Safety, Health & Environment

By Jess McCluer, Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Affairs; and Jim Seibert, Manager of Regulatory Affairs, Education & Training            The NGFA recently published a document to help clarify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) rules found in Subpart D, otherwise known as the walking working surfaces standard. In 2016, OSHA revised its general industry standards addressing slip, trip and fall hazards found in the walking working surfaces standard. At NGFA’s request, OSHA’s Directorate of ... Read More

By Jess McCluer, Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Affairs; and Jim Seibert, Manager of Regulatory Affairs, Education & Training            The NGFA consulted with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and state regulatory authorities to address a common member question regarding inspections: Is it possible for an establishment to pass a federal/state OSHA inspection but then be cited and fined by the local inspection authority such as a county and/or state fire marshal? In principle, the answer is ... Read More

By Sarah Gonzalez, Director of Communications and Digital Media The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Oct. 31 its decision to extend the registration of dicamba for two years. The extension is for “over-the-top” use — or application on growing plants — to control weeds in fields for cotton and soybean plants genetically engineered to resist dicamba. “EPA understands that dicamba is a valuable pest control tool for America’s farmers,” Andrew Wheeler, EPA’s acting administrator, said in a statement. “By extending the registration for another two years with important new label ... Read More

By Jess McCluer, Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Affairs The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) now is beginning to use its electronic recordkeeping system to target inspections for employers. The agency launched a new initiative last week to focus enforcement resources on workplaces with a history of injuries and illnesses that have not provided required data under the electronic recordkeeping rules. The Site-Specific Targeting 2016 program targets high injury rate establishments in both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors for inspections. The ... Read More

By Jess McCluer, Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Affairs The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a memorandum on Oct. 11 clarifying the U.S. Department of Labor’s position on workplace safety incentive programs and post-incident drug testing, which prohibits employers from discharging or discriminating against an employee for reporting a work-related injury or illness.   When OSHA originally promulgated the requirement, the agency took the position that certain drug-testing and safety-incentive policies could deter employees from reporting ... Read More

By Jess McCluer, Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Affairs; and Sarah Gonzalez, Director of Communications and Digital Media The Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS), a group of companies and trade associations including the NGFA that focuses on improving workplace safety, issued comments Sept. 28 to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on the agency’s proposal to revise the injury and illness reporting regulation known as Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses. In its proposal, OSHA eliminated the final rule’s requirement for establishments with 250 or ... Read More

By Jess McCluer, Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Affairs Purdue University’s Agricultural Safety and Health Program recently released the “2017 Summary of U.S. Agricultural and Confined-Space Related Injuries and Fatalities” report, which documents 23 grain entrapment cases that occurred in 2017. The 23 grain entrapment cases represent a 26 percent decrease in entrapments from 2016 when 29 entrapments were recorded. The number of fatal cases (11) is the second lowest recorded since 1985; only 2012 reported a lower number of cases (8). Notably, Purdue does not specifically ... Read More

Jason Eardley, director of the Health and Safety Group for Archer Daniels Midland Co.’s Origination Business Unit, has been appointed by NGFA Chairman Eric Wilkey as the new chairman of NGFA’s Safety, Health and Environmental Quality Committee (SHEQ). Eardley’s chairmanship begins Sept. 4, when he will succeed Greg Rowe, vice president of operations, safety, health and environmental at Perdue AgriBusiness. The NGFA greatly appreciates Rowe’s dedication and leadership during his years as SHEQ chairman. NGFA’s SHEQ committee focuses on operations-related issues and proactively represents ... Read More

The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) is joining the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in asking NGFA member organizations and companies to demonstrate their commitment to workplace safety and health by participating in Safe + Sound Week, Aug. 13-19, 2018. DOL noted that more than 200 organizations, including the NGFA, already are partnering with OSHA to promote safety and health programs. “Implementing a safety and health program is one of the most effective ways to reduce injuries and illnesses, and improve business,” the ... Read More

By Jess McCluer, Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Affairs The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its proposed rulemaking to revise its electronic injury-and-illness reporting regulation originally issued by the Obama administration (formally known as: tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses).  The proposed rule eliminates the requirement that establishments with 250 or more employees electronically file Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and Form 301 (Injuries and Illnesses Incident Report), but requires that they file Form ... Read More