Compliance Solution LLC
What is
New?
Our
research paper "A Water Damaged Home and
Health of Occupants: A Case Study" on
mold was recently published. It all
started from a very unusual mold inspection
in a single family house. The family
dog acted funny during the inspection.
The unborn baby (at the time of inspection)
was adversely affected too.
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The recent jurisdiction change in HIOSH and
OSHA may affect your operations. If
you are working as a private contractor on a
military base, then you now fall under OSHA
regulations now, not HIOSH regulations
anymore. OSHA and HIOSH regulations
are almost identical, but not exactly the
same. For example, OSHA allows up to
15 business days to contest the citations.
On the contrary, HIOSH allows 20 calendar
days. By the way, the change is in
effect.
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OSHA is going to improve Whistleblower
protection program. The idea of the
program is to protect employees who exercise
their legal rights without fear of
retaliation. The improvement includes
some major approaches. First, the
program will be placed under the assistant
secretary office directly.
Translation: direct and close supervision.
Secondly, more training will be provided to
the investigators as well as solicitors.
Translation: Were they trained
properly in the beginning?
Thirdly, the investigation manual will be
updated. The last update was back in
2003. A revision is way overdue.
Translation: Should the manual be
updated or at least reviewed regularly like
the Lockout/Tagout program?
Lastly, the data collection system and audit
program have been revised to ensure
complaints are processed timely.
Based on professional experience, we saw
some cases that were so delayed that
employees lost the right to file the
complaints.
A report can be viewed at
http://www.whistleblowers.gov/report_summary_page.html
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In May, OSHA opened public record on
proposed record-keeping rule to add
work-related musculoskeletal disorders
column. Translation:
ergonomic standards may come back alive
again. Few years ago, OSHA once tried
to enforce ergonomic standard, enforcement
guidelines were out, and compliance officers
were going through training, but OSHA later
cancelled it. It will be
interesting to see how far ergonomic
standards will go this time!
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Ms. Jennifer Shishido has become the
administrator again for HIOSH.
Since she has been in charge, HIOSH has been
issuing more serious citations with higher
penalties. She was put on
special assignment when Linda Lingle was the
governor. During that period,
HIOSH reported to the labor department
director directly. Serious
citations were few, then.
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HIOSH does not have enough inspectors to
conduct inspections. OSHA threatens to
take over the state plan. See the news
below.
Safety gaps worry feds
- Hawaii News - Staradvertiser.com
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Recently, OSHA opened a new area office for
region 9 in Honolulu, HI. It will be
interesting to see how many more inspections
region 9 may conduct in the Pacific.
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We did it
again. We have been selected for the
20009 Best of Honolulu Award in the
Industrial Hygiene Consultants
category.
WASHINGTON
D.C., June 8, 2009 -- Compliance Solution
has been selected for the 2009
Best of Honolulu Award in the Industrial
Hygiene Consultants category by the U.S.
Commerce Association (USCA).
The USCA
"Best of Local Business" Award
Program recognizes outstanding local
businesses throughout the country. Each
year, the USCA identifies companies that
they believe have achieved exceptional
marketing success in their local community
and business category. These are local
companies that enhance the positive image of
small business through service to their
customers and community.
Various
sources of information were gathered and
analyzed to choose the winners in each
category. The 2009 USCA Award Program
focused on quality, not quantity. Winners
are determined based on the information
gathered both internally by the USCA and
data provided by third parties.
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We
have been selected for the 2008
Best of Honolulu Award in the Industrial
Hygiene Consultants category.
The
U. S. Local Business Association "Best
of Local Business" Award Program
recognizes outstanding local businesses
throughout the country. Each year, the USLBA
identifies companies that they believe have
achieved exceptional marketing success in
their local community and business category.
These are local companies that enhance the
positive image of small business through
service to their customers and community.