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In today’s Advisor, we learn that supervisory training and employee education are among the remedies that several employers must provide after federal investigators recently cited them for alleged whistleblower violations.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a final rule prohibiting employers from forcing drivers to operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in violation of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. The rule includes reporting procedures for drivers who feel they are being coerced to break the law. Today we will focus on certain aspects of […]
Q. We store Lead Metal Scrap on our property and sell it to recyclers. Would I mark Item 12 “Notification of Hazardous Secondary Material Activity” on the 2015 biennial report as “Yes” or as “No”?
Young workers are involved in a disproportionate number of forklift accidents. Lack of training, inexperience, and risk taking are all culprits in these accidents. But they are no excuse. Federal laws and regulations require you to protect your young workers and prevent forklift-related incidents. OSHA’s Powered Industrial Truck standard (29 CFR 1910.178) requires you to […]
There has been considerable interest in how the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) would address the Corps/EPA June 2015 final Definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule in its reissued set of nationwide permits (NWPs). Now published, the Corps’s final NWP rule essentially disassociates itself from the WOTUS rule pending the outcome of […]
Yesterday, we talked about drug-free workplace programs, issues to consider when creating a program, and federal laws that might apply to such programs. Today, we focus on another important aspect involved in curbing alcohol and drug abuse on the job—alcohol and drug testing. If you implement a drug and alcohol testing policy, the policy should […]
Taxpayers must compensate for shortfalls In December 2017, the EPA released a final rule stating that the Agency would not follow through on an Obama-era proposal to exercise its authority under Section 108(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) to require that the hard-rock mining industry establish and maintain […]
Pepsi Guam Bottling agreed to pay $132,591 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties to settle safety and health citations for exposing employees to amputation and other serious injuries, the agency announced January 3. Last year, OSHA cited Pepsi Guam Bottling with one willful, one repeat, and six serious violations of machine safety procedures after […]
At a packed classroom session at the StormCon 2017 Surface Water Quality Conference and Expo, Steve Thibaudeau of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Kurt Schaefer of Stantec talked about their experiences with the analysis and repair of nonperforming stormwater management systems. The presentation, called “Diagnosing and Repairing a Stormwater Management System: The Good, […]
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently announced the release of a new draft policy to implement the environmental justice provisions of the historic Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act). The proposed DEC Division of Environmental Permits policy, titled “Permitting and Disadvantaged Communities (DEP-23-1),” could serve as a template for […]