"Employers have a legal responsibility to protect their workers and the general public from the hazards associated with the improper removal and/or disturbance of asbestos," said MIOSHA Director Doug Kalinowski.
This week's FoodSafety.gov blog provides consumers with seven tips for avoiding foodborne illnesses when buying food.
Safety is the ultimate self-defense. While a leader might never be physically attacked, he will likely be sometimes swarmed by multiple problems, probed for weaknesses by seeming adversaries, or off-balanced by forces of swirling change. Even confronted with situations that can result in accidents and injury.
Outdoor workers should be protected against excessive heat exposure, and particularly if they are wearing protective apparel.
The majority of employers in the United States would not argue the point that the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) has cost their company an incredible amount of time, money, and grief since its inception. Though it is a great concept, I question whether the HCS, even after more than 20 years in existence, has produced more than a few positive results in the eyes of most employers and employees.
The new Web site is geared to give smartphone users easy access to disaster preparedness information.
"We believe this information, in the hands of informed, key stakeholders, will ultimately lead to a more robust and focused debate on what still needs to be done to protect workers in all sectors, especially in the chemical industry," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor of OSHA.
Combined penalties proposed in citations against Birdair Inc. and National Wrecking Co. in Chicago total $105,000.
Today is a day to grieve for workers who have died on the job and to focus on improving conditions for workers around the world, the ILO's director-general, Juan Somavia, said.
The latest semiannual regulatory agenda does not advance the rulemaking except to give an October 2010 date to complete analyzing comments submitted in 2008. EPA's agenda says NPRMs will be issued in July 2011 to enhance pesticide protection for applicators and agricultural workers.
Failing to hear smoke detectors and take quick action is the major reason adults 65 or older are more than twice as likely as any other age group to die in a home fire.
"Our inspection found that the blades on this and other saws lacked the guarding designed to prevent just this type of accident," said Diana Cortez, OSHA's area director in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Cited violations against the company include failing to provide safe work practice procedures for hot work in a confined space, failing to prevent cutting operations in the presence of explosive atmospheres, and the lack of procedures for summoning resuce and emergency services.
"There is no excuse for this accident," said Charles Adkins, OSHA's regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. "This worker should not have been allowed to work in the machine without energy sources being locked out."
The COSTHA 2010 Annual Forum & Expo, a gathering of professionals who are experts in the safe movement of hazardous materials and goods around the world, begins Sunday.
Damaged, inoperable emergency lighting and a lack of hazard assessment certification were among other faults uncovered in a February inspection.
An inspection conducted under OSHA's Chemical Industry National Emphasis Program resulted in $153,000 in proposed penalties.
To date, EPA has certified 184 training providers who have conducted more than 4,900 courses. Based on current estimates, the agency expects more than 125,000 contractors to be certified by the deadline, with many more seeking and obtaining the training afterward.
Each of the chemicals is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen," the agency said, noting the additions would be the first program chemical expansion in more than a decade.