Tips & Updates about OSHA & Hazwoper Training Courses | Safety Tips

It has been noted that OSHA’s ANPR (Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) on combustible dust will be published shortly in the Federal Register. The Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is under the review of Office of Management and Budget which is a final step in the process of the intergovernmental review. Workers handling combustible dust hazards in the worksites are recommended and encouraged to participate in the rulemaking process. Combustible dusts have been known to cause explosion or a fire. These dusts are solids which have ground into fine particles and when suspended in air, it becomes highly flammable. The force from this kind of explosive is so strong that it can cause death, injuries and destruction of the entire structure. Some of the combustible dusts include rubber, sugar, coal, flour, paper and metal to name a few. OSHA has acknowledged various industries with combustible dust hazards which include agriculture, plastics, chemicals, food, grain, tire and rubber man...

On July 31, Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) which is a division of OSHA filed a proposal to amend the state’s heat illness prevention regulations with the Occupational Safety and Health of California. The request followed the proposal of Governor Schwarzenegger to improve and strengthen the standards to protect outdoor workers from the scorching sun. Besides, the state budget which recently signed has authorized the spending of $1.5 million to expand on the efforts to educate employers and workers about the necessity of prevention from heat illness. This was the expanding outreach to train employers and workers, and will help to expand successful partnership of OSHA in California with labor, industry and community groups. Under the leadership of the governor, California was the very first state of nation to develop safety and health regulation which addressed heat illness in year 2005. Later in year 2006 OSHA in California issued permanent heat illness prevention regulations t...

OSHA has announced that they will issue a compliance directive that will implement the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Interim Guidance on Infection Control Measures for the H1N1 2009 Influenza in healthcare settings. This is a first move from the offer a requirement posture for dealing H1N1. OSHA Directives will prescribe a uniform procedure that governs OSHA inspections of the healthcare institutions for the occupational exposure to the swine flu. The covered healthcare set by OSHA includes acute care nursing homes, hospitals, physicians’ offices, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient clinics, home healthcare agencies and urgent care centers. Based on the employee complaints, OSHA will conduct a thorough inspection. Though it is not clear of how much CDC guidance will be included into the OSHA’s directive and the level of compliance will be required, healthcare employers are advised to make reasonable efforts ensuring their postings conform, procedures, policies and for...

Have you ever got messages, threatening notices or telephone calls from people requiring you to buy OSHA documents from them? They might have added that they would help you to be in compliance with OSHA rules and regulations. Well, in that case you are only helping them to fill up their pockets. The OSHA Workplace poster is one of the most popular documents that are being offered for sale by many companies. There are also some cases where some people falsely identify themselves as employees of OSHA or from the Department of Labor contacting employers to purchase the OSHA workplace posters and threatening them with fines if they don’t purchase the materials. The fact is all those employers have been a victim of some imposters. Another big fact is that those OSHA workplace posters are available free of cost. Yes, it’s free and you don’t have to pay a dime for that. You can visit the official website of OSHA and order through the publications office or download from the website. It’s as e...

OSHA has been working to uphold the safety of the workers in US. When the Congress created OSHA and passed the OSH Act of 1970, some groups were exempted from the coverage. Find out if you are among them or not. Federal Government employees – This group includes people with high hazard jobs like people in armed services, press operators at federal mint, rangers at national park and FBI agents. This group of people is exempt from the OSHA coverage. The federal OSHA compliance officers that come to inspect companies are not subject to the OSHA coverage even though that’s their job. Employees of State, City and Country – Public employees are exempt from OSHA coverage as they are some prohibitions against unfunded mandate. Workers hired by private companies are regulated by OSHA standards but the city crew is not. Some employees covered by other federal agencies – there are certain workers who are covered by some other administrations like the workers in a mine will be covered by Mine ...

Most states in the US have opted to develop the OSHA program of their own. For those states who have their own state OSHA program, the employees there will not be inspected by the officers of the OSHA compliance. Instead they will be subjected to their state OSHA compliance officers. However, an important point to be taken is that most employers of the state plan areas receive a citation because instead of the state OSHA workplace poster, they display the federal OSHA workplace poster. You may think what’s the big deal? But the point is if your state has its own state OSHA program, then you must have your state OSHA's posting. OSHA will inspect if you as an employer adheres to the Department of Labor's safety and health regulations. OSHA workplace poster is one of thing they look for while inspecting the workplace. The OSHA workplace poster has to be displayed in a workplace. If you are unsure which poster you should display in your workplace then, you must research which poste...

Have you ever wondered what will happen when you disregard any of OSHA’s standards? You can face a penalty of $112,000. Right! This happened with a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, consulting company who are into maintenance and management of nursing homes for alleged violation of OSHA asbestos standards in the construction industry. Two Baton Rouge companies are also included in the citations. The two companies own and manage residential and commercial properties. The citations resulted from the work that was performed at the State National Life Building. OSHA found some violations that included failure to provide the necessary respiratory equipment, failure to provide an experienced person to administer while removing a ceiling that contained asbestos, failure to inform employees that the work place contained asbestos, failure to operate engineering controls in order to resolve and minimize the exposure of workers to asbestos, failure to supervise for asbestos materials, failure to train wor...