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New Limits on Toxic Chemicals in Drinking Water Proposed

The Obama administration announced last week that it would set limits on permissible levels of a new set of toxic chemicals in drinking water. These standards will now include perchlorate, a toxic compound used in rocket fuel, which has been found in water supplies in 26 states.  The nation’s clean water laws have not kept […]

Taking An Interest Gets Better Results

Many times a supervisor faces serious obstacles (real or imagined) to attaining a good safety record for his or her department. Here are some of the excuses supervisors commonly given along with some solutions: Employees are people with certain specific functions to perform, but they are not machines—they’re people with feelings and emotions. People like […]

Week in Review, May 6, 2011

Note to Readers: This newsletter appears daily, but we know some don’t always have the time to read it everyday. For your convenience, here’s a re-publication of what we covered this past week. Daily, weekly, or anything in between, we’re pleased to keep you informed with the latest tips, news and advice on the profession. […]

OSHA Renews Emphasis Program for Amputations

On June 26, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the renewal of a national emphasis program (NEP) of outreach, inspection, and enforcement to address amputations in manufacturing. The new NEP replaces one set to expire June 27. The updated program will remain in effect for five years, according to the agency. Changes to […]

Compliance Deadline Extended for UOG Wells

The EPA has issued a direct final rule extending the compliance deadline for onshore unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction wells subject to the Agency’s June 28, 2016, final pretreatment effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs). Under the direct final rule, UOG facilities—including wells that are hydraulically fractured—that were lawfully discharging to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) […]

Work Ergonomically

The National Safety Council’s National Safety Month continues this June with Week 2’s theme, which is Work Ergonomically. Explain to your trainees that ergonomics is the study of designing procedures and equipment to prevent workers from unnecessary injuries. Warn your employees, for example, that if they use awkward postures to complete their job tasks, they […]

Are you a Safe Worker?

Any day is the perfect time to ask yourself that question. You also might want to copy this test and give it to your co-workers. Safe workers protect not only themselves but everyone around them. Answer “Yes” or “No” to the following. Do you: Treat safety as a very important job responsibility? Plan each job […]

I2P2: It’s on OSHA’s Mind, Is It on Yours?

Injury and illness prevention is always a big issue for safety professionals especially when incidents result in days away from work. Many companies are responding with injury and illness prevention plans. According to BLS, the total number of injury and illness cases requiring days away from work to recuperate was in 2011(the most recent year […]

Zero Pretreatment Effluent Limits for O&G Fracking

There should be little difficulty understanding the pollutant effluent limits in the EPA’s final pretreatment standards for onshore unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction facilities because the limits are zero. The pertinent addition to the Code of Federal Regulations is as follows: