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The big news this week: OSHA issued a final silica rule that dramatically cut permissible exposure limits for silica – limits which hadn’t been updated in four decades. It wasn’t the only news though:

The Proposition 65 warning requirement for exposures to BPA, listed as a reproductive toxicant, is effective on May 11, 2016. California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has issued two proposed regulations -- an emergency regulation for exposure to BPA through ingestion, which permits temporary point of sale warning signage for canned and bottled food and beverages, and a proposed regulation which sets a safe harbor level of 3 mcg/day for dermal absorption of BPA from solid materials.

When he was a kid, Tom Ward thought his dad was Superman, especially because he worked with his hands. When I sat down with Tom a few weeks ago, he talked about how heroic and invincible his father seemed, about his athleticism and his work ethic. But years of working as a sandblaster had taken their toll. They turned out to be this Superman’s kryptonite.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced a final rule to improve protections for workers exposed to respirable silica dust. The rule will curb lung cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease in America's workers by limiting their exposure to respirable crystalline silica.

After evaluating the available scientific evidence, NIOSH has determined that it is insufficient to support developing a size-specific recommended exposure limit (REL) for silver nanomaterials. In the absence of information to support a size-specific REL, worker exposures to silver dust, fume, and soluble compounds should be maintained below the NIOSH REL of 10 µg/m3 as an 8-hour time-weighted average.

Scientists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have developed a novel technique that makes it possible to measure silica dust quickly and easily at the mine site. Silica dust exposure can causes silicosis, an irreversible, but preventable, occupational lung disease.

U.S. Rep. Richard L. Hanna, [R-NY-22], has introduced a bill (H. R. 4625), legislation that would "require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop a voluntary patient registry to collect data on cancer incidence among firefighters."

The 2016 Supplement to the Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values and Biological Exposure Indices, 7th Edition is now available.

Oil rig safety oversight, an international steel safety day and the five safety and health items you need in your office were among the top occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Regardless of where you work and what you do, there are always going to be safety hazards. Luckily for you, there are places where businesses can go to get exactly what they need to equip their offices with not only safety equipment, but all types of business supplies.