Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Most employers know the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires them to consider a disabled employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation so she can perform an essential function of her position. In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (whose rulings apply to all New York employers) held an employee’s […]
The entire Pacific Northwest region has suffered through a recent period of unprecedentedly high temperatures, even for summer. In response, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Oregon-OSHA) has adopted emergency heat safety rules that apply whenever employees must work when the heat index is 80 degrees or more. What Is Heat Index? The heat […]
On June 30, 2021, EPA announced policy changes for chemical risk evaluations conducted as required by the Toxic Substances Control Act. This provides a new path forward for the first 10 chemicals to go through risk evaluation: 1,4-Dioxane 1-Bromopropane Asbestos Carbon Tetrachloride Cyclic Aliphatic Bromide Cluster (HBCD) Methylene Chloride N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) Pigment Violet 29 (PV29) […]
A Colorado contractor has been sentenced to 10 months in jail for a fatal 2018 trench collapse at a Granby, Colorado, work site. The case comes under a partnership between the Department of Labor (DOL) Solicitor’s Office and state and local prosecutors to prosecute employers under state criminal statutes, along with an increased number of […]
As guidelines continue to evolve, you may be wondering if you can ditch your supply of disposable face masks. While they became fixtures of the pandemic, disposable face masks are not government-approved personal protective equipment (PPE). But isn’t the pandemic in our rearview mirror? Aren’t we done with masks already? If you’re in the transportation […]
By a narrow margin, on June 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states cannot use sovereign immunity as a defense to prevent federally approved pipeline projects from being built on state-owned land.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on July 12 called on employers in Western New York to protect workers from heat stress and illness hazards related to high temperatures. The agency acknowledged the anniversary of a worker’s heat-related fatality in Geneseo, New York. On July 7, 2020, Timothy Barber collapsed at the end of […]
Whistleblowers responsible for completing chemical risk assessments have come forward with allegations that their reports have been and continue to be “improperly altered to completely eliminate or minimize risk calculations,” according to a complaint filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) on behalf of four scientists who work in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety […]
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) on July 13 reminded employers of their obligation to comply with the state’s protection from wildfire smoke standard, which requires employers to take steps such as moving work operations, modifying work schedules, or providing proper respiratory protection such as N95 respirators in the event of wildfires. There […]
On July 1, 2021, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced that attorneys at Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP have been appointed as special assistant attorneys general to conduct an independent investigation into “allegations regarding alleged improper non-enforcement of air quality standards as alleged by certain Air Pollution Control Division staff at the Colorado Department of […]