Federal Agencies

Washington – Federal departments and agencies that deal with infectious agents need to review their safety and security practices, according to a recent White House memo.

Washington – Staffing firms and host employers looking to better protect temporary workers from job hazards can now review recommended practices in a guidance document issued Aug. 25 by NIOSH and OSHA.

Washington – The Federal Railroad Administration has provided a boost to the development of a Short Line Rail Safety Institute by awarding a pair of grants totaling $350,000.

Lebanon, NH – Disabled workers receiving Medicare benefits are increasingly using prescription painkillers, according to a new study from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.

Washington – The Federal Railroad Administration issued a series of amendments to its requirements for Positive Train Control systems in a final rule published in the Aug. 22 Federal Register.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced July 11 that it had immediately stopped shipment of biological materials – pending review from an advisory committee – after incidents of anthrax exposure and shipment of bird flu.

Washington – Federal OSHA has published its latest annual reports evaluating each of the 27 State Plan states.

Washington – OSHA is reconsidering Arizona’s State Plan status in light of a state statute that changed residential construction fall protection requirements to a level the federal agency claims is not “at least as effective” as federal requirements.

Washington – OSHA is developing a new set of forms intended to help employers who apply for variances from certain requirements in federal worker protection standards.

Atlanta – An investigation into a bird flu incident found that a laboratory scientist hurried through work and did not follow best practices, leading to contamination of samples and inadvertent shipment of bird flu, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.