Panthera Painting Inc. of Canonsburg, Pa has been cited by OSHA for 38 alleged violations—including 14 willful and 11 repeat—found at bridge work sites in Slatington, Harrisburg and Slatedale, where workers were exposed to lead and other safety and health hazards while performing abrasive blasting and repainting projects.

The California Division of Occupational Safety & Health (Cal/OSHA) has issued 25 citations against Chevron USA, with proposed penalties totaling nearly $1 million, for state safety standard violations related to the August 6, 2012 fire at Chevron’s Richmond refinery.

A recent incident at a rural oil and gas production site in Texas that critically injured two people has the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) renewing its call for more precautions – despite the fact that the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC-TX) has declined to increase security at such sites, arguing that the number of incidents doesn’t justify it.

December impact inspections by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) found one of the lowest number of violations to date, but Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health said: "We still see some mines that fail to address recurring problems that put miners at risk."

Everyone these days is talking about performance indicators for workplace safety. It’s widely understood that if you only measure injuries and follow OSHA injury/illness recordkeeping requirements you have a large blindspot in truly assessing how you safety processes are working, or not working. OSHA has its own set of measures.

From noise hazards in foundries and sports venues to sweating manikins, here are the week’s top EHS-related news stories from ISHN.com:

Two papers published in the January issue of Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (JOEH) address noise hazards in a work environment not usually studied for noise hazards: sports venues. Noise controls are often enforced only when workers have been exposed to noise levels beyond recognized standards, and only in workplaces and industries known for frequent noise exposure, such as manufacturing and construction.

From Hilda Solis' resignation as Secretary of Labor to a new study on workplace wellness programs and the savings they can produce in health costs to the way Americans are continuing to endanger our health, here are the week's top EHS-related stories as featured on ISHN.com:

OSHA has issued its annual inspection plan under the Site-Specific Targeting 2012 program to direct enforcement resources to workplaces where the highest rates of injuries and illnesses occur.

Five out of the six safety violations issued by OSHA recently to a NJ contractor were repeat ones involving fall and scaffolding hazards while employees were applying stucco to a commercial building in Westwood, N.J.