Hazard Communication


New Lead Limits Start Today, CPSC Spells Out Enforcement Policy

Starting today, consumer products intended for children 12 and under cannot have more than 600 parts per million of lead in any accessible part. This new safety requirement is a key component of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) aimed at further reducing children's exposure to lead.

a yellow sign warning of slippery conditions

HSE Starts Phase Two of 'Shattered Lives'

The British campaign to reduce slip-and-fall injuries is focused on seven sectors where they are common: food retail, catering and hospitality, food and drink manufacturing, building and plant maintenance, construction, health care, and education.

Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Bioethicist to give APIC Conference Keynote Address

Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD, author, director of pediatric neurosurgery, and professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes, will deliver the keynote address at the 36th Annual Educational Conference and International Meeting of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), on Monday, June 8 at 9:15 a.m. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The meeting, which runs from June 7-11, is the largest annual gathering of infection preventionists from around the world.

California Safety Group Announces 21st Annual Cal/OSHA Update Seminar

The California Safety Services Group recently announced its 21st Annual Cal/OSHA Update Seminar Series will commence April 1, 2009. Cal/OSHA Representatives as well as recognized health and safety professionals will review and update significant Cal/OSHA regulation and policy changes, which occurred in 2008 as well as significant rulings of the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board.

EPA Orders Louisiana Waste Treatment Facility to Cease Operations

The action follows an inspection last week that found numerous "deficiencies and discrepancies," all in violation of the requirements of the site's state-issued permit.

Fruit Company to Spend $100,000+ Settling Risk Management Program Violations

The Yakima, Wash.-based company agreed to spend more than $85,000 within the next year for safety improvements and to purchase new communications and rescue equipment for local fire departments.

DOL Gives CANEL Workers Special Exposure Cohort Designation

The Department of Labor has announced that all former Connecticut Aircraft Nuclear Engine Laboratory (CANEL) workers have now been added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act's (EEOICPA) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified employees may also be entitled to benefits.

DOL Pays $100 Million in Benefits to Florida Residents

The Department of Labor recently announced that it has paid more than $100 million in compensation and medical benefits to Florida residents under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA).



HHS, FDA, CDC Pool Peanut Butter Recall Resources into Social Media Site

The Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have joined their efforts to provide important information about the recall of certain peanut butter and peanut-containing products that are associated with the recent Salmonella Typhimurium outbreaks through a new social media Web page at www.cdc.gov/socialmedia.

Lawmakers Reintroduce Combustible Dust Bill

U.S. Reps. George Miller, D-Calif., and John Barrow, D-Ga., have reintroduced a bill to force OSHA to issue a regulation intended to prevent combustible dust explosions. U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, who chairs the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of Miller's Education and Labor Committee, joined them.

Comment Period Extended on Formaldehyde Emissions Rule

To encourage "more complete public participation" on the proposed rulemaking, EPA also has added an additional public meeting that will take place in New Orleans on March 4.

OSHA Proposes $108,000 in Penalties against Georgia Construction Company

OSHA is proposing $108,000 in penalties against Tippins Contracting Co. for seven safety violations that exposed its employees to possible injury or death at two construction sites.

FDA, Eli Lilly Evaluating the Drug Xigris

The agency's safety review of the drug comes on the heels of a recent study reporting an increased risk of serious bleeding events and death in patients with sepsis and baseline bleeding risk factors who received the drug.

EPA Extends Comment Period for Universal Waste Rule Amendment

The public now has until March 9 to weigh in on the agency's proposal to add hazardous pharmaceutical wastes to the federal universal waste program.

Study: Does Shift Work Cause Certain Cancers?

Does shift work predispose you to cancer by altering the body’s response to hormones? And if so, can a dietary supplement help? Those are the questions researchers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ)--a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School--hope to answer through a new study, which recently received $600,000 in funding from The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

CDC Study Assesses Genetic Testing's Impact on Health Outcomes

Some genomic tests developed to personalize medical decisions about cancer care are beneficial, while for others the evidence is uncertain and reliance on the test might even lead to poorer medical management of cancer in some cases, according new recommendation statements from an expert panel.

ACOEM Webinar to Explain Haz-Map's Uses

The March 25 online broadcast will be presented by the author of the toxicology database, board-certified occupational medicine physician Dr. Jay A. Brown, M.D., MPH.

Conditions at Connecticut Paper Mill Reap $323,000 in Proposed Fines

"There is no excuse for employees to work in such conditions," said C. William Freeman III, OSHA's area director in Hartford, Conn., the office that conducted the inspection.

Survey Finds Winter Weather Hospitalizes Thousands, Kills Hundreds

Frigid temperatures, which each year cause hypothermia and other cold-related heath problems, resulted in more than 6,000 hospitalizations and 827 deaths in 2006, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

It's Time for an Annual Refresher!

A posh hotel besieged with panicked employees running for their lives and commandos ringing the buildings. We saw this crisis unfold live; it reminds us that now is the time to refresh employees’ awareness of evacuation and preparedness procedures and their own roles. Do it now!

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