silica rule

AFL-CIO blog post

Donald Trump: A year of making workplaces more dangerous

January 22, 2018

It has been a year since Donald Trump took office. Despite promising to be a friend of workers, Trump has spent much of his first year making our workplaces less safe. AFL-CIO Director of Safety and Health Peg Seminario described Trump's actions:

A Confined Space blog post

What’s going on inside OSHA?

Jordan Barab

October 23, 2017

Back from vacation and checking in with people to see what’s going on at the agency charged with assuring the safety and health of American workers. And the answer is not much…and a lot. The Mysteriously Missing Assistant Secretary: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee yesterday approved the nominations of a Deputy Secretary (Patrick Pizzella), the head of Wage & Hour (Cheryl Stanton), and the head of MSHA (David Zatezalo), all on identical party line votes (all the R’s voted for the nominees, and all of the Dems voted against.)

3M Personal Safety Division invites ASSE attendees to unlock the science of safety at 3m booth #1005 at ASSE 2017

June 9, 2017

3M Personal Safety Division will showcase its latest innovations in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), booth #1005, in Denver beginning Monday, June 19. In addition to the debut of new products and services, 3M will also address OSHA’s final rule to update general industry walking-working surfaces and fall protection standards with presentations and demonstrations.

OSHA standards: to repeal or not to repeal

That is one of the questions we asked ISHN readers

February 10, 2017

Will OSHA change under the Trump administration? (Should OSHA change under the Trump administration?) Should some standards be repealed? Will funding for the agency’s enforcement and voluntary protection programs decrease? Increase? Should OSHA be abolished and its duties handled by state agencies?

ISHN survey: Most OSH pros don't approve of regulatory freeze

February 1, 2017

The majority of occupational safety and health professionals who responded to a survey in last week’s enewsletter about President Trump’s regulatory freeze were in favor of having the newly-issued beryllium standard in effect. Opinions differed on other regulatory issues. When asked what occupational safety and health hazards, if any, should be covered by new regulations, PEL updates were mentioned most.

AIHce Monday Morning Show stars OSHA chief Michaels and NIOSH boss Howard

Report from AIHce 2016

Dave Johnson

May 19, 2016

Dr. Dan Anna, Ph.D., CIH, CSP and AIHA President hosts this “show” with guests Dr. David Michaels and Dr. John Howard. This is an interesting time to hear both the longest-serving OSHA chief ever and the longest-serving NIOSH director.

OSHA issues final silica rule

Industry questions feasibility of reaching lower exposure limits

May 5, 2016

The rule is comprised of two standards, one for Construction and one for General Industry and Maritime.

U.S. DOL Blog post

“It Took About 5 Years to Kill Him, and We Got to Watch”

Thomas Perez

March 25, 2016

When he was a kid, Tom Ward thought his dad was Superman, especially because he worked with his hands. When I sat down with Tom a few weeks ago, he talked about how heroic and invincible his father seemed, about his athleticism and his work ethic. But years of working as a sandblaster had taken their toll. They turned out to be this Superman’s kryptonite.

New workplace safety and health regs expected in 2016

January 25, 2016

During his final year in office, President Obama is expected to usher in some major new regulations, including rules regarding worker safety, health and the environment.

Silica exposure due to an unsafe work practice. Photo by NIOSH/John Rekus.

Public hearings on OSHA’s silica proposal get underway

Dozens of associations and experts scheduled to speak

March 20, 2014

OSHA’s effort to reduce the permissible exposure limits for silica began a new phase this week, with an intensive three week period of public hearings that wrap up on Friday, April 4. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels said his agency’s rulemaking is an open process, “and the input we receive will help us ensure that a final rule adequately protects workers, is feasible for employers, and is based on the best available evidence."