Government Safety Regulations - Articles - Page 88

EPA rule blocks “discontinued uses” of asbestos

May 13, 2019

The EPA has issued a final rule that closes a regulatory loophole for asbestos by prohibiting discontinued uses of the substance by being re-introduced to the marketplace without an agency review. Restrictions on Discontinued Uses of Asbestos; Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) is effective June 24, 2019. The restricted significant new uses of asbestos (including as part of an article) is manufacturing (including importing) or processing for uses that are neither ongoing nor already prohibited under TSCA.

OSHA pushed to set heat illness prevention standard

May 13, 2019

For Peggy Frank, a Los Angeles letter carrier, any federal or California safety rule ordering her employer—and all other firms—to protect workers from the hazards of excess heat didn’t work. Frank, a 63-year-old grandmother, collapsed and died from California’s monstrously high heat while delivering the mail in Woodland Hills, a section of Los Angeles, last summer. The temperature in that particular neighborhood the day she died? 107 degrees.

Fla. heat illness prevention bill faces uphill battle

May 13, 2019

Advocates in Florida are pushing for tougher standards for growers to protect their employees, arguing that rising global temperatures will make outdoor work unsustainable without the proper regulations. Florida’s agriculture and construction employers could soon be required to train outdoor workers and managers on avoiding heat-related illnesses under proposed legislation. The heat illness prevention bill, sponsored by Orlando Democrat Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, would set a statewide standard for all outdoor workers to be given plenty of drinking water, access to shade and ten-minute rest breaks enforced after every two hours of outside labor.

All about California’s heat stroke law

May 13, 2019

The state of California continues to place obligations for preventing employee heat stroke onto employers. In 2015, California heat stroke law clarified that cooldown periods or “recovery periods” must be paid, by state law.

Health policy legislation shifts to the states

The U.S. lags behind competing nations. Where there is no critical mass for action, states are filling the void.

Ilise L. Feitshans JD, ScM and DIR

May 13, 2019

We have a swamp of occupational safety and health theory and practice currently. Lack of nationwide clarity undermines what should be unequivocal reproductive health protections, whether preconceptual, post-childbearing for target reproductive organs, or during pregnancy.

Weekly news round-up

May 11, 2019

Cooperating with OSHA gets two employees fired – and their employer found guilty of retaliation; health experts want asbestos banned and the Association Health Plans program gets a defeat in court. These were among the top occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

A FairWarning Story

Worker advocates burned up over lack of federal heat protections

Marjie Lundstrom

May 10, 2019

On a summer morning near Dayton, Ohio, a temporary worker began his first day with a commercial roofing company around 6:30 a.m. Mark Rainey, 60, was assigned to a crew to rip off and dispose of an old bank-building roof. Within hours, as the heat index reached 85 degrees, his co-workers noticed the new guy was “walking clumsily,” then became ill and collapsed, according to documents from OSHA.

Company illegally fired employees after amputation

Co-workers who cooperated with OSHA terminated

Maureen Paraventi

May 9, 2019

Five years of legal wrangling following a workplace amputation – in which retaliation, intrigue and secret photos played a part – ended recently with a decision by a federal jury in Pennsylvania. The jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found that Lloyd Industries Inc. and its owner, William P. Lloyd, unlawfully fired two employees because of their involvement in an OSHA investigation.

Workplace safety violations across the U.S.A.

May 9, 2019

California OSHA issued four citations and $63,560 in penalties to Mercer-Fraser Co. after a worker driving a truck collided with a front end loader and suffered a serious head injury. Inspectors determined that the company failed to require seat belt use, develop and implement safe practices for workers operating haul trucks, and ensure that trucks were operated at safe speeds.

APHA calls on Congress to ban asbestos

May 9, 2019

The American Public Health Association (APHA) is urging Congress to urge support of the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2019, a bill to protect the public from exposure to the toxic substance. “Asbestos is a potent carcinogen. There is no safe level of exposure to it."