The new Labor secretary said Wednesday that 150 more inspectors are being added to Wage and Hour's field offices.
"The law's overly broad approach applies to products that that should not be evaluated using the same safety criteria as products that do pose a risk," said NAM President John Engler, adding that the act's "unrealistic compliance deadlines made it impossible for industry or the CPSC to adequately prepare before the law went into effect."
The centennial year is 2011, the 100th year theme is "Your Safety is our Business. Your Future is our Mission," and the 100 logo is shown here.
Stakeholders are asked to comment by April 20 on the plan, which anticipates an expanded role five years out and beyond.
"This information underscores the need for fundamental transparency and provides a powerful tool for protecting public health and the environment," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "Serving the public’s right to know is the crucial first step in reducing toxic chemicals in the places where we live, work, and raise children."
MSHA recently announced that 15 mine operators from around the country have received letters putting them on notice that each has a potential pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards under Section 104(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act).
MSHA recently announced it has issued penalties totaling $342,800 to Hiawatha Coal Co. for a powered haulage accident last year at the Bear Canyon Mine in Huntington, Utah. A miner was seriously injured in that accident.
Department of Homeland Security reports that one million port and longshore workers, truckers, and others at ports across the nation have enrolled in its Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The program's goal is to ensure that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a known security threat.
The former OSHA chief and Fisher & Phillips LLP colleague Howard A. Mavity presented a webinar today in which they advised employers to review their corporate policies for disciplining workers who violate safety standards. Foulke said employers shouldn't ignore routine areas such as recordkeeping, lockout/tagout, and PPE, job safety analyses.
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said this step facilitates the convening of a small business advocacy review panel to determine the impact a proposed rule might have on small businesses and how those impacts can be reduced.
On March 13, the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration announced the proposed suspension for nine months of a final rule implementing changes to the H-2A program, which allows U.S. agricultural businesses to employ foreign workers in temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs.
The Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH) will hold a meeting March 24, 2009, to discuss its goals for the next two years and to review accomplishments achieved during the last two years. These accomplishments include developing shipyard and longshoring industry guidance documents and digests, expanding the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) shipyard eTool module, and publishing a Safety and Health Prevention Sheet.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety posted the maps last week, allowing anyone to know which three states have no laws on their books requiring motorcyclists or bicyclists to wear protective helmets.
"The shrouded mystery of electricity compels many safety managers to depend upon plant electrical maintenance or engineering departments to manage their electrical safety program," writes Phil Allen, president and owner of Grace Engineered Products.
The Department of Labor has sued Penn-Mont Benefit Services Inc. of Bridgeport; its owner, John Koresko V; Koresko's law firms; and an attorney for the firms over alleged improper administration of death benefit plans marketed nationwide. The defendants allegedly underpaid benefits to participants, improperly withdrew more than $1 million in plan assets from the plans' trust, and illegally used assets to pay unreasonable and unnecessary lobbying expenses (Solis v. Koresko, Civil Action Number 2:09-cv-00988).
The Ministry of Justice launched a program last October targeting 10 areas in England and Wales. Individuals given immediate jail sentences for possession rose by 23 percent, to 1,386, in the October-December 2008 quarter.
Oregon OSHA Administrator Michael Wood, shown here, announced the 2008 total, 44, on Tuesday at the 2009 Oregon Governor's Occupational Safety and Health Conference in Salem.
Separately, numerous news organizations report President Obama will soon nominate Dr. Margaret A. "Peggy" Hamburg to be FDA administrator.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal, who approved the fine, said she had no authority to alter the deal submitted to her and cannot make the Texas City refinery safe, The Houston Chronicle reported today.
The Food and Drug Administration recently unveiled a new collaboration initiative with the Houston-based Alliance for NanoHealth (ANH) and its eight member institutions to help speed development of safe and effective medical products in the emerging field of nanotechnology.