Bookmark Explaining Young Workers' Rights Available for Ordering

A bookmark explaining young workers' rights is now available for order from the OSHA Publications Web Page. The bookmark has information about workers' rights, work hour restrictions and prohibited jobs, as well as work hazards related to common summer jobs.  Additional information on these topics is available on OSHA's Young Workers Web page.

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OSHA Announces Three-month Enforcement Phase-in for Residential Construction Fall Protection

OSHA announced June 9 a three-month enforcement phase-in period to allow residential construction employers to come into compliance with the agency's new directive to provide residential construction workers with fall protection.  During the phase-in period June 16-September 15, if an employer is in full compliance with the old directive (STD 03-00-001), OSHA will not issue citations, but will instead issue a hazard alert letter informing the employer of the feasible methods that can be used to comply with OSHA's fall protection standard or implement a written fall protection plan.  If the employer's practices do not meet the requirements set in the old directive, OSHA will issue appropriate citations.  If an employer fails to implement the fall protection measures outlined in a hazard alert letter, and OSHA finds violations involving the same hazards during a subsequent inspection of one of the employer's workplaces, the Area Office will issue appropriate citations.

OSHA's Residential Fall Protection Web page has many guidance products, including a fall protection slide show*, to help employers comply with the new directive. See the news release for more information.

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Ventilation Blues from Indoor Air 2011

This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQvioz3VENE is from the Indoor Air 2011 Conference in Austin Texas where Rosie Flores plays a song written for the conference by Rosie Flores and Bud Offermann called the "VENTILATION BLUES."  An excellent song and very entertaining.  Hope you enjoy it.

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OSHA's Tornado Preparedness & Response

 

First the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) create a website (click here for the CDC site) to help with preparedness for hurricanes and storms, now the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a website for Tornado Preparedness and Response.  The tornado preparedness and response site focuses on being prepared by developing an emergency plan and creating checklists (the checklist link brings you to the Red Cross website).  While on the response side it discusses employer responsibilities and potential hazards such as:

• Hazardous driving conditions due to slippery and/or blocked roadways
• Slips and falls due to slippery walkways
• Falling and flying objects such as tree limbs and utility poles
• Sharp objects including nails and broken glass
• Electrical hazards from downed power lines or downed objects in contact with power lines
• Falls from heights
• Burns from fires caused by energized line contact or equipment failure
• Exhaustion from working extended shifts
• Heat and Dehydration.

A pretty good website to help you in dealing with the numerous tornados we are encountering this year.   

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Future Environment Designs Sponsors Public Outreach Lead Video

Image via Wikipedia

Future Environment Designs is proud to sponsor this Public Outreach Video on Lead and Lead Based Paint. The video was designed to help the public have a better understanding of the dangers regarding Lead and Lead Based Paint issue. We hope you enjoy it and it assists you better understand lead and lead based paint.

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NYCDEP Creates a New Closeout Process for A-TRU (Asbestos) Permitted Projects

Image via WikipediaNew York City Department of Environmental Protection just sent out information regarding a new closeout process that has been developed in ARTS for A-TRU (Asbestos) Permitted Projects to allow the registered design professional to handle the A-TR1.  

1.  The registered design professional needs to create an account by going to  http://a826-web01.nyc.gov/atr1 and registering.

2.  Once the registered design professional registers at the web site, they will give the email they used to register to the ACP7 applicant.

3. When closing out permitted locations the ACP7, the applicant will select the abatement locations and enter the email address the registered design professional used to register at the web site.
4. The applicant hits submit and the A-TR1 goes to the registered design professional who will complete and submit the A-TRI form to DEP for approval.
Instructions for both the applicant and registered design professional can be found at our website at http://futureenvironmentdesigns.com/news.html.

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EPA Announces the Second Phase of Historic Hudson River Cleanup Underway

Image via Wikipedia (Glens Falls, N.Y. – June 6, 2011) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that the dredging of sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has resumed in the Upper Hudson River, marking the start of the second and final phase of the Hudson River cleanup.  The historic dredging project targets approximately 2.4 million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment from a forty-mile section of the Upper Hudson River between Fort Edward and Troy, NY.  PCBs are potentially cancer-causing in people and build up in the fat of fish and mammals, increasing in concentration as they move up the food chain.  The primary risk to humans is the accumulation of PCBs in the body from eating contaminated fish.  General Electric (GE) is conducting the cleanup work with EPA oversight, under an agreement with the Agency.  This final phase of the cleanup project is expected to take five to seven years to complete.

During the 2011 dredging season, mechanical dredges will collect buckets of PCB-contaminated sediment from a 1.5-mile stretch of river just south of the town of Fort Edward.  Four to six dredges will work 24 hours a day, six days a week through the summer and fall to remove approximately 350,000 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment from 100 acres of river bottom.  Dredging will begin in the western channel of Roger’s Island and move south in the main stem of the river.  Between 1947 and 1977, an estimated 1.3 million pounds of PCBs were discharged into the river from two GE capacitor manufacturing plants located in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls.  Information about the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site can be found at http://www.epa.gov/hudson.

People seeking general information about the project are encouraged to contact Larisa Romanowski at (518) 747-4389; romanowski.larisa@epa.gov.   Residents who have questions or concerns related to dredging operations should call GE’s 24-hour dredging information phone line at (518) 792-4087, or, toll-free (888) 596-3655.

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