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Train Employees to Avoid Electrical Accidents

Today, we review some training points for preventing electrical accidents. These points should be covered in electrical safety meetings with all employees. The following training points are brought to you courtesy of today’s featured BLR safety training product, 7-Minute Safety Trainer. Shock Prevention Inspect electrical equipment before use to be sure insulation is in good […]

Norfolk Southern Enters Into Derailment Site Agreement

Norfolk Southern Corp. has entered into a settlement agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Teamsters’ railway union to address health and safety concerns at a train derailment site in East Palestine, Ohio. A Norfolk Southern train derailed on February 2, 2023, causing a 49-railcar pileup, including 11 tank cars of […]

Bill Halts Guidance on ‘Federally Regulated Waters’

Following are key points made in the draft guidance in three critical areas–significant nexus, tributaries, and adjacent wetlands. Significant Nexus To evaluate the presence or absence of a significant nexus, the agencies intend, as a general matter, to consider: •              Waters similarly situated with waters of the same resource type, specifically tributaries, adjacent wetlands, or […]

EPA Proposes New CAA Standards for LMWCs

On January 11, 2024, the EPA announced a proposal to strengthen Clean Air Act (CAA) standards for large municipal waste combustors (LMWC) that burn municipal solid waste (MSW). LMWCs are incinerators that combust greater than 250 tons per day (tpd) of MSW. “If finalized, the updated standards would reduce emissions of nine pollutants, including smog- […]

Memorial Day travel

Be Careful on the Roads This Memorial Day Weekend!

The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates indicate that 402 people may be killed on the roads during the upcoming Memorial Day holiday. It is the second consecutive year that the Council has forecast more than 400 roadway deaths over Memorial Day weekend.

OSHA Further Extends Confined Space Enforcement Deadline

OSHA’s Confined Spaces in Construction standard was published in May 2015 and took effect in August. A temporary enforcement policy was in effect for all covered employers through October 2. OSHA has now extended that temporary enforcement policy through January 8, 2016, but only for employers engaged in residential construction work. Nonresidential construction employers please […]

OSHA and DOT Speak Out on Texting and Driving

Many or all of your workers drive to work every day, and some may be required by their jobs to spend part or all of their workday driving. Any of them could be at risk of being injured or killed in a distracted driving accident. “Distracted driving has become an epidemic in the United States, […]

Drinking water

Some EPA Guidance on Applications for Water Revolving Fund

On October 23, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA). The law established the parameters and federal funding levels for many types of water infrastructure improvement projects, including work by the Army Corps of Engineers to upgrade navigation, expand the ability of FEMA to assist states in flood management, […]

EPA Announces Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy

The EPA recently announced a new Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy, designed to achieve fairness in enforcement actions and ensure criminal enforcement is reserved for the “most egregious violations.” For many, the policy is long overdue. “The EPA’s determination of what facts justify criminal treatment has traditionally been inconsistent and dependent on local decision-making by regional […]