The Environmental Protection Agency has a proposal on the drawing board that critics say could expand the use of asbestos — an industrial material known to cause cancer and lung disease. Since the health hazards of asbestos emerged 40 years ago, use of the material has dropped dramatically across the globe. By 2013, more than 60 countries had implemented partial or full bans of asbestos.

Is OSHA more irrelevant than ever? Many top OSHA officials, careerists, are working in an “acting” or interim basis: the agency’s career deputy assistant secretary position; the head of whistleblower protection; the director of training; and four of the ten agency regional administrators.

An employee of a Tennessee tire plant was killed May 8 when he was caught in the moving arms of an assembly machine. According to a report by the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA), 33-year-old Ben Shew, a mechanic at Specialty Tires of Unicoi, had completed a welding repair on the machine while the power was locked out.

Fuel economy standards intended to combat climate change by reducing gas emissions are in for a rollback, if a proposal announced today by the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration goes into effect. Passed during the Obama administration, the standards were scheduled to become progressively tougher over time for new vehicles. The Trump administration proposal would freeze the standards at their 2020 levels for six years.

An employee of a Tennessee tire plant was killed May 8 when he was caught in the moving arms of an assembly machine. According to a report by the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA), 33-year-old Ben Shew, a mechanic at Specialty Tires of Unicoi, had completed a welding repair on the machine while the power was locked out.

OSHA has cited Patterson-UTI Drilling, Crescent Consulting LLC, and Skyline Directional Drilling LLC for exposing employees to fire and explosion hazards after five employees suffered fatal injuries.

If you work in safety in a high-hazard industry, would you be worried if your company injury and illness data sat on OSHA’s website to be accessed by the public? Would you fear publicizing the data could damage your company’s reputation?

To help prevent injuries and deaths from working with hazardous chemicals, OSHA requires employers to establish a hazard communication program [29 CFR 1910.1200.]

The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration found five serious safety violations at the ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago after the death of a steelworker there in a Taylor Dunn buggy accident in December.