The 12-member advisory committee "plays an important role in helping OSHA develop and promote standards and guidelines to protect employees from injuries, illnesses, and fatalities on the job," said OSHA chief Edwin G. Foulke Jr.
"A digital strategy component allows CBP to reach audiences that are increasingly using the Internet as their source of news and information, especially related to travel," said CBP Assistant Commissioner Thomas S. Winkowski. "The widget, because it sits on the computer desktop, provides an ongoing and interactive reminder to travelers to get appropriate travel documents."
Under the new rule, all employers will need either to have a safety committee or to use the less formal option of safety meetings to involve their employees in addressing jobsite safety.
In response to the low rates of influenza immunization among health care personnel, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) has announced its support for requiring flu immunization for health care workers who have direct patient contact as well as ancillary staff.
Although communities commonly use sobriety checkpoints and increased police patrols to detect drivers under the influence of alcohol, a new review by the Colorado Injury Control Research Center and the Colorado School of Public Health reports there is not enough evidence to say definitively that these efforts to cut down the number of accidents and deaths from drunk driving.
Idling typically wastes almost a gallon of fuel per hour, puts more wear and tear on an engine than driving, and causes pollution that contributes to ozone smog, fine particle pollution, and increased carbon dioxide emissions, EPA notes.
The Bush Administration is committing almost $90 million over the next eight years to expand capacity at John F. Kennedy International Airport, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced yesterday. She also unveiled new rules designed to lower fares, increase consumer choices, and improve service for air travelers using JFK, Newark, and LaGuardia airports.
"These citations address a variety of hazards which, left uncorrected, expose employees to potential falls, fire, crushing injuries, lacerations, amputations, being caught in the unexpected startup of machinery or not being able to exit the workplace swiftly in the event of an emergency," said Christopher Adams, OSHA's area director in Syracuse, N.Y.
After two incidents were reported involving injuries to children and adults, Chance Rides Manufacturing is offering inspection/repair kits for approximately 85 of its affected rides.
The agency detailed 12 inspectors to conduct 96 safety inspections at 46 construction sites throughout the city from June 23 to July 3. Citations were issued to 60 contractors for 129 violations with a total of $247,400 in proposed fines during the period.
"What's particularly disturbing is that this employer--who has been cited for fall protection violations in the past--allowed these hazards to continue even in the midst of an ongoing OSHA inspection," said Robert Kowalski, OSHA's area director in Bridgeport, Conn.
The U.S. Department of Labor yesterday recognized eight winners of the 7th annual New Freedom Initiative Award for their outstanding efforts to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
National Transportation Safety Board Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker recently told the rail transportation industry to take advantage of newly emerging technologies that can provide the biggest safety improvements in coming years.
The company was cited for failing to document and implement provisions of OSHA's PSM standard concerning equipment deficiencies, operator training, and safe working practices, among other things, following an explosion in April resulting from the release of flammable liquid and vapor from an open piping system during preparation for maintenance.
In separate ceremonies, the facilities were presented with a VPP star flag in recognition of their excellent workplace safety and health records, maintaining an injury and illness rate below their industries' average for three years.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has increased inspections and product testing efforts in response to the melamine contamination problem which originated in Chinese dairy products. As a result, the agency has detected melamine contamination in Blue Cat Flavor Drinks.
The company also faces 24 serious citations for missing or inadequate guarding of mechanical power presses and press brakes, uninspected power presses, and lack of a hearing conservation program, among other alleged violations. Total proposed fines exceed $70,000.
In addition to limiting the radioactive waste dose limit to 15 millirem per year for the first 10,000 years after disposal, the final standard will require the Department of Energy to consider the effects of climate change, earthquakes, volcanoes, and corrosion of the waste packages to safely contain the waste during a 1 million-year period.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued the results of its interim safety and risk assessment of melamine and melamine-related compounds in food, including infant formula.
OSHA has cited Pepsi-Cola and National Brand Beverage Ltd. of Pennsauken with $195,000 in proposed penalties for alleged workplace safety and health violations.