Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency on June 14 announced its intent to publish a Federal Register notice establishing the availability of expanded pesticide safety training materials, in accordance with 2015 revisions to the federal Agricultural Worker Protection Standard.

Washington — By publishing the availability of expanded pesticide safety training materials after previously resisting the move, the Environmental Protection Agency will reduce risks of injury and illness among employers, farmworkers, pesticide handlers and their families, the EPA Office of Inspector General asserts in an audit report released Aug. 30.

Kansas City, MO — OSHA has launched a Regional Emphasis Program addressing hazards stemming from exposure to fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate and agricultural anhydrous ammonia.

Washington — OSHA has released a guide intended to protect farmworkers from tractor rollovers, which result in about 130 fatal injuries a year.

Houston — Filipino seafarers often delay or completely avoid medical care – despite their rights to it under maritime law – for fear of retaliation from employers, including potentially losing their jobs, results of a recent study show.

“Clear written and verbal communications are essential to health and safety excellence,” says one safety expert. “It’s even more important when different languages are involved.”

Washington — Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) has reintroduced legislation that would provide temporary protection from deportation to immigrant workers who are victims of, or witnesses to, unsafe working conditions and other labor rights violations.

Información Rápida (Quick Information) will feature regular updates on workplace safety and workers’ rights.

San Francisco — A recent study of stone fabricators in California who have been diagnosed with silicosis shows that virtually all of them were immigrant, Latino men.

Washington — A new Department of Labor website – available in English and Spanish – features information on immigrant worker rights and other job-related resources.

Houston — Migrant roofing workers are more likely to experience poor sleep quality, which may put them at increased risk of injury, Rice University researchers say.

Washington – The ruptured steel pipe at the center of the 2012 hydrocarbon release and fire at the Chevron U.S.A. Inc. refinery in Richmond, CA, was corroded and should have been replaced, concludes a report released by the Chemical Safety Board and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Sacramento, CA – Reacting to a Chevron refinery fire last year that resulted in thousands of people seeking medical attention after breathing toxic emissions, a California lawmaker has introduced legislation to require abatement of unsafe conditions during any appeals process.

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board is scheduled to host a public meeting on April 19 in Richmond, CA, to present interim findings and safety recommendations from the investigation of the hydrocarbon release and fire at a Chevron refinery.

Washington – Failure to apply inherently safer design principles, conduct damage mechanism hazard reviews and implement safeguards led to the hydrocarbon release and fire at a Chevron refinery in August 2012, concludes a draft report from the Chemical Safety Board.

Richmond, CA – The Richmond City Council in California recently adopted a resolution to implement recommendations from a Chemical Safety Board interim report on the August 2012 Chevron refinery fire and explosion.

Richmond, CA – Agencies tasked with overseeing refinery safety in California need better coordination and stronger regulation, concludes a new report from the state’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety.

Washington – A corroded pipe that had not been inspected for years was the source of the hydrogen release and subsequent explosion at the Silver Eagle Refinery in 2009, according to a new analysis from the Chemical Safety Board.

After investigating a series of recent fires, explosions and toxic leaks at chemical plants, the Chemical Safety Board has emphasized the need for Inherently Safer Design. What does the term mean, and how can employers use the principles of ISD to create safer workplaces?

Washington – California should strengthen its process safety management regulations for refineries, the Chemical Safety Board stated in a final report on a fire at a Chevron refinery in 2012.

Richmond, CA – Chemical Safety Board members unanimously approved a set of recommendations as part of the agency’s third and final report on a fire and vapor release that affected thousands of residents near a Chevron refinery in 2012.

Washington – Large facilities that store and sell chemicals may no longer be exempt from OSHA’s Process Safety Management Standard, the agency announced July 22 in a revised interpretation of its rules.

Morgantown, WV – Despite robbery-related violence being the leading cause of death in the retail industry, many Texas convenience store owners fail to take precautions that could prevent robberies and protect workers from violence, according to a new NIOSH study.

Washington – OSHA will delay enforcing a new interpretation of its Process Safety Management Standard, prompting a bipartisan group of lawmakers to call for the agency to withdraw that interpretation.

Washington – Simple changes to the store environment can help convenience store owners protect their employees from work-related violence, NIOSH researchers claim in a recent blog post.

Washington – OSHA failed to follow federal rulemaking requirements when it used a memorandum to announce a revised definition of retail facilities exempt from the Process Safety Management Standard, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled.

Los Angeles – The Los Angeles garment manufacturing industry – the nation’s largest cut-and-sew apparel base – is “plagued by workplace violations and marked by a lack of worker protections,” according to a new report released by the Garment Worker Center, the UCLA Labor Center and UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health.

Washington – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has denied OSHA’s petitions for a rehearing and rehearing en banc of the court’s ruling that the agency failed to follow federal rulemaking requirements when it used a memorandum to announce a revised definition of retail facilities exempt from the Process Safety Management Standard.

Sacramento, CA – California could become the first state to require professional cosmetics manufacturers to list ingredients – including hazardous chemicals – on their product labels.

East Lansing, MI – Do you find shopping therapeutic after a tense day at work? It may be rooted to your occupation. Service workers who are verbally abused by customers are more likely to indulge in stress-related shopping sprees, according to a recent study from Michigan State University.

Washington – OSHA is warning employees and employers about the dangers of falling from pallets raised by forklifts in its latest edition of Fatal Facts.

Washington – Although tobacco use continues to decrease among working adults overall, a significant number of workers in the construction, mining, and transportation and warehousing industries still use some form of tobacco product, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Retail workers experienced a combined injury and illness rate higher than the construction industry in 2016. Experts say top-down commitment is needed to prevent a work environment that values inventory over safety.

Washington — NIOSH has published its National Occupational Research Agenda for Wholesale and Retail Trade, as well as its NORA for Traumatic Injury Prevention – both intended to spotlight the research, information and actions most needed to prevent occupational injuries and illnesses.

Secaucus, NJ — The rate of positive drug tests rose by double digits in five of 16 major U.S. workforce industry sectors from 2015 to 2017, according to a recent analysis by lab services provider Quest Diagnostics.

Toronto — Handling receipts may boost cashiers’ exposure to bisphenol A and bisphenol S – two chemicals with possible links to cancer and other adverse health effects – results of a recent study from Canadian advocacy group Environmental Defense shows.

Washington — A newly launched campaign is intended to raise young workers’ awareness of on-the-job safety.

New York — Retail employees injured on the job miss an average of 24 days of work as a result, according to recent report from AmTrust Financial Services Inc., an insurance provider for small businesses.

Washington — In an effort to protect retail employees from exposure to COVID-19, OSHA has issued a safety alert.

Tumwater, WA — A new guidance document from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries is intended to help grocery store employers protect workers from contracting – and potentially spreading – COVID-19.

Washington — To help protect retail pharmacy workers from exposure to COVID-19, OSHA has issued a safety alert.

Washington — A new OSHA safety alert lists measures employers should take to protect stockroom and loading dock workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published guidance to help nail salon employers protect their workers from exposure to COVID-19.

Washington — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released guidance intended to help employers in the retail and service industries protect workers from violence that may occur when they ask customers or co-workers to comply with store policies aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Boston — Grocery store workers who interact with customers may be five times more likely to contract COVID-19 than their colleagues who don’t have direct contact with customers, results of a recent study led by researchers from Harvard University show.

Washington — To help keep safe the workers who play a role in getting “gifts from the warehouse to your home” for the holidays, OSHA has published a series for seasonal workplace safety tips and a video – including COVID-19-related guidance.

Falls Church, VA — Former OSHA administrator David Michaels is among more than a dozen health and safety experts calling on the Biden administration to update and strengthen Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance to help prevent COVID-19 transmission.

Portland, ME — A new online training course launched by the University of Southern Maine’s Cutler Institute focuses on protecting retail workers from exposure to COVID-19.

Washington — A panel of safety experts and industry and government representatives will talk about training, proper forklift operation and maintenance June 8 as part of a free, virtual National Forklift Safety Day program organized by the Industrial Truck Association and DC Velocity.

Washington — Two environmental groups, along with 75 salon workers from across the country, have filed a citizen petition asking the Food and Drug Administration to ban hair straighteners containing formaldehyde.