WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has scheduled a public meeting to allow interested parties to comment on the proposed rule to improve tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses. OSHA's proposed rule amends its current recordkeeping regulations to add requirements for the electronic submission of injury and illness information employers are already required to keep under existing standards, Part 1904. The meeting will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. Requests to attend or speak at the meeting may be submitted electronically at … Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a proposed rule to improve workplace safety and health through improved tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses. The announcement follows the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ release of its annual Occupational Injuries and Illnesses report, which estimates that three million workers were injured on the job in 2012. “Three million injuries are three million too many,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “With the changes being proposed in this rule, employers, employees, the government and researchers will have better access to data that will … Read more

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 While many chemicals are suspected of being harmful, OSHA's exposure standards are out-of-date and inadequately protective for the small number of chemicals that are regulated in the workplace.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