Paragon's Asbestos Superisor Pleads Guilty

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As those of you who take our refresher classes know on May 29, 2009, Certified Environmental Services, Inc., an asbestos air monitoring company and laboratory, were indicted on charges of providing false and fraudulant air monitoring results while the asbestos contractor performed illegal asbestos removal.  The dominos are starting to fall, as the supervisor for Paragon pleaded guilty and is cooperating with investigators in regards this investigation.  This is the first time we are seeing not only the owners of the company being charged but the individual air monitors are also being charged.  This case may show the extent of the liability an individual air monitor has in performing air monitoring/sampling.  Air monitors (Asbestos Project Sampling Technicians) should follow this case because it will show the level of individual liability in performing air sampling/monitoring.

NYC DEP Posts New Forms for Asbestos Projects

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New York City Department of Environmental Protection has posted new forms on their website that are required as part of the new asbestos regulations that started going into effect in October 13, 2009.  Today, all the new asbestos rules (work procedures and practices) went into effect.  Additional operational changes go into effect November 16, 2009, including the use of the Project Monitor’s Report (required to be submitted to NYC DEP by an NYS Asbestos Project Monitor within three weeks of successful clearance air monitoring) and the new ACP 9 form -variance application (NYS Asbestos Project Designers are required to file this report).  These new forms are designed to be used with the new electronic filing system "Asbestos Reporting and Tracking System (ARTS) that has been in effect for projects more than or equal to 1,000 feet since October 13, 2009.

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Guest Blogger on Hillary Topper's Blog Talks About "Are Followers Really Friends?"

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Those of you who use facebook and other social media sites should read this blog about the dangers of too much familiarity with friends you've made on facebook.

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National Safety Council: OSHA’s Top 10 Most Cited Violations | EHS Today

At the National Safety Council's annual meeting in Orlando, OSHA unveiled its list of OSHA’s Top 10 Most Cited Violations EHS Today reported.  They are:

1. Scaffolding, General – 9,093 violations
2. Fall Protection – 6,771 violations
3. Hazard Communication – 6,378 violations
4. Respiratory Protection – 3,803 violations
5. Lockout/Tagout – 3,321 violations
6. Electrical, Wiring – 3,079 violations
7. Ladders – 3,072 violations
8. Powered Industrial Trucks – 2,993 violations
9. Electrical, General – 2,556 violations
10. Machine Guarding – 2,364 violations

Items 3, 4, & 5 on the list are easy to resolve, though most companies are ignoring these safety hazards.  Contact us and we can help you avoid these violations.

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CDC Reports on Insufficient Rest or Sleep Among Adults

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The information below was recently published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):

"An estimated 50-70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep and wakefulness disorders. Sleep disorders and sleep loss have been associated with mental distress, depression, anxiety, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and certain risk behaviors including cigarette smoking, physical inactivity and heavy drinking. A new report from the CDC found that data collected from adults in all 50 United States, DC, and 3 U.S. territories found that 1 in 3 adults (30.7 percent) in 2008, reported no days of not getting enough rest or sleep in the past 30-days. However, 1 in 10 adults (11.1 percent) reported not getting enough rest or sleep everyday during the past month. Females (12.4 percent) were more likely than males (9.9 percent) and non-Hispanic blacks (13.3 percent) were more likely than other racial/ethnic groups to report not getting enough rest or sleep. State estimates of 30 days of insufficient rest or sleep ranged from 7.4 percent in North Dakota to 19.3 percent in West Virginia."

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