In its latest 2009 update for the 111th Congress and President Obama, the agency designated three new high-risk areas, focusing on the U.S. Financial Regulatory System, the FDA's oversight of medical products, and EPA's processes for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals.
The focus of the pact is on reducing construction and general industry hazards, including but not limited to falls, electrical operations, ergonomics, bloodborne pathogens, fire safety, egress/exit routes, and evacuation plans.
The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to take Venom HYPERDRIVE 3.0, a product sold as a dietary supplement and containing sibutramine, a controlled substance with risks for abuse or addiction and poses potential safety risks.
Contractors and vendors met in San Antonio last week to talk about technologies for underground utility work. Britain's HSE says a company's recent conviction after a worker suffered burns should remind other excavators of the hazards.
The American Industrial Hygiene Association recently sent a letter to President Obama offering support for his proposal to create more than three million new jobs for American workers.
Citing a fatal explosion in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2006, U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman John Bresland has issued a new video safety message urging the state to move forward promptly with recommendations to extend OSHA coverage to all its public workers.
Registration is now open for the 2009 Oregon Governor's Occupational Safety and Health (GOSH) Conference, to be held March 9-12 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. The largest conference of its kind in the Northwest will feature more than 30 full-day workshops and 115 single-topic classes. It is designed to educate managers and workers about safety and health issues.
OSHA has cited A.P. Dailey Custom Laminating Inc. of Windham, N.H., for 34 alleged serious violations of workplace safety and health standards. The manufacturer of custom kitchen cabinets and countertops faces a total of $44,500 in proposed fines following OSHA inspections prompted by an Aug. 1, 2008, accident in which a company employee lost two fingers while operating an unguarded saw.
This settlement is part of a larger federal investigation of the body armor industry's use of Zylon fabric.
A notice was included in the Jan. 23 Federal Register announcing OSHA's final decision expanding the recognition of NSF International (NSF) as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory under 29 CFR 1910.7.
Former Congressman Ray H. LaHood joined DOT as the sixteenth U.S. secretary of Transportation on Friday, Jan. 23, after Senate confirmation the previous day.
With the advent of the new administration and the 111th Congress, the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) recently announced its health care reform principles. Beginning with a call for universal access to health care, AMGA's priorities focus on systemic changes to improve the quality of health care for America's patients.
An interstate trucking firm has agreed to pay $2.43 million and provide other remedial relief to a class of women to settle a major sex discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced recently.
California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. filed a lawsuit to recover $4.13 million in lost wages, benefits and penalties from a drywall contractor who "cruelly and illegally" violated the rights of its workers by prohibiting them from taking rest breaks, denying overtime pay and forcing them to work without safety equipment.
OSHA has cited the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics for nine alleged serious safety violations and proposed $56,700 in fines against the laboratory as a result of an Aug. 6, 2008, accident that seriously injured an employee.
Filed Jan. 16 with the clerk of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, this OSHA "statement of agency position" says the general duty clause does not preempt the Oklahoma statute barring employers from banning employees' firearms. The law is before the 10th Circuit because a federal judge in 2007 ruled the OSH Act preempts the state law.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released a comprehensive report to Chair Naomi C. Earp from the Federal Hispanic Work Group, titled Report on the Hispanic Employment Challenge in the Federal Government. The report contains an extensive number of practical recommendations that address a broad array of contemporary federal sector employment issues, including hiring, leadership development, and retention.
The proposed revisions would allow certain machine-based fit tests to be conducted more quickly and increase the required score for passing them.
The membership of the full committee and its subcommittees was settled last night, with Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., saying strengthening the middle class and protecting retirement savings remain top priorities.
Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s memo told agency heads that regulations not yet published should be held for review and to consider a 60-day extension of the effective date for published regulations not yet in effect. This covers at least three OSHA regulations.