PSARANEWSLETTER |October 19, 2014                                                   
In This Issue
 
Watch Dr. Michaels speak about how you can help OSHA identify appropriate regulatory and non-regulatory options for chemical management.
 
Workers performing tasks involving close contact with symptomatic individuals with EHF or in environments contaminated or reasonably anticipated to be contaminated with infectious body fluids are at risk of exposure. These workers may include workers in the healthcare, mortuary and death care, airline, and other travel service industries.
Name that Acronym:
EHF                                 
 
Last Weeks Acronym:

NRT            
National Response Team
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Word of the Week:
Wisenheimer -

a wiseacre or smart aleck

Upcoming Events:
PAK
Predictive Modelling of Wastewater Parameters   

 

by Patrick Kneip

 

Most industries feel uneasy waiting for lab results to come back from wastewater compliance or surcharge testing. They are forced to manage these issues reactively because test results aren't available until days or even weeks after samples have been collected. Was the process running efficiently? Was the pretreatment equipment working properly? By correlating wastewater data with process data, it is possible to monitor compliance and surcharge results more proactively. Early detection of process upsets or noncompliance episodes can even be achieved through modelling and real-time monitoring of predictor parameters.            

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OSHA Launches National Dialogue on Hazardous Chemical Exposures and Permissible Exposure Limits in the Workplace   

OSHA announced it is launching a national dialogue with stakeholders on ways to prevent work-related illness caused by exposure to hazardous substances. The first stage of this dialogue is a request for information on the management of hazardous chemical exposures in the workplace and strategies for updating permissible exposure limits.

EPA Extends Water Rule Comment Period Again              
 

EPA continues to feel the heat from proposed regulations expanding federal regulatory authority beyond anything intended by Congress when it wrote the Clean Water Act in 1972. With tensions surrounding the regulation growing, the EPA announced in an email to reporters it is extending the comment period for the second time through Nov. 14. The agency previously extended the comment period in June.  In April, the EPA proposed the WOTUS rule, which would clarify the agency's regulations as applying to smaller bodies of water, like streams and rivers, that flow into larger water sources that are already protected.

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EPA Increases Access to Chemical Information 

                

The U.S. EPA has posted additional data and added new functions to ChemView, EPA's publicly-accessible, one-stop online tool to find information for chemicals regulated under the TSCA.  The enhanced data functions include: improving the display and content for the Chemical Data Reporting information, adding a new link that displays the pollution prevention information generated as part of the Toxics Release Inventory program, and launching an administrative tool that will save EPA resources by streamlining the loading of future information.  

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Transporting Infectious Substances

An infectious substance is regulated as a hazardous material under the DOT's Hazardous Materials Regulations. The HMR apply to any material DOT determines is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce.1 An infectious substance must conform to all applicable HMR requirements when offered for transportation or transported by air, highway, rail, or water.           

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EPA Releases Tool for Water Utilities on Flood Resilience

 

EPA has released "Flood Resilience: A Basic Guide for Water and Wastewater Utilities." Drinking water and wastewater utilities are particularly vulnerable to flooding, which can damage pumps, disconnect chemical tanks, break distribution lines, and disrupt power supply. Targeted to small and medium utilities, the Guide outlines a simple, four-step assessment process to help any water utility know their flooding threat and identify practical mitigation options to protect critical assets.     

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 Appeals Court Affirms OSHA Citations on Fall Prevention and Exposure to Excessive Heat 
 
Two recent court cases uphold agency findings and citations regarding violations of OSHA's fall protection standard and a willful citation issued for exposing workers to excessive heat. In September of 2011, two compliance officers conducted an inspection and OSHA issued serious and repeat citations for violating OSHA's fall prevention regulations. OSHRC judge Peggy Ball affirmed a general duty clause citation that OSHA issued to the United States Postal Service after the heat illness related death of a postal worker.

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Rookie Review - What is Ebola?
 

Ebola is a severe and often fatal disease in humans. It is also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever.  Individuals with EHF generally have symptoms typical of viral illnesses, including fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat. The illness progression includes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and impaired organ function. In some cases, rash, internal and/or external bleeding, and death may occur.  
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