Here’s an interesting information graphic comparing the achievements and disappointments of the U.S. Occupational, Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). Is OSHA a wasteful regulatory nightmare or a common sense program that saves lives?

  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,
[continue reading…]

Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers declined in the United States in 2010 to a rate of 3.5 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers. Nearly 3.1 million injuries and illnesses were reported among private sector industry employers in 2010, down from 3.3 million reported in 2009. The health care and social assistance industry sector (case rate of 5.2) had more reported illnesses and injuries than any other sector, and public sector employees are injured at a rate that is approximately 60 percent higher than the private sector rate. [continue reading]

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
[continue reading…]

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
[continue reading…]

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
[continue reading…]

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
[continue reading…]

Reliance on the use of hearing protection to control hazardous noise exposures in the United States would be severely limited under a proposed interpretation published by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on October 19, 2010. OSHA’s reinterpretation of the word “feasible” as applied to engineering and administrative noise controls would essentially require
[continue reading…]

OSHA revised its policy for all Outreach Training Programs to limit the number of hours each day that a student may spend in OSHA 10- and 30-hour classes. OSHA revised the length of daily classroom instruction to prevent workers from being saturated with so much information that they may miss content that could prevent injuries, illnesses and death. [more…]

As part of a proposed settlement agreement, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ordered BP to “audit a statistically significant number of pressure vessels, piping and instrument controls during the company’s PSM compliance audits” at one of its refineries. This article explores the implications of conducting a statistically significant audit sample and reviews the requirements for audit sampling contained in several auditing standards.