The Food and Drug Administration recently announced it has stepped up its efforts to prevent non-compliant investigators and others from participating in new product development. FDA's procedures for debarment and disqualification have been enhanced to better protect participants in clinical studies and for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of the medical products marketed to the American public.
This week, the American Trucking Associations highlighted its work to increase truckers' belt use -- part of ATA's safety agenda, which advocates adoption of primary enforcement laws.
Daytona Beach, Fla.-based APCO serves the professional needs of its 15,000 members worldwide by creating a platform for setting professional standards, addressing professional issues and providing education, products and services for people who manage, operate, maintain and supply the communications systems used by police, fire and emergency medical dispatch agencies throughout the world.
"The employer regularly lifted 60-107 tons of precast concrete beams with cranes ill-equipped to handle this kind of load, exposing workers to a variety of hazards," said Mark Stelmack, area director of OSHA's Wilkes-Barre office.
"We run a lot of tough, dangerous operations where complicated things go on, and I know how hard it is to reach a level of excellence that you have here, to attain VPP Star status," said Stephen Kelly, Battelle senior vice president and president of Battelle National Security Global Business.
The state's seat belt usage rate was 44th in the nation at 74 percent when a primary enforcement law took effect July 1. The Zero in Wisconsin campaign was launched to reduce traffic fatalities.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced its Top Ten list of recalled children's products as part of the agency's "Resale Round-up" campaign. CPSC's goal is to protect consumers by getting dangerous recalled products out of resale stores and off the Internet. Re-selling recalled products is a violation of federal law.
In a guidance issued Aug. 6, the Food and Drug Administration says that certain pharmaceutical ingredients used in the manufacture or preparation of drug products should be tested for melamine.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced a class litigation settlement against Hometown Buffet, Inc., on behalf of teens and Latinas who were subjected to a sexually hostile workplace, including verbal and physical abuse, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced that the agency is taking an important step to ensure children's health is taken into account when evaluating the chemical perchlorate.
OSHA has cited Sinclair Tulsa Refining Co. with one alleged willful and one serious following an inspection at the company's crude oil refinery in Tulsa. Proposed penalties total $240,750. OSHA's Oklahoma City Area Office began its investigation Feb. 4 at the company's facility on 25th Street in Tulsa.
The Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order requiring the former president of Chicago-based AA Capital Partners Inc. to restore $50 million in losses to five Michigan pension funds as restitution for misuse of the plans' assets to benefit the investment firm and himself (Solis v. AA Capital Partners Inc., Civil Action No. 08-cv-2029).
OSHA has cited Progressive Protein LLC of Omaha for alleged safety and health violations following a fatal accident.
Jordan Barab, acting assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, warned that with this heightened effort to address fraudulent activity by authorized trainers, those "who fail to provide appropriate safety training will pay a stiff price for their fraudulent behavior."
The Food and Drug Administration is requiring stronger warnings in the prescribing information for a class of drugs known as TNF blockers. The warnings, which include an updated boxed warning, highlight the increased risk of cancer in children and adolescents who receive these drugs to treat juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, the inflammatory bowel disorder Crohn's disease, and other inflammatory diseases.
And beginning Jan. 1, 2010, law enforcement in the state will be able to conduct primary enforcement of a texting while driving ban, thanks to a new law.
OSHA has cited Branco Enterprises Inc. with an alleged willful and nine serious violations of federal health and safety regulations following an inspection at the company's worksite in Fort Smith. Proposed penalties total $102,600.
OSHA has cited Amer Industrial Technologies Inc. for alleged safety and health violations, proposing $63,750 in penalties.
DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday he will "announce a list of concrete steps we will take to make drivers think twice about taking their eyes off the road for any reason" after next month's summit in Washington, D.C.
The third severe weather advisory of the summer from the city's Department of Buildings listed eight proactive steps to take for construction sites and five for buildings.