News

The Hazardous Building Materials Survey: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
The Hazardous Building Materials Survey: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
The discovery of hazardous materials on a site slated for renovation or demolition – while not exactly a welcome event – can be a well-timed event preventing the risk of... Read more...
Protecting Workers Exposed to Wildfire Smoke
Protecting Workers Exposed to Wildfire Smoke
With a record-breaking wildfire season coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, the effort to protect workers exposed to smoke from wildfires poses a number of extra challenges – including the ongoing... Read more...
Best Practices for Safely Managing Asbestos in Place
Best Practices for Safely Managing Asbestos in Place
The history of asbestos use in construction is complicated. Asbestos was used widely in a variety of consumer and commercial products until the 1970s. In 1989, the U.S. EPA banned... Read more...
Smoke and Fire Expertise Puts Omega Scientist in the Thick of California Wildfire Season
Smoke and Fire Expertise Puts Omega Scientist in the Thick of California Wildfire Season
The California wildfire season has arrived, running through October with the height of fire season occurring during the scorching months of July, August, and September. An outlook report from the... Read more...
A New Beginning for Army Training Center
A New Beginning for Army Training Center
Built in 1943 during the height of WWII, Camp Parks Training Center in Dublin, Calif., lies just east of San Francisco. In its prime, this training center and air force... Read more...
Industrial Hygiene Experts Crack the Code for Workplace Safety
Industrial Hygiene Experts Crack the Code for Workplace Safety
Kumar Gunaratna never really knows what he’s going to find when he walks into a job site, but he usually finds it. As a senior industrial hygienist at Omega Environmental,... Read more...
Naturally Occurring Asbestos in Construction is Getting a Closer Look by Cal/OSHA
Naturally Occurring Asbestos in Construction is Getting a Closer Look by Cal/OSHA
Building owners and property managers familiar with asbestos may not automatically think of the asbestos that occurs naturally in soil and rock. Most people associate asbestos exposure with hazardous building... Read more...
Return to Work Safely: How to Ensure Your Workplace is Safe for Occupancy
Return to Work Safely: How to Ensure Your Workplace is Safe for Occupancy
The global COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented disruption for many industries. As businesses around the world prepare to return to buildings and workplaces that have been closed for months,... Read more...
Revision to Cal/OSHA Lead Exposure Standard Plan Will Result in Stricter Rules for Employers
Revision to Cal/OSHA Lead Exposure Standard Plan Will Result in Stricter Rules for Employers
California employers in the construction and general industries can expect another revision to lead exposure standards to be finalized by September 2020. In June 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom approved Senate... Read more...
Microbial Indoor Air Quality Assessments for a Safe Return to Work
Microbial Indoor Air Quality Assessments for a Safe Return to Work
Overall indoor air quality may seem low on the list of concerns for businesses whose employees are still largely working from home, but as stay-at-home orders begin to be lifted... Read more...