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What Will OSHA Accomplish in Obama's Final Year?
Key points
Final rules on silica, beryllium and electronic recordkeeping could all potentially be issued.
High-profile rules on injury and illness prevention programs and combustible dust are not likely to be finalized, OSHA-watchers say.
OSHA may pursue other initiatives, including new interpretations or guidance documents.
Overview
"One year from now, a new U.S. president will be elected. The changing of office could mean a new direction for the enforcement agency tasked with ensuring employers keep their workers safe. But before that happens, OSHA under President Barack Obama's administration has many items left on its agenda, including rules on silica, recordkeeping and combustible dust - most likely too many for the agency to address in only 15 months."
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Safety&HealthMagazine
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Last Acronym:
NRC
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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Flocculation:
verb | Flocculate |
floc·cu·late
\ˈflä-kyə-ˌlāt\
To cause (individual particles of clay) to aggregate into clot-like masses or precipitate into small lumps.
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Questions & Suggestions!
We are looking for questions and suggestions for our newsletter! We want to know what you want to see.
If you have a question or suggestion for an article addressing a specific topic, regulation, industry etc. please let us know. Email [email protected] and we will do our best to address or include it in a following
newsletter!
Dylan DeZeeuw
Marketing Coordinator
PSARA Technologies, Inc.
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Storm Water Compliance Series: No Exposure Certification for Exclusion from NPDES Storm Water Permitting
by Patrick A. Kneip, PE & Emma Clohessy
This is the third article in PSARA's Storm Water Compliance Series.
Compliance with any state's storm water permitting requirements is most easily achieved by applying for a No Exposure Certification. This certification is a conditional certification-it is not an exemption, and it must be updated/resubmitted every five years. Additionally, each facility in a given company must apply for the No Exposure Certification as it is facility-specific. Below is an example from Ohio of the number of facilities issued No Exposure Certifications over the past several years.
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OSHA Fines to See Significant Increase
Since 1990, OSHA's ability to adjust fines to account for inflation has been blocked by The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990. However, an amendment to the new congressional budget would allow the fines to be adjusted annually based on the consumer price index for the first time in 25 years. Additionally, under the new rule, OSHA would be allowed to make a one-time "catch-up" adjustment that would increase maximum penalty levels by approximately 80 percent to make up for the lack of increases.
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Updated OSHA Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines
OSHA is
seeking public comment on an updated version of its voluntary Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines, first published in 1989. The guidelines are intended to help employers establish safety and health plans at their workplaces. Key principles include finding and fixing hazards before they cause injury or illness, and making sure that workers have a voice in safety and health. The updated guidelines , which include illustrations, tools and resources, should be particularly helpful to small- and medium-sized businesses. The guidelines also address ways in which multiple employers at the same worksite can coordinate efforts to make sure all workers are protected equally. Public comments will be accepted until Feb. 15. For more information, see the
news release.
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Study: Poor Indoor Environmental Quality Linked to Workers' Low Cognitive Function
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- People working in well-ventilated buildings with below-average indoor air pollution and low carbon dioxide, levels showed better cognitive functioning than workers in "non-green" offices with typical pollutant and CO2 levels, according to a recent study published in Environmental Health Perspectives. "These results suggest that even modest improvements to indoor environmental quality may have a profound impact on the decision-making performance of workers," wrote lead author Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment
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NIOSH's "Workplace Medical Mystery" - Solved
NIOSH Science Blog: Stephanie Stevens, MA
It turns out Jim wasn't the only one at work with vision problems (see mystery).
To his surprise, Jim discovered almost all of his co-workers who worked the line with him at the label production plant had experienced some sort of vision problems over the last year-including changes in vision, blurred vision or irritation. Once workers and supervisors compared notes, the company requested a Health Hazard Evaluation by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
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What is Vapor Intrusion?
Vapor intrusion generally occurs when there is a migration of volatile chemicals from contaminated groundwater or soil into an overlying building. Volatile chemicals can emit vapors that may migrate through subsurface soils and into indoor air spaces of overlying buildings in ways similar to that of radon gas seeping into homes.
Read more to view a PDF by OSWER on a Guide for Assessing and Mitigating the Vapor Intrusion Pathway From Subsurface Vapor Sources to Indoor Air.
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