The proposed rule would require them for each passenger seat and the driver's seat on passenger buses and large school buses. Comments are due by Oct. 18 on the rule, which would not require retrofitting buses now in service.
Investigators found that an employee of the Shawnee, Okla.-based convenience store chain was fired after complaining about safety hazards at a store. In addition to back pay and reinstatement, the Labor Department is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for the employee.
Besides adopting the lower laboratory testing cutoffs for cocaine and amphetamines, DOT's final rule will add MDMA (ecstasy) initial and confirmation testing to its program. But it did not adopt alternative specimens, such as hair testing.
Starting Aug. 16, carriers in all states can log on to FMCSA's data preview website "to see where they stand, and start taking corrective action prior to our scheduled implementation later this year," as Anne Ferro, the agency's administrator, said recently.
The agency's May 2010 request for information attracted comments for and against a rulemaking that would address workers' protection against exposure to H1N1, TB, and other diseases.
Its ANPRM asks for comments by Oct. 12 about how approximately 2,000 existing dams at metal and nonmetal mines are maintained, inspected, and insured. Current regulations do not include design requirements, unlike the regulations for coal mine dams, which were tightened after the 1972 Buffalo Creek disaster.
EPA inspectors found Tanco had not properly implemented its Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures plan, including requirements for secondary containment and tank integrity testing, both of which are designed to prevent or minimize the impacts from accidental releases.
The two Canadian companies involved, the contractor and a drywall/stucco subcontractor, both pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the injured worker was protected by a guardrail.
A new study by two Albanian researchers has found prevalence varying between 19.2 percent and 25.7 percent among workers in the metallurgical industry.
The statistical survey would involve 14,202 respondents, and 85 case study interviews would be conducted asking about safety and health practices on farms with more than 10 workers and at state and local governmental agencies in state plan states.
In addition, OSHA issued the company 50 serious and two other-than-serious violations for failing to provide proper protective equipment for employees working with lead and other extremely dangerous dust and chemicals, and failing to develop or implement a hazard communication program, among other things.
Finalizing a proposed rule to incorporate more than 40 voluntary consensus standards in federal pipeline safety regulations, PHMSA said it will not adopt the 2008 editions of NFPA 58, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code, and NFPA 59, Utility Liquefied Petroleum Gas Plant Code.
Between June 2004 and September 2007, approximately 6,510 barrels of crude oil were discharged from various pipelines and one tank owned and operated by Plains into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines, according to EPA.
The companies allegedly offered hazardous material for transportation when it was not packaged, marked, classed, described, labeled, or in condition for shipment as required by regulations.
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is taking comments until Sept. 8 on the proposed addition, which is based on the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez and Office of Personnel Management guidance.
The company was cited for allegedly failing to conduct drills or exercises to help prepare for a potential spill from its oil storage facility in Woxall, Pa. Under the Clean Water Act, owners of oil storage facilities must have a plan to minimize the risk of spills, including periodic exercises.
A distribution company will pay $318,000 plus $27,000 in costs after pleading guilty in a British courtroom. Regular inspections of the truck involved in the case might have prevented the death, HSE's inspector said.
According to the Department of Justice, the amount of the civil penalty is “precedent-setting” yet “appropriate in light of the unacceptable risk” created by the underground storage tanks at the defendants’ 17 gas stations in Maryland and Delaware.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is requesting nominations of qualified individuals for its nine existing federal advisory committees. Nominations for all committees will be accepted on an ongoing basis and will be considered as and when vacancies arise.
The Food and Drug Administration yesterday issued two comprehensive evaluations containing recommendations that address three key objectives of the agency's public health mission as it relates to medical devices--foster device innovation, create a more predictable regulatory environment, and enhance device safety.