Here’s one reason OSHA never seems to be able to get on track: Since the agency’s inception in 1971, it has had more acting administrators (13) than Senate-confirmed appointees (11). In addition, one OSHA administrator was named by the president during a Congressional recess and never confirmed by the Senate.
The Department of Labor has entered into a settlement with Triple B Cleaning Inc. in Houston to resolve findings by OSHA that the company illegally terminated an employee because of complaints about safety issues.
The Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced that settlement conferences held between mine operators and MSHA personnel to resolve enforcement disputes will be deferred until after civil penalties have been proposed and the operator notifies MSHA of its intent to contest the violations and/or penalties.
In a letter to Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) expresses its support and additional recommendations regarding Miller’s bill that would direct OSHA to issue an interim and final standard regarding worker exposure to combustible dust.
In a first-of-its-kind report, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists state that Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), chemicals commonly used in commercial goods such as flame retardants since the 1970s, are found in all United States coastal waters and the Great Lakes, with elevated levels near urban and industrial centers, according to a recent NOAA press release.
According to the April 2009 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch, up to 75% of cancer deaths in the United States can be prevented. The publication offers the following 10 cancer prevention tips.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded four grants to universities to research the relationship between the chemical composition of particulate matter (PM) and health effects, according to an agency press release. PM is a complex mixture that consists of direct emissions and reaction products formed in the atmosphere.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) this week released a performance audit (Report Number 02-09-203-10-105) of OSHA’s Enhanced Enforcement Program (EEP) to Donald G. Shalhoub, deputy assistant secretary for occupational safety and health.
This week the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General released an audit report, “Procurement Violations and Irregularities Occurred in OSHA’s Oversight of a Blanket Purchase Agreement to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Safety and Health,” (Report Number: 03-09-002-10-001).