Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
When you’re trying to motivate workers, it makes perfect sense to use both carrots and sticks—right? Unfortunately, when it comes to safety, the most obvious “carrot”—an incentive program that rewards workers for working safely—can easily go wrong. For example, rewarding a team of workers for not having any reportable accidents can result in the workers […]
DOT’s Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs) require that hazmat employees receive “adequate training” for their specific job duties. As a hazmat employer, you are left in the dark as to what “adequate training” actually means. As a matter of fact, DOT has written a letter of interpretation that states the agency’s position on the meaning of […]
Every time a facility explodes, we look for ways it could have been prevented. Well, in the wake of a refinery explosion in Richmond, California, Cal/OSHA has proposed strict process safety measures at oil refineries. We are taking a look at Cal/OSHA’s proposal because it has been suggested that other states follow California’s lead. The […]
Although OSHA does issue frequent citations under the General Duty Clause (GDC), it cannot cite all hazards that are not covered by a specific standard. There are specific criteria that a hazard has to meet in order to be citable under the GDC. Keep reading to find out what conditions must be satisfied before OSHA […]
One section of the OSH Act that seems to bewilder employers and employees alike is Section 5, known as the General Duty Clause (GDC). It’s very brief, but it has considerable significance among OSHA’s means of enforcing compliance—and, for that matter, can be useful to employees seeking relief from what they consider unsafe work. The […]
When you have a predictable number of workers in a specific location for a predetermined length of time, figuring out how many toilets you have to provide, and your policy on restroom breaks and access (if you even need one), is probably straightforward. But what about mobile work crews? And what of construction and agriculture […]
Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., has a long history with federal OSHA. Between 1982 and the first half of 2014, the furniture manufacturer had been inspected by federal OSHA 33 times and by state OSHA agencies an additional 23 times. In its 33 previous federal inspections, OSHA cited the employer for 96 serious, 4 repeat, and […]
Spent Foundry Sands Assessment Is Good News Finding ways to safely reuse wastes generated by industry is key to reducing the need for virgin materials and for disposing of the wastes in landfills or other disposal facilities. One such waste is spent foundry sands, which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), now says can be reused […]
Is the obesity epidemic hurting your workplace? Are your workers less productive than they could be because they suffer from poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or obstructive sleep apnea? Are your healthcare costs soaring out of control?
For a number of years, OSHA has been making the business case for safety, pointing out that employers can save $4 to $6 for every dollar invested. A similar message is emerging regarding health. A 2014 RAND Corporation study of 7 years of PepsiCo data found that efforts to help employees manage chronic illnesses saved […]