Regulatory & Standards


OSHA's Barab Speaking to ANSI Caucus Luncheon

The National Fire Protection Association is sponsoring this Dec. 4 event at the National Press Club.

ASTM Starts Certification Programs

"The board agreed that the ability for the society to offer certification programs . . . is important in remaining relevant in the changing global marketplace," ASTM International President James A. Thomas said.

Greyhound Lines buses transported more than 400,000 passengers during the week of Thanksgiving in 2008.

Motorcoach Industry Evaluating DOT's Action Plan

The plan lists numerous rules and research to be done during the next two years, including rules requiring seat belts and on-board electronic recording devices on motorcoach buses and limits on drivers' cell phone and PDA use.

Dr. Pamela Hymel, MD, MPH, FACOEM, is president of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

ACOEM Sounds Alarm on GINA Title II Regs

Dr. Pamela Hymel, the association's president, warned her members that EEOC may conclude wellness programs provided through group health plans are not voluntary if incentives to participate are involved, which could severely restrict their use by employees.

Do Z359 Standards Cover Transportation-Related Falls? Yes, Says ASSE

The Z359 Accredited Standards Committee said that an interpretation was not necessary because the scope of the committee and its projects and standards has always included rolling stock and therefore it is not exempt from the standard.

The 70E 2009 edition "elicited an unprecedented number of proposals and comments, reflecting the meteoric rise in awareness of electrical safety issues in recent years."

NFPA 70E Users' Input Invited

The 2012 edition of the Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace is expected to be issued in August 2011, but it is important for its users to offer proposals now, writes Jeffrey Sargent, NFPA's senior electrical specialist and staff liaison for NFPA 70E.

CPSC Hosts Town Hall on Toy Safety

At a Town Hall meeting held in New York City, Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum was joined by parents and consumers to talk toy safety. The discussion centered around new federal safety rules that are in place for toys that will give American consumers greater confidence when they go shopping this holiday season.

Acetylene

OSHA Amends Acetylene Standard, Issues Final Rule

The revised standard updates references for the provisions addressing piping systems, as well as acetylene generators and filling acetylene cylinders and requires that in-plant transfer, handling, storage, and use of acetylene cylinders comply with Compressed Gas Association Pamphlet G-1-2003, titled Acetylene.



More than 1,000 federal and state inspections under the OSHA combustible dust National Emphasis Program uncovered more than 4,000 violations.

Combustible Dust Activist Also Hosting Meetings

Across the street from the site of OSHA's Dec. 14 meetings in Washington, D.C., John Astad will lead group discussions of OSHA's proposed rulemaking.

New Report Recommends Enhanced Food Tracing Guidelines

The Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) has released a report from the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), which recommends clear objectives be set for all users of a simpler, globally accepted food supply chain that can benefit from existing commercial systems.

Salesman Pleads Guilty to Misbranding Drug, Copyright Infringement

Ming Yan, who operates a computer store in North Providence, has pleaded guilty to causing the misbranding of the prescription drug sildenafil citrate, which is marketed as Viagra, and to copyright infringement. Immigration and FDA agents seized counterfeit sildenafil citrate pills and more than 1,000 pirated movie DVDs from Yan's store and home in March 2008.

Restaurant Operators Ordered to Pay Back Wages, Damages

Li Jin Yang and Dong Lin, a wife and husband who had operated five Oriental Forest restaurants in Michigan, were ordered by a federal judge to pay $2,030,430 in minimum wage and overtime pay and damages to 129 workers following an investigation by the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

Bridge, Tower Painter Fined for Exposing Workers to Lead

OSHA has cited bridge and water tower painter UCL Inc. in Cincinnati with alleged willful, egregious, and serious violations of federal workplace safety and health standards for exposing workers to lead. Proposed fines total $321,000.

OSHA Proposes $509,000 in Fines against Cranesville Aggregate Plant

Cranesville Aggregate Co., doing business as Scotia Bag Plant, Scotia, N.Y., faces a total of $509,000 in proposed fines from OSHA. The plant, which bags cement and asphalt, has been cited for 33 alleged willful, repeat, and serious violations of workplace safety and health standards following comprehensive OSHA inspections over the past six months.

The Zodiac CH-601XL can be bought as a completed aircraft manufactured by Aircraft Manufacturing and Design, LLC or built by amateurs from a kit available from its designer, Zenith Aircraft Company.

Experimental Planes Need Safety Retrofit, NTSB Says

A seventh crash now under investigation appears to have been caused by the aerodynamic flutter identified by NTSB last spring. Owners of factory-built Zodiac CH-601XLs have been directed to make structural modifications, but owners who built theirs from a kit are not required to make the same changes.

DAL Global Services to Pay $100,000 to Settle Hiring Discrimination

The Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has announced that DAL Global Services LLC in Denver has agreed to settle findings of hiring discrimination against 110 rejected Asian, black, white, and female job applicants. The agreement resolves the department's allegations that the employer discriminated against applicants for the position of ramp agent at Denver International Airport.

Health Care Professional Sentenced to Prison for Medicine Tampering

Drea Lynne Gibson, 43, of Fall City, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a year and a day in prison and three years of supervised release for product tampering in violation of federal law.

OSHA Fines Ventilation Manufacturer $511,000 in Worker's Death

OSHA has cited Loren Cook Co. of Springfield for seven alleged willful and three alleged serious violations after a worker was killed by an ejected machine part on May 13.

FDA Targets Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages

The Food and Drug Administration has notified nearly 30 manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages that it intends to look into the safety and legality of their products.

CSB Safety Message Urges State Adoption of ASME Pressure Vessel Code

Chemical Safety Board Chairman John Bresland released a new video safety message on Nov. 12 asking jurisdictions across the country to adopt the ASME Pressure Vessel Code to reduce the number of accidents involving catastrophic pressure vessel failures in process industries.

Featured

Artificial Intelligence

Webinars