OSHA has announced that it will issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that will remove provisions of the "Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses" rule requiring companies with 250 or more workers to electronically submit data from the OSHA 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses and OSHA 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report.

An explosion onboard a towboat that killed three workers has resulted in OSHA issuing a total of 55 violations to five companies. The January 2018 incident in Calvert City, Kentucky shipyard occurred when employees were cutting and welding in an atmosphere containing flammable gases. In addition to the fatalities, three workers were critically injured.

A work environment may not seem like a confined space at first glance, but the surprising truth is that confined spaces exist in many forms. They are found in nearly every industry. Without a doubt, confined spaces expose workers to very real dangers.

The death of a worker in a fatal fall at a Dallas apartment complex has resulted in both criminal and civil penalties against his employer. U.S. District Court Judge Ed Kinkeade has ordered Design Plastering West LLC to pay a $150,000 criminal fine, $100,000 civil penalty, admit to eight willful violations, and to undergo monitoring by OSHA for four years.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on a Retrospective Study of the final rule entitled "Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors" in the Federal Register.

In September 2013, OSHA issued a new rule that incorporated the latest versions of standards for safety signs and tags by the American National Standards Institute. This was the first update in 40 years for OSHA's workplace safety sign and tag formats. Following current best practices for safety signage designs in construction and general industries, employers must adopt the newer ANSI tag and sign formats over time.

Hazard alerting signs must be placed to alert and inform viewers from a safe viewing distance, according to ANSI Z535.2-2011, Sections 11 and 12. • They must be legible, and must not be a distraction or create a hazard themselves.

The wording on any safety sign should be concise and easy to read, according to ANSI Z535.2-2011, Section 8. The size of the lettering must be of a size that enables a person with normal vision, including corrected vision, to read the safety sign message panel text at a safe viewing distance from the hazard.

New components include: Safety alert symbol (Black exclamation point within a yellow triangle with a black border) • Indicates a potential personal injury hazard exists. • It is only used on DANGER, WARNING and CAUTION signs, labels and tags.

Danger signs – Indicate immediate danger and alert personnel that special precautions are necessary. OSHA specifies that red, black and white colors are to be used for danger signs.