On July 31, President Obama issued Executive Order (EO) Number 13673, establishing a series of reporting and procedural requirements for federal contractors, inducing them to provide “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” to their employees. Beginning in 2016, these new requirements will apply to contracts and subcontracts to provide more than $500,000 in services and/or non-standard goods to federal agencies. Some requirements are specific in the EO, while others will become clearer after revisions to the contracting standards codified as the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
Read More
Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Employer Best Practices,
Health & Safety,
Employee Rights,
Training,
Environmental risks,
EHS,
EEOC,
Disability benefits
Did you know that if all the oil from American do-it-yourself oil changers were recycled, it would be enough motor oil for more than 50 million cars a year? Wow! Imagine how much foreign oil that would eliminate.
Read More
Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Training,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EHS,
EPA,
Transportation
Is your employer hiring "temp" workers this summer—to serve tourists, meet cascading production deadlines, tend crops, or maybe just to fill in while permanent workers take vacations? Most employers recognize that occupational safety and health laws throughout North America assign them an Employer's General Duty to protect their own employees from workplace hazards. Some don’t remember that this duty also applies to shared employees, and even to other employers’ employees while they’re at your workplace. This month, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is re-emphasizing ongoing efforts to ensure protections for temporary workers ("temps"), extending the Temporary Worker Initiative it started in 2013.
Read More
Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Employer Best Practices,
Health & Safety,
OSHA,
Employee Rights,
Training
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revised a guide that identifies eight mechanical motions and eight hazardous actions that present possible amputation hazards. The guide also sets forth steps employers can take to reduce these hazards. The material is appropriate for anyone responsible for the operation, servicing, and care of machines or equipment: employers, employees, safety professionals, and industrial hygienists. Topics covered in this document include hazard analysis, awareness devices, and hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), and safeguarding machinery. An excerpt follows:
Read More
Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Health & Safety,
OSHA,
California Legislation,
Training
The Directorate of Construction, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a website that provides original investigations of collapses and other incidents. Many of the incidents resulted in one or more worker fatalities, and most of them resulted in multi-million dollar property loss, lawsuits, or settlements. Each investigation was performed at the request of an OSHA field office or State Plan OSHA as part of an enforcement inspection.
Read More
Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Employer Best Practices,
Health & Safety,
OSHA,
Training,
Environmental risks,
Environmental
Expect little relief from flood of unwanted electronic messages, experts say.
Read More
Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Training,
Internet
Last August, President Obama issued an Executive Order (EO 13650) to agencies with responsibilities for chemical facility safety (I blogged about it here). The EO provides for a Chemical Facility Safety and Security Working Group, co-chaired by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS, which administers the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, which administers the Accidental Release Prevention (ARP) program under Clean Air Act) and Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, which administers Chemical Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard), and also including the Departments of Transportation, Justice (DOJ) and Agriculture. It directs them to work together to improve their operational coordination, and to consult with other security and environmental agencies at all levels of government, as well as the White House.
Read More
Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Health & Safety,
Training,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EPA,
Hazcom
The best strategies for workplace violence prevention involve updated and enforced company policies; an awareness that real perpetrators don’t necessarily make direct threats to their targets; and the creation of Threat Assessment Teams to manage situations successfully. These four management interventions can help those efforts as well.
Read More
Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Employer Best Practices,
Employee Rights,
Training,
Workplace violence
Knowing CASL’s exemptions is key to learning how it applies to your business.
Read More
Tags:
Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
International,
Training,
Internet
Mobile technology is changing our lives, including how we drive and maintain our vehicles, where we get gas and how much we pay for it, to which route we take to work every day. There are apps to record your service history and even ones designed to help you complete simple car fixes on your own. Below are examples of some useful vehicle maintenance and repair apps for businesses and individuals.
Read More
Tags:
Business & Legal,
Employer Best Practices,
Health & Safety,
Training,
Transportation
