President Barack Obama has issued an Executive Order intended to improve chemical facility safety and security in coordination with owners and operators.
In a public meeting yesterday, members of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board declared the response by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to seven longstanding recommendations – on combustible dust, fuel gas and the Process Safety Management standard – to be “unacceptable.”
The 2013 spring agenda published by White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) earlier this month fails to show a strong commitment to advancing public health, safety or environmental protections, according to the Center for Effective Government, a D.C. watchdog group.
After filibuster dispute is settled, Senate finally gets to work
July 22, 2013
A Congressional bottleneck that had been going on for years finally got some resolution last week when Senators voted to confirm Gina McCarthy as head of the EPA and Thomas Perez as secretary of Labor.
Employees must be trained on certain elements by Dec. 1
July 16, 2013
Still a bit confused about what’s expected of your company regarding OSHA’s GHS deadline that arrives Dec. 1st? The agency and the Society of Chemical Hazard Communication Alliance will present a webinar on the subject on July 25th at 1:30 p.m. EST.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will hold a public meeting in Washington, D.C. on July 25 in Washington, to decide if OSHA has adequately implemented seven regulatory recommendations it issued.
Court orders company to drop suit against fired employee
July 9, 2013
An administrative law judge has ruled that a Madisonville, Ky., mining company violated the anti-discrimination provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 when it sued a miner for filing a discrimination complaint with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) following his job termination.
Question: At what distance from an unprotected side or edge does a worker, performing steel erection activities under 29 CFR 1926 Subpart R with a fall hazard greater than 15 feet, be required to have fall protection?
Regulation came after multiple-fatality mine disasters
July 8, 2013
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently upheld a decision that the failure to maintain emergency lifelines in a manner for miners to use effectively is a significant and substantial violation of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, regardless of the likelihood of a mine emergency actually occurring at the time of the violation.
OSHA and the Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch of the Department of Health of Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 19 to work together on implementing the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling in their respective jurisdictions.