Regulatory & Standards


ATA wants fleet members to share their 2009 safety experience so FMCSA can see how the current hours rule is working.

New Motor Carriers' Hours Rule No Easy Task

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is asking its Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee to advise on a draft rulemaking to be ready by next July.

Singapore Task Force Unveils Fatal Falls Prevention Plan

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.

EPA Finalizes Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding

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.

Assistant Secretary David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, who is the leader of OSHA, is shown in a GWU photo

Full Agenda Awaits Michaels

The new chief of OSHA, David Michaels, Ph.D., will be sworn in this week and quickly can decide how to tackle some of the big issues on the agency's plate.

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis

Solis, Barab: Adding MSD Column to 300 Log Doesn't Foreshadow Ergo Rule

Today's online chats by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and OSH Acting Assistant Secretary Jordan Barab tell us they are not planning an ergonomics rulemaking, although a column to log MSDs on the 300 log will be restored.

DOL Settles Foreign Worker Program Violations with Arizona Tomato Grower

Eurofresh Inc. of Willcox, Ariz., has reached an agreement with the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division to pay $937,460 in back wages and interest to 587 U.S. workers following an investigation into company practices related to hiring temporary, non-immigrant, foreign agricultural workers.

The Security Management for Petroleum & Natural Gas Industry Systems standard will assist in safeguarding pipelines that span the Canada-U.S. border.

New Standard Helps to Protect Canadian Pipelines

CSA Standards announced the standard on Nov. 25 and will offer a one-day seminar about it Feb. 9 in Calgary.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson laid out new principles for revising the Toxic Substances Control Act in late September.

Momentum Builds for Meaningful TSCA Reform

The leaders of 13 states' environmental agencies issued an eight-point statement of principles Dec. 2 as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, shown here, testified at a U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing about the need to reform the law.



The NTSB wants FAA to enact hours of service for flight crews, aviation mechanics, and air traffic controllers based on fatigue research, circadian rhythms, and sleep and rest requirements.

Senate Hearing Today Addresses Pilot Fatigue

The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended for years that FAA establish hours of service for flight crews, aviation mechanics, and air traffic controllers.

Military hazmat training exercise

Contemporary Issues in Process Hazard Analysis

Process Hazard Analysis (PHA), a regulatory requirement under OSHA's 29 CFR 1910.119(e), is a collection of methodologies to address process hazards. Societal and technological changes are affecting sources, intensity, and frequency of hazards. For instance, digital controls and smart instruments have reduced maintenance requirements inherent with analog instruments.

Rail transit is one of the safest modes in America, but its accident rates moved in the wrong direction between 2003 and 2008.

DOT Forming Transit Safety Advisory Committee

Although rail transit is one of the safest modes in America, its accident rates moved in the wrong direction between 2003 and 2008.

An image of an occupant use fire hose and a fire extinguisher.

Fire Safety & Emergency Response

Occupant Use Fire Hoses Should They Stay or Go

As with any maintenance requirement, the intent of small hose inspection and testing is to ensure that they will reliably operate properly when called upon, which is even more critical for emergency response equipment.

The Future of Safety: 2010 and Beyond

The future will be defined by how organizations respond to globalization, culture and performance; prioritization of safety initiatives; development of employee engagement; and the relationship between organization and employee.

This graphic was featured on an MSHA poster warning miners about black lung.

MSHA's Leader to Announce Black Lung Reduction Strategy

Joe Main, the assistant secretary now in charge at MSHA, will unveil a “comprehensive” strategy Dec. 3 at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy, the agency announced.

several tower cranes in action at a commercial construction site

UK Tower Crane Rules in Final Approval Stage

A publicly available register of tower cranes will be launched April 6, 2010, if the regulations go forward from here.

OSHA's Barab Speaking to ANSI Caucus Luncheon

The National Fire Protection Association is sponsoring this Dec. 4 event at the National Press Club.

ASTM Starts Certification Programs

"The board agreed that the ability for the society to offer certification programs . . . is important in remaining relevant in the changing global marketplace," ASTM International President James A. Thomas said.

Greyhound Lines buses transported more than 400,000 passengers during the week of Thanksgiving in 2008.

Motorcoach Industry Evaluating DOT's Action Plan

The plan lists numerous rules and research to be done during the next two years, including rules requiring seat belts and on-board electronic recording devices on motorcoach buses and limits on drivers' cell phone and PDA use.

Dr. Pamela Hymel, MD, MPH, FACOEM, is president of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

ACOEM Sounds Alarm on GINA Title II Regs

Dr. Pamela Hymel, the association's president, warned her members that EEOC may conclude wellness programs provided through group health plans are not voluntary if incentives to participate are involved, which could severely restrict their use by employees.

Do Z359 Standards Cover Transportation-Related Falls? Yes, Says ASSE

The Z359 Accredited Standards Committee said that an interpretation was not necessary because the scope of the committee and its projects and standards has always included rolling stock and therefore it is not exempt from the standard.

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