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Suicide prevention

Suicide and Your Workplace: Lifesaving Advice for EHS

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and in the United States, we are in the midst of an opioid crisis and a suicide epidemic, on top of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Every year, approximately 47,000 Americans die by suicide. It is a preventable public health problem and one of the leading causes of death across […]

white house

EPA Looks to Regulate Guidance Documents

Responding to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 13891, as well as instructions from the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on how to comply with the EO, the EPA has proposed regulations specifying how the Agency will manage the issuance and administration of guidance documents.

OSHA safety enforcement concept, OSHA top 10

OSHA’s New Enforcement Policies Include How to Record COVID-19 Cases

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has adopted revised policies for enforcing workplace safety and health requirements as states throughout the country begin lifting stay-at-home restrictions and workplaces reopen. The changes include updated requirements for recording cases of COVID-19.

Environmental Policy, Law

The Latest Trends in EPA Enforcement

2020 has so far been defined almost entirely by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the public health crisis has affected environment, health, and safety (EHS) enforcement along with everything else. Let’s take a look at what’s been happening with enforcement at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), from the pandemic’s effect on policy to some recently […]

Bruce Backus

Faces of EHS: Chatting with BLR’s Lifetime Achievement in Safety Award Winner Bruce Backus

We seldom get to hear positive stories recognizing the hardworking environment, health, and safety (EHS) professionals out there, despite the significant role they play in not only keeping workers safe, but in keeping day-to-day operations running smoothly. That’s one of the reasons we started this series! For the next several installments, we are focusing on […]

Streamlined Gasoline Regulations Proposed by EPA

The EPA is proposing a major reorganization of its Clean Air Act (CAA) Fuels and Fuels Additive regulations (40 CFR Part 80). In the proposed revisions, the Agency says it seeks to adopt a “holistic” approach that consolidates many different and overlapping regulations in Part 80 into a new Part 1090. The revisions “will better […]

Whistleblower

COVID-19: Avoid Retaliation for Health and Safety Complaints During Pandemic

As state stay-at-home orders begin to lift and workplaces reopen, are you ready for employee concerns about their safety and health in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic? How will you respond if an employee files a complaint with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or a state workplace safety and health agency? Employers must […]

FMCSA Issues Final Rule Amending Hours of Service

The Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released a final rule amending the hours of service regulations for commercial motor vehicle drivers. The amendments expand the driving window for both short-haul and long-haul drivers.