News

Washington — NIOSH has published its National Occupational Research Agenda for Manufacturing, intended to spotlight the industry’s most important occupational safety and health research needs for the next decade.

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.

Frankfort, KY — A measure to abolish the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board and give the 13-member body’s authority to the state’s secretary of labor – who chairs the board – was unanimously approved by the state House on Feb. 12.

Lexington, KY — In response to an uptick in trench-related deaths among construction workers, the Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program has released a hazard alert warning of the dangers of trench work.

Washington — OSHA expects to complete revisions to its beryllium standards by the end of fiscal year 2019, the agency states in a recently released congressional budget justification.

Washington — Raymond Martinez is the new chief of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Ronald Batory takes over as head of the Federal Railroad Administration, after the pair received Senate confirmation on Feb. 13.

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.

New York — Construction worker fatalities continue to rise in New York state amid rampant safety violations, according to an annual report released by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, an advocacy group.

Washington — The Chemical Safety Board and OSHA’s Susan Harwood Training Grant Program once again are slated for elimination in President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposal.

Washington — Inadequate training and certification of cargo tank inspectors may be a “widespread problem,” putting tanker truck drivers and motorists at risk, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report issued after an investigation of a crash involving a tanker truck carrying propane.