Remodeling contractors need certification to meet new EPA lead requirements for exposure protection during renovations, repair, and painting. They'll also need PPE.
Once the agency's proposed rule to ban text messaging while driving is finished, a second rule will cover dispatch systems, using CB radios, and more to reduce risk while allowing legitimate communication, Chief Safety Officer Rose A. McMurray told the National Association of Small Trucking Companies.
All five companies prosecuted for the Dec. 11, 2005, explosion and fire at an oil storage depot in Hertfordshire, England, either pleaded guilty or were found guilty by a jury. Sentencing is set for July 16.
The railroad issued an employee a notification of formal investigation in reprisal for reporting a work injury and also retaliated against the employee by disciplining him in the form of a letter of censure, OSHA said, noting these actions violate the Federal Rail Safety Act.
The citation is based in part on information that two children living in renovated Michigan homes had tested positive for elevated blood lead levels.
“Closing harvest waters that could be exposed to oil protects the public from potentially contaminated seafood because it keeps the product from entering the food supply,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.
The publication is geared to guide organizations through the anticipated changes to the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System.
“We believe the employer intentionally underpaid its workers," said California State Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet. "This not only robs those employees of the money they earned, it also hurts other contractors who chose to do the right thing and comply with the law."
The study calls the new standard "radically different" from the previous standard and says because its rules for product markings have changed, users will need to be educated on matching the hazard from which they need protection with the new marking on the product.
“NPDES permits are an integral part of the nation’s system to protect rivers and lakes from pollution, and mercury is a dangerous pollutant, especially for children and pregnant women,” said Stan Meiburg, EPA Region 4 acting regional administrator.
“It’s an unfortunate fact that monetary penalties just aren’t enough,” said OSHA chief David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH. “We believe that nothing focuses the mind like the threat of doing time in prison, which is why we need criminal penalties for employers who are determined to gamble with their workers’ lives and consider it merely a cost of doing business when a worker dies on the job.”
"It is unacceptable for employers to retaliate against employees who raise safety and health concerns," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "Employers will be held accountable if they violate workers' legal right to have a voice in the workplace on health and safety."
"Pollution prevention acts were put in place to protect our natural resources," said George E. B. Holding, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. "It is disheartening when we see companies and individuals knowingly and purposely dumping oil-contaminated waste into those resources."
Under Medicare rules, the companies could bill for expensive non-emergency transports only if the patient could not be transported by any other means, such as by car or by wheelchair van. Medicare audited the companies and found they had charged tens of millions of dollars for trips that did not meet this standard.
The San Francisco-based company was charged with refusing to let a female employee work as a mechanic while hiring less-qualified men and then firing her after she filed a discrimination charge.
It will start at 1 p.m. EDT. Comments received will help the agency develop its standard addressing dust hazards.
"This partnership speaks volumes about the direction the plumbing industry seeks to go and how each of our memberships holds the other's expertise in high regard," said Jay Peters, ICC PMG Group's executive director.
A van from the Health and Safety Executive is making a two-week safety tour of major construction sites in the South East region through June 21.
On June 28 in Portland, Conn., the investigative board will hear preliminary findings about the gas purging explosion that killed six people Feb. 7 in Middletown and will consider urgent recommendation to OSHA and others.
Aston Villa, a top soccer club, has been assessed a total of $4,360 in fines and costs after admitting it violated Regulation 9(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.