WASHINGTON, D.C. —The U.S Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is extending the public comment period for an additional 47 days on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica. In response to requests for an extension, the deadline to submit written comments and testimony is being extended from Dec. 11 to Jan. 27, 2014, to allow stakeholders additional time to comment on the proposed rule and supporting analyses. OSHA is also extending the deadline to submit notices of intention to appear at its informal public hearings by an additional 30 days, from Nov. 12 … Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Each year in the United States, tens of thousands of workers are made sick or die from occupational exposures to the thousands of hazardous chemicals that are used in workplaces every day. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched two new web resources to assist companies to help keep workers safe. While many chemicals are suspected of being harmful, OSHA's exposure standards are out-of-date and inadequately protective for the small number of chemicals that are regulated in the workplace. The first resource OSHA has created is a toolkit to identify safer chemicals … Read more