Entries from May 2007
From Occupational Hazards:
Days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dismissed a petition made by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and other industry groups claiming that OSHA amended its Hazard Communication (hazcom) standard without notice or comment, OSHA and the petitioners reached a settlement.
As per the settlement, OSHA will issue a letter of interpretation addressing specific questions NAM and the Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA) presented to OSHA regarding the agency’s new hexavalent chromium (Cr[VI]) standard for general industry. The letter will be issued by OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs.
In addition, NAM and SSINA have agreed to file a motion with the court to withdraw their petition for review of the Cr(VI) standard on or before May 24.
OSHA and the two other industry groups involved in the settlement – Public Citizen Health Group (HRG) and the United Steelworkers – have agreed not to oppose any motion NAM and/or SSINA may file to intervene in support of the Cr(VI) standard in the remaining cases. (more…)
Categories: Government Agency · Regulations
From Occupational Hazards:
The challenge today for organizations is to effectively manage their entire chemical inventory so they can stay in compliance and avoid the dangers, fines and fees associated with not doing so.
In the hazmat world today, most large organizations follow a time-honored process for identifying critical compliance needs and spend the money necessary to make it work. It is a process that tilts the compliance board in advantage of the bigger players.
It starts with a sophisticated purchasing or procurement system, usually with a module that enables environmental health and safety (EHS) staff to review and approve all incoming hazardous items. Nothing arrives into a big company unnoticed. Next, the chemical or product is tracked through some type of bar code or RFID-tagged inventory management system, and data on its location and specific usage is recorded.
Material safety data sheets (MSDSs) are obtained and tracked, using a sophisticated document and data management system that is tied into procurement and chemical tracking. At the end of all this, compliance reports required by EPA and local agencies are generated and submitted, usually electronically. At this point, management plans are made or modified, staff are trained or retrained and the company moves forward safely until the next monthly review period. (more…)
Categories: Uncategorized
From Occupational Hazards:
OSHA’s latest semiannual regulatory agenda, published in the April 30 Federal Register, includes predictable delays for long-awaited standards such as crystalline silica and occupational exposure to beryllium, to name a few.
Crystalline silica – a compound that workers in construction, maritime and general industry are routinely exposed to – has been cited as the cause of silicosis, which is a disabling, if not fatal, disease. The standard has been on OSHA’s regulatory agenda for years, but it has not moved past the pre-rule stage. Previously slated for April, OSHA’s latest agenda indicates that a complete peer review of health effects and risk assessment will be done by September.
Occupational exposure to beryllium also has been on OSHA’s plate for some time now. Since 2001, OSHA has been in the process of gathering data through an official request for information in order to determine an appropriate course of action for addressing work-related hazards to beryllium. The agency, in its previous regulatory agenda, had indicated that the a SBREFA (Small Business Regulatory Enforcement and Fairness Act) panel would complete its report by March. The standard has been postponed to September.
(more…)
Categories: Government Agency · Regulations
