially be exposed to medical waste. As we are all aware, no matter what precautions we take, there is always the […]