Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
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.
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In a final investigation report into a fatal well blowout, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) called on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to include onshore well drilling and well servicing operations in the agency’s process safety management (PSM) standard or develop a separate federal standard to address such operations. […]
Two Rhode Island companies, under separate, recently proposed settlements with the EPA, have been ordered to pay combined fines of approximately $280,000 due to alleged violations of reporting requirements for their uses of anhydrous ammonia and metals. The companies alleged violations stem from compliance with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and the […]
Charm Builders Ltd., an Ohio-based contractor, agreed to pay $730,000 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties to settle a dozen citations stemming from a March 2022 investigation into fall protection violations, the agency announced December 28. On September 29, 2022, OSHA cited Millersburg, Ohio-based Charm Builders for six egregious-willful, five repeat, and one […]
As we wrap up 2023, we’re taking a look back at some of our highlights from this year. Here are some more of our favorite infographics from the past 12 months.
A Florence, Wisconsin, sawmill faces $1.4 million in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties following a 16-year-old worker’s fatal injuries, the agency announced December 19. OSHA cited Florence Hardwoods LLC for eight willful, six repeat, 29 serious, and four other-than-serious safety and health violations. The agency categorized five of the willful violations as egregious, […]
The EPA recently released a proposed rule to further protect people from exposure to two chemicals that are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT). Both chemicals—decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) and phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1))—are already subject to risk management rules under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The proposed rule would impose workplace safety protections […]
On December 2, 2023, the EPA announced a final rule that’s expected to sharply reduce emissions of methane and other harmful air pollution from oil and natural gas operations. First announced at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), the rule includes standards to reduce methane and […]
On December 1, 2023, the EPA issued orders to Inhance Technologies LLC (Inhance) directing it not to produce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemicals that are created in the production of its fluorinated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic containers. “This action, taken under the authority of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), will help protect the […]
As we wrap up 2023, we’re taking a look back at some of our highlights from this year. Here are some of our favorite infographics from the past 12 months.
On December 14, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) approved an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for respirable crystalline silica to protect workers from silicosis, the state Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) announced. The ETS goes into effect on December 29. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) proposed the ETS […]