OSHA 300 logs
Your OSHA 300A, the Summary of Injuries and Illnesses in the workplace, does not have to be posted any longer. Take it down and file it.
Remember: you must keep the OSHA 300 log and summary if your company (not just a single establishment) has more than ten employees at any time during the year. We recommend keeping it even if it is not required; it is a good tool for tracking injuries that are happening in your facility so that you can address hazards.
Need Training Scheduled? Call Solana
We welcome the newest member of our team, Solana Garbow. If you need to schedule training or a meeting with Janet, Mary or Carol, feel free to reach out to Solana. If you are due for training, expect her to be contacting you.
SGarbow@chess-safety.com
651-842-9215
Get Ready for Summer
Those first few hot days of summer can be brutal, especially as we are not yet acclimated to the heat. Current predictions are for above normal temperatures this summer. Make sure your shop is prepared:
- Check fans to make sure cords are in good condition; not missing the grounding prong on the plug, and the cord itself is free of damage. All fans used in locations other than offices must have grounded plugs.
- Review heat precautions and signs of heat related illnesses with your employees.
- Pay attention to the heat index, but keep in mind that it’s designed for shady conditions with a light breeze and doesn’t account for how hard people are working.
- OSHA offers free downloadable posters on heat available here.
Orange, Orange, Everywhere Orange
Yep, construction season is upon us. Road closing, lanes closed, delays. It can be frustrating. But for all of the workers who work in and alongside roadways, it can be life threatening.
- Slow down, especially in and near work zones
- Allow extra time. A road that was open yesterday may be detoured today.
- Plan alternate routes. We know it can be frustrating when your usual route is blocked. Don’t try to sneak through a work zone—have an alternative route in mind.
- Check traffic maps and apps before you leave, even for familiar routes, so you know what to expect.
- Respect the workers. They make sure we have roads to travel, safe water to drink, and sewers to take away the waste.
Safety Helmet or Safety Hardhat?
Do you need to protect your head? You have several choices:
Bump caps: Similar to a hard baseball cap, a bump cap protects your head from bumps but not from impact, such as something falling on your head. They are designed for use in areas with low head clearance – never when there is a risk of something dropping on your head. There are no US standards dictating how protective they must be. They cannot be used in place of hard hats, but they are a good option to protect the head from bumps.
Hard hats: Hard hats can protect you from falling objects. They have a suspension system that puts space between your head and the hard hat, absorbing the energy from an impact.
Used to be, you had few choices for hard hats, all modeled on the original skull bucket patented by Bullard in 1919 and all designed to stop impacts from above. But now you can get ones that protect you from shock, protect you from side impacts, have chin straps to keep them in place if you fall or bend over, helmets that are vented to keep you cooler, ones that withstand heat, ones that shade you from the sun, and ones that can easily accommodate hearing protection, head lamps, and face shields.
In the US, all hard hats will be classified as Type I, designed to protect solely from overhead impacts, or Type II, which also protect from side impacts, such as a tree branch swinging into you. Falls to the ground are more likely to have side impacts.
Helmets: Climbing style hard hats with chin straps are often referred to as helmets, because European standards for head protection require chin straps and use the term helmet for head protection. US standards use the term hardhat. Think of helmets as a style of hardhat.
OSHA staff recently switched to Type II climbing style helmets with chin straps. They chose Class G hardhats, which offer the highest level of protection against electrical shock (Class C offers the least). Their bulletin: Head Protection: Safety Helmets in the Workplace, explains their reasoning.
You may not need protection against electricity. But if you’re expecting people to keep their hardhats on their heads, consider changing to ones with chin straps. And if you want that side protection, opt for Type II. They’re more expensive, but much cheaper than brain injuries.
May is Electrical Safety Month
To quickly stop a fire starting in the back of the truck, a Eureka Recycling truck recently had to dump its load along Summit Avenue in St Paul. According to the news article this is not an unusual event, and was probably caused by a lithium battery.
Batteries can cause fires when they are not disposed of properly. Lithium-ion batteries require special handling and cannot go into the trash. Call2Recycle.org allows you to search by zip code for places to drop off batteries.
To reduce fire hazards with lithium-ion rechargeable batteries:
- Follow manufacturer’s guidelines
- Use UL approved (or other similar Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) such as CSA) chargers. Make sure they are compatible with the equipment you are charging.
- Keep charging batteries away from combustible materials (paper, fabric, etc.)
- Don’t charge devices by exit doors. Make sure you don’t block an exit.
For more information and printable posters, click on the link below:
https://www.esfi.org/how-to-spot-battery-problems/
Have your painters been trained in NESHAPs 6H?
If you paint more than the random object here and there, you probably either have an air emissions permit or you’re now conditionally exempt from having one. One of the requirements for exemption is to have your painters trained in efficient application, and booth and spray gun maintenance. That is also a requirement of the EPA rule, NESHAPs 6H. You might remember this from about a dozen years ago, when the EPA rule first became effective. What you probably don’t remember is the requirement to refresh the training every five years.
How can you get your painters trained? Check with your paint rep. University of Northern Iowa and 3M offer online training, but there is a requirement that part of it be hands-on.
PPE for Women
Does your PPE fit? OSHA requires that it does. Safety glasses that are too wide will fall down the nose. A harness that doesn’t fit snugly is dangerous. In the past, personal protective equipment was designed only for the male body, but more manufacturers are coming out with PPE designed for women’s bodies. For example, Xena Workwear makes several types of safety-toed footwear specifically designed for women. They are available online and through Grainger.
Where to find us
Janet Keyes, CIH, will be presenting to the Northwest Chapter of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) on May 14. Her presentation is titled: “Get Out Alive – What’s the Big Deal with Confined Space Entries?” Janet serves on and is a past Chair of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) Confined Space Committee. Registration is open to members and non-members of ASSP.
Janet and Mary Dipping will both be in Ohio May 20-22 at Connect 2024, the national professional development conference for AIHA. Among other things, Janet will be moderating a panel discussion on confined spaces at the conference.