Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Over 2.2 billion solvent-contaminated rags are used in workplaces in the United States on an annual basis. It is no surprise then that environment, health, and safety (EHS) managers must contend with requirements from both the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for managing these rags. Yesterday […]
What’s your procedure for handling workers’ complaints about health symptoms? Some health symptoms are “nonspecific,” meaning they can have more than one possible cause. A headache, for example, can result from exposure to hazardous airborne chemicals—or the worker could be coming down with a cold or might have skipped lunch. It’s important to carefully investigate […]
By John E. Hall With much of the country in line for more high temperatures as summer winds down, employers should be mindful of employees’ exposure to heat hazards on the job. Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has no heat standard, the agency has become increasingly willing to cite employers for employees’ […]
By Eric Svendsen, PhD, Principal, safetyBUILT-IN One thing successful safety leaders do to help build a stronger safety culture in the organization is to build levels of employee engagement. An engaged employee thinks and acts like an owner, and because of that, they not only remain safer on the job, but they are also much […]
By Al Vreeland OSHA’s new electronic recordkeeping rule, finalized in May, requires certain employers to submit injury and illness data to OSHA. But it also includes provisions intended to prevent employers from retaliating against employees who report injuries, among them a caution against postaccident drug testing. Here’s what guest columnist Al Vreeland thinks about the […]
Over 2.2 billion solvent-contaminated rags are used in workplaces in the United States on an annual basis. It is no surprise then that environment, health, and safety (EHS) managers must contend with requirements from both the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for managing these rags. Today […]
We are all aware of the problem of noise in the workplace and how hearing can be irreparably damaged. But did you know that hearing can be damaged by certain chemicals in the workplace? Yesterday we looked at findings concerning solvents in the workplace and hearing loss. Today we will review findings that suggest that […]
EPA’s Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Rule, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized in December 2014 and which went into effect in July 2015, is complicated. While a lot of focus has been on the DSW Rule’s revised “generator-controlled exclusion” and two new exclusions—the “verified recycler” exclusion and the “remanufacturing of solvents” exclusion—in […]
Q. What is considered “oil?” I have had some conversations with the EPA that the Coast Guard’s list of regulated oils is broad, including automotive gas, hexane, mineral spirits, jet fuel, etc.
Under a new federal rule effective September 6, 2016, owners and operators of stationary diesel engines—formally compression ignition internal combustion engines (CI ICEs)—may, in an emergency, temporarily override systems in those engines intended to force the use of emissions control devices.