OSHA's next action on the rule, which several groups urged the agency to write back in 1999 and 2001, is the March 2009 completion of a peer review of health effects and risk assessment.
The Labor Department's semiannual regulatory agenda says the required review of the standard's potential impact on small businesses will be finished in February 2009.
If a case of avian flu is discovered in a United States poultry flock, it's likely that poultry consumption would decline and the level of decline would also be likely to vary in different parts of the nation, according to a survey by Kansas State University.
Organic food is all the rage, but, according to a team of food and poultry scientists, despite popular opinion it's not automatically safer than conventionally grown foods.
"Because exposure to high levels of nitrates causes a wide range of illnesses and environmental damage, communities need to know when these chemicals have been released," said Enrique Manzanilla, Communities and Ecosystems Division director for EPA's Pacific Southwest region.
In 2006, Thanksgiving Day topped the charts once again as the peak day for home cooking fires. According to National Fire Protection Association, there were 1,400 home structure fires involving cooking equipment that year, which is more than three times the daily average.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration also said it will conduct a workshop about risks and mitigation in the first quarter of 2009.
Today is Public Health Thank You Day, a day to thank friends and colleagues working in public health for all they do.
Meanwhile, fall protection in construction accrued the highest total penalty amounts of all the categories in FY 2008.
Mining company CEOs labeled the bill "too punitive" and called it unconstitutional. It subjects company executives to five years in prison or a $300,000 fine if a worker dies.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said GE Consumer & Industrial of Louisville, Ky., voluntarily recalled the appliances because of a fire and burn hazard.
"A great deal of technical development and capabilities have evolved since the 1982 edition of the standard," said Jeff Fryman, Z244 Committee vice chairman. "These new technologies make the control of hazardous energy both more complex and easier to achieve.
EPA's notice seeks comments by Jan. 20 on the petition, which requests a ban on sale of products containing it, pesticide registration of all such products, and analysis of potential human health and environmental risks.
"Home fire season" has started, and the U.S. Fire Administration is working to make this year's cold months safer than last years--when there was a dramatic increase in home fire deaths. According to USFA, during the "home fire season" of Oct. 2007 to March 2008, there was a 68 percent increase in the number of fatal home fires and a 67 percent increase in the number of people killed in home fires, compared to the warmer months.
Interestingly, the issue of emergency preparedness and response—previously one of the public policy issues most on members' minds—was nowhere near the top of the list of concerns in the latest survey.
According to a new survey released today by Kimberly-Clark Professional, 89 percent of safety professionals polled at the 2008 National Safety Council (NSC) Congress have observed workers failing to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when they should have been.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 11 other national and international agencies and organizations will collaborate with the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases in sponsoring the Twelfth Annual Conference on Vaccine Research, April 27-29, 2009, at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Baltimore.
Installing an effective ventilation system and ensuring compressors used to supply breathing air are equipped with a high-temperature alarm or carbon monoxide alarm are among the agency's recommendations for lowering employees' risk of exposure. Using compressors that are not oil lubricated is another.
Recently, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a final rule (pdf) by unanimous vote, addressing the conformity certification required for consumer products subject to safety rules under the commission's jurisdiction.
The chain sold about 1.8 million cans of Zany String confetti that contained R-22 Freon, a Class II ozone depleting substance that has been banned for aerosol use under the Clean Air Act.