Respiratory


The document contains suggested formats and procedures for fall prevention, hazard identification, and more.

Tower Erectors' Group Updates Safety Guide

The updated document, available to NATE members, contains 18 sections. Everything from hazard identification to RF exposure, emergency response, training, and the HazCom Standard is covered.

A number of employees nationwide who have been exposed to diacetyl have developed the serious respiratory illness which in some cases has resulted in patients being placed on lung transplant wait lists or dying.

California Becomes First State to Set Safety Guidelines for Diacetyl

The new standard requires employers covered by the standard to create a regulated area for each process using diacetyl, unless the process is enclosed. Employers must also provide safeguards for employees who work with diacetyl at certain concentrations.

OSHA Updates Shipyard PPE Directive

The directive recognizes updated consensus standards and includes more information about the PPE shipyard employers must provide to workers at no cost, as well as PPE for which they don't have to pay.

EPA determined the 16 chemical being added are used and/or manufactured in amounts above the reporting thresholds.

EPA Adds 16 Chemicals to EPCRA List

The final rule that is effective Nov. 30, 2010, adds them to the section 313 list of toxic chemicals, as EPA proposed in April 2010.

Air Travelers at Risk from Secondhand Smoke: CDC

Although more airports prohibit smoking today than in 2002, smoking is still allowed inside seven of the nation's largest airports, including three of the five busiest airports.

Owner, Company Convicted in Rochester Asbestos Case

The Justice Department announced Monday that a federal court jury convicted Keith Gordon-Smith and his asbestos abatement company, Gordon-Smith Contracting Inc., of violating CAA asbestos work practice standards and lying to hide the violations.

CBRN Respirator Meeting Set For Dec. 9

The meeting will discuss NIOSH's work on a performance standard for CBRN respirators. The project is Docket Number 082-A, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Combination Respirator Unit.

Two Texas Companies Cited for Exposing Workers to Lead

OSHA began its inspection on May 12 at the company's worksite in Dallas after receiving a complaint alleging workers were being exposed to lead while cutting lead cable that was to be recycled.



Joseph A. Main

MSHA to Hold Six Coal Mine Dust Rule Hearings

The first of the public hearings will be in West Virginia on Dec. 7. The hearings are about the proposed rule published Oct. 19.

CrVI concentrations varied significantly depending on the type of welding being done.

CrVI Study Shows Limits, Promise of Local Exhaust Ventilation

The three authors of the paper published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health conducted the research because there have been few studies on welders' exposures, especially in construction.

Plumbing Company Penalized for Illegal Sales of Refrigerant

According to EPA’s New England office, Robinson Plumbing and Heating Supply Co. sold ozone-depleting refrigerants to non-certified technicians at two separate sales outlets in Massachusetts, in violation of the Clean Air Act.

Canadian Firm Recalls Machine Oil

It was not sold as an individual product but was packaged with power tools sold by Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd. of Toronto from January 2004 to May 2010. Health Canada says the company has sold compliant oil since then.

MSHA Proposes its First-Ever Injunction against Mine

On numerous occasions, MSHA officials have attempted to resolve serious safety issues at Massey-owned Freedom Energy, including meetings with upper mine management over recurring roof problems, ventilation and dust control issues. The inspections, citations, and meetings with mine management have not resulted in changes in behavior.

Michigan Engine Manufacturer Fined $137,750 for Confined Space Hazards, More

"Conditions found during the MIOSHA inspection were very serious,” said Acting Director Andrew S. Levin. “They must fulfill their obligations under the MIOSH Act and provide a safe and healthy work environment for their employees.

November 2010

Respirators: Function, Fit, and Comfort -- I Want It All!

These are the next hurdles to bridge, and manufacturers are doing just that as they develop next-generation respirators for an expanded base of users.

A metal shop worker is using the 3M Versaflo Respirator System, which combines respiratory, head, eye and face, and hearing protection.

PAPRs and SARs for the World

Loose-fitting powered and supplied-air respirators offer increased comfort and productivity -- a better experience for all concerned.

UT Southwestern Researcher Used NASA Research to Rescue Chilean Miners

When rescuers needed to determine how to safely extract Chilean miners without their fainting and suffering a potentially devastating loss of blood to the brain, they turned to a UT Southwestern Medical Center scientist whose expertise typically is focused on astronauts in space, not mine workers trapped underground.

Sleep Apnea Study Seeks to Identify Patients at Risk for Surgical Complications

A research team from the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has utilized a simple, eight-item, pre-operative questionnaire about obstructive sleep apnea syndrome that could help identify patients at risk for complications following surgery, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

MSHA Issues 550-Plus Violations in Recent Enforcement Sweep

"We are continuing to find serious threats to miners' safety and health," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "While some operators are finally getting the message, others are not."

The rule will add spirometry testing, occupational history, and symptom assessment to the chest x-ray exam now required for underground coal miners and will extend medical surveillance to surface coal miners.

MSHA Rule to Lower Coal Dust Exposures

Part of the agency's "End Black Lung -- Act Now" campaign, the rule being published Oct. 19 will halve the concentration limit for respirable coal dust in underground mines to 1.0 mg/m3 over the next two years and also will phase in required use of continuous personal dust monitors.

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