Posts tagged 'OSHA'

April 1, 2011
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NIOSH Sets Goals for Healthy People 2020

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the wing of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) charged with workplace health issues, has come out with its list of objectives for Healthy People 2020, a program launched by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Among the objectives are to reduce work-related deaths from injuries from 4.0 per 100,000 to 3.6, reduc...
March 11, 2011
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OSHA Clarifies Who Must Pay for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Following a series of court and review commission decisions regarding personal protective equipment (PPE), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued guidance on who must pay for each type of PPE. The relevant document, Guidance for Personal Equipment in General Industry, took effect on Feb. 15, 2011, clarifying final regulations issued in 2007 and 2009. The prior guidance req...
March 5, 2011
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Spider-Man' Gets Caught in Web of OSHA Violations

The $65-million Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, beset by spidery actors falling from the heights and landing on the stage from the beginning of rehearsals, is now facing $12,500 in fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which issued four citations on Friday (March 4, 2011). That's not all. In February, the New York State Department of Labor cite...
February 25, 2011
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OSHA Seeks to Expand Its Ranks of Inspectors

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) employs 2.1 million people, but just 2,335 of them are field inspectors. The agency is thus requesting an additional $24.7 million in its fiscal year 2012 budget to expand by 52 inspectors. As budget negotiations stall in Congress over how deep to cut spending, the fate of the OSHA request is—at best—uncertain. In addition to ...
February 1, 2011
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Congress Targets I2P2 & Noise Regulations

Some of the fallout from the November elections that turned the House of Representatives over to the Republicans is that life can get tougher for regulators, though few doubt it will stop them. In particular, Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.), new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, with input from surveys he took of trade associations, is targeting a proposed regulatio...
January 26, 2011
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OSHA Withdraws MSD Reporting Standard from OMB Review

Perhaps bowing to pressure from President Obama and his initiative to review all federal regulations to see if they're business friendly or not, OSHA has withdrawn from review by the OMB its proposal to require musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) reporting on the yearly Log 300 injury and illness report. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must review all proposed regulations for their fis...
January 7, 2011
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OSHA Sets Revamped Injury and Illness Program as Top Priority

OSHA chief David Michaels, during a Web chat earlier this week, stressed that creating new standards for workplace injury and illness programs was his agency's highest regulatory priority. The revamped injury and illness program, yet to be formalized, is being dubbed "I2P2." “This is a very important project and it is important that the agency get it right,” Michaels said ...
December 21, 2010
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DOL Focuses on Workplace Safety in Agenda

In 2011 the Department of Labor (DOL) plans to issue 35 proposed rules and 25 final rules. Many of these will be emanating from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and will be focusing on workplace safety issues. Details are contained in the department's Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, which it published just this past Friday (Dec. 17, 2010). OSHA will be releasing final regu...
April 23, 2010
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OSHA Increasing Penalties and Aiming Higher

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), while legally bound to a fine structure with limits, is seeking to raise its average fine from the $1,000 range to the $3,000 to $4,000 range while awaiting higher fine approval from Congress. OSHA Director David Michaels announced on April 22 what the agency is calling its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP), which replaces the c...
April 20, 2010
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OSHA to Emphasize Enforcement of Worker Training

Effective April 28--Workers Memorial Day--the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will step up enforcement of worker training requirements, especially for non-English speakers. "OSHA will also assure that its Compliance Officers check and verify not only that the training has been provided, but that it was provided in a format that the workers being trained can understand,...