Federal Agencies

Safety+Health presents OSHA's most frequently cited violations for fiscal year 2016. Also: the annual "penalty box" detailing the year's largest fines, and an exclusive interview with Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA's Directorate of Enforcement Programs.

OSHA has updated the agency’s Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines for the first in nearly 30 years, a move OSHA administrator David Michaels calls “a great step forward.”

Washington – OSHA has released a long-awaited update to its standard on walking/working surfaces, issuing a final rule that addresses slips, trips and falls in the workplace and establishes employer requirements for the use of personal fall protection systems.

Washington – The overall rate of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work – as well as the number of median days needed to recover – decreased in 2015, according to data released Nov. 10 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Washington – The National Transportation Safety Board has reiterated the need for increased implementation of collision-avoidance technologies by including the issue on its list of 10 “Most Wanted” safety improvements for 2017-2018, presented Nov. 14 by Chairman Christopher A. Hart.

Washington – Four inventors have been recognized by OSHA, NIOSH, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration for their innovations in developing technology intended to combat work-related hearing loss.

Washington – NIOSH has released recommended limits for controlling occupational exposure to flavoring chemicals diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione, both of which have been linked to reduced lung function in food flavoring and production industry workers.

Washington – New labor-law disclosure requirements for prospective federal contractors and subcontractors issued as part of President Barack Obama’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order 13673 are on hold after a Texas judge issued a preliminary injunction one day before the regulation was set to go into effect.

Washington – The Department of Health and Human Services has finalized amendments to NIOSH’s Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program regulations to set standards that require coal mine operators to present a plan for providing lung testing and X-ray exams to surface and underground coal miners.

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board recently released its “blueprint for CSB priorities” – a five-year strategic plan outlining the methods the agency expects to use to keep the country safe from future chemical disasters.