Category: Enforcement and Inspection
As today’s workplace becomes more complex, regulation of that workplace increases. In this section, you’ll find the practical advice you need to understand exactly what OSHA, other federal agencies, and their state counterparts, require of you, and to comply in the ways that best satisfy both your and their needs. Look also for important court decisions, advice on how to handle enforcement actions, and news of upcoming changes in workplace health and safety law.
Free Special Report: What to Expect from an OSHA Inspection
The EPA recently announced the registration of the new active ingredient glufosinate-P, which controls weeds in conventional and glufosinate-resistant field corn, sweet corn, soybean, cotton, and canola. The Agency also released its final biological evaluation for the active ingredient under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). “Glufosinate-P is the first new active ingredient registration where EPA […]
The EPA recently announced it finalized stronger requirements for identifying and cleaning up lead paint dust in pre-1978 homes and childcare facilities. “There is no safe level of lead exposure, particularly for children. In children, lead can severely harm mental and physical development, slow down learning, and irreversibly damage the brain,” states an EPA news […]
On November 29, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) extended the deadline for public comment on its heat illness prevention proposal (89 Fed. Reg. 94631). Comments are now due January 14, 2025. The agency published its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for heat injury and illness prevention in outdoor and indoor work settings on […]
The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Formaldehyde Panel sent a detailed letter, dated November 4, 2024, to the EPA to bring its attention to “the substantial comments submitted to the EPA from a diverse group of stakeholders and peer reviewers raising major issues with the EPA’s 2024 draft formaldehyde risk assessment.” The ACC alleges the Biden […]
A congressional delegation from San Diego in October requested EPA support to assist the San Diego County Air Pollution District with air monitoring for neighborhoods near the Mexico border. “In early September, high levels of noxious gases such as hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen cyanide were measured by scientific teams in the river valley and noticed […]
A Mississippi steel pipe manufacturer has reached a settlement agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to resolve citations and penalties involving one worker’s death and another’s amputation injuries, the agency announced November 22. On January 19, two employees of Jindal Tubular USA LLC in Bay Saint Louis were setting up a site […]
The Department of Labor (DOL) has petitioned the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to force the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) subpoenas, OSHA announced November 21. The agency is conducting a whistleblower investigation at the USPS’s New Salem, Pennsylvania, facility. OSHA opened an […]
Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine the most dangerous construction safety hazards. Are you familiar with the construction industry’s deadliest safety hazards? The “fatal four” or “focus four” safety hazards are caught-in/-between hazards, electrocution, falls, and struck-by […]
Arguments in City and County of San Francisco v. EPA were heard before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in October. The question before SCOTUS is whether the Clean Water Act (CWA) allows the EPA (or an authorized state) “to impose generic prohibitions in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits that subject […]
Valenti’s Bakery LLC of Paterson, New Jersey, is facing $194,691 in new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines following a follow-up inspection, the agency announced November 19. The employer now faces a total of $385,221 in OSHA fines. The agency performed a follow-up inspection in May after the employer failed to prove it had […]