Protection Update - February 2009

In this Issue:
>> Nanomaterials: The Future of Personal Protective Equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) of the future will be built on a foundation of nanomaterials that will yield a range of new properties to save more lives and prevent more injuries, as well as affording workers enhanced communication, increased comfort and greater durability.

>> MSA’s Ryan Receives ISEA Award
MSA Board Chairman John T. Ryan III is the recipient of the International Safety Equipment Association’s (ISEA’s) Robert B. Hurley Distinguished Service Award for 2008. He was honored at ISEA’s Fall Meeting, Nov. 10, in Arlington, Va.

>> Findings Stand Conventional Wisdom on Ear
Conventional wisdom has always held that properly inserting an earplug — while requiring some technique — was essentially a no-brainer. As a result, safety managers typically have offered hearing protection devices with the assumption that fitting them is intuitive and fairly selfexplanatory, and have provided only generalized group instruction, at best.

>> Washington Watch: Expect Active OSHAin 2009
We begin 2009 expecting the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to publish more proposed and final rules than it has in the recent past. ISEA understands OSHA staff members have been working on regulatory text for various projects, as discussed below. In addition, the health and safety community could also see, in the coming years, larger changes in workplace safety.

>> Making Workers Safer Around the Nation
The following new services and innovations have been introduced by International Safety Equipment Association member companies to help make workers safer...

>> OSHA $100,000 Club of Safety Citations
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties of $100,000 or more for the following recent alleged failures to protect workers from potential hazards, including many that could have been avoided or mitigated by personal protective equipment (PPE)...

To read the entire February 2009 Protection Update, click here .