OSHA Regulation Updates and Security in the IoT and [Roundup]

OSHA to Make Changes in Record Keeping

Environmental, health, and safety (EHS) is an area that many organizations strive to maintain best practices. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has dedicated their entire practice to this area whether it’s in an industrial manufacturing company, or a hospital, regulations and precautions are expected of organizations.

On July 28, 2015 OSHA stated that it’s proposing to amend its record keeping and regulations to reinforce that “the duty to record an injury or illness continues for as long as the employer must keep records of the recordable injury or illness.” This amount of time equals out to five years, as an OSHA standard.

Due to a 2012 decision in the AKM L.L.C. v Secretary of Labor states that OSHA citations for record-keeping violations must be issued within six months of an alleged failure to record the injury or illness. The agency previously said it had over five years to issue violations.

Regardless of the issues, the proposal won’t change the current compliance obligations or require employees to keep records of injuries or illnesses. To read more on proposed changes within OSHA regulations click here.

Data Security: Trust in the IoT

EMC and Vodafone have recently made a joint investment in a new INFINITE Internet of Things (IoT) industrial platform. The new platform will converge with Cork and provide facilities of the testing and exploration of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.

EMC’s corporate Vice President of Innovation and General Manager of EMC Israel, Dr. Orna Berry, stated the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is quickly becoming a reality. She approaches the IIoT as a secure place for big data to gather for storage or easy accessibility. In an interview with Silicon Republic berry said, “One of the interesting things, the data, the cloud, the security and trust in the data that is in the cloud and the internet of things is about content awareness. You collect a lot of data and what is important is that you are aware of what you are collecting.” Berry also acknowledges that the IIoT is a best practice of accessing big data with mobility and smart connected assets. “You need to master, automate and manage the experience and connectivity of different devices.”

With the use of the IIoT, INFINITE will allow businesses to test solutions for the IoT in manufacturing, fleet management, machinery, household appliances, and even clothing that contains sensors and that communicate with other machines. To read more on the INIFINTE investment and IIoT utilization click here

Schneider Electic Taking a Hold on Industrial Software

Schneider Electric combined industrial software units with Aveva Group Plc earlier this month. By meshing the companies’ software they created a business that helps design and operate engineering projects from nuclear power plants to diesel engines.

Through this company combination, Schneider Electric will own 53.5% of Aveva, and in return Aveva will receive 550 million pounds ($858 million) from Schneider. Aveva as a global company, like Schneider, makes a fitting addition to the companys' industrial software and the operational design for engineering projects. 

This wouldn’t be the first time Schneider acquired a British software company. In 2013 they added technology to their plant automation products and low/medium voltage equipment through the 2.4 billion pound purchase of Invensys Plc. To read more on market share, cost cuts, and overall Schneider-Aveva collaboration click here.

Updating Control Security Guides

Early last month, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released the second revision of the Guide to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Security. The revision is based around customizing IT security controls. These controls need to better accommodate different ICS performances, and the newest revision addresses it.

ISA/IEC-62443 standards are references within the new revision. It will define procedures on how to implement them electronically for secure ICS. The references were originally referred to as ISA99 standards that were created by the International Society of Automation and released as American National Standards Institute (NSI) documents.

Many changes have taken place with the revisions, naming, and standards in regards to ICS and NSI documents. Each change has been modified to address specific and unique performances. Click here to read more.