AMAG Technology Financial Services offers customized, flexible leasing solutions via a partnership with Vantage Financial.

How can the “silver tsunami” lead to an increase in electrical safety?

Planning and communication took L.A.’s “Carmageddon” from a potentially disastrous main event to a successful non-event. The security industry does the same thing every day.

Houston – Vietnam War veterans who were exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange may have an increased risk of developing skin cancer, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Washington – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing a pilot program that would allow a limited number of military veterans between 18 and 21 years old to operate a commercial motor vehicle for interstate commerce, according to a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Aug. 22 Federal Register.

Charlottesville, VA — Frequent exposure to minor explosions may increase the risk of brain injury and inflammation among members of law enforcement and the military, results of a recent study led by researchers from the University of Virginia show.

Washington — OSHA and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health have a new agreement that clarifies which agency has enforcement authority in certain situations.

Washington — A recent memo from the Department of Defense lists new requirements intended to protect military personnel from brain and cognitive trauma associated with blast overpressure.

Washington – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will issue guidance intended to “ease the transition” to full implementation of its rule – set to go into effect Dec. 18 – on electronic logging devices in commercial motor vehicles, the agency announced Nov. 20.

Washington — In her second appropriations hearing in as many days, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said she has “encouraged legislation” to clarify hours-of-service requirements for commercial motor vehicle drivers.

Washington — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Raymond Martinez affirmed his belief in electronic logging devices, but said “additional flexibility” is forthcoming for agricultural transporters, during a May 22 hearing before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Highways and Transit Subcommittee.

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued guidance intended to clarify the agricultural commodities exemption and the “personal conveyance” provision in driver hours-of-service regulations, according to separate notices published in the June 7 Federal Register.

Austin, TX — A perceived growing shortage of commercial motor vehicle drivers and potential changes to hours-of-service rules are the top issues affecting the trucking industry, according to an annual survey conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute.

Washington — Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) have reintroduced bipartisan legislation that would require the secretary of transportation to create a working group to determine obstacles to safe operation for livestock, insect and agricultural haulers in an effort to reform federal hours-of-service and electronic logging device regulations.

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on May 17 submitted for review to the White House Office of Management and Budget an advance notice of proposed rulemaking intended to help the agency assess whether to clarify the definitions of “agricultural commodity” or “livestock” in FMCSA’s hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers.

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking input on whether it should clarify or revise the definitions of “agricultural commodity” or “livestock” in its hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers.

San Diego — For the second straight year, a driver shortage and hours-of-service rules are the top two issues affecting the trucking industry, according to the results of an annual survey conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute.

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is asking for input on an interim final rule that clarifies the definitions of the terms “any agricultural commodity” and “livestock” in the agency’s hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers.

Washington — OSHA has created a webpage aimed at helping employers use leading indicators – tracking workplace conditions and events to prevent injuries and illnesses before they occur – to improve their safety and health programs, the agency announced Aug. 9 via Twitter.

In Episode 26, the S+H editorial team examines how language barriers can affect workplace safety. In addition, Jessica Bunting, director of the Research to Practice initiative at CPWR, discusses the ninth annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction, set for May 2-6.

Springfield, IL — Legislation signed into law Aug. 9 by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) requires freight trains operating in the state to have at least two crew members, challenging the Federal Railroad Administration’s recent effort to prevent states from regulating train crew sizes.

Washington — The Federal Railroad Administration has extended until March 4 its stay on publishing a final rule requiring commuter and intercity passenger railroads to develop and implement system safety programs.

Washington — A new video from a rail safety education group is aimed at helping drivers of concrete, garbage and dump trucks safely navigate rail crossings.

Washington — The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a final rule requiring certain railroads to develop and implement a fatigue risk management program as a component of their larger safety risk reduction program.

Washington — Although recent technologies can improve train handling and fuel efficiency, “they cannot replace the need for correct car placement and assembly,” the Federal Railroad Administration says in a recent safety advisory.

Washington — Concerned by the deaths of two workers struck by roadway maintenance machines in separate instances within the past two years, the Federal Railroad Administration has issued a safety advisory.

Washington — Enhancing first responders’ education and training on hazardous materials is the focus of more than $30 million in recent Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration grant funding.

Washington — Spurred by 123 rail incidents linked to severe weather over the past three years, the Federal Railroad Administration has issued a safety advisory.

Washington — The Federal Transit Administration is accepting comment on a proposed rule that would establish mandatory minimum safety standards for rail transit employees who work on or near tracks.

Washington – OSHA and the Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch of the Canadian Department of Health have signed an agreement to collaboratively implement the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals in their respective jurisdictions.

Washington – OSHA has updated its hazard communication webpage to include easier access to topics on the agency’s revised standard.

Washington — OSHA has scheduled a virtual public meeting for Nov. 16 in advance of the 43rd session of the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals.

Washington — NIOSH has established the Great Lakes Center for Farmworker Health and Wellbeing. Based at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Great Lakes Center becomes the 11th center for agricultural safety and health – or Ag Center – nationwide.

West Lafayette, IN — At least 83 incidents involving confined spaces in the agriculture industry were documented last year – up 41%, according to an annual report recently released by Purdue University.

Washington — Workplaces can play an important role in suicide prevention, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say in a recent study.

Washington – A recent survey from the National Waste & Recycling Association revealed that two-thirds of drivers do not slow down around garbage trucks, and almost 4 out of 10 drivers admit they feel tempted to speed past the vehicles.

Berkeley, CA – Recycling industry employees face “unnecessarily hazardous” conditions on the job, but those conditions can be improved, according to a report released June 23.

Research Triangle Park, NC – Outbreaks of viruses such as Ebola and Zika have prompted the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences – together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, OSHA, and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response – to launch an infectious disease safety training program for first responders and hazardous waste workers.

Washington – OSHA has created a webpage intended to help workers and employers involved with the agency’s Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (1910.120) for construction and general industry.

Hazards associated with working in traffic, handling materials, and moving on and off garbage trucks put sanitation workers at risk. In the first two days of 2018 alone, seven sanitation workers were killed, according to the Solid Waste Association.

Richmond, British Columbia — New safety guidelines from WorkSafeBC and Canada’s Automotive Retailers Association are intended to protect workers from shock-, fire- and fume-related hazards associated with electric vehicles and the high-voltage lithium-ion batteries that power them.

Washington – A new database from the Center for Progressive Reform spotlights state criminal cases and advocacy campaigns against employers that have failed to comply with worker safety laws.

Washington — The maximum penalty for a “willful” or “repeat” OSHA violation has increased to $156,259 after the agency, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and other Department of Labor agencies automatically increased civil penalty amounts to adjust for inflation.

Washington — OSHA has published final data on the agency’s Top 10 most frequently cited standards for fiscal year 2023.

Washington — Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission officials say a long-standing Executive Order that provides interpretation and document translation to people with limited English proficiency helps ensure federal services “reach and benefit all intended communities.”

Washington — Age-specific efforts aimed at preventing musculoskeletal disorders related to overexertion – a significant cause of MSDs among construction workers in the United States – could help address the problem, researchers from NIOSH say.

Washington — NIOSH has withdrawn a notice of proposed rulemaking that would have established standards for total inward leakage of half-mask air-purifying particulate respirators.

Washington — In response to a nationwide shortage of N95 filtering facepiece respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA has announced further temporary easing of regulations related to respiratory protection.

Tumwater, WA — Ethylene oxide should not be used to sterilize filtering facepiece respirators for reuse because “this extremely hazardous toxic chemical poses a severe risk to human health,” the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries warns in a new alert.