Regulatory & Standards


EPA Settles Clear Lam Packaging Hazardous Waste Violations

Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has settled with Clear Lam Packaging Inc. for alleged violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act requirements for treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste. The Elk Grove, Ill., company will pay a $20,750 penalty and perform an environmental project costing at least $221,000.

CPSC Extends the Stay of Enforcement for Many Children's Products

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously (5-0) to extend a stay of enforcement on testing and certification of many regulated children's products. While enforcement of specific CPSC testing requirements has been stayed, the products must still comply with all applicable rules and bans.

A Call to Change Our Work Rules

A new issue brief, "Free Riding on Families: Why the American Workplace Needs to Change and How to Do It," says it is time to change U.S. policies so they'll support the vital unpaid work of caregivers.

The DOT Motorcoach Safety Action Plan lists numerous rulemaking and research efforts to be done in the next two years.

Senate Committee Advances CO Monitor, Bus Safety Bills

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation moved two bills forward on Dec. 17 that will address carbon monoxide poisoning cases -- like home fires, they are a recognized winter danger -- and the safety of motorcoach operations.

Britain's OSHA Will Beat Cost-Cutting Goal

The Health and Safety Executive's fourth annual Simplification Plan shows it expects to reach 499.1 million pounds in administrative burden reductions by year-end and 527.3 million pounds by May 2010 against a target of 505.6 million pounds.

California Labor Commissioner Secures $232,435 Judgment in Retaliation Suit

California Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet recently announced that her office has prevailed in a retaliation lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against real estate developers 1538 Cahuenga Partners LLC and secured a $232,435 award for a former employee of the developers.

A sign warning of slip hazards

New Floor Safety Standard Released

Based on more than a decade of research by the National Floor Safety Institute, it is the first step in reducing pedestrian slip-and-fall injuries.

NEMA Revises ANSI/NEMA MW 1000-2008 Magnet Wire Standard

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association has published ANSI/NEMA MW 1000-2008, Revision 1-2009 Magnet Wire. MW 1000, produced by NEMA’s Magnet Wire Section, is a standards publication for general requirements, product specifications, and test procedures for magnet wire. This revision updates MW 1000-2008, which was published in March 2009.



Albertsons Agrees To Pay $8.9 Million for Job Bias, Retaliation

Albertsons LLC, a national grocery chain, will pay $8.9 million and furnish other relief to settle three employment discrimination lawsuits filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced recently. EEOC had charged Albertsons with race, color, and national origin discrimination and retaliation at its Aurora, Colo., distribution center. The monetary relief will be distributed among 168 former and current employees.

DOL Recovers Nearly $1 million in Back Wages for 206 Workers

An investigation by the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has recovered almost $1 million in back wages for 206 employees of a Seattle-based security company, the department announced recently.

Welding, Scaffolding Among Issues Scheduled for Upcoming Maritime Committee

OSHA will hold a two-day Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH) meeting Jan. 19-20, 2010, in Washington, D.C., to address welding, scaffolding, and other safety and health issues in maritime industries.

DOL Recovers More than $1.7 Million in Fringe Benefits for 483 Employees

VMT Long Term Care Management Inc. has been cited by the Department of Labor for underpaying employees' health and welfare fringe benefits, violating the fringe benefits provisions of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA).

The 2009 holiday crackdown of extra drunk driving patrols and sobriety checkpoints runs from Dec. 16 until Jan. 3, 2010.

2009 Holiday DUI Crackdown Begins

The number of Americans dying in alcohol-related fatalities is staggeringly high, despite a 7 percent improvement from 2007 to 2008 and stepped-up law enforcement patrols, especially during the holiday season.

Ministers' Council Endorses Australia's Work Health and Safety Act

The endorsement establishes it as the model law for harmonizing OSH regulations nationwide. Subject to a four-month comment period late next year, the act will go into force on Jan. 1, 2012.

FDA Debars Food Importer for 20 Years

A Virginia man sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to import catfish from Vietnam for fraudulent sale to avoid paying federal import tariffs has been barred from importing articles of food or offering such articles for import into the United States for the next 20 years, the Food and Drug Administration recently announced.

The Health and Safety Executive "Make the Promise" campaign urges British farmers to do everything possible to prevent themselves from being hurt at work.

UK Agricultural Safety Campaign Wins Gold Award

"Make the Promise" has persuaded 15,000 farmers thus far to promise to work safely for the sake of their families.

CityCenter is an $8.5 billion, 67-acre development on the Las Vegas Strip.

CityCenter Projects Opening with Galas

Six construction worker fatalities on the mammoth project figured prominently in OSHA’s Oct. 20, 2009, critical report on the Nevada OSHA agency’s performance and earned a Pulitzer Prize in April for the Las Vegas Sun.

Tranportation Secretary Ray LaHood

LaHood Proposes Legislation to Improve Rail Transit Safety Oversight

The Obama administration's Public Transportation Safety Program Act of 2009, said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, would effectively eliminate the statutory prohibition against imposing such broad safety standards that have been in place since 1965.

USDA, HHS Continue Food Safety Working Group Efforts

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently commended the Department of Homeland Security for opening a center devoted to ensuring the safety of foods imported to the United States.

DOL Proposes Exemption for Ford Motor’s New Health Plan Retirees

The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has announced a proposed exemption that, if granted, would allow the Ford Motor Co. to transfer company securities to a voluntary employee beneficiary association (VEBA) trust, which would fund a new health plan established to provide health benefits for the company's retirees. The new health plan would cover in excess of 285,000 retirees and their dependents, and a small number of active employees.

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