Advocacy

There is positive news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic fight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised its guidance on wearing masks. The announcement was issued on Friday, February 25, 2022.

The Washington Department of Ecology (DoE) released a draft report recommending developing a regulation to reduce the amount of inadvertent polychlorinated biphenyls (iPCBs) found in four color process inks used by the printing industry. The DoE’s recommendation was contained in its latest draft report to the legislature. The report to the legislature details the efforts DoE plans to take implementing the requirements of the state’s Safer Products for Washington, passed in 2019.

On January 19, 2022, the New York State’s Department of Labor (NYSDOL) adopted the current emergency regulations as an emergency rule. The rule has a backdated effective date of January 1, 2022.

In this article, Gary Jones, Director, EHS Affairs, provides information on the timely U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decision blocking the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) vaccinate-or-test emergency temporary standard (ETS).

In this article, Gary Jones, Director, EHS Affairs, discusses new quarantine and isolation periods for COVID-19 issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In this article, Marci Kinter, VP, Government & Regulatory Affairs, reports on Cal/OSHA's re-adoption of the California Department of Public Health's (CDPH) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).

In this article, Marci Kinter, VP, Government & Regulatory Affairs, provides clarity on the city of Chicago's vaccine requirements issued by the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH).

In this article, Adriane Harrison, VP, Human Relations Consulting, provides updates on the implementation of the New York State HERO Act and the city of New York vaccine mandates.

In this article, Gary Jones, Director of EHS Affairs, shares the top ten OSHA violations. This list is useful as a guide to ensure printing operations safety programs are addressing the most common shortcomings that are being identified by OSHA.

In this article, Gary Jones, Director of EHS Affairs, provides information on the U.S. Department of Labor's recently published yearly increases to the maximum civil penalties that may be assessed via citations (OSHA) arising from a workplace safety and health inspection.