CPSC Warns: As Button Battery Use Increases, So Do Battery-Related Injuries and Deaths

Toddlers and Seniors Most Often Injured in Battery-Swallowing Incidents WASHINGTON, D.C. - Small, coin-sized batteries can be found in products in nearly every home in America. From the flashlight sitting on the table, to the remote control next to the TV, "button batteries" as they are commonly referred to, are in thousands of products used in and around the home. Young children and senior adults are unintentionally swallowing the button batteries and in some cases, the consequences are immediate and devastating. (more)

Notre Dame makes safety change in wake of student death

Notre Dame announced plans to change how football practices are videotaped in response to the October 2010 death of student Declan Sullivan, who died while videotaping a practice. The plan is to install a permanent, remote video system for the university’s practice fields, eliminating the need to use a scissors lift. The scissor lift in use by Sullivan at the time of the accident toppled when stuck by high winds. Sullivan's parents hope that other universities will take similar steps.

http://ehstoday.com/safety/news/notre-dame-eliminates-elevated-scissor-lifts-following-student-death-0309/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/09/AR2011030901953.html

Reference for federal campus fire safety reporting

The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting  was recently released by the U.S. Department of Education. Yes, it would've been more useful for you last year when you had to prepare the report. For future reference, chapters 11-14 cover the fire safety requirements of the regulations.

Right-to-Know App Identifies Toxic Neighbors

This application was designed by Abt Associates for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Feb 24, 2011

If you’ve ever wondered how close your home or office is to a chemical facility and if the toxins it is releasing might impact your health, answers can be as close as your smartphone. A pioneering mobile application known as My Right-to-Know (myRTK), designed and developed for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by Abt Associates, can enable you to easily access this information. All you need is a Web-enabled mobile device.

The MyRTK application, engineered by the Bethesda firm launches with a map or list of facilities in close proximity to the mobile device, or near an address identified by the user. An easy-to-comprehend, graphically rich interface is used to simplify fairly complex information, including the facilities' locations, relative size, chemical releases and their possible health effects, and a record of compliance with U.S. environmental laws. The Google-serviced maps are complemented with street and satellite views.

The application includes suggestions of what mobile users might do next, such as report a potential violation from their device using a link to EPA's enforcement office.

MyRTK can be viewed at http://myrtk.epa.gov/info/. (More...)

On second thought, noise is what it always was

It seems like I just wrote about this topic... because I did, last week. Yesterday, OSHA announced that, upon further consideration, they will not be changing their interpretation of the occupational noise control standard.

Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, said  "...it is clear from the concerns raised about this proposal that addressing this problem requires much more public outreach and many more resources than we had originally anticipated." One could surmise that given the current landscape of Capitol Hill that this proposal will not be returning soon.

Text of news release is here.

"feasible engineering and administrative noise controls"

OSHA is proposing to change its interpretation of the occupation noise control standard by requiring employers to implement feasible engineering and administrative noise controls when an employee's workers’ eight-hour average exposures reach 90 dBA or greater. The current interpretation allows employers to rely on employee hearing conservation programs until eight-hour average exposures reach or exceed 100 dBA.

The National Hearing Conservation Association has published a defense of the proposed changes, rebutting some of the arguments that are being put forward by business groups. The NHCA points out the shortcomings in the current policy:

This policy – established over 25 years ago in the absence of rulemaking or public input – does not require employers to implement feasible engineering and administrative noise controls until workers’ eight-hour average exposures reach 100 dBA or greater, which is ten times more intense than the current Permissible Exposure Limit of 90 dBA. The current policy has made noise the only regulated health hazard in which OSHA has failed to acknowledge the primacy of engineering controls, and has resulted in a substantial increase in risk of hearing loss for some American workers. The alternative exposure reduction method currently allowed by OSHA for eight hour average exposures between 90 and 100 dBA is the use of earplugs or earmuffs, which have been demonstrated to provide insufficient protection for many workers, if they are used at all.

Links:

http://origin.www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2010-10-19/pdf/2010-26135.pdf

 http://nhca.affiniscape.com/associations/10915/files/OSHA%20interpretation%20clarification%2012%2015%2010%20FINAL.pdf

Does this make the breakroom a safer place?

I must be falling down on the job -- I had no idea that saccharin had been de-listed from the hazardous waste list. Now that it's off the list, I won't have to report those diet soda spills to the feds anymore...

The following is an update from EPA's Superfund, TRI, EPCRA, RMP & Oil Information Center:

On December 17, 2010, EPA published a final rule to remove saccharin and its salts from the CERCLA list of hazardous substances and the RCRA list of hazardous wastes.  EPA's listing of saccharin as a hazardous waste under RCRA was the sole basis for its listing as a hazardous substance under CERCLA; therefore, since EPA has removed saccharin's listing as a hazardous waste, there is no longer reason for it to be listed as a hazardous substance under CERCLA.  Persons in charge of vessels or facilities from which saccharin or its salts are released will no longer be required to immediately notify the National Response Center of the release under CERCLA Section 103 and will not be subject to the liability provisions under CERCLA Section 107.   

More information on this final rule is available at the following URL:

www.epa.gov/waste/hazard/wastetypes/wasteid/saccharin