The iSi Blog
Featuring the Latest From OSHA and EPA as Well as Other Regulatory and iSi Updates
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iSi Summer Safety Toolbox: Staying Hydrated
Dehydration can be a common cause of heat illness. Maintaining hydration is important, even if you don’t feel thirsty. Drinking water or electrolyte drinks are highly preferred to sugary and heavily caffeinated drinks. OSHA recommends drinking small amounts of cool...
How UV Lighting Can be Used as a Disinfectant for Your Facility
iSi can now provide disinfecting UV lighting for your HVAC system. UV light installations kill protein encased viruses, bacteria and mold.UV lighting can be used as another tool in your safety and environmental arsenal to make your workplace safer and healthier. But...
COVID-19: A Potential OSHA Recordable Illness
UPDATED 5/22/20 Recently published guidance from OSHA clarifies that workplace-contracted COVID-19 can be a recordable illness. That is, a recordable if it was contracted as a result of work duties. Illnesses such as the flu and colds have always been, and continue...
COVID Complaints: Will You Be Inspected by OSHA?
Updated 5/22/2020 With tensions somewhat high about the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA has experienced quite an increase in the number of whistleblower complaints from workers. As a result, OSHA has published some enforcement guidance to their inspectors on how to handle...
Return to Work Building Issues: Stagnant Water
Legionnaires, Heavy Metals Among the Hazards That Could Affect Your Building's Water System Safety As we all prepare to return to work, we may find additional hazards lurking in our buildings if they have been closed up or have had limited occupancy due to stay at...
Bleach Safety
With the spread of COVID-19, businesses and households are looking for ways to clean and sanitize surfaces, and bleach is one of those cleaners that experts have deemed acceptable. Before you begin, please review these bleach safety tips to ensure you and your...
12 Tasks for Safety Managers Working From Home
Many in the U.S. are under stay at home orders, encouraged to work from home where possible. Although many manufacturing facilities are considered essential and still open, safety managers and their support staff do not always need to be onsite. With your routine...
Creating a Pandemic Preparedness Plan for ISNetworld or for ANY Company
If you are a contractor to large refineries and manufacturers like we are, you are likely a member of one or more safety oversight companies like ISNetworld. Recently clients have been asking contractors to upload a Pandemic Preparedness Plan for ISNetworld, in...
EPA Enforcement During COVID-19 Disruption: What Do You Need to Do?
UPDATE: EPA has announced they will be ending these policies on August 31, 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak is affecting businesses — from creating labor challenges to shutting them down altogether. As a result, you may not be able to meet your EPA or state environmental...
Electronic EHS Training: Maintain Certifications, Complete Requirements Now
With stay-at-home orders mandated in many states, counties and cities across the U.S. due to the COVID-19 breakout, business operations have been dramatically affected – including environmental, health and safety training (EHS training). Unless otherwise noted by...
The Importance of Understanding the REAL Ramifications of Disinfecting Your Workplace
With all things COVID-19 impacting our businesses, researching immediate actions to understand their impacts is critical. Some companies may feel the pressure and immediate need to “clean” everything. However, it’s important to know which cleaning compounds work in...
iSi Celebrates Career of Founder Karma Mason
On February 20, iSi held an event to salute the career of Karma Mason, iSi’s long time President, COO, and co-owner, who is retiring from full-time duties. Karma started iSi with her husband Gary Mason, iSi’s CEO, in 1990. They built iSi from their dining room table...
Watch iSi’s Free Industrial Wastewater Treatment Webinar
Watch this free webinar!iSi currently manages several industrial wastewater treatment plants for manufacturing facilities. In order to best manage these plants, we first needed to learn how they worked in order to develop standard operating procedures and operator...
Machine Guarding Real Focus of Renewed OSHA Emphasis Program
OSHA has updated and renewed its National Emphasis Program on amputations in manufacturing facilities. With this emphasis, OSHA will be targeting manufacturers and industrial facilities, with a focus on machine guarding and lockout-tagout. Who’s On the List? Machine...
EPA’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule Defines Waters of the U.S.
EPA and the U.S. Army have finalized their definition of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) through a new final rule called the Navigable Waters Protection Rule. The definition of WOTUS has been at the point of contention between regulators, industry and...
Potential Employer Requirements in an OSHA Emergency Standard for COVID
UPDATE: President Biden signed an Executive Order on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021 that requires the following: Within 2 weeks (by Feb. 4, 2021), OSHA is required to: Issue guidance to employers on workplace safety during the COVID pandemic. OSHA and MSHA are required to...
EPA Rule Adds PFAS Chemicals to the TRI Report
EPA has added certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the list of chemicals which need to be tracked annually on your EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) report (below). This rule is effective 1/1/2020, so you’ll need to start tracking and collecting...
EPA Finalizes Aerosol Can Universal Waste Regulation
As we first reported here in April 2018, and is now final, EPA is allowing generators to handle aerosol cans as a universal waste rather than a hazardous waste. The rule becomes effective February 7, 2020. The final rule looks a bit different than the proposed...
EPA Issues Air Permitting Updates for New Sources, PSD and Title V Air Permits
EPA has issued air permitting updates in order to help companies save time and reduce paperwork and compliance burdens. Air Permitting Update: Definition of Adjacent Areas As we first reported here last fall, EPA was considering changing the interpretation of the...
What OSHA Says About Using Online Safety Training Courses
News to your inbox! We cover OSHA, EPA and DOT regulations news & best practices each week. Subscribe to our blog today! OK, OK, before anyone has a chance to say “of course you’re going to write THIS article,” we want to make it clear that although iSi may be...
OSHA’s New Weighted System for Inspection Priorities
News to your inbox! We cover OSHA, EPA and DOT regulations news & best practices each week. Subscribe to our blog today! OSHA’s fiscal year has started and with the new year comes a new system for weighting their priorities for inspections. This OSHA...