Meanwhile, fall protection in construction accrued the highest total penalty amounts of all the categories in FY 2008.
Mining company CEOs labeled the bill "too punitive" and called it unconstitutional. It subjects company executives to five years in prison or a $300,000 fine if a worker dies.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said GE Consumer & Industrial of Louisville, Ky., voluntarily recalled the appliances because of a fire and burn hazard.
"A great deal of technical development and capabilities have evolved since the 1982 edition of the standard," said Jeff Fryman, Z244 Committee vice chairman. "These new technologies make the control of hazardous energy both more complex and easier to achieve.
EPA's notice seeks comments by Jan. 20 on the petition, which requests a ban on sale of products containing it, pesticide registration of all such products, and analysis of potential human health and environmental risks.
"Home fire season" has started, and the U.S. Fire Administration is working to make this year's cold months safer than last years--when there was a dramatic increase in home fire deaths. According to USFA, during the "home fire season" of Oct. 2007 to March 2008, there was a 68 percent increase in the number of fatal home fires and a 67 percent increase in the number of people killed in home fires, compared to the warmer months.
Interestingly, the issue of emergency preparedness and response—previously one of the public policy issues most on members' minds—was nowhere near the top of the list of concerns in the latest survey.
According to a new survey released today by Kimberly-Clark Professional, 89 percent of safety professionals polled at the 2008 National Safety Council (NSC) Congress have observed workers failing to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when they should have been.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 11 other national and international agencies and organizations will collaborate with the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases in sponsoring the Twelfth Annual Conference on Vaccine Research, April 27-29, 2009, at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Baltimore.
Installing an effective ventilation system and ensuring compressors used to supply breathing air are equipped with a high-temperature alarm or carbon monoxide alarm are among the agency's recommendations for lowering employees' risk of exposure. Using compressors that are not oil lubricated is another.
Recently, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a final rule (pdf) by unanimous vote, addressing the conformity certification required for consumer products subject to safety rules under the commission's jurisdiction.
The chain sold about 1.8 million cans of Zany String confetti that contained R-22 Freon, a Class II ozone depleting substance that has been banned for aerosol use under the Clean Air Act.
The agency has developed a searchable database that pulls together publicly available information from various sources to help identify consumer and commercial products that contain mercury and their possible non-mercury alternatives.
The publication notes that every product has an impact on the environment during all stages of its life-cycle, from extraction of resources to end-of-life treatment, and the need to reduce the potential adverse impacts on the environment of a product is recognized around the world.
Combining efforts of materials scientists and measurement laboratories with those of biological and medical researchers, a new Internet-linked "community of interest" will exploit Web 2.0-style social networking technologies to enable creating and sharing information, as well as deliberating over technical details of in-process standards.
3M recently started a giveaway promotion to coincide with the launch of its new Lexa™ MinimIzeR™ safety glasses. The eyewear is designed for welders, helpers, and other personnel around the immediate welding site, such as supervisors or engineers, to minimize their chances of accidental exposure to "flash burn."
The holidays are here and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)--joined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Safe Kids Worldwide--has issued its annual holiday safety messages to remind parents to be diligent when making holiday shopping choices.
The agency has determined that, for both substances, use without impervious gloves or a NIOSH-approved respirator with an APF of at least 10 may cause serious health effects.
"Because exposure to high levels of copper, lead, and zinc compounds causes a wide range of illnesses and environmental damage, communities need to know if and when these chemicals have been released," said Enrique Manzanilla, Communities and Ecosystems Division director for EPA's Pacific Southwest region.
"They multiply quickly, and people should have wild bee hives removed by an authorized pest control vendor or risk injury," said ASSE President Warren K. Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHM.