Contractor Prequalification Bill Backed by ASSE in Maryland
ASSE and its members in Maryland expressed support for a bill (HB 1486) that would require the Maryland Department of Labor to develop and adopt a safety questionnaire and a safety rating system for the state’s public sector employers to use to help ensure that bidders for public sector construction projects can demonstrate a commitment to worker safety and [...]
Read MoreArizona Texting Ban Sponsor Speaks Eloquently in Defeat
Facing certain defeat on the Arizona Senate floor, Senator Steve Farley still spoke with eloquence and calm determination in support of an amendment that would move forward his bill (SB1218) to ban texting in the state. Senator Farley’s defense of the effort and the debate against it was captured YouTube. ASSE’s members in Arizona fully supported Senator Farley and his bill.
Read MoreASSE Florida Members Back Legislative Effort to Ban Texting
Inspired by fellow ASSE members’ effort to ban texting in Arizona, Florida’s ASSE members have joined in an effort to pass legislation that would ban texting in their state. Letters to Senator Detert (R-Venice) and Representative Holder (R-Sarasota) back their legislation, SB 52/HB 13, which is seen as having a good chance of passing into law this year. ASSE also [...]
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Arizona ASSE Members Back Texting Ban Bill
On behalf of its nearly 600 Arizona members, ASSE voiced support for a bill (SB 1218) by Senator Steve Farley to prohibit text messaging while operating a motor vehicle in Arizona. While ASSE’s own policy position calls for a total ban on the use of electronic devices while driving, ASSE saw that SB 1218 could serve as a significant first [...]
Read MoreUpdating Consensus Standards is Focus of ASSE’s Comment on OSHA SIP IV Request for Info
ASSE provided comments for the record of OSHA’s Standards Improvement Project – Phase IV Request for Information based significantly on its role as Secretariat to the ANSI-accredited A10 Committee for Construction and Demolition Operations and the ANSI/ASSE Z9 Committee for Health and Safety Standards for Ventilation Systems. The comments included a detailed matrix of changes ASSE is urging OSHA to make to the 29 CFR 1926 [...]
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ASSE Asks for Public Hearing in Illinois Asbestos Abatement Rulemaking
Concerned with the lack of outreach to safety and health professionals and the quick action taken to adopt amended rules, ASSE filed a comment asking that the Illinois Department of Public Health hold a hearing on the changes to its rules governing Asbestos Abatement for Public and Private School and Commercial and Public Buildings.
Read MoreASSE Comments on Resignation of Secretary of Labor Solis
Secretary Solis’ comments on her resignation can be found at http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/opa/OPA20130053.htm From a January 11, 2013, ASSE press release – American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) President Richard A. Pollock, CSP, responds to the recent resignation of U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis: “On the announcement of her resignation, ASSE thanks and congratulates Secretary [...]
Read MoreASSE Backs Ron Sokol as ACCSH Public Member
ASSE has nominated Ron Sokol, CSP, to serve as a public member on OSHA’s Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH). Ron is the organizational leader for the Safety Council of Texas City, Texas, which works with employers and contractors to train construction workers in the petrochemical industry. He is a member of the NIOSH NORA Construction Council and serves [...]
Read MoreFed OSHA Seeking Response from AZ DOSH in Residential Fall Protection Complaint
In response to ASSE’s effort on behalf of its Arizona members to see that the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health enforce federal OSHA’s residential fall protection standard, ASSE received a letter from OSHA’s Phoenix Area Office outlining OSHA’s Complaint About State Program Administration (CASPA) investigation. ADOSH has 30 days to respond to OSHA’s findings and requirements. In the last minutes of [...]
Read MoreASSE Issues Call for Help for Hurricane Sandy Clean-Up Workers in Need of PPE
ASSE has been working with its local members in the New York and New Jersey areas to get help to those impacted by Hurricane Sandy. At the personal request of Assistant Secretary David Michaels, ASSE, NSC and AIHA have reached out to companies to encourage them to donate PPE and other safety equipment to nonprofits [...]
Read MoreASSE Joins with NSC and AIHA to Back OSHA and NIOSH Budgets
In an effort to help make sure the purpose and value of OSHA and NIOSH is not lost in the fervent and highly political debate on the federal budget now underway in Washington, DC, ASSE joined with the National Safety Council (NSC) and the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) to raise a united voice in [...]
Read MoreASSE Asks Members to Urge Employers and Other Organizations to Join 85-3 Campaign
ASSE is asking its members to reach out to employers and other organizations to join the Society as members of the 85-3 Campaign. As the invitation from the campaign indicates, the 85-3 Campaign recognizes organizations and employers that, as part of their hearing protection strategy for workers, have adopted the 85 dBA noise protection level. [...]
Read MoreASSE Joins 85-3 Campaign
ASSE has joined the 85-3 Campaign, which recognizes organizations and employers that, as part of their hearing protection strategy for workers, have adopted the 85 dBA noise protection level. “On behalf of its nearly 35,000 member safety, health and environmental (SH&E) professionals, ASSE is pleased to join the 85-3 Coalition and looks forward to working with [...]
Read MoreASSE Comments for 5-Agency Expert Form on Risk-Based Reg Approaches in Oil and Gas
On September 20-21, OSHA, BSEE, EPA, PHMSA and the Coast Guard came together with stakeholders in the oil and gas industry in Texas City, Texas, to discuss regulatory issues facing the industry at the “Expert Forum on the Use of Performance-Based Regulatory Models in the US Oil and Gas Industry, Offshore and Onshore.” Government Affairs [...]
Read MoreUnderstanding the Increased Focus on Enforcement by Federal OSHA
Recognizing ASSE members’ responsibility for managing interactions with OSHA for their employers, the Government Affairs Committee thought it important that members understand as much as possible about the variety of administrative actions OSHA is taking to focus the agency’s enforcement efforts. A summary of those various actions has been prepared by Adele Abrams, Esq., ASSE’s [...]
Read MoreASSE Commends OSHA for VPP Review
In a letter to Assistant Secretary David Michaels, ASSE commended OSHA for its report, Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) Review. ASSE said the report was thoughtful, frank and helpful and that the report validated the value of VPP. ASSE supported most of the report’s recommendations, including continuing to provide exemptions from programmed inspections for participants, expanded use [...]
Read MoreASSE President Pollock Congratulates CSB Board Member John Bresland on His Retirement
On behalf of ASSE’s members, President Rick Pollock congratulated John Bresland on his retirement from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). His letter thanked Bresland for his leadership in helping CSB achieve deserved levels of respect and support. Bresland’s commitment to CSB’s mission has given ASSE members insight and information into workplace [...]
Read MoreASSE Nominates Jim Thornton for Reappointment to Chair MACOSH
ASSE nominated James Thornton, CSP, CIH, for reappointment as Chair of OSHA’s Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health(MACOSH) in a letter to Assistant Secretary for OSHA David Michaels. Jim has had a long and distinguished career committed to protecting workers in the shipbuilding industry and has demonstrated similar leadership in his profession. As Chair of ASSE’s Government Affairs Committee, [...]
Read MoreASSE Nominates Rixio Medina to Continue to Serve on NACOSH
In a letter to Assistant Secretary David Michaels, ASSE nominated Rixio E. Medina, CSP, CPP, to continue to serve as a member of OSHA’s National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH). Rixio is a leading expert in protecting workers and property in the petrochemical industry and a widely respected leader in the occupational safety and health community. He is a [...]
Read MoreASSE Urges Adoption of FACOSH Recommendations to Upgrade Fed Safety and Health Jobs
In a letter to U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry, ASSE urged adoption of recommendations made by OSHA’s Federal Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (FACOSH) to upgrade federal safety and health positions. ASSE expressed full support FACOSH’s May 2011 recommendations to upgrade the GS-0018, Safety and Occupational Health Management job series: That OPM delete the option of using experience alone as a qualification for the series [...]
Read MoreAll of OSHA Should be VPP, ASSE Tells House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
On June 27, the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing entitled “Promoting Safe Workplaces Through Voluntary Protection Programs.” Among several issues its comments addressed, ASSE urged consideration that an OSHA standard requiring all employers, as in VPP, to have in place an injury and illness prevention plan (I2P2) may be the only way OSHA’s overall approach to workplace regulation can be in line with how the [...]
Read MoreAt Arizona Members’ Request, ASSE Urges OSHA to Ensure ADOSH “At Least As Effective” in Fall Protection
In a letter to Assistant Secretary David Michaels, ASSE urged OSHA to ensure that the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) meets its obligation as a state plan to be “at least as effective as” federal OSHA and enforce fall protection for residential construction workers at 6 feet. ASSE’s Arizona members requested the Society’s help in addressing the passage into law of Senate Bill 1441 that made [...]
Read MoreIndustry Groups Challenge OSHA’s HazCom/GHS Rule
OSHA’s HazCom/GHS final rule has been challenged in the US Court of Appeals, DC Circuit, by the American Petroleum Institute, the American Tort Reform Association, CropLife America and a coalition of five other industry groups, including American Chemistry Council (ACC). The Chamber of Commerce has expressed support for the Petitions for Judicial Review. The Petitions do not provide [...]
Read MoreNorris and Howard Renew ASSE-NIOSH Partnership
On May 7, ASSE President Terrie Norris and NIOSH Director John Howard signed a partnership agreement between ASSE and NIOSH. The wide-ranging agreement aims to bring ASSE members and NIOSH staff closer together to advancing research and understanding of the value occupational safety and health brings to business and the American people, develop and disseminating information on worker safety [...]
Read MoreASSE Opposes Effort to Undercut Development of Independent Consensus Standards
In a comment to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), ASSE strongly opposed possible rulemaking to amend OFR’s regulations defining “reasonably available” or change current requirements related to materials incorporated by reference (IBR) in regulations published in the Federal Register, as sought in a petition to OFR. At issue is whether and how voluntary consensus standards should be made available when cited in a regulation. ASSE said [...]
Read MoreASSE Joins in Opposing NIOSH AgFF and ERC Funding Cuts in Administration’s FY13 Budget
ASSE has joined with 127 other NIOSH stakeholders to voice opposition to the Obama Administration’s proposed elimination of funding for Education and Resource Centers and the NORA Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (AgFF) research program in letters to leaders of the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, HHS, Education and Related Committees. Congress rejected these same cuts in the FY 2012 budget, but the Administration is [...]
Read MoreNorris and Michaels Renew ASSE-OSHA Alliance
On March 16, ASSE President Terrie Norris and Assistant Secretary David Michaels signed a renewed Alliance agreement between ASSE and OSHA. The overall goal of the two-year Alliance is to promote best practices for reducing and preventing worker exposures to health and physical hazards. More specifically, ASSE and OSHA will continue work together to address non-English or limited English-speaking workers especially through [...]
Read MoreNano SNURs Can’t Overlook Engineering Controls, ASSE Tells EPA
ASSE submitted a comment on an EPA proposed rule to set significant new use rules (SNURs) for chemical substances, 7 of which included carbon nanotubes. For those substances involving nanotechnology, ASSE told EPA it could not ignore established industrial hygiene and safety practice, NIOSH and its own research by not requring the hierarchy of controls to be followed in protecting workers under the SNURs. ASSE said, [...]
Read MoreASSE States Support for OSHA Rescission of Residential Fall Protection Exemption
In light of the criticism and complaints that have followed the OSHA’s directive rescinding the Interim Fall Protection Compliance Guidelines for Residential Construction, ASSE in a letter to Assistant Secretary David Michaels stated its support for the change in policy as a needed step forward in protecting workers. ASSE also commended OSHA for its efforts to work [...]
Read MoreConsider Lower Noise PEL Instead of New Econ Feasibility Interpretation, ASSE Tells OSHA
Adding to previous comments opposing OSHA’s Interpretation of Provisions for Feasible Administrative or Engineering Controls of Occupational Noise, ASSE suggested in a letter to Assistant Secretary David Michaels that a more valuable measure to reduce noise exposures would be lowering OSHA’s permissible exposure limit (PEL) for noise from 90 dBA to 85 dBA. At the lower PEL, however, engineering controls can [...]
Read MoreASSE Nominates Gary Lopez to ACCSH
ASSE nominated Gary Lopez to OSHA’s Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH). Gary is a widely respected Professional Member of ASSE with strong experience in managing workplace safety and health risks in the construction industry. He is a founding member of the committee that oversaw and continues to manage the development of the ANSI/AIHA Z10-2005, [...]
Read MoreASSE Signals Opposition to Reported California Effort to Corner PEL Work for CIHs
On behalf of its nearly 3,000 members in California, ASSE sent a letter to the sponsor of state legislation that has been reported will be used by the California Industrial Hygiene Council (CIHC) to ensure that only CIHs would be able to supervise or direct the monitoring of control methods for PELs in California workplaces. Since CIHs are not uniquely qualified to [...]
Read MoreASSE Commends NIOSH for National Assessment of OSH Workforce Report
In a letter to Director John Howard, ASSE commended NIOSH for the publication of its National Assessment of the Occupational Safety and Health Workforce report (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/oshworkforce/), the first look at occupational safety and health workforce issues since the Institute of Medicine’s Safe Work in the 21st Century (http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070260) study in 2000. The report addresses how SH&E professionals are educated and trained, the means [...]
Read MoreASSE Urges OIRA to Let OSHA Silica Rulemaking Move Forward So All Stakeholders Can Be Heard
In a letter to Cass Sunstein, Administrator of the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the White House, ASSE urged his office to do everything possible to advance OSHA rulemaking on Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica so that ASSE’s members can play a meaningful part in seeing that OSHA promulgates an [...]
Read MoreASSE Comments on OSHA’s Proposed Reporting Requirement Changes
In a comment for the record, ASSE said it could not support proposed changes to OSHA’s reporting rules from the current requirement that employers report within 8 hours fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations of 3 or more employees to 1 or more employees and to add the requirements that amputations be reported within 24 hours. ASSE said it does not believe, given OSHA’s resources and the practical difficulties employers face in reporting, that [...]
Read MoreI2P2: The California Experience
In the current discussion over OSHA’s efforts to advance rulemaking on an injury and illness prevention program (I2P2) standard, NIOSH Director and former Cal OSHA Chief John Howard has given presentations on California’s experience with an I2P2 standard. On July 15, Dr. Howard gave his California I2P2 presentation at the Small Business Labor Safety (OSHA/MSHA) Roundtable held by the Office of Advocacy [...]
Read MoreASSE Backs MSHA FY 2012 Budget Request
ASSE expressed support for MSHA’s $384.3 FY 2012 budget request in a letter to House Appropriations Committee leaders. “We believe that safety in mines will be enhanced not by ‘less MSHA’ but by ‘a better MSHA,’” the letter stated. Full funding of MSHA’s budget request will allow MSHA to provide funding for improved dust monitoring in coal mines through the purchase of [...]
Read MoreSecretary Solis Congratulates ASSE on 100th Anniversary
In a video played first at the opening session of Safety 2011 in Chicago, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis congratulated ASSE on its 100th Anniversary, noting OSHA’s 40th Anniversary, ASSE’s alliance and the shared goal of the Department of Labor, OSHA and ASSE in helping make sure all jobs are safe jobs. Secretary Solis also commemorated ASSE in [...]
Read MoreIn 100th Year of Safety, ASSE Offers OSH Reform Legislative Proposal
In the 100th year of ASSE and modern occupational safety, ASSE offered leaders of the key U.S. Senate and House of Representative committees responsible for workplace safety and health oversight draft legislation to address needed reforms in federal law to help improve U.S. workplace safety and health. ASSE’s first occupational safety and health draft reform proposal Enhancing Occupational Safety and Health Protections [...]
Read MoreNorth Carolina ASSE Members Urge Senator Hagan to Back VPP Bill
A letter on behalf of ASSE’s members in North Carolina urges Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) to join in sponsoring the Voluntary Protection Program Act (S. 807), a bill to place OSHA’s Voluntary Protectiion Program into the Occupational Safety and Health Act, ensuring that OSHA will continue the program. The bipartisan bill was sponsored by Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-WY) [...]
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