The ILO's International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre was created in 1959 and now has centers and cooperative ventures spread around the globe. The CIS newsletter plans a special issue in June.
The agreement with one company focuses on leak detection and repair, the other with control of toluene, a hazardous volatile organic air pollutant that was used as a component of a wash-up solvent.
"This information underscores the need for fundamental transparency and provides a powerful tool for protecting public health and the environment," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "Serving the public’s right to know is the crucial first step in reducing toxic chemicals in the places where we live, work, and raise children."
OSHA began its inspection following a release of steam and heated petroleum coke that occurred the day before while workers were removing refractory brick used for lining furnaces in kiln chambers.
Two alliances that have worked well have been extended, the agency announced Monday.
"I'm calling upon the region's employers to review their excavation safety procedures to ensure that no employee enters an excavation unless and until it is properly guarded against collapse," said Arthur Dube, OSHA's area director in Buffalo, N.Y.
Among the site's areas of excellence are proactive efforts to identify and correct hazards to carriers encompassing community involvement, analysis of route hazards, and implementation of a motor vehicle logbook system for vehicle safety.
The agency has released a summary of 15,395 violent deaths in 2006 from the 16 states participating in the National Violent Death Reporting System.
A Dec. 23, 2008, incident in which two employees were injured when they were struck by a 700-pound forging that shot up in the air while they were attempting to free it from a malfunctioning die on a power press led to the second of two agency inspections.
The W. Va.-based company was cited for failing to ensure that operating procedures addressed special or unique hazards of the process, failing to conduct adequate inspections on process equipment, and failing to ensure that proper respiratory protection and personal protective equipment were utilized during an emergency response, among other things.
The former OSHA chief and Fisher & Phillips LLP colleague Howard A. Mavity presented a webinar today in which they advised employers to review their corporate policies for disciplining workers who violate safety standards. Foulke said employers shouldn't ignore routine areas such as recordkeeping, lockout/tagout, and PPE, job safety analyses.
"These findings are strong evidence against the common misconception in the emergency responder community that many of their members have BMIs in the overweight and obese ranges simply on the basis of increased muscle mass. Even in these young recruits, we documented a very strong association between excess BMI and an increased cardiovascular risk profile," said senior author Dr. Stefanos Kales.
In addition, eight serious violations include management's failure to provide a warning line system around the entire perimeter of the roof, failure to provide a path of access to the hoisting area, improper use of ladders, and lack of employee training.
Other alleged violations of the Florida company include not developing lockout/tagout procedures on packaging machines to prevent accidental machinery start-up; exposing employees to electrical hazards; and using high-pressure compressed air for cleaning purposes.
The draft guidelines feature information on current best practices in structural fire resistance engineering in the United States and overseas.
"The dredging of toxic asbestos contaminated sand continues in Illinois, spreading increased risk of mesothelioma cancer rates that are already elevated when compared to the national average. How high must the body count get?" Jeffery C. Camplin, CSP, CPEA, asked the House Committee on Science and Technology's Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee on Thursday.
"The shrouded mystery of electricity compels many safety managers to depend upon plant electrical maintenance or engineering departments to manage their electrical safety program," writes Phil Allen, president and owner of Grace Engineered Products.
Through the partnership, APCa has developed 10 fact sheets so far, all describing best safety practices when working with equipment such as backhoes, sidebooms, and trenching machines.
The Ministry of Justice launched a program last October targeting 10 areas in England and Wales. Individuals given immediate jail sentences for possession rose by 23 percent, to 1,386, in the October-December 2008 quarter.
The California, Mo.-based company, which produces bulk turkey feed for 197 independent producers, earned VPP recognition after implementing a comprehensive employee safety and health management system in accordance with VPP standards, which exceed minimum OSHA standards.