This marks the beginning of an intensive three weeks of public comment on the proposal, with hearings scheduled through Friday, April 4.
“We look forward to receiving feedback from our stakeholders on our proposal, and we’re grateful for the continuing high level of public engagement throughout the rulemaking,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “This is an open process and the input we receive will help us ensure that a final rule adequately protects workers, is feasible for employers, and is based on the best available evidence.”
OSHA’s proposed rule seeks to lower worker exposure to crystalline silica, which causes silicosis, an incurable lung disease. The proposal is based on extensive review of scientific and technical evidence, consideration of current industry consensus standards, and consultation with stakeholders.
Members of the public who filed a timely written notice of intention to appear can also ask questions of agency officials and other witnesses during the hearing.
Published in the Federal Register on September 12, 2013, OSHA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica aims to update the inconsistent and outdated permissible exposure limits for crystalline silica in general industry, construction and shipyards, as well as to establish other provisions to better protect workers.
EPA’s New Solvent Wipe, Shop Towel Rule Demystified
- Does the rule apply to both cloth and paper wipes and rags?
- What solvents can be on the towels, and which are prohibited?
- Does the rule also apply to towels that contain characteristic hazardous waste?
- Can P or U-listed wastes be on the towels?
- How must the towels be stored on-site?
- Do they need to be tested for anything?
- How long can they be stored?
- How must the containers be marked or labeled?
- How must they be prepared for transportation?
- Where can you ship them and what are the disposal and recycling options?
- What are the documentation requirements?
- How is the new rule impacted by current state regulations?
Did You Miss OSHA’s December 1 GHS Hazard Communication Training Deadline? Use Environmental Resource Center’s GHS OSHA Hazard Communication Training PowerPoint
With OSHA’s adoption of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals, virtually every chemical label, MSDS—now called Safety Data Sheet (SDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard.
OSHA’s December 1, 2013, deadline under the revised Hazard Communication Standard required that all employees at your site who work with, or are exposed to, hazardous chemicals be trained to understand the new classification system, labels, warning statements, precautions, pictograms, and safety data sheets for chemicals at your worksite.
Environmental Resource Center is making available a PDF presentation or a customizable PowerPoint that you can use for on-site worker training. The training program, which is designed to cover your site’s GHS Hazard Communication training requirements, is in a format that is easy to understand.
Price and options:
Multiple PDF copies can be purchased for $99/copy (1–10), $79/copy (11–20), or $69/copy (21+).
Multiple PowerPoint copies can be purchased for $199/copy (1–10), $179/copy (11–20), or $169/copy (21+).
Options*:
1. Customized PowerPoint: Send us your written GHS hazard communication plan and 10–20 safety data sheets. We’ll create a custom training program for your site: $899
2. If you have not updated your hazard communication plan, let Environmental Resource Center update it for you: $799
3. Customized PowerPoint and hazard communication plan: $1600
*Call 800-537-2372 for Spanish pricing
How to Implement OSHA’s Globally Harmonized Hazard Communication Standard (GHS)
OSHA has issued a final rule revising its Hazard Communication Standard, aligning it with the United Nations’ globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals. This means that virtually every product label, safety data sheet (formerly called “material safety data sheet” or MSDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard. Worker training must be updated so that workers can recognize and understand the symbols and pictograms on the new labels as well as the new hazard statements and precautions on safety data sheets.
Jacksonville RCRA and DOT Training
New Orleans RCRA and DOT Training
Philadelphia RCRA and DOT Training
California Bans Retail Sale of Toxic Rat Poisons
California has approved a statewide ban on direct-to-consumer sale of some of the most dangerous rat poisons but loopholes still leave many wildlife species at risk. The ban approved Tuesday, which will go into effect July 1, prohibits the sale of certain products by d-CON, the only second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide sold directly to the general public. Harm to wildlife from rodenticides is widespread: Poisonings have been documented in at least 25 wild species in California, including mountain lions, hawks, and endangered San Joaquin kit foxes and northern spotted owls.
“California has taken an important step to reduce the senseless poisoning of wildlife,” said Jonathan Evans, toxics and endangered species campaign director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “But there’s no need to leave the ‘worst of the worst’ poisons on the market, because safe, cost-effective options are readily available that don’t indiscriminately kill wildlife.” The order from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation targets products sold to the general public in retail outlets and limits super-toxic rodenticide use beyond 50 feet of manmade structures. But it does not ban the worst poisons themselves. Super-toxic poisons—called second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides—will still be available for widespread use by licensed commercial and agricultural pest-control operators.
“We applaud California for taking the lead in getting these products off the market,” said Greg Loarie, an attorney at Earthjustice. “Our goal is to make we sure that we get to finish line of zero use.”
California’s action follows steps at the national level. The EPA is taking action to ban hazardous d-CON rat and mouse poisons nationwide after d-CON refused to remove super-toxic rodenticides from the residential market. The maker of d-CON rat poison—Reckitt Benckiser—has continually fought attempts by the EPA to limit accidental poisonings through increased regulation of these poisons.
“We commend the state of California for taking action to protect kids, pets, raptors, and other wildlife,” said Cynthia Palmer, pesticides program manager at American Bird Conservancy. “It is time for the d-CON company to put children’s health and animal welfare above corporate profits and to follow the rules like every other rat-poison manufacturer.”
Safe alternatives to rat poison can be used to address rodent outbreaks in homes and rural areas. Effective measures include rodent-proofing of homes and farms by sealing cracks and crevices and eliminating food sources; providing owl boxes to encourage natural predation; and utilizing traps that don’t involve these highly toxic chemicals.
Background Anticoagulant rodenticides interfere with blood clotting, resulting in uncontrollable bleeding that leads to death. Second-generation anticoagulants—including the compounds brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difethialone, and difenacoum—are especially hazardous and persist for a long time in body tissues. These slow-acting poisons are often eaten for several days by rats and mice, causing the toxins to accumulate at many times the lethal dose in their tissues and poisoning predators that eat the weakened rodents.
Studies have documented second-generation anticoagulants in more than 70% of wildlife tested, including eagles, hawks, owls, foxes, bobcats, and mountain lions. Even in remote areas, research has revealed unacceptably high levels of poison in an endangered forest predator, the Pacific fisher, 75% of which, in the sampled population, tested positive for rodenticide contamination.
California’s move to ban consumer use of super-toxic rat poisons comes after increasing pressure from the public and state wildlife officials. The Center for Biological Diversity threatened to sue the California Department of Pesticide Regulation because of the poisoning of endangered wildlife and a coalition of 70 conservation, environmental justice, public health, worker’s rights, and sustainable farming groups joined more than 11,000 Californians in submitting comments urging the state to ban super-toxic rat and mouse poisons. In 2011 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife urged its sister agency, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, to restrict use to licensed applicators.
OSHA Announces National Stand-Down for Fall Prevention in Construction
OSHA recently announced a national safety stand-down from June 2–6 to raise awareness among employers and workers about the hazards of falls, which account for the highest number of deaths in the construction industry.
“Falls account for more than a third of all deaths in this industry,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “We’re working with employers, workers, industry groups, state OSH plans, and civic and faith-based organizations to host safety stand-downs that focus on recognizing hazards and preventing falls. We are getting the message out to America’s employers that safety pays and falls cost.”
During the stand-down, employers and workers are asked to pause their workday to talk about fall prevention in construction, and discuss topics like ladder safety, scaffolding safety, and roofing work safety. Afterwards, employers will be able to provide feedback and receive a personalized certificate of participation.
“We are pleased to join again with OSHA and our NORA partners to focus on fall prevention at construction sites,” said Dr. John Howard, NIOSH director. “Preventing falls in the construction industry benefits everyone, from the worker, to the employer, to the community at large. This safety stand-down serves as an important opportunity for everyone to take the time to learn how to recognize and prevent fall hazards.”
The page provides details on how to conduct a stand-down; receive a certificate of participation; and access free education and training resources, fact sheets, and other outreach materials in English and Spanish.
Researchers Show How Lost Sleep Leads to Lost Neurons
Most people appreciate that not getting enough sleep impairs cognitive performance. For the chronically sleep-deprived such as shift workers, students, or truckers, a common strategy is simply to catch up on missed slumber on the weekends. According to common wisdom, catch up sleep repays one’s “sleep debt,” with no lasting effects. But a new Penn Medicine study shows disturbing evidence that chronic sleep loss may be more serious than previously thought and may even lead to irreversible physical damage to and loss of brain cells.
“In general, we’ve always assumed full recovery of cognition following short- and long-term sleep loss,” Veasey says. ”But some of the research in humans has shown that attention span and several other aspects of cognition may not normalize even with three days of recovery sleep, raising the question of lasting injury in the brain. We wanted to figure out exactly whether chronic sleep loss injures neurons, whether the injury is reversible, and which neurons are involved.”
Mice were examined following periods of normal rest, short wakefulness, or extended wakefulness, modeling a shift worker’s typical sleep pattern. The Veasey lab found that in response to short-term sleep loss, LC neurons upregulate the sirtuin type 3 (SirT3) protein, which is important for mitochondrial energy production and redox responses, and protect the neurons from metabolic injury. SirT3 is essential across short-term sleep loss to maintain metabolic homeostasis, but in extended wakefulness, the SirT3 response is missing. After several days of shift worker sleep patterns, LC neurons in the mice began to display reduced SirT3, increased cell death, and the mice lost 25% of these neurons.
“This is the first report that sleep loss can actually result in a loss of neurons,” Veasey notes. Particularly intriguing is, that the findings suggest that mitochondria in LC neurons respond to sleep loss and can adapt to short-term sleep loss but not to extended wake. This raises the possibility that somehow increasing SirT3 levels in the mitochondria may help rescue neurons or protect them across chronic or extended sleep loss. The study also demonstrates the importance of sleep for restoring metabolic homeostasis in mitochondria in the LC neurons and possibly other important brain areas, to ensure their optimal functioning during waking hours.
Veasey stresses that more work needs to be done to establish whether a similar phenomenon occurs in humans and to determine what durations of wakefulness place individuals at risk of neural injury. ”In light of the role for SirT3 in the adaptive response to sleep loss, the extent of neuronal injury may vary across individuals. Specifically, aging, diabetes, high-fat diet, and sedentary lifestyle may all reduce SirT3. If cells in individuals, including neurons, have reduced SirT3 prior to sleep loss, these individuals may be set up for greater risk of injury to their nerve cells.”
The next step will be putting the SirT3 model to the test. “We can now overexpress SirT3 in LC neurons,” explains Veasey. “If we can show that we can protect the cells and wakefulness, then we’re launched in the direction of a promising therapeutic target for millions of shift workers.”
The team also plans to examine shift workers post-mortem for evidence of increased LC neuron loss and signs of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, since some previous mouse models have shown that lesions or injury to LC neurons can accelerate the course of those diseases. While not directly causing theses diseases, “injuring LC neurons due to sleep loss could potentially facilitate or accelerate neurodegeneration in individuals who already have these disorders,” Veasey says.
While more research will be needed to settle these questions, the present study provides another confirmation of a rapidly growing scientific consensus: sleep is more important than was previously believed. In the past, Veasey observes, “No one really thought that the brain could be irreversibly injured from sleep loss.” It’s now clear that it can be.
Oregon Announces 2013 Workplace Deaths
Twenty-nine people covered by the Oregon workers’ compensation system died on the job during 2013, the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) announced recently. It’s a slight decrease from 2012’s figure of 30 deaths and continues a downward trend seen in recent years.
The year 2010 marked the state’s all-time low of 17 deaths. That figure was likely tied, in part, to the economic downturn. In 2011, there were 28 deaths and, in 2009, 31 people died on the job.
Construction saw the largest concentration of deaths in 2013, with seven workers killed in that industry. Logging resulted in six deaths. The construction industry also accounted for a significant number of deaths in 2012 (five total), illustrating the high hazard nature of the work.
“Each workplace death illustrates the need to continue our commitment to preventing these tragedies,” said Patrick Allen, director of DCBS. “Although workplace safety in Oregon has improved significantly in recent decades, there is still much we can do to ensure all of our workers can come home to their families at the end of the day.”
On-the-job injuries have been on the decline in recent decades. In the 1990s, there was an average of 55 workplace deaths per year. In the 1980s, the average was 81 deaths. The statewide rate of reported workplace injuries and illnesses has also decreased more than 50% since the late 1980s. Oregon started tracking workplace deaths in 1943.
“Too many workers die on the job in Oregon and those deaths can be prevented.”
Oregon OSHA offers educational workshops, consultation services, training videos, and website information to help Oregon employers create or improve their safety and health programs.
DCBS compiles fatality statistics from records of death claim benefits paid by Oregon workers’ compensation insurers during the calendar year. The data reported may exclude workplace fatalities involving self-employed individuals, city of Portland police and fire employees, federal employees, and incidents occurring in Oregon to individuals with out-of-state employers. These workers are either not subject to Oregon workers’ compensation coverage requirements or are covered by other compensation systems.
Deaths that occur during a prior calendar year may appear in the compensable fatality count for a later year because of the time required to process a claim.
Complete data on all deaths caused by injuries in Oregon workplaces, regardless of whether they are covered by workers’ compensation insurance, are computed separately and reported in the annual Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) administered by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2013 CFOI count is not expected for release until fall 2014.
ConAgra Foods Fails to Protect Workers from Dangerous Machinery, Fined $117,000
The 13 safety violations, which include three repeat citations, carry proposed penalties of $117,000. OSHA initiated an inspection of the plant in September 2013 after receiving a complaint.
“Lack of machine guarding can lead to amputation and other serious injuries. Risk to workers can be avoided by maintaining adequate guards and following manufacturer-recommended safety procedures,” said Deborah Zubaty, OSHA’s area director in Columbus. “Employers cited for repeat violations demonstrate a lack of commitment to employee safety and health.”
Three repeat violations include lack of machine guarding on horizontal shafts in the flourmill, failing to provide all required information on OSHA injury and illness logs, and exposing workers to falls greater than 7 feet.
A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule, or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. The same violations were cited in 2011, 2010 and 2009 at facilities in Cranbury, New Jersey; Turners Fall, Massachusetts; and Carol Stream, Illinois, respectively.
Ten serious safety citations were also issued to the company. Seven of the citations were for inadequate machine guarding at work areas near moving machinery, shafts, fans, pulleys, and chains. The other violations included failing to provide fall protection for workers retrieving samples from bins, not marking exits, inadequate forklift training and failing to have covers in place on an electrical junction box.
A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Omaha, Nebraska-based ConAgra Foods is one of North America’s largest packaged food companies and employs more than 34,000. The Columbus flourmill employs 14.
OSHA last inspected the Columbus facility in 2005. That inspection resulted in the issuance of four citations and was a follow-up to a 2003 dust explosion at the facility, which caused the death of two workers and the hospitalization of one other. OSHA issued 12 citations during that investigation.
OSHA Follow-Up Inspection Finds 11 Workplace Violations at Previously Cited US Minerals LLC
OSHA has cited US Minerals, LLC, with 11 safety and health violations from a follow-up inspection that began in September 2013 at the Harvey facility. The manufacturer of abrasive blasting and roofing materials faces $77,770 in fines for failing to train and protect workers when entering hazardous confined spaces, implement safe lockout/tagout procedures when maintaining equipment, provide required protection for workers exposed to dangerously high noise levels and ensure forklift operators knew how to work safely.
OSHA’s Baton Rouge Area Office conducted the initial inspection in June 2010 as a referral from OSHA’s National Office and issued 18 serious, 10 repeat, and two other-than-serious violations. Fines totaled $118,800. The employer contested the citations, and a formal settlement agreement was reached on August 20, 2012.
“US Minerals continues to jeopardize the safety and health of its workers by failing to fix these problems,” said Dorinda Folse, OSHA’s area director in Baton Rouge. “OSHA’s safety and health standards exist to prevent injuries and fatalities. It is the employer’s responsibility to protect its workers by following the standards.”
Some of the serious violations include failing to provide an adequate retrieval system; training; evaluate prospective rescuer’s competency level; and annually review the confined space entry program. For employees exposed to high noise levels, serious violations include failing to train workers on the hearing conservation program and ensure workers had a choice of suitable hearing protectors. The remaining serious violations include failing to provide adequate forklift training and certification, remove unsafe forklifts from service, and ensure adequate egress from the facility.
One repeat violation was issued for failing to conduct annual inspections of the company’s lockout-tagout procedures.
US Minerals, LLC, with headquarters in Dyer, Indiana, employs about 60 workers and operates other plants in Baldwin and Coffeen, Illinois, and Galveston, Texas.
Smiley Plaster Co. Faces Fines for Exposing Workers to Fall Hazards
A 42-year-old worker fell approximately 19 feet off scaffolding to his death while applying stucco to a pre-existing building that was being renovated as a college dormitory for East Georgia State College in Swainsboro. OSHA conducted an investigation following the September 20, 2013, fatality and cited Jack Smiley, doing business as Smiley Plaster Co., for five safety violations, including a willful violation of the law.
“A worker died after the employer knowingly failed to provide a properly built scaffold system to protect employees from fall hazards,” said Robert Vazzi, OSHA’s area director in Savannah. “Falls are the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry. Employers must ensure their workers are protected.”
OSHA issued a willful citation to the employer for its failure to provide fall protection to employees who work from scaffolding at heights over 10 feet. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
Three serious violations were cited for the employer failing to provide adequate scaffolding foundation; failing to brace the scaffolding; and failing to provide debris protection, such as toe boards, for employees working on scaffolding.
The company was also cited with one other-than-serious violation for failing to report the fatality within eight hours of the incident. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
The campaign was developed in partnership with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and NIOSH’s National Occupational Research Agenda program.
OSHA has proposed $57,000 in penalties.
OSHA Renews Alliance with Sealant Waterproofing and Restoration
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently renewed its alliance with the Sealant Waterproofing and Restoration Institute to provide information and training resources to help protect the safety and health of workers involved in waterproofing, sealant, and restoration activities. The alliance will focus on issues related to falls, small business, motor vehicle safety, and hazard communication.
“Workers in the sealant, waterproofing, and restoration industry experience many of the hazards common to the construction industry, particularly fall hazards,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “By renewing our alliance with SWR Institute, we will continue our outreach to industry employers and workers, and provide information and education important to preventing worker injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.”
Through the alliance, OSHA and SWR Institute will develop toolbox talks and case studies on key OSHA initiatives such as falls and heat stress. The alliance will continue distributing information on the agency’s Falls in Construction and Heat Illness Prevention campaigns. Additionally, the alliance will continue distributing safety and health information and products in English and Spanish to help protect the industry’s diverse workforce.
SWR Institute is a non-profit corporation of commercial contractors, manufacturers, and consultants involved in designing, manufacturing and applying sealant, waterproofing, and restoration products. Between 10,000 and 15,000 workers are employed by the 280 member companies represented by SWR Institute.
The purpose of each alliance is to develop compliance assistance tools and resources and to educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities. Alliance Program participants do not receive exemptions from OSHA inspections or any other enforcement benefits.
Juneau Pioneer Home Recognized for Workplace Safety
Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Dianne Blumer approved Juneau Pioneer Home for the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) renewal as a result of outstanding employee safety and health programs.
SHARP is a federal recognition program, administered by the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Section in the department’s Labor Standards and Safety Division. Participating employers are excused from programmed AKOSH enforcement inspections during the recognition period. However, employee complaints, accident investigations, or other significant incidents will result in enforcement action.
Malibu Schools to Test Campus Soils for Toxics
The state toxics agency and school administrators have finally indicated that they will seek soil testing for toxic contaminants on the campuses of Malibu Middle and High Schools and Juan Cabrillo Elementary School, according to correspondence posted recently by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). School parents and teachers represented by PEER have been urging this step for months. Now a broader organization of these groups and others, called Malibu Unites, has formed to secure comprehensive testing with community review and oversight of all testing and remediation plans.
Back in October, a group of 20 teachers wrote to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District about recent cases of thyroid cancer, rashes, migraines, hair loss, and other health effects they believe arose from their work environment. It was then discovered that a contractor back in 2011 had removed over 1000 tons of soil containing organochlorine pesticides (chlordane and DDT), PCBs, and other chemicals at levels well above safe levels without informing either parents or staff, although their existence was known the previous year. In November, PEER, on behalf of a now larger group of teachers, demanded comprehensive soil testing to discover the scope and source of contamination.
Since then, the District has spent an estimated $500,000 on consultants, lawyers, and very limited testing of selected classrooms, but has yet to address the concerns raised by teachers, parents, and students. Some teachers have refused to return to their classrooms. Now the District has engaged the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to work with yet a new contractor, called Environ International.
In an email dated March12, 2014, Maria Gillette, a DTSC specialist, told Malibu Unites:
“DTSC is proposing to conduct a Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the soil at the entire Malibu HS campus (including the Middle and Elementary Schools). The soil sampling effort will be similar, but more comprehensive than the work ARCADIS [the contractor] conducted in 2010. We anticipate the sampling methodology will include PCBs, pesticides, metals, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).”
In addition, after months of vague answers and misdirection, District Superintendent Sandra Lyon, in a March 10 message to the Malibu Environmental Task Force, announced that all ties had been severed with its prior environmental consultant Mark Katchen and that –
“We have made clear to Environ that further testing, including soils testing at MHS [Malibu High School] and testing at JCES [Juan Cabrillo Elementary School], must be included in the work plan.”
These assurances, however, do not specify which chemicals will be tested for in what locations, in what manner and whether any public or independent expert review will be allowed prior to and during testing. In a letter sent recently on behalf of Malibu Unites and the Concerned Malibu/Cabrillo Teachers, PEER Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein wrote, “While we are pleased the District is publicly pledging to conduct soil testing, it must ensure that the testing is comprehensive and the affected communities are truly involved.”
One indication of the need for a broad range of toxic screening was raised by PEER last month concerning information about possibly extensive military operations in the area during and after World War II. In a February 25 reply to PEER, Superintendent Lyon wrote that she had relayed these issues “to Environ with direction that these concerns should inform their recommended work-plan…Environ will be asked to present all recommendations to the Board of Education in public meetings thus allowing the community to stay informed. At this time the work-plan has not yet been created.”
“Expert oversight, independent from the District, will be critical to ensuring accurate and unbiased test results and is in the best interest of all stakeholders, including the District. We urge the district to provide us our own independent oversight that reports to us and not the District,” said Jennifer deNicola, President of Malibu Unites. “We need to do a thorough investigation of all three campuses in order to determine an accurate cumulative risk so that we can protect our children and teachers and ensure they are in a healthy, clean, and safe environment.”
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