OSHA David Michaels stated, “Receipt of this letter means that
workers in that particular establishment are being injured at a
higher rate than in most other businesses of its kind in the coun-
try. Employers whose businesses have injury and illness rates this
high need to take immediate steps to protect their workers.”
Employers were also provided copies of their injury and ill-
ness data, as well as a list of the most frequently cited OSHA
standards for their industry. A list of employers that received
the letter is available on the OSHA website at
https://www.osha.gov/as/opa/foia/hot_16.html.
EPA Launches New Risk Assessment Database
Recently, EPA established Health and Environmental Research
Online (HERO), a public database that features major studies
used by EPA to make scientific risk assessments. Included in the
database are over 300,000 scientific articles that are searchable
by categories.
HERO covers topics on pollutants, chemicals, and health and
environmental issues. Many of HERO’s articles are used to establish particular risk assessments, which in turn are used to support policy decision making within the agency. HERO also
features peer-reviewed literature used by EPA to create its Integrated Science Assessments that support the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) review, as well as references and
data from the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), a database containing agency policymaking for chemical regulation.
For more information on HERO, visit www.epa.gov/hero.
OSHA Conducts Public Forum
On March 4, OSHA held “OSHA Listens,” a public meeting
aimed at gathering recommendations from environmental,
health and safety stakeholders on important issues affecting the
agency. Prior to the meeting, OSHA published several questions
that the agency planned to address during the open forum. Par-
ticipants were encouraged to come to the meeting with com-
ments to these questions and other suggestions on how to
improve the agency. The updating of Permissible Exposure Lim-
its (PELs), improvements that could increase the effectiveness of
OSHA’s compliance assistance efforts, and new tools that the
agency could use to reach at-risk employers and employees
were a few of the topics discussed during “OSHA Listens.”
Among the speakers at the meeting were citizens advocating
for family members injured or killed while performing their jobs
and representatives from EHS organizations, such as the Ameri-
can Public Health Association, American Society for Safety Engi-
neers (ASSE) and the National Council for Occupational Safety
and Health. AIHA® Government Affairs Director Aaron Trippler
also provided comments from the association.
For more information on “OSHA Listens,” visit www.osha.gov/
as/opa/ osha-listens.html.
International Green Construction Code Launched
In March, the International Code Council (ICC), the American
Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engi-
NEWSWATCH | DEPARTMENT
neers (ASHRAE), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North
America (IEDS) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
announced the creation of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC). IGCC brings together organizations involved
in building safety, energy and lighting engineering, green
building design, and the facilitation of technical standards to
develop codes used in the construction and maintenance of
green buildings.
The launch of the IGCC provides the construction industry
with enforceable building codes intended to aid in the creation
of safe, sustainable green buildings.
The technical content of IGCC includes the ANSI/ASHRAE/
USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, “Standard for the Design of High
Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential
Buildings”—a standard that compels green building to follow
certain technical requirements in areas such as energy efficiency and indoor air quality.
For more information about the IGCC, visit www.iccsafe.org/
cs/IGCC/Pages/ default.aspx.
EPA Website Provides Public Access to Rulemaking
A new EPA website allows the public to access information
about agency rulemakings as they are being developed. Visitors
to the EPA’s “rulemaking gateway” at http://yosemite.epa.gov/
opei/RuleGate.nsf can search for rules by phase (pre-proposal,
proposal, final rule), topics (including air, waste, pesticides, and
water), and effects (children’s health, environmental justice,
small businesses, etc.).
According to an EPA press release, information about rules
development is posted to the rulemaking gateway site as soon
as work begins. Time-sensitive information is updated daily;
other updates are monthly.
A link from the site’s home page leads visitors to a discussion
forum where the public can suggest improvements to the site.
The forum will be available through mid-July. More information
on the site can be found at www.epa.gov/rulemaking/.
