Employers haven't abandoned holiday parties entirely despite the weak economy. Those continuing the practice should take steps to minimize their liability.
"This year's inspection numbers show that the strategic approach used by OSHA--targeting highest hazard workplaces for aggressive enforcement while also using education, training, and cooperative programs to improve overall compliance--can help achieve significant reductions in workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities," said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Thomas M. Stohler.
An educator who has studied the problem extensively says safe patient handling laws gaining ground in U.S. states require better injury and illness data for health care workers, who frequently are reluctant to report their injuries.
With a growing global awareness of the need for environmental protection and sustainability, organizations are eager to demonstrate their efforts to inventory, report, and reduce GHG emissions, ANSI said.
The proposed guidance would supersede the existing agency guidance on this subject contained in Pesticide Registration Notice 87-1 (PRN 87-1) published March 11, 1987.
Now is the time for plan sponsors to review their risk management strategies to ensure they make sense in today's markets, given current funded levels and the ever-changing regulatory framework in which we operate," said Joe McDonald, head of Hewitt's Global Risk Services practice in North America.
The Health and Safety Executive said 455 agricultural workers have died in the past decade, and the annual death toll has remained high.
A key feature of the meeting will be the opportunity to work with technical committees on industry standards, guidelines, and electronic data exchange protocols affecting the pump industry.
This four-hour event will cover major topics like SPCC plan basics, integrity testing, applicability, secondary containment, and recent rule revisions and will include a one-hour live question-and-answer session.
The trade group is calling for high school seniors to enter to win $20,000 in scholarships in its National Scholarship Contest.
"Insufficient sleep and sleep disorders are associated with chronic diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and obesity. Sleep-related issues also can be primary symptoms of mental illness, such as depression," said Michael Decker of CDC's Chronic Viral Diseases Branch.
ANSI notes that December is Safe Toys and Gifts Month, and one of its members (the Toy Industry Association) started a Toy Safety Certification Program last year to improve toy safety.
The rule will take effect Aug. 14, 2009, as Congress directed in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).
OSHA recently announced a final rule on improving the safety of longshoring employees who work with vertical tandem lifts (VTLs). The final rule will reduce hazards related to lifting two containers at a time using cranes by ensuring that safe work practices are followed. The rule was published in the December 10 Federal Register.
The new permit incorporates the Coast Guard’s mandatory ballast water management and exchange standards, and provides technology-based and water-quality-based effluent limits for other types of discharges.
"Our common goal is a continuous and effective safety and health emphasis that will eliminate injuries and illnesses and their associated human and financial costs," said Marthe Kent, OSHA's New England regional administrator.
The Transportation Security Administration extended the effective date of part of its Rail Transportation Security rule to April 1, 2009, to give freight railroads, shippers, and hazmat recipients time to prepare.
As director of NIOSH from July 2002 to July 2008, Dr. John Howard's accomplishments were numerous, noted GCAC Chair John T. Steele in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Designate Rep. Hilda Solis.
The agency's recent residual risk assessment found that after application of the MACT standards the chronic cancer risks are below 1-in-1 million, and no further cancer risk reduction is required. The analysis also found that non-cancer and acute risks to humans, as well as ecological risks from these facilities are low and that no further controls are warranted.
University of South Carolina geographers have produced a map of natural-hazard mortality in the United States that gives the likelihood of dying as the result of natural events such as floods, earthquakes, or extreme weather