From a toxic gas release caused by a worker's inability to understand English language labels to OSHA's update of the General Industry Digest, here are the top stories of the week from ISHN.com:
On December 14th the EPA finalized a rule updating the standards for fine particulates, including soot, setting the annual health standard to 12 micrograms per cubic meter, down from the current level of 15. EPA’s proposed rule issued in June, 2012 generated more than 230,000 public comments.
OSHA's updated General Industry Digest – a booklet that summarizes General Industry safety and health standards to help employers, supervisors, workers, health and safety committee members, and safety and health personnel learn about OSHA standards in the workplace – is now available. The digest includes updated information on revisions to General Industry standards since the digest was last published in 2001.
OSHA has published a notice confirming the effective date of the direct final rule for OSHA's head protection standards. This final rule updates the incorporation by reference of national consensus standards to include the latest edition of the consensus standard. It updates references in OSHA's standards to recognize the 2009 edition of the American National Standard for Industrial Head Protection, and deletes the 1986 edition of that national consensus standard because it is out of date.
OSHA's updated General Industry Digest – a booklet that summarizes General Industry safety and health standards to help employers, supervisors, workers, health and safety committee members, and safety and health personnel learn about OSHA standards in the workplace – is now available
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is issuing a Request for Information to initiate the fourth phase of its Standards Improvement Project (SIP). The purpose of SIP-IV is to improve and streamline existing OSHA construction standards by removing or revising requirements that are confusing or outdated, or that duplicate, or are inconsistent with, other standards.
The Labor Department and Exel, Inc. have entered into a settlement agreement that resolves citations issued by OSHA for violations of OSHA’s occupational noise exposure standard and record-keeping regulations at Exel’s facility in Palmyra, NJ.
No PPE for Houston workers cutting into asbestos-containing pipes
November 15, 2012
While repairing water mains in 2011, workers in Houston were not informed that the pipes they were dealing with were composed of 35 percent asbestos. They were not provided with personal protective equipment needed for handling asbestos.
Jobs creation and avoiding the fiscal cliff are top of mind issues of national business groups following the election. More narrow issues, such as OSHA policies and standards, are for another day, probably sometime in 2013, especially if OSHA makes noises about new standards.
The people who write huge swath OSHA standards are from the same philosophy (big government solves all ) that wrote: 2700 pages of healthcare law, begatting multiple thousands of a pages of regulations; 2300 pages of financial law, with more thousands of pages of regulations, etc. etc. Enough!!
