In addition to overarching policy discussions, the summit agenda will include topical discussions of product safety issues, with toys, lead in children's products, all terrain vehicles, lighters, and fireworks representing specific product areas where systemic progress may be made. A special, full-day program is planned for ATV issues.
As a way to head off potential cases of foodborne illness, the Reportable Food Registry is what food industry officials must use to alert FDA quickly when they find their products might sicken or kill people or animals.
The agency is asking for comments by Oct. 9 on the proposed register, which would be in effect next year and require employers to submit information to HSE. About 1,000 tower cranes are in use at any one time, the agency estimates.
OSHA has proposed $148,000 in fines against C.W. Pond Contractors Inc., a Norwalk, Conn., electrical contractor, in connection with a March 4 electrical fire at the Old YMCA at 980 Washington Blvd. in Stamford, Conn.
The most recent charge—with a proposed penalty of $153,057--is in addition to a penalty of $1.025 million the company paid in May for similar violations of the Clean Water Act.
DOJ notes the plea is related to felony guilty pleas already entered by the company and its president, who pleaded guilty to a felony violation of the Clean Water Act for disposing pesticide waste down the sewers of the city of St. Joseph, Mo.
The DOT summit on the topic will start Sept. 30, but you can submit comments or questions now via www.regulations.gov.
Employers must organize the work "to allow the use of mechanical or other means to avoid the need for the manual handling of loads by employees in the workplace," according to the regulations.
The Federal Railroad Administration's directive was ordered by Congress and affects states with the highest number of incidents in 2006-2008. Texas, Illinois, and California top that list.
The February 2008 explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Georgia sparked attention and concern about combustible dusts. The company's computer-based training teaches workers about dust, food safety, emergency preparedness, and heat stress.
Illinois has became the newest state to receive approval from OSHA to administer its own occupational safety and health plan for public employees in the state. A notice appears in the Sept. 1st edition of the Federal Register.
Heberle Disposal Service Inc., a Rochester, N.Y., solid waste collection company, faces an additional $304,200 in fines from OSHA for failing to correct hazards cited during a 2008 inspection and for new and recurring safety hazards at its Alvanar Road worksite.
We've focused mostly on regulations and PPE--things that are usually pretty visible. Let's move on and look at reducing the need for PPE.
"We believe that this agreement represents a fair and just resolution of this matter and, hopefully, will serve as a warning to all businesses that generate wastewater that they must abide by all requirements of their discharge permits," said U.S. Attorney Nora R. Dannehy.
According to DOJ, the company's six plants in the state are illegally emitting massive amounts of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter.
DOL agreed with critics who said the proposal to have OSHA and MSHA issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking whenever they develop a health standard for toxic substances or hazardous chemicals is unnecessary and adds delay.
An agency inspection identified dozens of instances throughout the plant where workers were exposed to possible lacerations, amputation, and crushing injuries from unguarded moving parts of mechanical power presses and other machinery as well as a lack of specific procedures to prevent the accidental startup of numerous machines during set-up, maintenance, and repair.
A short tutorial added to the agency's Web site explains the requirements for these mine emrgency chambers and links to the rule requiring them.
"It's critical that companies report the storage and release of toxic chemicals--if they don't, public safety is jeopardized in an emergency," said Edward Kowalski, EPA's Director of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement in Seattle.
In 1992, with the Joint Commission first requiring accredited hospitals to prohibit smoking within the hospital, only 3 percent did, but 15 percent said they were pursuing a smoke-free campus policy.