CHESS
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OSHA has published the new hazard communication standard. It is 800+ pages, but our latest newsletter breaks it down to what most companies need to know.
In this newsletter we cover:
If you don’t get the newsletter, you can view it here.
If an employee sustains an injury, what should you do? Here are some questions to consider when planning for medical emergencies.
These are a lot of other questions, but this is only a start. Think through what could happen and what could go wrong.
Planning for emergencies helps reduce the stress if they happen.
Besides being a requirement, there are several benefits to conducting and maintaining a chemical inventory:
One of our clients conducted a chemical inventory and in so doing discovered almost a full pallet of no longer used products. They were able to donate the product that was still usable and properly dispose of the rest.
In conducting a walkthrough for one client, we found they had over 60 gallons of flammable material stored in a back room. Their flammables cabinet, where the material should be stored, contained tape, respirators, gloves–all items that can be stored elsewhere.
Spring is early this year. With it comes spring clean up and tree trimming. If you have employees felling or clearing trees or using chainsaws it is a good time to remind them about chainsaw safety. OSHA has several QuickCards–short reminders –about chainsaw safety and chipper safety, which are available on their website.
Minnesota LogSafe has posted five videos on chainsaw safety. The shortest is 23 seconds and the longest is about 2 minutes. These are good safety reminders to have employees watch. You can find the videos on the MN Dept of Labor and Industry website here.
As of June 1, 2015, material safety data sheets will be no more!
But they aren’t quite disappearing entirely. They’re undergoing a name change and a major revamping. They’ll be called Safety Data Sheets instead. Chemical labels will change, too.
The reason for the change: on March 26, OSHA will be publishing changes to the Federal Hazard Communication Standard, so it conforms to the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).
Multinational corporations have pushed for this, so they don’t have to create one data sheet for each country in which they do business. But adopting GHS has a huge benefit for users: it is an attempt to standardize the information on chemical labels and SDSs. That standardization means we’re less likely to see one product labeled as “danger: corrosive” and another product, identical in composition and strength, labeled as “caution: irritating.”
Companies that use OSHA’s Form 174 for data sheets will have to make major changes. But many manufacturers have switched to a voluntary ANSI standard for a 16-part data sheet. That format will now be required. (There are parts of that form, such as transport or disposal information, that aren’t under OSHA’s jurisdiction, so OSHA won’t enforce those). Those companies will have to redo their SDSs, to conform to the GHS classifications. But the look of the data sheets won’t change much.
Data sheets won’t become shorter. They may become easier to understand, though, with the information that workers need most placed at the front of the SDS.
Labels will have major changes:
The standard changes some important definitions. A flammable liquid used to be one with a flashpoint under 100°F. Now, it’s one with a flashpoint below 200°F (or, to be precise, 199.4°F). To be consistent, that means that OSHA’s standards on flammable and combustible liquids (including those for spray finishing and coating/dipping operations) have to change. There are no changes in what employers have to do, just a change in definition. Liquids with flash points between 140°F and 200°F had been called combustible. Now they’re Category 4 flammable liquids. Slightly confusing for now, but not a substantive change. In fact, this change results in greater consistency with DOT regulations.
People who commented on the proposed standard raised a concern about one potential source of confusion. The NFPA diamond (NFPA 704) and the Paint and Coatings Manufacturers’ HMIS system code chemical hazards from 0 (no hazard) to 4 (most serious hazard). GHS uses the opposite scale. A Category 4 flammable liquid is much less flammable than a Category 1 flammable. As the HMIS and NFPA 704 systems use shapes and colors to convey the type of hazard, we doubt this will create problems.
This new standard creates a lot of immediate work for chemical manufacturers and distributors, as they’ll have to update their labels and SDSs. For end users – it really shouldn’t be a headache.
The two things end users need to do:
Minnesota
Minnesota has its own version of the Hazard Communication Standard, called the Right to Know law. The state has six months to adopt the changes or to make its own changes, to ensure the state program is at least as strong as the federal requirements. We expect that the state will modify its rules to require the GHS-compliant labels and safety data sheets, but don’t expect any other major changes to Right to Know requirements.
Implementation Dates
Keep in mind that these dates may be delayed in Minnesota.
I was talking to a client today about things employees do without thinking–like having a container of solvent in a welding area (or welding in a spray painting area). The employer pointed out to the employee that if there is an explosion, the business would survive. He (the employer) isn’t going to be the one standing over the explosion–that would be the employee. It is the employee who will need skin grafts for his face and will have to deal with the pain every day.
He makes an interesting point. An employer is obligated to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards. Employees should be trained on proper procedures and not to take a “little solvent” into a welding area. And, the employer has to enforce that.
Employees have responsibilities as well: to participate in training, to listen and follow the safety rules, to take a second to think before acting.
It is not the employer who is going to get hurt. Maybe an occasional graphic explanation of the possible consequences will help drive home the point.
Sherry Wings, our first aid/CPR instructor, has this reminder: Do you know this simple stroke test?
F.A.S.T.
Think FAST! It could save someone’s life.
OSHA has published a new fact sheet on eye protection during welding operations in the shipyard industry, but it really applies to any industry. Here is the OSHA news release and a link to the fact sheet (which has useful charts on lens shade for various types of welding):
New fact sheet provides information on protecting shipyard workers from eye injuries during welding and cutting operations
A new OSHA fact sheet, Eye Protection against Radiant Energy during Welding and Cutting in Shipyard Employment, is intended to help prevent worker eye injuries in the maritime industry. Electromagnetic energy given off by an arc or flame, commonly referred to as radiant energy or light radiation, can injure workers’ eyes. For protection from radiant energy, employers must ensure that workers use the necessary personal protective equipment, such as safety glasses, goggles, welding helmets or welding face shields. This equipment must have filter lenses with a shade number that provides the appropriate level of protection. A shade number indicates the intensity of light radiation that is allowed to pass through a filter lens to one’s eyes. The higher the shade number, the darker the filter and the less light radiation that will pass through the lens. Tables in the fact sheet provide the proper shade numbers to be used under various conditions when performing welding operations including gas and metal arc welding and oxygen cutting.
Change your clock, check your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector batteries. You can change them now or wait till fall, but at least check them. It is also a good time to have a fire drill. Everyone should know two ways out of every room and level of the house (or work), including the basement. And have ONE meeting place for every one! This advice works for home and work. Stay safe!
Well, OK, it IS a little past Jan 1, but maybe this is what you need to keep your resolution going. Or perhaps: “There is no time like the present!” applies.
There have been a lot of articles recently about obesity and diabetes and the impact on the workplace. The American Medical Association has a new app to help people track progress on weight loss.
According to the AMA:
The AMA Weigh What Matters app makes it easy to work with your physician to establish weight, healthy eating, and physical activity goals, and track your progress toward achieving them. It also calculates your BMI score, and provides a mechanism to view progress reports and email them to your physician.
The app is part of Weigh What Matters, a family obesity prevention program developed by the American Medical Association, which encourages patients to work with their physicians to maintain a healthy weight, eat better, and increase physical activity. Weigh What Matters is part of the AMA Healthier Life Steps™ initiative.
The app is available for Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iTouch) and Android devices. See the AMA press release for more details and a link to download the app to your device.
Minnesota got dumped with rain, sleet, and snow, making for very slippery conditions. To reduce the chance of slips and falls, follow these tips from insurance company SFM:
For a free “Walk like a penguin” poster, go to this page on SFM’s site
That’s a mouthful of letters.
OSHA’s proposed major change to the Hazard Communication Standard, incorporating the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), cleared a significant hurdle, review by the Office of Management and Budget, on February 21. The next step: review and revise the Final Rule, then publish it in the Federal Register.
Is this a big deal? For chemical product manufacturers, yes. Their material safety data sheets and labels will need major revisions. In fact, we’ll get rid of MSDSs, replacing them with SDSs, Safety Data Sheets.
For product users, not that big an impact. Data sheets will need to be updated, but manufacturers will have about five years to do so. Most update their MSDSs at least that often, anyway. Employees will need some training on understanding the new SDSs and labels, but that really shouldn’t be difficult.
Why the change? We live in a global economy. Chemical product manufacturers now have to write separate data sheets for the US, for Canada, for Europe…. GHS, adopted by the UN, standardizes data sheets and labels, so should make preparing those documents much easier for the multinational corporations and anyone wanting to trade globally.
From the user standpoint, there are benefits. How chemicals are classified should become more standardized – so similar products will have similar labels and similar warnings.
GHS uses pictograms to quickly show the hazard. Those are easy to learn – many are similar to those in use now for DOT placards. There are a few new ones:
Chronic hazards (carcinogens, respiratory sensitizers) has a pictogram that looks like an exploding torso. Environmental pollutants show a dead fish. And an exclamation point will be used for those hazards that are of concern, but not deadly, such as irritants and skin sensitizers.
Timeline for the final rule: the regulatory agenda says it will be published in February 2012. That seems unlikely, as there’s less than a week left to February. But I’d expect to see it pretty soon.
I was reading the Feb 15, 2012 OSHA QuickTakes and was struck by the listing of large penalties:
$365,500 to Wal-Mart’s Rochester NY facility for repeat and serious safety and health hazards. Some of the hazards identified were: fall hazards, obstructed exit routes, an absence of lockout/tagout procedures for energy sources that would allow workers to safely perform maintenance on a compactor, an unguarded grinder, no training for workers using personal protective equipment, a lack of eye and face protection, and a lack of information and training on hazardous chemicals in the workplace.
$169,00 against Penney Construction in Hartford Conn for repeatedly exposing workers to cave-in hazards. After being warned that they had to protect a trench from cave-in, they still sent employees into an unprotected trench!
$78,000 proposed against Beasley Forest Products in Georgia. Hazards found included failing to develop specific lockout/tagout procedures for the energy sources of equipment, properly use compressed air for cleaning, install guardrails on walkways to prevent workers from falling 5-18 feet, provide standard handrails on stairways, provide signage prohibiting unauthorized foot or vehicle traffic where logs were being loaded and unloaded, provide machine guards, repair a damaged ladder, allow access to the circuit breaker box, and install covers on electrical boxes for the sorter control cab and the sorter system.
It’s not just about the money. Why risk an employee’s life? QuickTakes had articles on two teenagers who suffered amputations (once gone, you don’t get it back) and two fatalities at the Indiana State Fair in 2011. At what price?
The best way to plan for a potential fire emergency is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Identify the potential sources of fire and how to control for those. But you should also plan for the worst.
If a fire were to happen, consider these questions:
These are a lot of questions to ask. Take them one at a time. Walk through a fire scenario and what should happen each step of the way. And, make sure employees know what is expected of them in the case of a fire.
We hope they never happen, but if they do, you want to be ready for an emergency. Pre-planning reduces response time and helps people understand their role and responsibilities.
Emergencies may include medical, fire, severe weather, hazardous material spill, odors, water infiltration, robbery or theft, and power outage. What other emergencies could occur at your workplace?
Think ahead: I an emergency of one of these types occurred, what is your response? Do you need to evacuate the building? How will you account for everyone? Where will employees and visitors gather? How do you notify emergency services? Your electric provider? Your gas company?
There are many questions to ask. Watch for more posts covering different types of emergencies. Contact us if there are some specific ones you would like to see.
The NFPA has a cute site that teaches kids about fire protection using arcade style games featuring Sparky. Call us silly, but we think the “Put out the Fire” is fun. The section on types of fire trucks is new this past month.
The site is here. Click on the Arcade on the right to find “Put out the Fire” and some other things.
National Public Radio broadcast a story on crystalline silica this morning, and we can take a wee bit of credit for it.
Crystalline silica is dangerous stuff – exposure to the very fine particles can severely scar the lungs. It’s a recognized human carcinogen. And it even seems to increase the risk of tuberculosis. The silica in your kid’s sandbox isn’t a hazard, because the particles are usually too large to get deep into the lungs. But it is a hazard when workers breathe the dust from cutting concrete or rock, making or breaking ceramics, or doing thousands of other jobs.
OSHA’s been trying to update the silica standards for years, a much needed task. The standard for construction work specify a monitoring method that has been obsolete for some thirty years. The standard for general industry is better, by a bit, but is still outdated. Unfortunately, the new draft standard, almost ready for release, has been held up in the Office of Management and Budget.
What’s our involvement? Janet is a member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s Construction Committee. She worked with other committee members, including Steve Fess and Scott Schneider (both mentioned in NPR’s story) to prepare a letter, submitted by AIHA to OMB and the Department of Labor, urging OMB to release the proposed standard so it can receive public comment.
The standard-setting process is always slow. Sometimes, that’s for the best, as it allows time for input from all sides. But that input should come as part of the usual process of OSHA publishing a proposal and receiving comments. And sometimes, as with silica, that process slows down to subglacial speeds.
If you work with silica, or if your work produces airborne silica, don’t wait for a new standard to put control measures in place. Instead, use wet methods – a bit of water does a very good job of keeping the dust down. Or use ventilation systems. Or change your process or materials. We’ve known silica can rob people of their lungs for about 2500 years. It shouldn’t take another 2500 years to eliminate silicosis.
There are numerous hazards in both mechanical and collision repair. The National Institute on Occupational Health and Safety, NIOSH, has developed partnerships with the industry to research and reduce hazards in vehicle repair and industry and has put together a summary of its efforts and plans.
CHESS has been working with the automotive industry for about 18 years and we applaud this initiative.
Here are some of the hazards from the summary:
For more information, check out the NIOSH page on Automotive Repair and Maintenance. Or, of course, you can contact CHESS.
While Minnesota has recently set records for warm temperatures, this week the temp numbers are dropping and fronts are moving through. To help all of us cope, OSHA has a new web page to remind people of the hazards of winter storms and how to avoid them.
Here are some basic reminders from OSHA:
The new Winter Storms web page includes links to guidance from OSHA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the American Red Cross, the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Safety Council and other agencies and organizations.
We often hear that a work-related accident or illness could have been prevented if the employee had…taken his/her time, thought before they acted, used common sense. The reality is that people do things that maybe seemed okay at the time, but had consequences. Maybe it is because they “weren’t thinking,” were in a hurry, had a brain lapse, or that is how they had seen it done.
The Centers for Disease Control, in their “Notes from the Field” column, wrote recently about a report from the Wyoming Department of Health of two cases of (warning: some may find the following information disturbing) Campylobacter jejuni enteritis, an intestinal infection usually from poor sanitation or cleanliness. It is one of the causes of traveler’s diarrhea. One case required hospitalization.
Work related? Definitely.
Both people had participated in a multiday event to castrate and dock tails of lambs. Well, and this is where you shake your head in wonder, both “patients are the only two known to have used their teeth to castrate lambs.”
You read that correctly. They used their teeth. You wonder why they did it that way instead of using more conventional methods. But maybe they learned that from someone else who did it that way for years. Maybe they couldn’t find their knife sharpener. Maybe they thought it was faster. Maybe they didn’t know the possible hazards.
Common sense isn’t common. When it comes to safety, education, the correct tools and enforcement can help save a life.
A study by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries found that OSHA enforcement inspections and consultation visits could be linked to lower workers compensation costs and injury rates, according to an article in a recent OSHA Update. The study, conducted by the Washington DLI research department found that work comp rates and costs were lower a year after either an enforcement or consultation visit. The article did not measure the cost of citations versus the reduction in rates, though.
Whether it is your staff, your safety consultant, or an OSHA inspector, finding and correcting safety hazards in the workplace has financial and human resource benefits for both companies and employees.
See the news release for more information.
The November 1 OSHA Update had an article on reduced injury rates. In 2010 “there were 3.1 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers.” Over 3 million injuries in one year! To me, that sounded like a very large number. Until I read the rest of the article. In 1994, that number was double — 6.8 million.
The article quoted Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, who I think said it well: “We are encouraged by the reported decline in incidence rates for workplace injuries and illnesses, which is reflective of the joint effort of government, business, unions and other organizations. Nevertheless, 3.1 million injuries and illnesses in the workplace are too high. Serious injuries and illnesses can knock a working family out of the middle class. Workers should not have to sacrifice their health and safety to earn a paycheck.”
Janet and I will both admit that we never said when growing up that we wanted to be safety professionals. We both found our ways to this career. In a time when businesses were cutting staff (and maybe still are), we saw many colleagues laid off or changing companies. Now, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has published a study showing there will be a shortage of safety professionals. They estimate employers will hire 25,000 occupational health and safety professionals over the next 5 years, but only 12,000 will be graduating from safety programs.
The low graduation rate may be partially due to reduced funding for programs (to the schools and scholarships). As I have noted before, safety impacts a company’s bottom line. To have a cost-effective, cost saving, effective safety program, it helps to have a qualified safety staff.
Here is the link to the study on NIOSH’s website. The executive summary starts on page 15.
Don’t lose
Your head
To gain a minute
You need your head
Your brains are in it / Burma-Shave
Take your time: we want you to arrive alive, safe and sound. CHESS
There is a new newsletter posted on our website .
Topics are:
And while you are there, check out the past newsletters farther down the page….
It is a time for celebration (the days will be getting longer soon!) and many homes and businesses have put up Christmas/holiday lights. Keep it safe:
Download the article: Hand in Glove – December 2011
Although the press release says that the educational videos are for construction hazards, similar hazards exist in general industry and for municipalities.
The twelve videos are each two to four minutes in length (one is almost 10 minutes, though). They cover:
The videos can be found on OSHA’s site or on the Department of Labor’s YouTube channel.
Whether it is at home or at work, special planning may be required to evacuate people with disabilities. As our workforce ages and as people live longer, the likelihood of your emergency plan needing to deal with evacuating someone with disabilities will increase. The planning guide and checklist from NFPA are useful for almost any situation.
Remember that disabilities may include limitations in movement and mobility, reduced hearing or diminished eyesight, so you may need to account for all of those in your plan.
There has been quite a bit in the papers recently about Black Friday and how early stores will be opening. There are only a few holidays where stores are closed and workers can spend with their families. Personally, we would rather not see this rush to be first to open and take employees away from their holiday.
There is a safety aspect to this. Many readers will recall an instance in 2008 where an employee was trampled to death when a mob stormed a store when the employee opened the doors. OSHA has developed a fact sheet to give employers guidance on crowd control and the potential frenzy of Black Friday (or any similar situation). Let’s keep everyone safe out there.
Hard to believe Thanksgiving is next week already!
This is a good time to add a post about driving for a couple of reasons:
Firstly. with the holiday season often comes increased driving to visit family and friends.
Secondly, it is deer season. Not just deer hunting season , but that time of year when car-deer collisions are more common.
The third factor is the beginning of return to regular time (the end Daylight Savings Time). The time shift, and more hours of dark than light can increase drowsiness behind the wheel. (See this announcement from the Center for Disease Control about last week’s Drowsy Driving Prevention Week).
And of course, there are the usual road hazards we’ve written about in this blog —road construction and distracted driving with cell phone use, text messaging, etc.
Stay safe out there. Be alert. Get plenty of rest prior to driving (especially long trips). Make sure your car is tuned up for winter. Pay attention (put the cell phones away and don’t try to answer them while driving). We want you to arrive safely.
We have posted the Fall Newsletter on our website.
Topics are :
We hope you will find it useful.
On Sunday, November 6 we will set our clocks back on hour (fall-back). When you reset your clocks, check the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide monitors. It is a good time to test your smoke detectors and replace the batteries. The CPSC issued the following press release:
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is reminding consumers when changing clocks this weekend to change the batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms, too. Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 6 this year.
“Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms save lives by alerting you to a fire or CO buildup. They can’t do their job if the batteries aren’t working,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “Protect your family by replacing smoke and CO alarm batteries at least once each year.”
In addition to changing batteries every year, CPSC recommends consumers test their alarms monthly. Place smoke alarms on every level of the home, outside sleeping areas, and inside each bedroom. About two-thirds of fire deaths occur in homes with either no smoke alarms or smoke alarms that don’t work.
Fire departments responded to more than 386,000 residential fires nationwide that resulted in nearly 2,400 deaths, more than 12,500 injuries, and $6.92 billion in property losses annually, on average, from 2006 through 2008.
In addition to changing batteries in smoke alarms, CPSC urges consumers to stay in the kitchen while cooking to help prevent fires. Cooking fires accounted for the largest percentage of home fires, an annual average of nearly 150,000 or 38.7 percent, from 2006 through 2008.
CO alarms should be installed on each level of the home and outside sleeping areas. CO alarms should not be installed in attics or basements unless they include a sleeping area. Combination smoke and CO alarms are available to consumers.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, poisonous gas that consumers cannot see or smell. An average of 184 unintentional non-fire CO poisoning deaths associated with consumer products, including portable generators, occurred annually from 2005 through 2007.
To protect against CO poisoning, schedule an annual professional inspection of all fuel-burning appliances, including furnaces and chimneys. Home heating systems were associated with 70 deaths, or 38 percent of CO poisoning deaths, in 2007, the largest percentage of non-fire CO poisoning deaths.
Encourage employees to report near mis-haps (near accidents, near misses, close calls) along with incidents and injuries. Those almost accidents can be warning signs of potential accidents. By having employees report them you can intervene sooner, identify hazards and then work to eliminate them.
NFPA has easy to read handouts on home safety, with tips that apply to the workplace as well. These handouts come in different languages, and include mostly graphics, so they are easy for anyone to follow. These easy to read handouts are available on heating safety (including space heaters, a major fire hazard), cooking safety, electrical safety and escape planning. You can find them here.
It makes perfect sense: incorporate safety when designing equipment and facilities, rather than trying to correct for safety later. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) have adopted a new standard that addresses this: “Prevention through Design: Guidelines for Addressing Occupational Risks in Design and Redesign Processes”
ASSE has issued a Tech Brief on this standard.
The scope is described as:
This standard provides guidance on including prevention through design concepts within an occupational safety and health management system. Through the application of these concepts, decisions pertaining to occupational hazards and risks can be incorporated into the process of design and redesign of work premises, tools, equipment, machinery, substances, and work processes including their construction, manufacture, use, maintenance, and ultimate disposal or reuse. This standard provides guidance for a life-cycle assessment and design model that balances environmental and occupational safety and health goals over the life span of a facility, process, or product.
NIOSH has a blog discussion on the new standard.
Electrical safety is important whether at home or at work. NFPA Safety Source reminds us about a new electrical safety tip sheet:
NFPA offers new electrical safety tip sheet
Flipping a light switch. Plugging in a coffeemaker. Charging a laptop computer. These are second nature for most of us. Electricity makes our lives easier. However, we need to be cautious and keep safety in mind.
Learn the simple steps that can keep your family safe.
Download NFPA’s electrical safety tip sheet.
On Thursday, October 13, in the middle of the day, two men were killed in a work zone on I-35W when a driver in his new sports car lost control. The driver got too close to a construction barrier, over-corrected , and plowed into the ditch where the men were installing electrical components for the freeway. We don’t know if the driver was speeding, but even with the construction the speed limit was 70 mph. The workers weren’t on the roadway, they weren’t distracting traffic. They were doing nothing wrong, but they didn’t get to go home.
Six people have died in Minnesota highway work zones this year. Eleven died last year. It’s easy to become impatient with road construction. But there are two families tonight who have lost a family member, whose father/husband/son who is not coming home. Please, slow down around road work. Your life and the lives of those who fix your roads depend on it.
Fire Prevention Week is this week – October 9-15. This is a good time to review your evacuation plan. Consider the following:
If any of these answers is not a “yes”, time to take action!
Download the article: The Other Half of OSHA – October 2011
Despite regulations and hundreds of fatalities, employees still work in unprotected trenches. OSHA has had a trench emphasis for years, with many documented cases of inspectors pulling workers out of a trench to educate them about the hazards, only to have the trench collapse behind them.
In their QuickTakes bulletin, OSHA reports it has three new guidance products to educate employers and workers about the hazards in trenching operations. The new products include a fact sheet*, QuickCard* and a poster* that warns, “An Unprotected Trench is an Early Grave.”
The three documents may be ordered in English- and Spanish-language versions from the Publications page of OSHA’s Web site. See the news release for more information.
Most people don’t expect to read about hair styling in a column about workplace safety, but this has become a big concern. Many hair smoothing products (often advertised as a Brazilian blow out) contain formaldehyde and are posing a serious health risk for the stylists. (We assume it isn’t so good for the person getting the treatment either, but the client’s exposure is less.)
Not all of the manufacturers are labeling their products correctly. OSHA just issued citations to two Florida companies for failing to include formaldehyde on the product Material Safety Data Sheets.
For more information, please read OSHA’s Hazard Alert.
Workplace violence is among the top four causes of death in the workplace in the last fifteen years, according to OSHA. OSHA has issued a new directive to assist field staff conducting investigations based on complaints and incidences of workplace violence.
This remains a concern more in late night establishments and health care, but workplace violence can impact any business.
OSHA launched a new Workplace Violence Web page and has published several workplace violence guidance documents, including recommendations for preventing violence in your workplace.
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has launched a Workers Compensation Ombudsman Program to provide support for employees (injured workers) and small businesses/employers.
According to the Department of Labor and Industry press release,
The ombudsman assists small businesses by:
To request services, contact the ombudsman at (651) 284-5013, 1-800-DIAL-DLI (1-800-342-5354), TTY (651) 297-4198 or dli.ombudsman@state.mn.us.
I was watching a show on 9/11 that contained actual footage taken inside the Towers that day. Two brothers were making a documentary about a rookie firefighter growing up and learning his job. It just happened that the rookie was stationed at the first firehouse to respond to the disaster.
What struck me was some of the similarities of what happened in 2001 to what happened in 1911 with the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire–people unable to evacuate, weaknesses or inadequacies in building design and fire protection, even, very sadly, people jumping to their death.
In a prior blog , I wrote about some of the changes that came about as a result of the Triangle Fire.
Here are a few of the changes as a result of the 9/11 tragedy:
For more information, NFPA has published a story on the differences that have emerged in the last decade.
CHESS can help you develop an emergency response plan for your workplace.
Brad Witt of Howard Leight (a Honeywell Initiative) wrote an interesting blog recently about what hearing loss sounds like.
To get an idea, first read this aloud:
“Noise induced hearing loss makes understanding speech harder. You’ll first lose the ability to hear high frequencies.”
Now read this:
” Noi indue hearing loh may underdanding ee hearder. You’ll fir lew e abili-ee oo hear high re-uny”
Those are the same sentences, but the second one is closer to how the first will sound to someone with severe noise induced hearing loss.
OSHA has a new page on occupational noise exposure which has some more info on this topic.
If you need a hearing protection plan, CHESS can help.
Two of our clients have had OSHA inspections recently–one was a programmed one from enforcement and one was a consultation visit. Overall both went quite well. Both inspectors mentioned documentation, repeatedly.
Since OSHA is not at your site day after day, they get a fuzzy snapshot of how important safety is to you. One thing they look for is documentation. OSHA wants to see documented inspections, documented training, documented programs. Here are a couple of pointers:
This is based on what we are hearing from OSHA. If you have more questions about inspections, please contact us.
Fire Prevention Week 2011 is October 9-15. The National Fire Protection Association has a web page with useful resources.
It is a great time to review your emergency plan and evacuation procedures.
OSHA lists their local emphasis programs on their enforcement website. These are the areas of focus for each region. Minnesota and Wisconsin are part of Region V. The emphasis areas for our region are: powered industrial vehicles, building renovation/rehabilitation, primary metal industries (such as foundries), fall protection in construction and grain handling facilities.
I was struck by the fact that there were 25 fatalities relating to powered industrial vehicles (including forklifts and skid steers fitted with forks) in this region alone in a 4 year period.
The following information was in a recent OSHA release:
OSHA’s Enforcement Web page now contains a new section that lists all the Local Emphasis Programs (LEPs) currently active across the country. LEPs are enforcement strategies designed and implemented at the regional office and/or area office levels. These programs are intended to address hazards or industries that pose a particular risk to workers in the office’s jurisdiction. These LEPs are often accompanied by outreach intended to make employers in the area aware of the program as well as the hazards that the programs are designed to reduce or eliminate. The new Web page lists more than 150 LEPs, divided by Region, with links to the directives establishing each one. See OSHA’s Enforcement Web page for more information.
Have a safe Labor Day weekend. Remember the workers who never made it home.
OSHA receives more than 300 entries for workplace safety and health photo contest
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| OSHA Picture It! Safe Workplaces for Everyone photo contest entry by Melanie Mesaros. |
OSHA’s photo contest celebrating the agency’s 40th anniversary ended Aug. 12. Picture It! Safe Workplaces for Everyone challenged anyone with a passion for photography to capture an image of workplace safety and health and share it with OSHA. Samples of the more than 300 entries submitted since the contest launched in May can be viewed at Flickr.com. Entries will be judged by a panel that includes photography, workplace safety and communications experts from within and outside the Labor Department. The winning and finalist photos will be posted on the photo contest site in September.