IMPORTANT RECENT OSHA ACTIVITY:

February 2012
OSHA reminds employers to post injury/illness summaries beginning Feb. 1. Employers must post OSHA's Form 300A from Feb. 1 to April 30 in a common area wherever notices to workers are usually posted.  The summary must list the total numbers of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2011. Copies of the OSHA Forms are available for download from OSHA's Recordkeeping webpage...

January 31 2012
New short videos from OSHA provide training to help inform workers on the proper use of respirators. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has posted a series of 17 videos to help workers learn about the proper use of respirators on the job. These short videos, nine in English and eight in Spanish, provide valuable information to workers in general industry and construction. Topics include OSHA's Respiratory Standard, respirator use, training, fit-testing and detecting counterfeit respirators...

January 2012
OSHA publishes Illness and Injury Prevention Programs White Paper

January 2012
OSHA posts Summary Report of Stakeholder Meeting on Preventing Occupational Hearing Loss

January 2012
OSHA Web page offers information to protect workers during winter storm response and recovery operations

December 14 2011
OSHA publishes Direct Final Rule on Acetylene Standard.

November 30 2011
New tire charts will help workers safely service single-piece and multi-piece rim wheels.

November 9 2011
US Labor Department's OSHA encourages major retailers to provide crowd management measures to protect workers during major sales events.

November 9 2011
OSHA Fact Sheet for Crowd Management Safety Guidelines for Retailers.

November 9 2011
Statement from Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA on increase of nonfatal occupational injuries among health care workers.

November 1 2011
New OSHA Alliance focuses on workers’ safety and health in restaurant industry. 

October 20 2011
Statement from Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis on reported decline in workplace injuries and illnesses. 

October 17 2011
New small businesses document explains OSHA's respiratory protection standard. 

October 13 2011
OSHA publishes new educational materials on protecting workers from hazards found in laboratories. 

October 6 2011
OSHA invites interested parties to participate in an informal stakeholder meeting on preventing occupational hearing loss.

October 6 2011
OSHA to host conversation with stakeholders on occupational hearing loss.

September 15 2011
OSHA launches new  Workplace Violence Web Page.

September 9 2011
OSHA issues 2011 annual inspection plan for protecting workers in high-hazard workplaces.

September 8 2011
OSHA issues compliance directive to address workplace violence. 

August 23 2011
US Department of Labor improves enforcement database.

August 2011
New comprehensive OSHA Web page on preventing work-related hearing loss contains a wealth of information to help businesses and workers.

August 2011
NIOSH STOP STICKS campaign aims to reduce exposures to bloodborne pathogens.

August 11 2011
US Department of Labor's OSHA releases mobile app to help protect workers from heat-related illnesses.  As part of continuing educational efforts by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the dangers of extreme heat, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced a free application for mobile devices that will enable workers and supervisors to monitor the heat index at their work sites in order to prevent heat-related illnesses. The app, available in English and Spanish, combines heat index data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with the user’s location to determine necessary protective measures...

July 20 2011
Statement by Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis on continued heat waves sweeping the country.

July 15 2011
Water, rest and shade: Protecting workers from heat-related illness.

July 5 2011
OSHA schedules stakeholder meetings to discuss occupational exposure to infectious diseases.

June 28 2011
OSHA launches interactive Web site to help employers better comply with its recordkeeping rule.

June 22 2011
OSHA seeks comments on proposed updates, revisions to the occupational injury and illness tracking and reporting requirements.

June 16 2011
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and ambassadors of Guatemala and Nicaragua sign declarations protecting migrant workers' rights.

June 16 2011
US Department of Labor's OSHA conducting inspections focused on powered industrial truck hazards in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Georgia.

June 16 2011
OSHA releases bookmark explaining young workers' rights.

May 26 2011
US Department of Labor's OSHA announces final rule affecting respiratory protection, sling standard, exposure and medical records, and potable water definition.

May 23 2011
US Department of Labor's OSHA launches national survey on employers' safety and health practices to help guide future rules, compliance, outreach

May 16 2011
US Labor Department's OSHA reopens public record on proposed record-keeping rule to add work-related musculoskeletal disorders  OSHA estimates that 1.505 million recordable MSDs are expected to occur annually among 1.542 million affected establishments and that the annualized costs of the proposed rule would be $1.7 million per year for all affected establishments combined. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration tomorrow will reopen the public record on a proposed rule to revise the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements regulation on May 17. "OSHA is eager to hear from the public on this, and every, proposed rule," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels." The more feedback the agency receives from small businesses on this topic, the better informed we will be in crafting a proposed regulation that protects workers without overburdening employers..."

May 2011
New Injury and Illness Prevention Programs Web page now online  OSHA has a new Injury and Illness Prevention Programs Web page to provide easy to use, informative and useful guidance on how to implement an effective system for finding and fixing workplace safety and health hazards. Injury and illness prevention programs, known by a variety of names, are universal interventions that can substantially reduce the number and severity of workplace injuries and alleviate the associated financial burdens on U.S. workplaces. Many states have requirements or voluntary guidelines for workplace injury and illness prevention programs. Also, numerous employers in the United States already manage safety using injury and illness prevention programs and OSHA believes that all employers can and should do the same. As OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels put it, "Injury and illness prevention programs are good for workers, good for business and good for America."

April 2011
Employers: Be sure to post injury and illness summaries now until April 30, 2011                       (Form 300A PDF 382kb)

April 26 2011
US Labor Department launches national outreach campaign to protect workers from heat-related illnesses.

March 25 2011
New guidance documents explain importance of testing in reducing, preventing worker exposure to respiratory hazards.

March 23 2011
US Labor Department's OSHA to hold teleconferences for small businesses to provide input on proposed column for employer injury and illness logs.  Small businesses from around the country are encouraged to participate in a series of three teleconferences to provide input on OSHA's proposal to add a column for work-related musculoskeletal disorders on employer injury and illness logs.

February 15 2011
Statement from assistant secretary of labor for OSHA supporting promotion of job creation
Agency doing everything possible to support good, safe jobs.  "Despite concerns about the effect of regulation on American business, there is clear evidence that OSHA's commonsense regulations have made working conditions in this country today far safer than 40 years ago when the agency was created, while at the same time protecting American jobs. The truth is that OSHA standards don't kill jobs. They stop jobs from killing workers. OSHA standards don't just prevent worker injuries and illnesses. They also drive technological innovation, making industries more competitive."

February 15 2011
OSHA issues enforcement guidance on personal protective equipment to protect general industry workers' safety, health. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued the Enforcement Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in General Industry*, a directive that provides enforcement personnel with instructions for determining whether employers have complied with OSHA personal protective equipment (PPE) standards. The directive was effective Feb. 10. Changes in this directive include clarifying what type of PPE employers must provide at no cost to workers and when employers are required and not required to pay for PPE.

February 11 2011
OSHA respiratory protection video discusses proper respirator use for healthcare workers.

January 25 2011
US Labor Department's OSHA temporarily withdraws proposed column for work-related musculoskeletal disorders, reaches out to small businesses. "Work-related musculoskeletal disorders remain the leading cause of workplace injury and illness in this country, and this proposal is an effort to assist employers and OSHA in better identifying problems in workplaces," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "However, it is clear that the proposal has raised concern among small businesses, so OSHA is facilitating an active dialogue between the agency and the small business community."

January 19 2011
40th Anniversary Speakers Series: Granting Basic Rights to American Workers.

January 19 2011
US Department of Labor's OSHA withdraws proposed interpretation on occupational noise
Agency examines other approaches to prevent work-related hearing loss.

December 29  2010
US Labor Department's OSHA reminds employers of hazards associated with snow cleanup, urges proper worker safeguards. In light of the recent blizzard and in anticipation of more winter storms, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration wants to remind workers, employers and the general public of the hazards associated with snow removal and recovery work.  "Cleaning up after a storm encompasses a variety of tasks, each of which can carry risks if performed incorrectly or without proper safeguards," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "We want people to know what those risks are and what steps they can take to protect themselves against these hazards."  Common hazards can include:..

December 14  2010
OSHA extends comment period to March 21, 2011, announces stakeholder meeting on noise control interpretation. "We're very eager to get input from those parties who would be affected by this proposed interpretation," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. "We have by no means completed our review of the issue and seek to make an informed decision that is in the best interest of protecting workers, yet sensitive to the operating changes businesses would need to make. There is sufficient evidence that hearing protection alone cannot prevent workers from suffering preventable hearing loss." 

November 30 2010
Michaels informs national conference of public health professionals about OSHA's efforts to update chemical exposure limits. OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels participated in a panel discussion Nov. 8 in Denver at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting.  He shared with the audience OSHA's efforts to address the agency's outdated workplace chemicals Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs). Most of OSHA's PELs were adopted when the agency was first created and have remained unchanged even though health data indicates many chemicals pose hazards to workers at levels below those permitted by many of OSHA's PELs. OSHA held a web forum in August to solicit nominations on the top chemicals of concern and received more than 130 nominations for OSHA to focus its initial efforts...

October 22  2010
OSHA targets high-hazard worksites for inspection. Establishments are randomly selected for inspection from an initial list of 4,100 manufacturing, non-manufacturing, and nursing and personal care facilities...

October 21 2010
Statement of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis on reported decline in workplace injuries and illnesses. "While the reported decline in workplace injuries and illnesses is encouraging, 3.3 million workplace injuries and illnesses are 3.3 million too many. No worker should fear being injured or made sick for a paycheck...

October 19  2010
OSHA's Official Interpretation of Provisions for Feasible Administrative or Engineering Controls of Occupational Noise.    OSHA is proposing to amend its current enforcement policy to reflect the interpretation of the term "feasible administrative or engineering controls" as used in the current occupational noise exposure standards....

October 19  2010
OSHA seeks comments on its official interpretation of workplace noise exposure controls.    Comments on the interpretation must be submitted on or before Dec. 20, 2010....

October 15  2010
Michaels shares vision for transforming OSHA to meet future challenges.  OSHA Assistant Secretary sent a letter Oct. 15 outlining the progress being made in transforming the way the agency addresses workplace hazards...

October 15  2010
Tom Galassi, head of OSHA's Directorate of Enforcement programs, shares the top 10 most frequently cited standards.

October 15  2010
OSHA rolls out presidential initiative to improve federal worker safety.  

October 15 2010
OSHA adjusts focus of accurate recordkeeping emphasis program.  OSHA adjusted the targeting criteria for new inspections under its ongoing National Recordkeeping Emphasis Program.  The NEP is scheduled to run through February 2010...

October 15  2010
OSHA increases enforcement against serious safety and health violators.  The increase in significant and egregious cases demonstrates OSHA's commitment to aggressively enforcing its standards...

October 15  2010
Michaels shares goals for protecting workers at national safety conference.  OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels shared the Obama Administration's vision for government agencies at the National Safety Council's 2010 Congress & Expos.  Michaels told the audience of about 10,000 safety and health professionals and industrial hygienists that OSHA and NIOSH believe the key to worker safety and health is focusing on prevention and shifting the burden of worker protection to employers...

October 15  2010
Michaels tells steelworkers OSHA is committed to creating and enforcing standards that will save lives.  OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels told the audience at a United Steelworkers Health, Safety and Environment Conference in Pittsburgh that OSHA is returning to basics to protect the safety and health of workers on the job. He stressed the need to expand OSHA's enforcement powers and penalty amounts through legislative reform such as the Protecting America's Workers Act...

What's happening with OSHA that affects your industry?

Automotive
Cemetery, Funeral, and Crematory
Cleaning and Facilities Management
General Industry
Healthcare
Manufacturing
Metal Fabricating
Nursery and Landscape
Printing
Restaurant
Residential Care Facilities
Solid Surface Fabrication

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