Washington — The Department of Transportation has revised civil penalty amounts for violations to adjust for inflation.

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.

Salem, OR — Legislation recently introduced in Oregon would significantly increase civil penalties for safety violations that contribute to worker injuries and deaths.

Washington — The Department of Transportation has updated civil penalty amounts for violations to adjust for inflation, effective Dec. 28.

Helsinki — A strong corporate culture is linked to many positive workplace safety attributes, a recent research review concludes.

Washington — Seal checks should be conducted every time respiratory protection is used on the job, and employers and workers should ensure the equipment is worn properly so an adequate seal is achieved, NIOSH states in a recently published list of frequently asked questions about user seal checks.

Washington — Manufacturers of certain N95 respirators will be able to submit a single application to NIOSH, rather than to both the Food and Drug Administration and NIOSH, before marketing their product to the health care industry, according to an FDA final order published in the May 17 Federal Register.

Washington — Reusable respirators could prove a “viable option” for health care facilities’ respiratory protection programs, especially in preparation for a public health emergency, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concludes.

Washington — NIOSH is looking for inventors, researchers and respirator manufacturers to partner on a project intended to develop new designs for powered air-purifying respirators for health care workers.

Washington — In an effort to preserve the supply of N95 filtering facepiece respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA has temporarily suspended its requirement for annual respirator fit testing in the health care industry.

Washington — Prompted by an “increased domestic supply” of NIOSH-approved respirators, the Food and Drug Administration is recommending health care facilities transition away from strategies intended to conserve supplies of disposable respirators amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Everything online in the industry, from white papers to webinars    

The expanded version of its 360° virtual tour provides an immersive, interactive experience to illustrate the vital role of door security and access control in education and healthcare settings.

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Washington – A group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), is urging Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to reject a renewed call to increase line speeds in poultry-processing plants.

Washington – Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) says lawmakers who cite concerns about worker safety when opposing his call to increase poultry-processing line speeds are willfully ignoring scientific data.

Washington – Poultry workers and officials from 13 nonprofit organizations and unions met with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service on Oct. 16 to urge the department to reject an industry petition to allow faster and unrestricted line speeds in production plants, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Washington — Better outreach, collaboration and information sharing among federal agencies is needed to improve worker safety in the meat and poultry slaughter and processing industries, the Government Accountability Office concluded in a recently released report.

Washington — Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is among four lawmakers calling for Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta to address their concerns over OSHA’s responses to a Government Accountability Office report, issued in November, on the health and safety of meat and poultry industry workers.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service has denied a National Chicken Council petition seeking unrestricted line speeds in poultry-processing plants.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service will allow poultry-processing plants to increase line speeds if they meet certain criteria, even as critics claim the move will expose workers to injuries and was made without public input.

Washington — Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) is urging OSHA to investigate reported workplace safety violations at the Sanderson Farms poultry plant in Bryan, TX.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service in April approved 15 poultry processing plants’ requests to increase line speeds 25% – despite reported cases of COVID-19 among workers and at least one fatality related to the ongoing pandemic, according to a new policy brief from the National Employment Law Project.

Washington — A new online toolkit from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is intended to assist safety professionals and health officials in assessing COVID-19 pandemic-related prevention and control measures at meat and poultry processing facilities.

Washington — OSHA and the Food and Drug Administration have teamed up to develop a checklist intended to help food manufacturers protect worker health and practice food safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington — A controversial U.S. Department of Agriculture rule that would permit line speeds at certain poultry processing plants to increase to 175 birds a minute from the current 140 is under review by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Washington — President Joe Biden on Jan. 22 signed an Executive Order withdrawing a controversial U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed rule that would have permitted line speeds at certain poultry-processing plants to increase to 175 birds a minute from the current 140.

Washington — Legislation reintroduced March 11 by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) would prohibit line speed increases in meat and poultry-processing plants during the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has indicated it will accept a March ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota that prohibits the removal of maximum line speeds in pork-processing plants.

Washington — Seeking to “best assess” the impact of increased line speeds on worker safety in poultry-processing plants, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service plans to study the effects.

Zentra’s integrated solutions (combining software, hardware and related services) — initially offered in the United States — will secure properties while enabling hassle-free access.

Don’t spend all your time focusing on the single-family residential sector. You should be including a strategy to capitalize on the multifamily housing trend. 

Delta recently showcased its integration with VIVOTEK AI surveillance camera and Delta Controls’ new Red5-PLUS-ROOM controller, an IoT-based native BACnet building controller, to enable comprehensive control of building HVAC, lighting, access and more.

Here's why cellular backup security has become essential in ensuring continuous protection among the various options available.

A new study by Parks Associates reveals that smart building solutions are increasingly being adopted by multifamily properties, enhancing efficiency and reducing costs.

Can I use one attendant to electronically monitor multiple 1910.146 confined space entries?

London — A group of physicians is calling on health care employers to provide female workers who are exposed to on-the-job radiation with added protections to minimize their risk of breast cancer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that sitting for long periods of time at work can increase your risk of stress and strain.

What measures can we take to promote hand health in industrial settings where employees frequently handle stains, grease, adhesives or chemicals?

During the summer months, outdoor workers are at heightened risk of heat-related illnesses, ranging from mild heat rash to potentially deadly heatstroke. “It’s not like you just provide them water and that solves the problem,” one expert says. “It starts with an effective plan.”

Washington — Disposing of disinfecting wipes and other non-flushable items down the toilet can damage wastewater management systems, warns the Environmental Protection Agency.

Storrs, CT — Helping workers stay cool in the heat not only improves their health, it also bolsters productivity, according to the results of a recent study.

How do we build a culture of problem-solving with our safety and health processes and tools?

As the world’s first internationally approved standard on workplace health and safety, ISO 45001 offers a single definitive framework to improve the performance of occupational health and safety management systems.

Why should establishments develop and implement a safety and health program?

Washington – A greater emphasis on health hazards is one step OSHA says it will take in the coming years as part of the Department of Labor’s strategic plan for 2014-2018.

Washington – OSHA has released new fact sheets for workers in the agriculture and maritime industries.

Boston — Rather than provide worker wellness programs aimed at changing individual behaviors, employers should focus on reshaping work conditions that are the root cause of stress-related health problems, say researchers from a pair of Boston universities.

New York — Ventilation and air filtration recommendations are part of a new workplace policy guide on reducing COVID-19 transmission, published by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, a worker advocacy group.

If you find the prospect of workplace audits and inspections overwhelming, this e-book from KPA is for you. Experts make the processes as simple and painless as possible, breaking them down into manageable pieces for readers.