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The article focuses on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on March 25, 2016, for regulating exposure to crystalline silica in the workplace. The topics discussed includes Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for crystalline silica in the workplace, projected net monetary benefits of the OSHA standards, and court cases filled by groups representing employers, labor, and manufacturers to challenge the OSHA standards.

The American workplace is far safer today than it was four decades ago, but nonetheless a dozen workers die every day from job-related injuries. A catastrophic workplace accident occurred in April, when a West, Texas, fertilizer plant exploded, killing 15 people and obliterating much of the town. Worker safety remains controversial, with labor advocates complaining that antiregulatory sentiment has hobbled the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ability to regulate workplace hazards. But business groups argue that many OSHA rules are ineffective and hurt productivity and profits. Meanwhile, emerging technologies such as nanotechnology and synthetic biology pose new challenges to regulators, while age-old workplace problems like trench cave-ins and musculoskeletal pain are still widespread. Overseas, deadly industrial disasters at factories producing clothing for the U.S. and European markets have raised questions about the ethical responsibility of companies that outsource jobs to developing countries with lax worker protections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety in the coal mining industry is much improved compared to the early decades of the twentieth century, a time when hundreds of miners could lose their lives in a single accident and more than 1,000 fatalities could occur in a single year. Fatal injuries associated with coal mine accidents fell almost continually between 1925 and 2005, when they reached an all-time low of 23. As a result of 12 deaths at West Virginia's Sago mine and fatalities at other coal mines in 2006, however, the number of fatalities more than doubled to 47. Fatalities declined a year later to 33, which is comparable to levels achieved during the late 1990s. In addition to the well above-average fatal injury rates they face, coal miners suffer from occupationally caused diseases. Prime among them is black lung (coal workers' pneumoconiosis, CWP), which still claims about 1,000 fatalities annually. Although improved dust control requirements have led to a decrease in the prevalence of CWP, there is recent evidence of advanced cases among miners who began their careers after the stronger standards went into effect in the early 1970s. In addition, disagreement persists over the current respirable dust limits and the degree of compliance with them by mine operators. In the wake of the January 2006 Sago mine accident, the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) was criticized for its slow pace of rulemaking earlier in the decade. MSHA standard-setting activity quickened starting later that year, however, after enactment in June of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (MINER, P.L. 109-236). The MINER act, the first major amendment to federal mine safety law since 1977, emphasized factors thought to have played a role in the Sago disaster (e.g., emergency oxygen supplies, post-accident communication and tracking systems, deployment of rescue teams) and imposed several rulemaking deadlines on MSHA. Accordingly, the agency published final regulations on emergency mine evacuation in December 2006, civil penalties in March 2007, and rescue teams as well as asbestos exposure in February 2008. Some policymakers remain dissatisfied with MSHA's performance. These sentiments most recently led to House passage, in January 2008, of the Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (S-MINER, H.R. 2768). It incorporates language from the Miner Health Enhancement Act (H.R. 2769), such as requiring MSHA to adopt as mandatory exposure limits the voluntary limits (to chemical hazards, for example) recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. S-MINER also requires MSHA to more closely review and monitor operator plans that include retreat mining, the practice used at Utah's Crandall Canyon mine where six miners and three rescuers lost their lives in 2007. The President has said he will veto S-MINER as passed by the House. In light of rulemaking activity required this year by the MINER act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (P.L. 110-161), MSHA asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for assistance. Congress increased MSHA's appropriation between FY2007 ($302 million) and FY2008 ($334 million). The Administration's FY2009 budget request for MSHA is $332 million. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the "Strategic Highway Safety Plan" of South Dakota. It is stated that the plan focuses on the State's safety partners on a coordinated and comprehensive effort to improve highway safety. Its goal includes increased cooperation and communication among local, state, tribal and federal agencies, engineers, and others concerned with highway safety in South Dakota. The plan is a product of continual consultation with the Roadway Safety Advisory Committee.

On August 9, 2000, Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. (Firestone) issued a voluntary safety recall of 14.4 million, 15-inch tires. Based on about 4300 complaints and other data, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is aware of reports detailing a total of 148 deaths and more than 500 injuries allegedly related to certain Firestone tires. Most of the incidents that resulted in deaths reportedly involved sport utility vehicles (SUVs), primarily Ford Explorers. On September 1, 2000, NHTSA issued a warning to consumers recommending that users of an additional 1.4 million Firestone tires should take a number of actions to enhance their safety. Firestone had declined to extend its recall to include these additional tires. NHTSA is investigating whether the scope of Firestone's voluntary recall should be expanded to a mandatory recall affecting additional Firestone tires. Industry states that more than 92% of the recalled tires have been replaced. To provide replacement tires, several actions were taken. For example, Ford suspended new vehicle production at several of its plants for a three-week period. Bridgestone Corporation, the parent company of Firestone, which is headquartered in Tokyo, conducted emergency airlifts of tires from Japan. Working with Ford, Firestone has urged other tire manufacturers to increase production. Firestone is conducting a consumer education program on proper tire maintenance. Numerous lawsuits regarding the deaths and injuries previously mentioned have been filed; a few have been settled. Although cost estimates of the tire recall and lawsuits vary, both companies have been financially hurt by this situation. For example, UBS Warburg, an integrated investment banking firm, has conducted a study that concluded that the Firestone tire recall and subsequent litigation could end up costing from $719 million to $2.7 billion. Congressional hearings related to both government and industry responses to this safety challenge were held during the 106th Congress. The "Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act, P.L. 106-414, was enacted to strengthen NHTSA's ability to detect and investigate vehicle and equipment defects. More specifically, the Act includes provisions to: increase or strengthen reporting requirements for manufacturers of motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment, increase civil penalties for violations of the federal motor vehicle safety regulations, provide criminal penalties under certain conditions, require a rulemaking to revise and update NHTSA's tire standards, increase the number of years that a remedy for a defect must be provided without charge to the vehicle owner, and authorize increased funding for NHTSA. In addition, the Act requires the Secretary of DOT to undertake a comprehensive review of the criteria, procedures and methods used by NHTSA in determining whether to open a defects investigation. Within one year of enactment, the Secretary is to report to the authorizing committees of jurisdiction on the findings and actions taken pursuant to the report. NHTSA has begun to conduct the regulatory actions needed to implement various provisions of the TREAD Act. . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that a review of the work by the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety says the group has made progress over the past 12 months. The factory owners need not be subjected to unnecessary burdens and conflicting compliance due to the duplicative work. Alliance member companies have committed nearly 50 million dollars to a worker safety fund.

The article reports that the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) statistics for major commercial U.S. aircraft accidents, showed a decrease from the early 1990s. It recommends that developing economies should employ current safety management methods, instead of the regulations to be the standard enforcer. It mentions that international accidents can be prevented if safety improvements were made, including enhancing pilot training and installing terrain awareness and warning systems.

The article reports that after a leading union has raised concerns, the U.S. Energy Department ( DoE) is conducting a broad review of possible changes to its worker health and safety program. The review, being led by DoE's Office of Health, Safety and Security and the department's Oak Ridge Operations Office, presented reform options to Deputy DoE Secretary Daniel Poneman. On the other side, worker advocates say DoE's self-regulatory scheme has never been fully effective

The article offers world news briefs related to aviation industry. The European Union (EU) Transport Committee has approved the agreement with the U.S. government, on cooperation in the regulation of civil aviation safety. The AviAssist Foundation declared an information session on State Safety Programs (SSP) in Zambia, providing an introduction to the SSP concept. The U.S. Army selected GE Aviation to partner with Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) to research on rotorcraft.

The article presents several safety rules and regulations. General Electric Co.'s CF6-80C2 Series and CF6-80E1 Series Turbofan Engines requires installing skin doubler pads and deflectors on stage 5 of certain low-pressure turbine (LPT) cases. The Maryland Air Industries Model Fairchild F-27 and FH-227 requires operators to modify their aircrafts and revise their inspection or maintenance programs to incorporate instructions for maintenance of the fuel tank systems.