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.
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.
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.
OSHA has cited the company with three willful, four repeat, 19 serious, and one other-than-serious safety violations, as well as five serious and two other-than-serious health violations.
"If scaffolding parts had been inspected and replaced or repaired as needed, it is possible that this tragic accident and loss of life could have been avoided," said Eric Harbin, OSHA's area director in Austin.
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.
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.
As part of the Obama administration's commitment to improved accountability, transparency, and service to the American public, the department of labor has recently announced a broad array of efforts designed to improve the public's accessibility to its agencies and to ensure the department can function more effectively.
A key Senate vote on Saturday prevents a filibuster, so the combined funding bills are set for a Sunday final vote. OSHA would get a $45 million boost from its FY2009 funding and MSHA a 3.1 percent increase.
The Food and Drug Administration has launched its pet health and safety widget for consumers as part of an ongoing effort to provide timely, user-friendly, public health information.
SSM Health Care, a medical corporation comprised of seven health care centers and hospitals in the St. Louis area, has paid more than $1.7 million in back wages following a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) investigation by the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.
"The camera footage shows the release and spread of the flammable vapor cloud and the moment when the flammable vapor was ignited. It shows just how severe the release and fire were during this incident," said CSB Chairman John Bresland, adding that one worker was critically burned.
With the excitement of the holidays, parents, and relatives eagerly purchase the hottest toys and latest items for their children. But it's during the hustle and bustle of the season that many fail to buy age appropriate gifts and they tend to disregard warnings on these toys and gifts when it comes to ensuring safety.
"The need for fall protection was clear and recognized, yet this employer did not provide this basic, commonsense, and legally required safeguard," said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA's area director for Middlesex and Essex counties.
The National Hearing Conservation Association's comments on the EPA proposal recommend simpler labels, 42 months to retest and relabel protectors, and requiring a statement on the labels saying individual quantitative fit testing is the only way to estimate a user's attenuation.
"Few Americans are aware of lead's deadly effects or the fact that lead taken home on clothing and work tools can infect an entire family," said OSHA Area Director Richard Gilgrist in Cincinnati.
OSHA's Philadelphia Area Office initiated the investigation following an ethylene complex explosion in May 2009 at the company's refinery in Marcus Hook, Pa.
All workplaces in Singapore would be required to implement Fall Protection Plans by 2015 under the plan published Dec. 2. While fatal falls have declined by 60 percent from a decade ago, the plan is meant to reduce them further.
Two new findings follow a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ordered EPA to determine whether they endanger public health. The agency headed by Administrator Lisa Jackson now can finalize light-duty vehicle GHG standards it proposed earlier this year.
The agency began a health inspection in June after receiving information that fires had occurred in the Ohio plant, and that large amounts of dust from the manufacturing process had accumulated throughout the worksite.