Cal/OSHA has adopted final rules, effective October 1, 2015, that update the state’s regulations relating to storage battery systems and to changing and charging storage batteries. The purpose of this action is to update standards for storage batteries to address modern types of batteries in addition to clarifying regulations applicable to traditional lead–acid batteries.
Tags: Health & Safety, OSHA, California Legislation, Environmental risks, Environmental, Hazcom
In recent years, VW officials have sometimes been quoted touting their “clean diesel” vehicles by paraphrasing one of their competitors—“this isn’t your grandfather’s diesel.” This month VW finally admitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and customers worldwide that it “isn’t your regulator’s diesel” either. The company had programmed the electronics in millions of vehicles to provide false data during required emissions tests.
Tags: Health & Safety, Environmental risks, Environmental, EHS, EPA, Hazcom, CAA, Transportation
“No one should have to sacrifice their life for their livelihood, because a nation built on the dignity of work must provide safe working conditions for its people.”
– Secretary of Labor, Thomas E. Perez
Tags: Employer Best Practices, Health & Safety, OSHA, Employee Rights, California Legislation, Environmental risks, Environmental, Transportation
A wide variety of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards require employers to acquire or create documentation of employees’ exposures to potentially hazardous materials and contaminants in their workplaces, and to inform employees of the presence of these hazards. For example, the Hazard Communication Standard (Hazcom) requires most employers to acquire Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) and provide workplace labeling and employee training. Other standards require employers to monitor their workplaces for airborne exposures to contaminants, and to compare such exposures to permissible exposure limits (PELs) or action levels. Some standards require employers to conduct medical monitoring of employees who are subject to such exposures. These records can be vitally important to provide information on long-term (chronic) health effects of exposures.
Tags: Employer Best Practices, Health & Safety, OSHA, Employee Rights, EHS, Hazcom
Boards of directors are responsible for governing their corporations. Many boards divide their work among committees. Committees often include an “audit committee,” with responsibilities that may include:
Tags: Business & Legal, SEC, Accounting & Tax, Audit Standards
Although Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) requirements target hundreds of micro-organisms (primarily viruses and bacteria), regulation of important hazards remain on the drawing boards, awaiting appropriate testing and control methodologies, sufficient resources … and high enough political priorities. Until recently, one of these unregulated pathogens has been the legionella bacterium, first identified in 1976 as the cause of “Legionnaire’s disease” – named after an outbreak at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia traced to the hotel’s air conditioning system. This summer, however, an outbreak in New York has led state and local health agencies to adopt extremely ambitious testing and disinfection programs.
Tags: Employer Best Practices, Health & Safety, Employee Rights, Environmental risks, Environmental, EHS, EPA
How often do you read something that not only changes the things that you think about in life, it also changes the things you do?
Tags: Health & Safety, Environmental risks, Environmental, EHS, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, Hazcom
Federal laws prohibit employers from basing employment decisions on a variety of factors, including “sex.” This term is not defined, leaving its interpretation to change and expand with social changes and court decisions. The central entity creating and applying these interpretations is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which administers and enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a variety of subsequent laws. On July 15, EEOC reaffirmed its present interpretation, in an enforcement decision in which the plaintiff claimed he was denied access to a promotion because he’s gay (Baldwin v. Foxx). The EEOC’s order includes a clear summary of the agency’s approach to sex discrimination cases:
Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, Employer Best Practices, Employee Rights, Workplace violence, EEOC, NLRB
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has just proposed to revise its requirement that employers prepare and maintain records of occupational injuries and illnesses as they occur – in “I&I Logs.” (I blogged about these requirements here). Employers must also post annual I&I Summaries in each workplace, and respond to survey questions if asked by OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Tags: Employer Best Practices, Health & Safety, OSHA, Employee Rights, Environmental risks, Environmental, EHS, Hazcom
