OSHA has announced a proposed rule to revise the beryllium standard for general industry. According to the agency, the proposed changes are designed to clarify the standard and to simplify or improve compliance with the standard. The proposal is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on December 11.

An administrative law judge with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) took the middle ground in a dispute between OSHA and a small grain seed-handling business in North Dakota over the amount of a monetary penalty OSHA assessed for multiple violations of worker safety standards.

In mid-November 2018, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) introduced legislation that would set a deadline for OSHA to issue the first national standard requiring that healthcare and social service employers develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan.

The 2018–2019 flu season is fully upon us and, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), may continue well beyond the beginning of spring 2019. This can be a high-risk period for workers in healthcare facilities where sick people may be streaming in because of an extensive community outbreak.

In October 2018, researchers associated with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a study showing that between 2007 and 2014, almost 140,000 workers in the state reported carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) workers’ compensation claims. Reported cases for women were 8.2 per 10,000, or 3.3 higher than the rate for men (2.5).