November 2019 OSHA Quicktakes
U.S. Department of Labor Awards Susan Harwood Workplace Safety and Health Training Grants to Assist in Educating Workers and Employers
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has awarded approximately $10.5 million in Susan Harwood federal safety and health training grants to 79 nonprofit organizations nationwide. The grants will provide education and training programs to help workers and employers recognize serious workplace hazards, implement injury prevention measures and understand their rights and responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
U.S. Department of Labor Approves New Respirator Fit Testing Protocols to Protect Workers from Airborne Contaminants
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today issued a final rule that provides employers with two new fit testing protocols for ensuring that employees’ respirators fit properly.
The new protocols are the modified ambient aerosol condensation nuclei counter (CNC) quantitative fit testing protocol for full-facepiece and half-mask elastomeric respirators, and the modified ambient aerosol CNC quantitative fit testing protocol for filtering facepiece respirators. Both protocols are variations of the original OSHA-approved ambient aerosol CNC protocol, but have fewer test exercises, shorter exercise duration, and a more streamlined sampling sequence.
An Alliance with the waste management and recycling industries focuses on preventing transportation and other industry hazards.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA), and the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) recognize the value of establishing a collaborative relationship to foster safety and health practices and programs to improve American workplaces. To that end, OSHA, NWRA, and SWANA hereby form an Alliance to provide NWRA and SWANA members and the public with information, guidance, and access to resources that will help them protect the health and safety of workers in the solid waste industry, and understand the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Alliance will address transportation hazards such as backovers and distracted driving; slips, trips, and falls; needlestick injuries; heat and cold stress; musculoskeletal injuries; and other topics, as appropriate, with particular emphasis on outreach to small- and medium-sized employers.
OSHA recognized a steel manufacturer for safety excellence after working with the On-Site Consultation Program to reduce injury rate.
Pikes Peak Steel, LLC, is a growing structural steel fabrication plant, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company provides steel products to commercial contractors in the western United States and to homebuilders in Colorado Springs and the surrounding region. Their products range from beams, saddles, railings, and stairs to structural steel and bridges.
OSHA is proposing revisions to its beryllium standards to better protect workers in the shipyard and construction industries.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) placed on public inspection today a proposal to protect workers in shipyards and construction from beryllium exposure by more appropriately tailoring the requirements of the standards to the exposures in these industries.
A new video explains the OSHA inspection process and how the agency is helping to protect workers from workplace hazards.
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