Workplace Safety

OSHA announced the outcome of its Lead in Construction Standard lookback review in the September 27, 2007, Federal Register.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed $2.78 million in penalties against Ohio-based Cintas Corporation following an inspection into the March 6, 2007 death of Eleazar Torres-Gomez, an employee who worked at the Cintas laundry facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Torres-Gomez was killed when he fell into an operating industrial dryer while clearing a jam of wet laundry on a conveyor that carries the laundry from the washer into the dryer.

OSHA recognizes International Paper's xpedx for safety and health achievement International Paper Co.'s xpedx facility has earned membership in the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) of the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the prestigious "star"

A link between the absence of employer substance abuse testing and the incidence of abusing employees in the workforce appears to emerge from a study recently released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration ("SAMHSA"), a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

OSHA cites Army Corps of Engineers' Hanover, N.H., cold research lab for inadequate safeguards against ammonia release Inadequate and incomplete safeguards against ammonia releases at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Hanover, N.H., Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory have

Workplace Drinking Culture Influences Alcohol Intake Elsewhere, Study Finds A restrictive workplace drinking culture curbs an individual's overall alcohol intake, even outside of work, suggests research published ahead of print in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, as reported by Newswise. The

OSHA has unveiled a new safety and health guidance that will help healthcare workers and their employers prepare for a possible influenza pandemic. Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Guidance for Healthcare Workers and Healthcare Employers is available on OSHA’s website.

Obesity Increases Risk of Injury on the Job Having a body mass index (BMI) in the overweight or obese range increases the risk of traumatic workplace injury, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center

The Department of Homeland Security plans to impose new requirements on chemical facilities that possess listed chemicals above specified quantities, and in many cases will require facilities to prepare vulnerability assessments, develop security plans, and implement and install a suite of security measures. These requirements could begin to take effect for certain facilities as early as this summer.

A recent study released by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the nation’s leading provider of employment-related drug testing services, revealed that drug use by employees and applicants is at the lowest level since 1988.