beryllium exposure News

On Jan. 9, OSHA issued a final rule that established new protections for workers who are exposed to beryllium in general industry, construction and shipyards. Beryllium is a lightweight metal used primarily in specialty alloys and beryllium oxide ceramics. It also is present as a trace material ...

Jun. 29, 2017

By UL - The WERCS

On August 6th, it was announced that the federal government was proposing a new standard that would dramatically lower workplace exposure to beryllium.  The proposal would apply to an estimated 35,000 workers covered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “This proposal will save lives and help thousands of workers ...

Oct. 19, 2015

By American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH)

In 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a proposal to amend its existing exposure limits for occupational exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds in general industry. It would promulgate a substance-specific standard for general industry regulating occupational exposure with a new permissible exposure limit (PEL). The proposed rule would also provide for ...

Aug. 1, 2016

By American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH)

In March, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the upcoming enforcement date for its final rule on occupational exposure to beryllium.  May 11th is the date the agency will now begin enforcement actions for general industry, construction and shipyards. ...

Apr. 30, 2018

By Cochrane & Associates, LLC

On March 21st, all three standards from a new final rule issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to protect workers from exposures associated with beryllium-related diseases will take effect.  OSHA estimates about 62,000 workers are exposed to beryllium in the workplace. The finalized beryllium standards are for general industry, construction ...

Feb. 28, 2017

By American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH)

Today, the IAQ Video Network and Cochrane & Associates announced the release of their latest educational video.  Their newest production discusses OSHA’s final rule to prevent chronic beryllium disease (CBD) and lung cancer in American workers by limiting their exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds.  “Beryllium and beryllium compounds are ...

Mar. 4, 2017

By Cochrane & Associates, LLC

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in collaboration with private industry and other government agencies, have produced a new reference material for beryllium. Beryllium, an exotic metal used as a hardener in high-performance alloys and ceramics, can cause berylliosis—a chronic, incurable and sometimes fatal illness. The new reference material is expected to ...

Sep. 24, 2009

By National Institute of Standards and Technology

The federal government is proposing a new standard that would dramatically lower workplace exposure to beryllium, a widely used material that can cause devastating lung diseases. The proposal would apply to an estimated 35,000 workers covered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “This proposal will save lives and help thousands of ...

Aug. 5, 2015

By U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)

Last month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule to extend the compliance date for specific ancillary requirements of the general industry beryllium standard to December 12, 2018.   According to OSHA, “This extension affects provisions for methods of compliance, beryllium work areas, regulated areas, personal protective clothing and equipment, ...

Sep. 19, 2018

By Cochrane & Associates, LLC

CBI Polymers, a subsidiary of Cellular Bioengineering, Inc., is pleased to announce that National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Safety and Ecology Corporation (SEC) have won the Environmental, Security, Safety and Health (ESS&H) Achievement Award in recognition of their innovative use of DeconGel® as a beryllium decontamination technique for the mitigation and abatement of ...

Feb. 8, 2010

By KT Chemicals, Inc.

Earlier this month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a proposed delay in the effective date of the rule entitled Occupational Exposure to Beryllium. The original effective date was to be March 21, 2017, but it has been postponed to May 20, 2017. The amended effective date gives companies and institutions that utilize beryllium and beryllium compounds two more ...

Mar. 12, 2017

By Zimmetry Environmental

OSHA has released 15 years of data providing details of workers" on-the-job exposures to toxic chemicals. The data are measurements taken by OSHA compliance officers during the course of inspections. They include exposures to asbestos, benzene, beryllium, cadmium, lead, nickel, silica, and others. The data offer insights into the levels of toxic chemicals commonly found in workplaces, as well as ...

Apr. 29, 2010

By The Compliance Center (ICC)

Exposure to beryllium can cause a potentially fatal disease, and occupational exposure limits for beryllium in air and on surfaces have been established to reduce exposure risks to potentially affected workers (4, 5). Sampling and analytical methods for beryllium are needed in order to meet the challenges relating to exposure assessment and risk reduction. Field-portable sampling and ...

Oct. 19, 2011

By ASTM International

Of the more than 500,000 workers in U.S. that are involved in welding, cutting, and brazing, many are employed in occupations in New York City and the surrounding tri-state region.  These can be dangerous occupations according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which reports that the risk from fatal injuries alone is more than four deaths per thousand workers over a ...

Feb. 5, 2017

By VOETS, LLC

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued notices to the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest regarding violations of workplace health and safety standards at its facility in Coronado that exposed workers to extremely toxic materials such as lead, cadmium and beryllium. Fleet Readiness Center Southwest is an agency of the U.S. Navy and has a workforce of ...

Sep. 5, 2012

By U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)

Gradient, a nationally recognized environmental and risk science consulting firm, today presented new data that show metal exposure from use of laundered shop towels may exceed the permissible levels allowed in drinking water. Gradient presented a poster describing its findings at the annual ...

Mar. 13, 2012

By Gradient Corporation

EMSL Analytical provides air testing services to protect workers in the manufacturing sector from respiratory illness. Cinnaminson, NJ, June 8th, 2010 Silicosis, asbestosis, byssinosis and chronic beryllium disease are some of the respiratory diseases caused almost exclusively by workplace exposures.  Recently the National Institute for Occupational Health ...

Jun. 8, 2010

By EMSL Analytical, Inc.

Gradient, a nationally recognized environmental and risk science consulting firm, today announced the publication of a study that finds elevated levels of heavy metals in tested laundered shop towels. The study, ...

Jul. 10, 2011

By Gradient Corporation

A new study adds evidence that climate swings in Europe and North America during the last ice age were closely linked to changes in the tropics. The study, published this week in the journal Science, suggests that a prolonged cold spell that sent glaciers in Europe and North America creeping forward several hundred years ago may have affected climate patterns as far south as Peru, causing ...

Sep. 24, 2009

By The Earth Institute at Columbia University

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will hold a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health May 23-24, 2013, in Washington, D.C. ACCSH, established under the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, advises the secretary of labor and assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health on ...

Apr. 23, 2013

By U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)