Environmentalists. Every Day. America's Solid Waste Industry

According to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of fatalities by solid waste collection workers declined substantially in 2009 compared to 2008. In its Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the fatality rate during 2009 for both solid waste collection and landfill employees continued to decline, as it has in recent years.

Institutes of the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) recently submitted comments regarding proposed rules by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). NSWMA’s Landfill Institute offered comments on EPA’s proposed rule regarding amendments to the mandatory reporting of greenhouse gases, and NSWMA’s Healthcare Waste Institute recently submitted comments regarding OSHA’s blood-borne pathogens standard. Read full release here.

WASTEC would like to welcome new members Qwik-Tip, Inc. and UTC Overseas, Inc. to the association. To learn more about these members please visit their sites at the following:

Qwik-Tip, Inc.: www.qwiktip.com

UTC Overseas, Inc.: www.utcoverseas.com

Waste handling companies use electrical power for a variety of tasks. This work can be challenging and requires care to avoid injury and remain compliant with safety regulations. In this one hour and 30 minute Webinar, you will learn more about these requirements and the solutions that you must put in place when working with balers, compactors, conveyors and other equipment at your facilities. Employees of these companies are often asked to troubleshoot and test equipment to verify that it is being fed the proper electrical current and voltage or to verify that power has been disconnected.

Specifically,  new regulations and guidelines for electrical arc flash protection from OSHA (29 CFR 1910, Subpart S) and the NFPA (NFPA 70E) require that your employees wear flame resistant clothing, face shields and other arc flash rated protective equipment when they are performing this work at greater than 50 volts.  The NFPA 70E rule also contains requirements for performing arc flash studies, labeling electrical panels and preparing electrical “hot work” permits.

The session will include opportunities for questions and answers.

WASTEC is providing this session at no cost for NSWMA and WASTEC members, but pre-registration is required.