Reducing Beryllium Exposure
The current PEL for the metal is 2.0 micrograms of respirable beryllium per cubic meter of air. The agency’s proposal would set the PEL at 0.2 µg/m3. An official notice of proposed rulemaking was published Aug. 7.
Preventing Heat Stress
The National Weather Service has predicted that Louisiana’s August temperatures will be 20 to 40% above normal.
Prime Occupational Medicine would like to encourage you to prevent your workers from becoming the next statisics! Heat related illnesses are easily prevented if you and your employees know what steps to take:
Understanding the Hazards of Silica
Each year, more than 300 American workers die from silicosis, and thousands of new cases are diagnosed. Silicosis is the name given to incurable lung damage that occurs when workers inhale dusts that contain crystalline silica.
Silica comes in different forms, but crystalline silica is the type that causes scarring in the lungs. Crystalline silica is found in granite, sandstone, quartzite, and various other rocks and sand. Workers who inhale very small crystalline silica particles are at risk for silicosis.
Did employer completely ignore workers’ safety concerns?
More than a dozen times over a two-month period, employees made notations in logs about a crane cable that needed to be repaired. But a court said the company “utterly failed to take steps to discover violations.” What happened when the company appealed a $56,000 OSHA fine?
STOP WORK AUTHORITY
A new job can seem a bit overwhelming, and it’s common for a recent hire to feel uncomfortable. That discomfort may prevent the worker from speaking up about a potentially unsafe environment.
Employment Lawyer: Expand Traditional Drug Testing for Safety
Is it time for your company to go beyond standard employee drug testing?
A lawyer says the growing problem of prescription painkiller abuse in the U.S. makes expanded drug testing something companies should consider.
Top 4 rules on OSHA’s regulatory action list
A top OSHA official recently gave an overview of where the agency stands with creating new and updating existing regulations.
OSHA deputy administrator Jordan Barab updated attendees at a U.S. Small Business Labor Safety Roundtable. An attendee gave an overview of Barab’s presentation in The National Law Review.
Safety Leadership: Applying behavior-based safety to serious and fatal injury prevention
Why some workers make poor safety decisions
New injury reporting requirements begin 1/1/15
Heads up: Starting Jan. 1, 2015, companies under federal OSHA jurisdiction will have to follow some revised injury reporting regulations.