OSHA is postponing enforcement of certain requirements of the final rule on occupational exposure to beryllium in general industry. Requirements originally scheduled for enforcement on June 25 will not be enforced until Aug. 9.

The severity of the opioid epidemic is well-documented. In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that drug overdose deaths in the United States more than tripled from 1999 to 2015.[1] From 2015 to 2016, opioid overdose deaths increased by more than 20 percent—rising from 52,898 in 2016 to 64,070 deaths in 2017.[2]

Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today announced a new connected gas detector that listens for leaks ultrasonically, complementing fixed gas detectors to better protect workers and facilities against deadly toxic and explosive gas leaks.

What is the monetary value of a person’s life? Vanderbilt economist W. Kip Viscusi says putting a price tag on the value of a person’s life makes people and products safer. Viscusi defines the “value of statistical life” or VSL as the dollar amount that people are willing to pay to avoid an expected death tied to a faulty product or job-related accident. His current estimate of the value of statistical life is $10 million.

A favorite tradition that goes along with Independence Day celebrations is not without hazards for the workers who must make it happen. OSHA’s archives contain several stories of fatal incidents involving fireworks. In a 1997 one in Alton, Illinois, four employees were putting on a fireworks display from a barge.

Most of the provisions of OSHA’s standard for respirable crystalline silica in general industry and maritime become enforceable on June 23, 2018. The standard establishes a new 8-hour time-weighted average permissible exposure limit, action level, and associated ancillary requirements.

The Black Lung Benefits Program is more than $4 billion dollars in debt, and a 55 percent reduction scheduled at the end of 2018 in the production tax paid by coal companies will cause that deficit to nearly quadruple over the next 30 years, according to a recent report by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Employees at a Wisconsin battery company were exposed to airborne lead at levels 11 times the permissible exposure limit, according to OSHA, which has cited C & D Technologies for two repeated and six serious violations.

DEKRA, a global partner for a safe world, has announced it is opening a chemical reaction hazard laboratory in the demonstration area of the national public inspection and testing service platform-Jinan District, Shanghai. This latest chemical reaction hazard laboratory adds to DEKRA’s strong global presence with Process Safety related testing facilities on three continents.

The Inspector General (IG) issued a somewhat bizarre report yesterday on “management challenges” at the Chemical Safety Board. The IG is required by the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 “to report what we consider the most serious management and performance challenges facing the CSB.”