The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) is in favor an electronic submission requirement in OSHA’s proposed rule for the tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses – but it wants a worker privacy study conducted before the rule is finalized. In a letter sent to the agency’s Director of Technical Support and Emergency Management, Amanda Edens, AIHA Director of Government Relations Mark Ames offered recommendations on the rule.

Six months after the fatal collapse of a pedestrian bridge in Miami, Florida, OSHA has announced citations against multiple contractors. The catastrophic failure of the bridge on March 15 occurred before the structure was even officially open, just days after crews dropped a 950-ton span in place. One bridge worker and five motorists were killed. Eight other people – five of them employees - were injured.

If you’re in construction, maritime, hydraulic fracturing, or other general industries using silica, the new silica standard and silica dust should matter to you. Chances are, you could be getting exposed to dangerous respirable silica dust that you can’t even see. And, what you can’t see, can hurt you.

Don’t count on the tobacco companies to reverse the sharp rise in e-cigarette use among teens. That’s the message the American Heart Association (AHA) is sending to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who promised last week that the federal government would act to curtail youthful e-cigarette use.

The U.S. Labor Department says its new Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI) will strengthen compliance assistance outreach by promoting a greater understanding of federal labor laws and regulations. In announcing the new office last month, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta said OCI efforts will help companies prevent violations and protect Americans' wages, workplace safety and health, retirement security, and other rights and benefits. As part of its work, OCI will work with the enforcement agencies to refine their metrics to ensure the efficacy of the Department's compliance assistance activities.

Motorcycle crash prevention technology, a legislative move to shield autonomous vehicles from federal regulations and sobering new U.S. obesity statistics were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Good news! Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh does not think it is unreasonable for workers to expect to come home safely at the end of the day, even if they work in the entertainment industry. So he claims in his response to a written question from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Unfortunately, “expecting” isn’t doing. And Kavanaugh, in his dissent from the SeaWorld case, in his testimony before Congress, and now in his written responses, seeks to take away the ability of workers to make that expectation a reality.

OSHA has cited pallet manufacturer Buckeye Diamond Logistics Inc. - which operates as BDL Supply - for lockout/tagout hazards after an employee suffered an amputation at the Columbus-based company. OSHA proposed penalties of $191,794 for two repeated and four serious violations.

Back in 2012, OSHA aligned its Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom or HCS) with Revision 3 of the United Nation’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling (GHS), which resulted in the current HazCom 2012 Standard.

Consumer advocates are attacking a bill heading for a vote soon in the U.S. Senate that would clear legal obstacles for the deployment of driverless cars — a proposal that, critics say, lacks safeguards needed to protect the public and largely would let vehicle manufacturers regulate themselves. The measure, which is being pushed by auto and tech industry lobbyists, is called the AV START Act, standing for “American Vision for Safer Transportation through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies.”