Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking solicits comments from public

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in the Oct. 21 edition of the Federal Register as an initial step in development of a standard to address the hazards of combustible dust.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is initiating a national emphasis program (NEP) on recordkeeping to assess the accuracy of injury and illness data recorded by employers.

The recordkeeping NEP involves inspecting occupational injury and illness records prepared by businesses and appropriately enforcing regulatory requirements when employers are found to be under-recording injuries and illnesses.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today awarded more than $6.8 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to 30 recipients, encompassing labor unions, employer associations, colleges and universities, and other nonprofit organizations. The training grants cover a two-year period.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today published in the Federal Register a final rule revising the personal protective equipment (PPE) sections of its general industry, shipyard employment, longshoring and marine terminals standards concerning requirements for eye- and face-protective devices, and head and foot protection.

CHICAGO – Illinois today became the newest state to receive approval from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to administer its own occupational safety and health plan for public employees in the state. A notice appears in today's edition of the Federal Register.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in an effort to crack down on fraudulent trainers, is continuing to strengthen the integrity of its 36-year-old Outreach Training Program by publishing an "Outreach Trainer Watch List" of those who have had their trainer authorizations either revoked or suspended.

WASHINGTON – The safety of airport traffic control tower personnel is the focus of an inspection targeting program titled "Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Traffic Control Tower Monitoring Program" which monitors how workers clear a control tower in case of fire and other emergencies. The inspection targeting program, conducted by the U.S.

WASHINGTON Facilities that could potentially release highly hazardous chemicals resulting in toxic fire or explosion hazards are the focus of a national emphasis program (NEP) developed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The program establishes policies and procedures for inspecting workplaces that are covered by OSHA's process safety management (PSM) standard.

SAN ANTONIO Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today addressed the annual gathering of the American Society of Safety Engineers. She applauded the efforts of the nation's safety and health professionals, and announced that the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will launch a major construction safety initiative in Texas to prevent workplace injuries and fatalities.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today announced that it is continuing its nationwide program to emphasize workplace safety and health for federal workers and for those contractors whose work is supervised on a daily basis by federal agency personnel.

WHITEHALL, Wis. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Milk Specialties Co. in Whitehall with violations of federal workplace safety and health standards and proposed $1,145,200 in penalties.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today announced that it will address problems identified in its Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) in response to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs: Improved Oversight and Controls Would Better Ensure Program Quality. The report recommends improved oversight and additional controls to ensure participating companies maintain effective workplace safety and health management systems.

WASHINGTON – Oil refineries nationwide have received letters from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emphasizing the need to comply with all applicable OSHA standards, particularly the Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals (HHCs).

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is soliciting applications for nearly $7 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants available to nonprofit, community and faith-based organizations.

OSHA awards funds to provide training and education programs on safety and health topics for workers and their employers. For fiscal 2009, the program offers 24 targeted topic areas including crane safety, combustible dust, emergency preparedness and response, and the OSHA recordkeeping process.

WESTBURY, N.Y. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for inadequate crowd management following the Nov. 28, 2008, death of an employee at its Valley Stream, N.Y., store. The worker died of asphyxiation after he was knocked to the ground and trampled by a crowd of about 2,000 shoppers who surged into the store for its annual "Blitz Friday" pre-holiday sales event.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in an effort to crack down on fraudulent trainers, is strengthening the integrity of its 36-year-old Outreach Training Program by improving how trainers become authorized to teach and ensuring these trainers are in compliance with OSHA program guidelines.

WASHINGTON – During a groundbreaking ceremony for a workers memorial monument held today at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md., Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis paid tribute to the men and women who have lost their lives on the job.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is initiating a comprehensive rulemaking on combustible dust.

OSHA will issue an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and convene related stakeholder meetings to evaluate possible regulatory methods, and request data and comments on issues related to combustible dust such as hazard recognition, assessment, communication, defining combustible dust and other concerns.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced that the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will convene a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) panel May 5 on a draft proposed rule on occupational exposure to diacetyl and food flavorings containing diacetyl.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered Southern Air Inc., a Norwalk, Conn.-based air cargo carrier, to withdraw a lawsuit it filed against nine former employees and pay them more than $7.9 million in wages, damages and legal fees.