The revised HAZCOM standard incorporates the United Nations-initiated Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).

Personnel Concepts will continue to monitor the development and approval of this new standard and keep you informed here and on our main Web site.

NOTE: The details in this blog are provided for informational purposes only. All answers are general in nature and do not constitute legal advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. The author specifically disclaims any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the reliance on or use of this blog.

Specifically, the directive “highlights the steps that should be taken in reviewing incidents of workplace violence when considering whether to initiate an inspection in industries that OSHA has identified as susceptible to this hazard.”

The directive encourages field agents to impress upon businesses where a potential for violence exists to develop their own workplace violence prevention programs. It also frees the agents to investigate and, when necessary, recommend citations and fines under OSHA's general duty clause if a business fails to take corrective actions or ignores the issue of violence.

Fortunately, Personnel Concepts has developed a comprehensive but easy-to-follow tool for developing steps to control violence before it occurs. Get your copy of our Workplace Violence Prevention Program today and protect your employees–while protecting yourself against OSHA citations and fines.

OSHA is busy revising its Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2), a program that will affect virtually every business in the United States. As a corollary, it also plans to revise its Log 300 to include a column for reporting of injuries and illnesses on the job.

OSHA also will be issuing a final rule to incorporate the Globally Harmonized System of Classifying and Labeling Chemicals (GHS) into its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). This also will affect a large majority of American businesses—in fact, any firm using or manufacturing chemicals on the premises, even toner cartridges.

The EBSA, in addition to redefining "fiduciary," will be issuing rules with far-reaching effects. One such rule aims at clarifying the use of electronic means to inform employees of their benefit plans, another deals with benefit statements, and still another concerns improved fee disclosures on pension plans.

Much like OSHA’s I2P2 and HCS, the EBSA rules could have a huge effect on how corporate America conducts its business and could make fiduciaries more accountable for their management of benefit plans.

The OSHA Recordkeeping Advisor is an interactive tool that simulates an employer's interaction with a Recordkeeping rules expert. The Advisor relies on the users' responses to questions and automatically adapts to the situation presented. Responses put into the program are strictly confidential and the system does not record or store any of the information. The Advisor helps employers determine:

• Whether an injury or illness (or related event) is work-related
• Whether an event or exposure at home or on travel is work-related
• Whether an exception applies to the injury or illness
• Whether a work-related injury or illness needs to be recorded
• Which provisions of the regulations apply when recording a work-related injury or illness

"The Recordkeeping Advisor was developed to better help employers understand and comply with their responsibilities to report and record work-related injuries and illnesses," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David Michaels.

The voluntary survey will be sent to companies of all sizes and across all industries. Results will be tabulated by the Eastern Research Group.

A cover letter provides a unique password to each recipient to log in and take the survey online.

The questions to be asked concern subjects such as the types of workplace hazards encountered, whether safety training is offered, whether any toxic monitoring is done or needs to be done, and whether the company has adopted a safety and health management program.

Personnel Concepts' OSHA Compliance Manager Subscription will provide businesses of all sizes with the resources to develop safety programs and stay in full compliance.

"The final rule is the third in OSHA's Standards Improvement Projects initiative that periodically reviews OSHA regulations with the goal of improving and eliminating those that are confusing, outdated, duplicative or inconsistent," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels. "OSHA estimates that the final rule, without reducing employee protection, will result in annual cost savings to employers exceeding $43 million and significant reductions in paperwork burden hours."

These updates will be in line with the goals of the president's Executive Order 13563, "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review," issued Jan. 18 to simplify standards and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens.

In its latest incarnation, the rule was opened to public commentary during teleconferences held on April 11 and 12.

In today's Federal Register, OSHA is again inviting comments—due no later than June 16—on the proposed rule but is limiting the discussion to issues brought up during the April teleconferences.

OSHA administrator David Michaels explained: “OSHA is eager to hear from the public on this, and every, proposed rule. The more feedback the agency receives from small businesses on this topic, the better informed we will be in crafting a proposed regulation that protects workers without overburdening employers.”

Comments may be submitted electronically through the federal eRulemaking portal, via facsimile if fewer than 10 pages to (202) 693-1648, or by mail or hand-delivery to OSHA Docket Office, Docket Number OSHA-2009-0044, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.

For further help in understanding and completing the Form 300, please procure a copy of Personnel Concepts' best-selling Injury and Illness Prevention Program.

In a ceremony marking the anniversary, OSHA head David Michaels noted that, at the time of signing, 14,000 Americans were dying on the job every year, a number that has been reduced to 4,400 through OSHA regulations and oversight, he added.

"The empirical evidence is clear: OSHA doesn't kill jobs, it stops jobs from killing workers," he said in remarks made at the Center for American Progress recently.

Meanwhile, with budget cutting all the rage in the nation's capital–and regulations in general under challenge by the House of Representatives Oversight Committee–OSHA and every federal agency suddenly find themselves trying to defend their turf and ward off a reduction in funding.

Regardless of what happens with the budget fight, OSHA regulations will remain in place. To help businesses understand and comply with all these OSHA regulations, Personnel Concepts offers a variety of manuals, programs and posters. Check them out on the Web on our Personnel Concepts OSHA section.

The list:

• 1926.451 – Scaffolds
• 1926.501 – Fall Protection
• 1910.1200 – Hazard Communication
• 1910.134 – Respiratory Protection
• 1926.1053 – Ladders
• 1910-147 – Lockout/Tagout
• 1910-305 – Electrical, Wiring Methods
• 1910-278 – Powered Industrial Trucks
• 1910.303 – Electrical, General Requirements
• 1910-212 – Machine Guarding

Employers, "before OSHA shows up," please take some time to visit Personnel Concepts' Web section on OSHA Programs and Kits and stock up on the tools you need to stay in compliance.

Among the objectives are to reduce work-related deaths from injuries from 4.0 per 100,000 to 3.6, reduce non-fatal work-related injuries from 4.2 per 100,000 to 3.6, and reduce days away from work due to injury and illness from repetitive motion and overexertion from 29.6 per 10,000 to 26.64.

NIOSH says, for America's businesses to reach these goals, "tailored interventions" will have to be crafted for each industry, each work challenge and possibly each workplace.

OSHA itself is revising its injury and illness program (dubbed I2P2) to help achieve these objectives and will soon require all businesses to implement sound workplace injury and illness programs. Fortunately, Personnel Concepts' best-selling Injury and Illness Prevention Program will help businesses do just that. Get yours today.