On March 26, 2012 the United States Federal Register published the final rule on the Hazard Communication Standard/Globally Harmonized System. This final rule will become effective 60 days after the date of publication. The changes will bring the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard, which was first adopted in 1983,
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On a recent flight from Newark to Chicago, I sat next to an American Airlines pilot, with whom I struck up a conversation. In the midst of our discussion, the flight attendant began the usual speech on safety instructions, seat belts, and evacuation. The pilot stopped talking and said, “I need to listen to these
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The following winter driving tips were posted on the Weather Channel web site.   Driving in Snow and Ice The best advice for driving in bad winter weather is not to drive at all, if you can avoid it.  Don’t go out until the snow plows and sanding trucks have had a chance to do
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In this “as good as it gets” economic recovery, companies are intent on growing the top line while minimizing costs. Corporate staffs are shrinking or disappearing entirely, and the traditional EHS role faces internal competition from other groups that are taking on parts of the broader sustainability agenda. In this context, EHS VPs who keep their heads down and do their jobs well may be highly skilled, highly valuable, highly overworked—and highly likely to be headed to extinction. In contrast, entrepreneurial EHS leaders are keeping and expanding their roles by moving beyond their traditional comfort zones . . . .

The U.S. EPA released the final health assessment for trichloroethylene (TCE) to the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database. The final assessment characterizes TCE as carcinogenic to humans and as a human noncancer health hazard. According to the EPA, this assessment will allow for a better understanding of the risks posed to communities from exposure to TCE in soil, water, and air. It will provide federal, state, local, and other policymakers with the latest scientific information to make decisions about cleanup and other actions to protect …

Numerous standards promulgated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) contain requirements for employee training. Typically, these standards state “the employer must provide training to affected employees,” or similar language. Obviously, full-time employees need to be trained, but some other categories of employees should not be overlooked. Newly hired employees must be trained in all
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The U.S. Occupational, Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) initiated its national Heat Illness Campaign to educate workers and their employers about the hazards of working outdoors in the heat. OSHA is leveraging relationships with other state and local partners, employers, trade organizations, unions, community groups, educational institutions and healthcare professionals, to disseminate training materials across
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A new National Emphasis Program (NEP) for the Primary Metals Industries was announced by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on June 2,2011. The NEP is intended to identify and reduce or eliminate worker exposures to harmful chemical and physical hazards in facilities that produce metal products. The goals of the NEP include
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During a recent audit, I discovered that many of my colleagues and I had been taught to apply the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) confined space standard (29 Code of Federal Regulations 1910.146) incorrectly. The question that came up was related to identifying “what is a confined space,” which I find to be
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Although safety professionals have long acknowledged that the promotion of safety is an important component of a safety management system, many organizations have had limited success in promoting safety throughout their own companies. For example, one way many companies attempt to promote safety is through the use of slogans. Safety slogans such as “Think Safety”
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