The company's proactive approach toward safety is a model for others to follow," said Charles E. Adkins, OSHA's regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo.
The Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals shows most Americans have measurable levels of many chemicals in their blood or urine, including PFOA, perchlorate, and MTBE.
The department has more than 200 of the units deployed at 102 firehouses and is encouraging all firefighters to obtain level A or B technician certification.
"Few Americans are aware of lead's deadly effects or the fact that lead taken home on clothing and work tools can infect an entire family," said OSHA Area Director Richard Gilgrist in Cincinnati.
Most scientists believe that staph infections are caused by many bacterial cells that signal each other to emit toxins. The signaling process is called quorum sensing because many bacteria must be present to start the process.
OSHA's Philadelphia Area Office initiated the investigation following an ethylene complex explosion in May 2009 at the company's refinery in Marcus Hook, Pa.
The agency began a health inspection in June after receiving information that fires had occurred in the Ohio plant, and that large amounts of dust from the manufacturing process had accumulated throughout the worksite.
During the past 10 million hours, the company has safely completed a number of major construction projects, from replacing a segment of line underneath the Susquehanna River in Maryland to lifting an underwater line in southern Mississippi to replace block valves, to boring a new line under I-65 near Birmingham while traffic continued above.
The accident investigation, which was conducted by OSHA's Puerto Rico Area Office, resulted in citations for exposing workers to the hazards of hot water and steam condensate, not developing and documenting procedures to prevent the unintended release of hot water and steam, and not training workers on the safe application, usage, and removal of energy control devices.
The leaders of 13 states' environmental agencies issued an eight-point statement of principles Dec. 2 as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, shown here, testified at a U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing about the need to reform the law.
Titled "Best Practices for Protecting EMS Responders During Treatment and Transport of Victims of Hazardous Substance Releases," the new guidance document addresses adequate training and personal protective equipment for emergency medical services responders who assist victims of hazardous substance release incidents.
There are no products registered by EPA for use in residential settings that will disinfect or sterilize the air or a room by fogging. Claims for disinfecting carpeting, drapes, and other porous surfaces are also false, the agency says.
According to OSHA, workers at the site lacked proper respirators and protective clothing and had not been informed of the presence of asbestos at the site, and the employer failed to determine the asbestos exposure level and establish a regulated work area for asbestos removal and handling.
Ensuring food quality and safety oft en means the need to alter the physical space in plant or warehouse facilities, especially when temperature and humidity control is at stake. It's an unfortunate prospect for many because the traditional way of thinking is to take on costly and time-consuming construction projects involving solid insulated walls and/or rigid panelized structures.
The new system will display the risk of extreme heat stress and time to flashover (the point when all combustible materials in a room simultaneously erupt in flames) on the incident commander's screen, along with the firefighters' locations and vital signs.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, is increasing its investment in understanding the potential health, safety, and environmental issues related to tiny particles that are used in many everyday products such as sunscreens, cosmetics, and electronics, by awarding about $13 million over a two-year period, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to bolster the NIEHS’s ongoing research portfolio in the area of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs).
"The board agreed that the ability for the society to offer certification programs . . . is important in remaining relevant in the changing global marketplace," ASTM International President James A. Thomas said.
The program began in 1989 at the Dakota City, Neb., beef complex, where the recordable injury and illness rate is now 67 percent below the 1991 rate and injuries and illnesses requiring the involvement of a physician are 73 percent below 1991 levels.
OSHA issued $1,592,500 of the $1.6 million in fines against Tempel Grain Elevators LLP of Wiley, Colo., in connection with the May 29 engulfment death of a 17-year-old worker.
The revised standard updates references for the provisions addressing piping systems, as well as acetylene generators and filling acetylene cylinders and requires that in-plant transfer, handling, storage, and use of acetylene cylinders comply with Compressed Gas Association Pamphlet G-1-2003, titled Acetylene.