OSHA Issues New COVID-19 National Emphasis Plan And Interim Enforcement Response Plan

(OSHA) The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued two new documents on March 12, 2021 concerning COVID-19 and workplace enforcement.

The first is a COVID-19 National Emphasis Program (NEP) focusing OSHA enforcement efforts on companies with the largest number of workers at serious risk of contracting the coronavirus. The program also prioritizes employers that retaliate against workers for complaints about unsafe or unhealthy conditions, or for exercising other rights protected by federal law.  OSHA also released a news release on the NEP.

In a related action, OSHA has also updated its Interim Enforcement Response Plan to prioritize the use of on-site workplace inspections where practical, or a combination of on-site and remote methods. OSHA will only use remote-only inspections if the agency determines that on-site inspections cannot be performed safely.  Prior enforcement guidance will be rescinded, and the new guidance will remain in effect until further notice.

Read full from OSHA
https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/national/03122021

The DDT dumping ground off coast of Los Angeles, as many as half a million barrels

"It has been sitting here this whole time, right off our shore."

(LA Times)

As many as half a million of these barrels could still be underwater right now, according to interviews and a Times review of historical records, manifests and undigitized research. From 1947 to 1982, the nation's largest manufacturer of DDT — a pesticide so powerful that it poisoned birds and fish — was based in Los Angeles.

An epic Superfund battle later exposed the company's disposal of toxic waste through sewage pipes that poured into the ocean — but all the DDT that was barged out to sea drew comparatively little attention.

Shipping logs show that every month in the years after World War II, thousands of barrels of acid sludge laced with this synthetic chemical were boated out to a site near Catalina and dumped into the deep ocean — so vast that, according to common wisdom at the time, it would dilute even the most dangerous poisons.

Regulators reported in the 1980s that the men in charge of getting rid of the DDT waste sometimes took shortcuts and just dumped it closer to shore. And when the barrels were too buoyant to sink on their own, one report said, the crews simply punctured them.

The ocean buried the evidence for generations, but modern technology can take scientists to new depths. In 2011 and 2013, Valentine and his research team were able to identify about 60 barrels and collect a few samples during brief forays at the end of other research missions.

One sediment sample showed DDT concentrations 40 times greater than the highest contamination recorded at the Superfund site — a federally designated area of hazardous waste that officials had contained to shallower waters near Palos Verdes.

Read on at (LA Times)

FET is hosting a virtual OSHA HazWoper Refresher on Wednesdays, March 24th & 31st.

The seminar is designed to meet the annual refresher training requirements under OSHA's standards for general industry and the construction industry on hazardous waste operations and emergency response (29 CFR 1910.120 or 29 CFR 1926.65). OSHA's Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (HAZWOPER) was promulgated in 1990 to protect workers working at hazardous waste sites, treatment, storage or disposal facilities. Workers responding to an emergency involving the release of a hazardous substance also require current HAZWOPER training.

The eight hour class will help you meet this annual requirement. Kevin O'Brien and John Spahr will be co-chairing the seminar and are looking forward bringing the refresher course to you virtually!

Agenda and Registration form is attached or visit the FET website at: https://fetinc.org/website/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2021-HAZWOPER.pdf

 

Attachments area

OSHA Proposes Revisions To Hazard Communications Standard

On February 16, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to conform to the latest revisions to the United Nations' Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).  Among the proposed changes, the rule would add classification categories for aerosols, desensitized explosives, and flammable gases, update select hazard and precautionary statements for clearer and more precise hazard information, and update labeling requirements for small containers and packaged containers that have been released for shipment.  The proposed changes are intended to provide better alignment with other U.S. agencies and international trading partners without lowering overall protections.  OSHA has preliminarily determined that the proposed revisions to the HCS will reduce costs and burdens while improving the quality and consistency of information regarding chemical hazards and associated protective measures.

Comments are due to OSHA by April 19, 2021.

Read the Federal Register notice or file comments here:

https://www.regulations.gov/document/OSHA-2019-0001-0258