More than 95,000 signatures will be on a petition delivered to Congress tomorrow, urging the EPA to “Ban Asbestos in the U.S. Now, Without Loopholes or Exemptions.” That delivery is timed for Mesothelioma Awareness Day, an effort to bring attention to mesothelioma, a lung disease caused by exposure to asbestos and the inhalation of asbestos particles.

Back when Nixon was in office, asbestos was one of the first carcinogens regulated under the Clean Air Act of 1973. In 1989, President George H.W. Bush largely banned use of asbestos in the United States.

A mistrial was declared today after a California state court jury deadlocked on whether Johnson & Johnson was responsible for the asbestos-related cancer of a woman who blamed her illness on longtime use of contaminated baby powder. Soon after starting a sixth day of deliberations, jurors in Los Angeles Superior Court told Judge Margaret L. Oldendorf that they were at an impasse, with eight of 12 favoring an award of damages to the plaintiff, Carolyn Weirick.

While Rod Rosenstein and Brett Kavanaugh may be on their way out, OSHA nominee Scott Mugno and other Department of Labor nominees may be on their way in according to intrepid Bloomberg reporter Chris Opfer.

After a yearlong delay that OSHA said it needed to address stakeholder concerns, employers in the construction industry must comply with a requirement for crane operator certification in the Cranes and Derricks Construction Standard as of November 10. Crane operators are certified (29 CFR 1926.1427), demonstrating sufficient knowledge and skill of the machines they’ll operate through both written and practical tests.

A Georgia peanut processing facility that failed to live up to its formal settlement with OSHA faces $309,505 in proposed penalties. OSHA says a follow-up inspection it conducted at the Leesburg worksite as part of that agreement found that Great Southern Peanut LLC failed to:

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.

A new bill would give feds the legal authority to shoot down drones that are deemed “credible threats” to national security. The problem – say critics – is that the bill doesn't define credible threats or specify target areas. It may also allow the federal government to sidestep laws requiring authorities to get courts for permission to conduct surveillance.

One of the largest and longest-running efforts to evaluate the potential benefits of the Mediterranean-style diet in lowering risk of stroke found that the diet may be especially protective in women over 40 regardless of menopausal status or hormone replacement therapy, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke.

As more organizations offer increasingly comprehensive programs for workplace safety and health, researchers and organizations alike look for the best examples and tools to measure their effectiveness. With so many programs available, how do organizations know which one is best?