Regulatory & Standards


Many companies incorporate a wear trial into their process for selecting FR apparel. Both Lippert and Zumstein cautioned that a hazard risk assessment is a necessary step to take before conducting a wear trial. (Glen Raven Technical Fabrics, LLC photo)

Lasting Protection

A hazard risk assessment is a necessary step to take before conducting a wear trial. Only when the risk assessment is completed should the customer conduct a wear trial of fabrics that will meet the anticipated energy levels.

The OSHA/NIOSH toolkit contains an appendix that is an editable document any hospital can use to draw up its respiratory protection program.

Essential Precautions for Health Care, General Industry

CDC's Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee divides ATDs into those two categories, diseases requiring Airborne Precautions and diseases requiring Droplet Precautions.

OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Committee Schedules Fourth Emergency Response Meeting

The meeting is for the Emergency Response and Preparedness Subcommittee.

By June 1, 2016, OSHA expects all employers to be fully compliant with GHS adoption.

American Coatings Association Pushing for TSCA Reform Bills

ACA has supported two bills: the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, S. 697, which passed the U.S. Senate on Dec. 17, 2015, and a House of Representatives bill, H.R. 2576, which passed June 23, 2015, on a 398-1 vote.

NSC Says Workplaces Have Highest Number of Unintentional Deaths Since 2008

The agency has called for a renewed dedication to occupational safety.

Mitsubishi Motors Admits to Running False Mileage Tests Since 1991

An internal investigation discovered the tampering.

DOL Final Rule Opens Up Black Lung Medical Data

"This rule makes clear that coal miners have a right to know a full picture of their health. No workers should lose their lives because of known dangers that were kept from them in the interest of their employers," said DOL Office of Workers' Compensation Programs Director Leonard Howie.

NAHB Working to Derail Silica Standard

"We strongly urge OSHA to re-examine and reassess how its final rule will negatively harm the construction industry, job growth, consumers, and the economy while doing little to improve the health and safety of industry workers," said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady. "Given that it is unlikely the agency will change course, Congress must take the lead and act swiftly to craft legislation that will keep this fundamentally flawed rule from taking effect."



FAA Issues New Flight Simulator Regulations

The rules will improve pilots' response to unusual situations, as well as give more credit toward the requirements for an instrument rating.

Safety Equipment Institute to Become ASTM Subsidiary

ASTM said its existing certification activities will transfer to SEI, which holds accreditations to ISO 17065 for product certification. SEI employees will come under the ASTM International umbrella on July 1 and Pat Gleason will retain the title of president of SEI while also becoming vice president of Certification for ASTM International.

The rule will require employers to notify OSHA of work-related fatalities within eight hours and work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, or an employee

GAO Report Highlights Violence in Health Care Settings

"It is clear to me that OSHA should move forward and develop an enforceable violence prevention standard to help protect our nation's health care workers. Injuries requiring days away from work are financially and emotionally costly for both employers and workers, and these avoidable injuries put pressure on working families to do more with less," said U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., ranking member of the House Committee on Education & the Workforce and one of the members who requested the report.

As the 2016 heat season approaches, Cal/OSHA leaders urged stakeholders April 11 to take precautions and protect outdoor workers against heat-related illnesses, or worse.

Take Heat Precautions, Cal/OSHA Urges

"Employers at outdoor work sites must know the steps to take to prevent heat illness injuries on the job," Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum said. Cal/OSHA conducts inspections at outdoor work sites in industries such as agriculture, landscaping, and construction during heat season.

Coast Guard Seeking Boating Safety Council Members

The National Boating Safety Advisory Council advises the U.S. Coast Guard on recreational boating safety regulations and other major boating safety matters.

"The progress we made in 2015 is good news for miners and the mining industry. It is the result of intensive efforts by MSHA and its stakeholders that have led to mine site compliance improvements, a reduction of chronic violators, historic low levels of respirable coal dust and silica, and a record low number of mining deaths," said Assistant Secretary Joseph A. Main.

2015 Safest Year Yet for U.S. Mining

Preliminary data released by the Mine Safety and Health Administration confirm that 2015 was the safest year in U.S. mining history, both in the number of deaths and mining's fatal and injury rates.

FDA Rule to Ensure Food Safety During Transport

The rule will require those involved in transporting human and animal food by motor vehicle or rail to follow recognized best practices for sanitary transportation, such as properly refrigerating food and adequately cleaning vehicles between loads.

Class A kits are designed to offer greater access to the items needed to treat most common types of workplace injuries, while Class B kits feature a broader range and quantity of supplies to treat injuries in more complex or high-risk environments.

How ANSI is Leading the Way to Better First Aid in the Workplace

Recent changes to ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 are a holistic shift in our nation's approach to occupational injury preparedness.

New York State's Mandatory Electronic Prescribing Takes Effect

The new requirement, considered a key component of New York's I-STOP initiative to reduce misuse of prescription medications in the state, "will improve patient safety, reduce the number of fraudulent or stolen prescriptions, and help combat prescription drug abuse across New York," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said March 17 when he announced the effective date.

Tethered logging operations must be planned by the operator and the competent person on how to safely operate on slopes more than 50 percent, taking into consideration the experience of the operator; limitations of the machine and soil conditions; direction of travel; requirements for turning the machine on slopes; weather; load sizes; method and adequacy of anchorage; and any other adverse conditions.

Oregon OSHA Revises Guidelines for Tethered Logging

Employers intending to use winch- or cable-assisted systems for steep slope logging must ensure that the harvesting machine was specified by its manufacturer for operation on slopes of more than 40 or 50 percent or seek a research variance before using the harvesting machine above its slope limit with a tethered system.

OSHA Releases Silica Rule

OSHA has said the proposed rule "would bring protections into the 21st century" because it currently enforces 40-year-old permissible exposure limits for crystalline silica in general industry, construction, and shipyards.

OSHA believes the reported information helps it better target resources where they are needed and also engage employers in high-hazard industries to identify and eliminate hazards.

Year 1 of Recordkeeping Changes: More Than 10,000 Severe Injuries Reported

"In case after case, the prompt reporting of worker injuries has created opportunities for us to work with employers we wouldn't have had contact with otherwise," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels, author of OSHA's report.

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