Tag: OSHA

Labor Department Launches Multiagency ‘Opinion Letters’

On June 2, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced the launch of an “opinion letter” program across five agencies, providing workers, employers, and others with compliance assistance. The program includes letters of interpretation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) explaining the agency’s regulatory requirements. The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, Mine Safety and […]

OSHA Honors 50th Anniversary of Its Consultation Program

On May 28, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) celebrated the 50th anniversary of its nonenforcement program On-Site Consultation. Launched in 1975, the program has expanded to serve all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories. According to OSHA, the program helps employers identify workplace hazards, improve safety practices, and build […]

Back to Basics: Handling the Range of Workplace Chemical Hazards

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine workplace chemical hazards. Every day, on-the-job exposures to chemicals can pose health and safety hazards to your employees. Those can be addressed by exposure control methods like engineering or administrative controls, personal […]

New Jersey Commercial Bakery Settles OSHA Citations

Valenti’s Bakery LLC, a Patterson, New Jersey, commercial bakery, has reached a settlement agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to resolve litigation after a May 2024 follow-up investigation at the company’s facility found previously identified hazards hadn’t been addressed. OSHA initially investigated Valenti’s Bakery in June 2023 after an employee suffered partial […]

OSHA Updates Site-Specific Targeting Inspection Program

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced May 20 it updated its Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program of workplace inspections. The program directive (CPL 02-01-067), signed on April 8 and effective May 20, replaces a directive issued on February 7, 2023. The process for selecting establishments for inspection uses OSHA Form 300A data from […]

Trapped in the Tank: A Wake-Up Call for Contractor Safety

Several years ago, a hazardous materials manager with the Chicago Fire Department received an urgent call from a chemical manufacturing facility. Contractors had been working on decommissioned chemical processing tanks when something went horribly wrong. One of the contractors had become trapped inside a tank. When emergency responders arrived, they asked for the worker’s name […]

Faces of EHS: Kerry Schimelfenig on Safety Training

Kerry Schimelfenig is the business development manager at Protective Industrial Products (PIP) and a passionate safety trainer and advocate. He encourages organizations to take a holistic approach to workplace safety, which means embracing everything from policies to technology to help protect workers. Proper training, however, is key. In his role at PIP, he partners with […]

Pennsylvania Manufacturer Settles OSHA Citations in Amputation

Fostermation Inc., a Meadville, Pennsylvania, metal components manufacturer, paid $14,700 to settle six serious and one other-than-serious Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations, the agency announced May 12. An investigation by OSHA and the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division into a minor-aged worker’s fingertip amputation in May 2024 found that the employer […]

Back to Basics: Construction Safety and Health

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine construction safety and health. Building involves various tasks and projects performed by laborers representing multiple trades using all kinds of tools and equipment. That variety of work comes with various health […]

DOL Files Whistleblower Suit Against Postal Service

The Department of Labor (DOL) has filed a whistleblower lawsuit in the Western District of Texas against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for wrongfully terminating an employee who fell while delivering mail and reported the work-related injury, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced May 8. An OSHA investigation found that the USPS violated […]