By Joe Morales, CSP, EHS Client Advisor II, U.S. Compliance The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines industrial hygiene as the process of recognizing, evaluating, and controlling potentially harmful hazards in or around the workplace that may impact employees by causing injury or making them ill. Industrial hygiene (IH) is crucial because it shields workers against a wide range of illnesses and injuries, including: Respiratory Conditions Hearing Loss Poisoning Repetitive Stress Injuries Skin Diseases Nonfatal and fatal injuries Below,

By Liz Cox, MS, CSP, Supervisor – Health & Safety, U.S. Compliance Managing and maintaining the environment, health and safety (EHS) program at a facility with one location can be difficult, but having multiple locations to manage makes the process even more arduous. In this article, we will cover some of the common challenges faced when managing an EHS program at a multi-site organization, along with some tools and tips to assist in creating an effective and consistent program. Common

Equipment and Facility Inspections By Spencer Sandberg, Supervisor – Health & Safety, U.S. Compliance Completing internal safety inspections is a regular occurrence for companies with good safety programs. Within these programs, there are many different types of internal equipment and facility safety inspections that are completed for several different reasons. One reason is to follow OSHA regulations and other applicable related safety standards. But above all, the purpose of conducting these safety inspections should be to prevent injuries. Understanding that

By Kody Kamm, MS, CSP – Manager – Health & Safety, and Matthew McCarthy, ASP – Supervisor – Health & Safety, U.S. Compliance Regardless of your title, department, job description, or tenure with a company, work-related injuries and exposure to bloodborne pathogens are hazards that employers and employees alike must be ready for. There are certain steps you, as the employer, can take to mitigate the risk of exposure for your employees. Bloodborne pathogens are pathogenic microorganisms found in human

OSHA’s Control of Hazardous Energy Standard (29 CFR 1910.147), commonly referred to as Lockout/Tagout, was promulgated on September 1, 1989, and became effective on January 2, 1990. It is estimated that this OSHA standard prevents an average of 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries each year. Employees performing maintenance, service, or repair tasks on powered machinery may face serious physical harm or death if proper energy control procedures are not followed. Injuries resulting from failing to control hazardous energy on powered

U.S. Compliance is thrilled to announce our investment in a Learning Management System (LMS), a software solution to support the high demand and volume of our client’s online training needs. The LMS seamlessly integrates into our toolkit of existing digital solutions in the EHS Gateway combined with our onsite services.  The LMS provides you easy access to updated educational content and training resources related to compliance regulations, industry-specific standards, and environmental, health, and safety requirements. This tool paired with our

What are NAICS Codes? Since 1997, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), pronounced “Nakes,” has been a collaboration between the United States, Mexico, and Canada to provide statistical comparability amongst North American industries. It is a system that is updated every five years and is designed to group North American industries based on their primary activities, processes, and materials used. Entities that have similar processes and use similar materials in similar ways are grouped together. NAICS Code Format NAICS

On November 2, 2015, The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act was passed in Congress. Under the Act, agencies, including the Department of Labor, are required to annually adjust civil monetary penalties to account for inflation. The Department calculates the adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U), utilizing the change from October 2021 to October 2022. The resulting annual adjustment multiplier was 1.07745. With this, 2023 penalty amounts incurred a 7.75% increase to minimum and

As the winter months continue, it’s important to prepare for the challenging weather conditions that come with the season, including frigid temperatures and strong winds. Whether your employees work outside in these harsh conditions or if they are exposed to cold temperatures in an indoor manufacturing or warehouse facility, providing them with an environment free of cold working hazards can be a challenge. By taking a look at what these hazards are and what cold-related injuries and illnesses can occur,

According to the Bureau of Labor & Statistics (BLS), there were 1,030 confined space entry fatalities across all fifty states from 2011 to 2018. In addition, confined space fatalities increased from 120 in 2011 to 148 in 2018. Permit or Non-Permit? For those that may not know, in 29 CFR 1910.146(b), OSHA defines a confined space as any space that (1) is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work, (2) has limited

Non-routine tasks arise in nearly every workplace and can present multiple risks to employees. For standard, everyday processes, understanding risks and how to minimize interaction with these risks is fairly straightforward to evaluate and control. When unexpected tasks need to be addressed quickly, it can be challenging to assess and manage the issue in a safe manner. Thus, it is critical that every facility understands and prepares for non-routine tasks. Common non-routine tasks include emergency maintenance, natural disasters, confined space