many hazard topics are just gone-no longer listed on OSHA's agenda.

FROM: The Pump Handle: Where have all the hazards gone?

Rather than updating the status of safety and health standards that are in the works, many hazard topics are just gone—no longer listed on OSHA's or MSHA's agenda.

Many hazards included on MSHA's and OSHA's previous agenda (April 2007) have disappeared from this latest versions....

Including:

• Fire extinguishers in underground coal mines
• High-voltage continuous mining machines in underground coal mines
• Respirable coal mine dust and verification of operators' dust control plans
• Single-shift sampling for miners' exposure to coal mine dust
• Respirable crystalline silica
• Emergency response and preparedness
• Ionizing radiation
• Power presses
• Working conditions in shipyards
• Hazard communication and global harmonization
• Vertical tandem lifts used in longshoring

 

If MSHA's and OSHA's scaled-back regulatory agendas truly mean that these specific hazards will be addressed as described, then ...by February 29, 2008, we could have:

• a final rule to protect mine workers from asbestos
• draft regulatory text and economic analysis for a rule to protect workers from diacetyl
• peer-reviewed risk assessment on workers' exposure to respirable crystalline silica, and
• more protective rule on sealing of abandoned areas of underground coal mines.

Read full here: thepumphandle.wordpress.com