Regulations & Compliance

OSHA used the National Safety Council’s 2010 Congress and Expo to announce the top 10 violations of 2010. Thomas Galassi, OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs made the announcement with Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of OSHA, in attendance. The list was little changed from 2009, with a couple of violations switching places. Hazard Communication violations […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report, yesterday, on its investigation of OSHA’s Whistleblower program. Entitled “Whistleblower Protection: Sustained Management Attention Needed to Address Long-standing Program Weaknesses,” the report found OSHA has not done enough to improve its program and protect whistleblowers. In response, OSHA issued a statement that said it agreed with the […]

Note: This blog was updated on September 20, 2024 to provide additional clarification. The short answer is: “No, not quite.” Many EHS professionals don’t realize that the “30-year” requirement is not actually in the HazCom standard. It’s found in a different standard, 1910.1020 on “Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records.” A careful reading of […]

OSHA recently announced heavy fines against a Wisconsin company for 1) failure to develop or implement a hazard communication program and 2) failure to maintain material safety data information. There were fines for other failures; yet the two mentioned above are especially notable as they rank third on OSHA’s top 10 list of most frequently […]

In recent months, OSHA has stepped up its efforts to remind employers that employees must be trained in a language they understand. First, on April 14, 2010, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis touched on the issue in an address to the National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health and Safety. Then on April 28, […]

In the last couple of weeks, the video of a trench caving in at the exact moment an OSHA inspector is telling the crew that one of the workers can’t be in the trench has gone viral. The video illustrates at least three important lessons for employees and employers: Trenching and excavating are hazardous activities […]

Recent studies on the influences and benefits of social networks suggest that an establishment looking to improve employee health and safety as well as workplace efficiencies would be wise to respect and harness the power of social networks. For all the reasons a hospital or construction company might choose to manage their MSDSs online, the […]

UPDATE: 6/17/2010 Dr. Michaels discussed cleanup workers on C-Span this morning. Learn more at the ProPublica Blog. Continuing its series of public service blogs related to the Gulf oil spill, VelocityEHS looks at PPE’s and worker training.   Workers involved in the oil spill cleanup face a multitude of hazards; consequently, they are entitled to […]

In a story by Kelly Holleran, the Southeast Texas Record reported that a Beaumont, Texas man is suing ExxonMobil for not adequately warning him about the significant levels of a caustic substance present in a drain line he was working on. According to the article, the employee was told of “possible caustic residue” in the […]

We have noticed a significant number of searches on our database for MSDS information related to Nalco products Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527, the two dispersants being used in the oil spill cleanup effort. As a public service, and in an effort to assist the EPA in making MSDS information about these two dispersants more […]