OSHA inspection, compliance assistance levels climb

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Final fiscal year 2019 statistics show a significant increase in the number of OSHA inspections and a record amount of compliance assistance to further the mission of ensuring that employers provide workplaces free of hazards. Enforcement activities reflect the Department of Labor’s continued focus on worker safety, agency officials note: Federal OSHA conducted 33,401 inspections, more inspections than the previous three years, addressing violations related to trenching, falls, chemical exposure, silica and other hazards.

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EPA strategic plan: Sustainable development, law enforcement, air & water quality

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

Billed as a blueprint for a mission supporting public health and the environment across the country, EPA’s 2014–2018 Strategic Plan cites as chief goals: addressing climate change and improving air quality; protecting America’s waters; cleaning up communities and advancing sustainable development; ensuring the safety of chemicals; and, protecting human health and the environment by enforcing laws and assuring compliance.

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Manufacturers load AEM product safety & compliance seminar

Source: Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Milwaukee

Off-road equipment industry professionals will gather April 29-30 in Schaumburg, Ill., near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, for the annual AEM product safety and compliance seminar, participants seeking the latest knowledge to help fine-tune company programs.

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New silica exposure rule compliance burden: $1,300–$1,750 per concrete plant

Sources: OSHA, CP staff

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica (NPRM) profiles 11 ready mixed and manufactured concrete production job titles, estimating at least half of workers with three of them encounter silica exposure above the agency’s new 50 microgram per cubic meter of air over eight-hour sampling period (50 μg/m3).

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