Recent Blog Posts

DOL, April 2017 President Donald J. Trump nominated R. Alexander Acosta to be the 27th United States Secretary of Labor. He was sworn in on April 28, 2017.  Secretary Acosta is the son of Cuban refugees, a native of Miami, and first-generation college graduate. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University.   Following law school, he worked as a…

Sacramento Bee, 8 April 2017 Man says he warned Goodwill of lax safety before co-worker was crushed.  Dave Goudie, a former Goodwill employee who witnessed the death of Abraham Garza, said the young father’s death could have been prevented with proper training.  Cal-OSHA has hit Sacramento Goodwill with more than $100,000 in fines for safety violations.  Serious and willful safety…

The Hill, 11 April 2017 The White House will lift President Trump’s federal hiring freeze on Wednesday following fire from critics who said it hampered the government from carrying out core functions.  The end of the freeze is part of guidance ordering federal departments and agencies to submit restructuring plans to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by the…

OSHA, April 2017 Industrial machinery manufacturer Innovance Inc. contacted OSHA’s free On-site Consultation Program for help establishing an effective safety and health program at the company’s three plants in Minnesota.  One of the first steps was creating a safety committee, composed of employees from all levels of the company and management representatives.  The committee makes sure employees feel comfortable reporting…

  Sustainatopia, San Francisco, CA, May 7-10, 2017 Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Annual Meeting, Brussels, Belgium, May 7-11, 2017 Sustainable Brands Redefining the Good Life, Detroit, MI, May 22-25, 2017 American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exhibition, Seattle, WA, June 4-7, 2017 The Conscious Company Global Leaders Forum, San Francisco, CA, June 7-9, 2017 Work, Stress and Health 2017,…

Eurosurveillance, 30 March 2017 Since first identified in 2013, the H7N9 virus has caused several waves of human infections in China, with a current wave including a number of patients with very severe disease.  Jiangsu is one of the most impacted provinces, whereby as of 31 January 2017, the number of human infections (n = 109) in the ongoing fifth…

Republished from the WSJ, March 2017 Mr. Robbins’s Blue Harbour Group LP told investors it will urge companies to focus more attention on environmental and social issues such as climate change, diversity and employee well-being. The move builds on the traditional activist strategy of agitating to improve a company’s financial metrics and operations to increase value for shareholders. Mr. Robbins,…

The Atlantic, 17 March 2017 While the details of President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget remain scant, one thing is clear: The Department of Labor will likely be one of the biggest losers. Trump’s budget proposal would cut the department’s funding by $2.5 billion, or 21 percent, which will mean drastic changes for the work the department does. The dramatic scale-back is meant…

The Hill, 12 March 2017 The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is fueling speculation that he could try to repeal the lynchpin of the federal government’s climate change regulations.  In an interview Thursday with CNBC, Scott Pruitt cast doubt on his own agency’s 2009 conclusion that greenhouse gases ‘endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and…

Cal-OSHA Reporter, 10 March 2017 The United States House of Representatives has voted to repeal – to rein in – a new Fed-OSHA rule on injury and illness recordkeeping. It is a certainty that Senate will follow suit and that President Donald Trump will sign it.  But what does this mean for Cal/OSHA and, more importantly, California employers? Congress is…