High-heat procedures are now required for five industries when temperatures reach 95 degrees or above: agriculture; construction; landscaping; oil & gas extraction; and transportation or delivery of agricultural products, construction material, or other heavy materials.
OSHA head Dr. David Michaels said employers are allegedly withholding written certificates attesting successful completion of HAZWOPER training to prevent workers from leaving their employ.
The standard covers electrical and fire safety, VOC emissions, materials safety, and stability and load performance, and it includes requirements for desks, chairs, tables, visual communication products, audio-visual equipment, seating equipment, flooring, lab equipment, and more.
The mining operation, located in Wise County, Va., was cited for five contributory violations in the August 2009 death of an electrician/repairman who was fatally injured when a portion of mine rib collapsed upon him.
MSHA decided to distribute this alert based on testimony delivered during a House Education and Labor Committee hearing in Beckley, W.Va., in May that raised serious questions as to whether or not the Upper Big Branch mine was properly following ventilation standards prior to the explosion on April 5.
The proposed rule would require them for each passenger seat and the driver's seat on passenger buses and large school buses. Comments are due by Oct. 18 on the rule, which would not require retrofitting buses now in service.
Investigators found that an employee of the Shawnee, Okla.-based convenience store chain was fired after complaining about safety hazards at a store. In addition to back pay and reinstatement, the Labor Department is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for the employee.
Besides adopting the lower laboratory testing cutoffs for cocaine and amphetamines, DOT's final rule will add MDMA (ecstasy) initial and confirmation testing to its program. But it did not adopt alternative specimens, such as hair testing.
Starting Aug. 16, carriers in all states can log on to FMCSA's data preview website "to see where they stand, and start taking corrective action prior to our scheduled implementation later this year," as Anne Ferro, the agency's administrator, said recently.
The agency's May 2010 request for information attracted comments for and against a rulemaking that would address workers' protection against exposure to H1N1, TB, and other diseases.
Its ANPRM asks for comments by Oct. 12 about how approximately 2,000 existing dams at metal and nonmetal mines are maintained, inspected, and insured. Current regulations do not include design requirements, unlike the regulations for coal mine dams, which were tightened after the 1972 Buffalo Creek disaster.
EPA inspectors found Tanco had not properly implemented its Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures plan, including requirements for secondary containment and tank integrity testing, both of which are designed to prevent or minimize the impacts from accidental releases.
The two Canadian companies involved, the contractor and a drywall/stucco subcontractor, both pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the injured worker was protected by a guardrail.
A new study by two Albanian researchers has found prevalence varying between 19.2 percent and 25.7 percent among workers in the metallurgical industry.
The statistical survey would involve 14,202 respondents, and 85 case study interviews would be conducted asking about safety and health practices on farms with more than 10 workers and at state and local governmental agencies in state plan states.
In addition, OSHA issued the company 50 serious and two other-than-serious violations for failing to provide proper protective equipment for employees working with lead and other extremely dangerous dust and chemicals, and failing to develop or implement a hazard communication program, among other things.
Finalizing a proposed rule to incorporate more than 40 voluntary consensus standards in federal pipeline safety regulations, PHMSA said it will not adopt the 2008 editions of NFPA 58, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code, and NFPA 59, Utility Liquefied Petroleum Gas Plant Code.
Between June 2004 and September 2007, approximately 6,510 barrels of crude oil were discharged from various pipelines and one tank owned and operated by Plains into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines, according to EPA.
The companies allegedly offered hazardous material for transportation when it was not packaged, marked, classed, described, labeled, or in condition for shipment as required by regulations.
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is taking comments until Sept. 8 on the proposed addition, which is based on the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez and Office of Personnel Management guidance.