Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
Too many Americans die each year in active shooter events—and almost all active shooter events occur in somebody’s workplace, even if the intended victims are not employees. It’s a difficult risk to address, because active shooter events are largely random. Aren’t they? It would be difficult to predict with any certainty where one could occur. […]
Ohio’s new medical marijuana law went into effect on Saturday, September 8, 2018. Hopefully, it will spur employers to evaluate their workplace policies.
Susan Bodine, the EPA’s assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), has released a new memo suggesting that the Agency will continue to revamp its enforcement activities by emphasizing its engagement with compliance assistance.
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) examined unintentional or undetermined overdose deaths for 26 occupation groups. The data shows that construction occupations had the highest proportional mortality rates (PMRs) of deaths from both heroin and prescription opioids.
Using ambient air to cool and condense steam at electric power plants is a costly alternative to water cooling, however, energy companies are gradually adopting dry cooling according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Dry cooling or hybrid cooling—a combination of air and water—occurs in 3% of all U.S. thermoelectric generating capacity, says the […]
Employers and employees have relied for years on methylene chloride (also called dichloromethane), one of the more effective substances for industrial cleaning, degreasing, and paint stripping, among many other uses. But, as a commercial product, methylene chloride has few peers when it comes to its hazardous effects on users.
The experts at Safety.BLR.com® have provided an answer to the following question: “We have a general industry Texas customer whose business insurance company is requiring that they store all their flammable aerosols in flammable lockers, even if there is less than 25 gallons. Is this true?”
A properly functioning security system is always on, ready to capture any threats to your workforce, property, or other essential assets. Sometimes, though, they bear witness to the best (or worst) of humanity’s “hold my beer” moments. All you need to do is head to YouTube and search for something like “security camera fails” to […]
While this last batch of environmental enforcement penalties doesn’t contain any blockbuster million-dollar fines or penalties, they still highlight the ongoing need for regulatory adherence! These four recent compliance slip-ups ranging from risk management violations to spill prevention mishaps, with one costing a business $500,000, not including the $200,000 it will cost them to install […]
Yesterday, we looked at several fines levied against business operating non-compliant facilities. Two of those penalties were over $1,000,000! Today, we can add one more 7-figure fine to the pile. Of course, not all the fines were headline grabbing (one was only $350), but the differences highlight the breadth of violations agencies are willing to […]