The agency implements the recommendations of a technical panel that did not urge ending the practice of ventilating sections of underground coal mines via the entries through which conveyors move coal to the surface, although UMWA wanted the practice banned. MSHA also published a final rule today allowing two types of underground coal mine refuges.
The agency's new fee schedule for testing, evaluating, and approving mining products as permitted by 30 CFR 5.50 is based on the agency's cost during the past fiscal year.
To limit their liability, employers in the state should broaden their cell phone policies to prohibit employees from texting while driving, a labor lawyer says. Will the law set the tone for the rest of the nation?
"This year's inspection numbers show that the strategic approach used by OSHA--targeting highest hazard workplaces for aggressive enforcement while also using education, training, and cooperative programs to improve overall compliance--can help achieve significant reductions in workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities," said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Thomas M. Stohler.
A proposal out for comments will allow for the enforcement of the European Regulation on the Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures, which adopts the internationally agreed Global Harmonized System on the classification and labeling of chemicals.
211 counties and parts of counties in the U.S. do not meet the agency’s PM 2.5 standards.
An educator who has studied the problem extensively says safe patient handling laws gaining ground in U.S. states require better injury and illness data for health care workers, who frequently are reluctant to report their injuries.
With a growing global awareness of the need for environmental protection and sustainability, organizations are eager to demonstrate their efforts to inventory, report, and reduce GHG emissions, ANSI said.
The proposed guidance would supersede the existing agency guidance on this subject contained in Pesticide Registration Notice 87-1 (PRN 87-1) published March 11, 1987.
Under the new rule, DOL may debar for up to three years employers, attorneys, and agents found to have committed fraud or willful misrepresentation concerning the H-2B employment-based immigration program, or failed to cooperate with labor department audits or investigations.
The Health and Safety Executive said 455 agricultural workers have died in the past decade, and the annual death toll has remained high.
A key feature of the meeting will be the opportunity to work with technical committees on industry standards, guidelines, and electronic data exchange protocols affecting the pump industry.
This four-hour event will cover major topics like SPCC plan basics, integrity testing, applicability, secondary containment, and recent rule revisions and will include a one-hour live question-and-answer session.
ANSI notes that December is Safe Toys and Gifts Month, and one of its members (the Toy Industry Association) started a Toy Safety Certification Program last year to improve toy safety.
The rule will take effect Aug. 14, 2009, as Congress directed in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).
The agency said the petition filed in July for 11 motor carriers doesn't qualify because the California laws are not CMV safety dictates, but rather regulations applied generally to the state's employers.
OSHA recently announced a final rule on improving the safety of longshoring employees who work with vertical tandem lifts (VTLs). The final rule will reduce hazards related to lifting two containers at a time using cranes by ensuring that safe work practices are followed. The rule was published in the December 10 Federal Register.
The new permit incorporates the Coast Guard’s mandatory ballast water management and exchange standards, and provides technology-based and water-quality-based effluent limits for other types of discharges.
"Given the current economy, now is not the time to add more bureaucracy and billions of dollars in compliance costs to America's businesses," the chamber's VP for labor issues said.
The Transportation Security Administration extended the effective date of part of its Rail Transportation Security rule to April 1, 2009, to give freight railroads, shippers, and hazmat recipients time to prepare.