Lack of resources, high staff turnover affect performance
April 22, 2013
In a report released Friday (pdf), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that some of the state-run occupational safety and health programs have failed to meet minimum workplace safety inspection goals because of state budget cuts, reduced staffing, and policies that limit their ability to retain safety and health inspectors.
Changes include felony charges for certain violations
April 22, 2013
The Protecting America's Workers Act currently pending in Congress would strengthen and modernize the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 by giving OSHA additional tools to ensure that employers promptly correct hazardous working conditions, protect workers from retaliation when they blow the whistle on unsafe working conditions, and hold employers accountable for violations that cause death or serious injury to workers.
The radiation guides allow cleanup many times more lax than anything EPA has ever before accepted.
April 17, 2013
The White House has given final approval for dramatically raising permissible radioactive levels in drinking water and soil following “radiological incidents,” such as nuclear power-plant accidents and dirty bombs.
Missouri levee project threatens the nomination process
April 11, 2013
President Obama’s pick for EPA administrator goes on the hot seat today. Gina McCarthy, the Environmental Protection Agency's top air quality official since 2009, will appear before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee as part of a nomination process that is already embroiled in a political spat.
Reactions to the budget proposed yesterday by President Obama have been swift and sharp, but they will probably prove to be sound and fury, signifying nothing, if Aaron Trippler’s predictions are accurate.
More technology will be leveraged to “transform”agency
April 10, 2013
The Obama Administration today proposed a Fiscal Year 2014 (FY 2014) budget of $8.153 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This request is $296 million below the EPA’s budget for Fiscal Year 2012.
The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) says it supports a bill that would direct OSHA to to issue an interim and final standard regarding worker exposure to combustible dust – with some reservations.
Silica stuck, combustible dust the subject of a bill
April 4, 2013
Combustible dust, mine safety and silica are some of the subject of bills that are currently making their way through – or are stuck in – the legislative and regulatory pipelines. Aaron Trippler, Government Affairs Director for the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), provides a rundown in his “Happenings on the Hill:”
Respirator manufacturers, industries that rely on NIOSH-approved respiratory equipment and other stakeholders can present information on the potential impacts of a proposed amendment to the Respirator Certification Fees rule at an upcoming public meeting.