Federal Agencies

Washington — The Mine Safety and Health Administration has scheduled a public meeting on a Request for Information on ways to monitor and regulate miner exposure to quartz – the most common form of respirable crystalline silica.

Washington — OSHA will not eliminate all the ancillary provisions in its beryllium standards for shipyards and construction, but will propose other changes in the future, according to a final rule published in the Sept. 30 Federal Register.

Aurora, CO — Small employers, particularly those with 10 or fewer employees, have less success implementing Total Worker Health initiatives than larger organizations, according to a recent study from the Center for Health, Work and Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health.

Greenbelt, MD — Law enforcement officials issued nearly 47,000 citations and approximately 88,000 warnings during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation Safe Driver Week.

Washington — OSHA has awarded more than $10.4 million in one-year federal safety and health training grants to 79 nonprofit organizations nationwide, as part of the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program.

Washington — The Mine Safety and Health Administration has scheduled a public meeting and extended the comment period on a program policy letter intended to clarify requirements for providing emergency escapeways for underground metal and nonmetal miners, in response to stakeholder requests.

Washington — Eugene Scalia is the new secretary of labor, after the Senate confirmed him Sept. 26 in a 53-44 vote.

Washington — OSHA has issued a final rule that adds two fit testing protocols to the agency’s respiratory protection standard (1910.134).

Washington — The Chemical Safety Board has reversed course and will again include in its investigative reports the names of workers killed, as long as no immediate family member objects, the agency announced Sept. 17 during a public meeting.

Washington — Eugene Scalia’s nomination for secretary of labor advanced on a party-line vote Sept. 24 in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.