OSHA has signed an enforcement settlement with the pharmacy giant Rite Aid that will require new worker protections against bloodborne pathogens at “approximately 370” stores in two states, after the agency found violations of that standard at a Niagara Falls, NY, location in 2022.
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is urging chemical facility officers to prepare quickly for what could be more frequent and more powerful hurricanes and other extreme wind events in the future and this season in particular, pointing to two recent reports as evidence of the dangers several hurricanes can pose to the sites.
Charging their members are currently shut out of data that could be crucial to their safety, labor unions are urging EPA to require employers turn over a wide range of information on their TSCA new-chemical applications and compliance orders and are proposing a framework based on OSHA policies they say would protect confidential materials.
Charging their members are currently shut out of data that could be crucial to their safety, labor unions are urging EPA to require employers turn over a wide range of information on their TSCA new-chemical applications and compliance orders and are proposing a framework based on OSHA policies they say would protect confidential materials.
Industry groups are calling on EPA to rework its proposed TSCA rule for the solvent perchloroethylene (PCE) but are split on what approach it should adopt, with some seeking a more flexible policy under the chemicals law while at least one is pushing the agency to drop its worker-safety proposals and advance them through a joint rulemaking with OSHA.
Industry groups are calling on EPA to rework its proposed TSCA rule for the solvent perchloroethylene (PCE) but are split on what approach it should adopt, with some seeking a more flexible policy under the chemicals law while at least one is pushing the agency to drop its worker-safety proposals and advance them through a joint rulemaking with OSHA.
The chairman of the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over OSHA’s worker-protection duties says that he intends to prioritize oversight of the agency’s rulemaking work in the coming years, and is specifically highlighting plans to press for more stakeholder involvement in the rulemaking process, especially from small businesses.
A National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) peer-review panel has broadly endorsed EPA’s draft risk assessment of formaldehyde that adopted controversial research linking workplace exposures to the chemical with leukemia, potentially opening a door for rules based on those findings, but industry is challenging the review process in court.
A group that advocates for restaurant workers is urging OSHA to include kitchens in its forthcoming standard for heat danger, escalating labor groups’ recent calls for the rule to extend beyond outdoor job sites and to mandate protections such as sufficient breaks, heat education and acclimatization plans for all employees.
A group that advocates for restaurant workers is urging OSHA to include kitchens in its forthcoming standard for heat danger, escalating labor groups’ recent calls for the rule to extend beyond outdoor job sites and to mandate protections such as sufficient breaks, heat education and acclimatization plans for all employees.