National Work Zone Awareness Week April 17-21
We complain about our two seasons in Minnesota: winter and road construction. We hope winter is over – which means it is time for road construction. Public Works employees are out working on and around roadways all year round, and that is the most hazardous part of their job. They might be patching all those potholes or jetting sewer lines. Now that it’s warm out, Public Works employees and contractors will start on the bigger construction projects.
On March 22, six construction workers were killed when a car crashed into their work zone in Maryland. They were working behind protective Jersey barriers (temporary concrete wall), but the car entered the work zone where there was an opening. Public Works employees usually don’t even have the benefit of those barriers, because they work in short term, moving work zones. All they have for protection are flashing lights, cones, and the caution of drivers. Watch out for them.
National Work Zone Awareness Week was in mid-April, but reminders about safe driving are needed year round. If you are interested in promoting safety around work zones, for the workers in them and for people driving through them, check out these resources:
National Work Zone Awareness Week
Network of Employers for Traffic Safety MN
Work Zone temporary traffic control training
MNOSHA Updates: Safety committees, penalties and posters
Minnesota OSHA and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MNDLI) have several bills being considered this legislative session. One would change the requirement for which companies need to have labor- management safety committees: companies with 25 or more employees would still be required to have committees, but so would any company that falls under the requirement to have A Workplace Accident and Injury Reduction (AWAIR) program. If you aren’t sure if this would affect you, contact us.
MNOSHA has also requested penalty conformity—the penalties for citations would increase to be in line with federal penalties. While we have yet to see how this plays out, it will mean a significant increase in penalties. For example, in the automotive industry, the average federal penalty for hazard communication citations was $1653. In Minnesota, the average penalty was around $315.
If you have not updated your employment posters in the last six months, it’s time to download the new minimum wage poster, available here.
OSHA 300 Logs
You OSHA 300A Summary of workplace injuries and illnesses for 2022 should have been posted until April 30. After May 1 you can take down the summary and file it.
You must keep your logs updated for five years. If an employee misses work or has work restrictions due to an injury that was recorded in a previous year, you need to update that log. You do not need to update the summaries.
If you had 20 or more employees at any time last year, you need to submit your OSHA 300 summary to federal OSHA. That was supposed to be done by March 2. We completed that for our maintenance clients and those who requested it.
Workers Compensation Updates
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry recently updated the employee’s guide to the Minnesota workers compensation system, making it available in English and Spanish. Employers are not required to provide this to employees (although it may help them if they have an injury), but you are required to provide a copy of the Minnesota workers’ compensation system employee information sheet. This is also available in English and Spanish.
Do your employees wear uniforms? Please take our quick survey
A number of clients have expressed frustration with their current uniform companies. Uniforms that do not fit right could become entangled in equipment. High visibility shirts or jackets that lose their retroreflectivity make employees harder to see in work zones. We are trying to gather information on uniform companies.
Miscellaneous
We had a wonderful stretch (okay, only three days) of warm / hot weather. There is an excellent chance that will happen again, only the heat should stay longer. Be prepared. We need time to acclimate, which means the first couple of days of warm weather can be deadly. Even temperatures just in the 70s, if combined with high humidity and heavy work, can be dangerous. Drink plenty of non-caffeinated beverages, take more frequent breaks, and remember to watch out for your co-workers.
Ear buds are not hearing protection. To qualify as hearing protection, the device must have an EPA-assigned Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) and the volume must not exceed 80 decibels.
CHESS Players update
Janet Keyes recently spoke at the American Society of Safety Professionals Northwest Chapter Professional Development Conference on Focus Four for Health.
- These occupational health hazards, manual material handling, noise, air contaminants and high temperatures, particularly in construction, can cut short a worker’s life.
- Did you know that hearing loss is often diagnosed as dementia, particularly in men as they get older?
- Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in construction workers.
Published again: Janet wrote the chapter on Chemical Hazards in the Safety Professionals Handbook, which has become a standard reference for occupational safety and health professionals.
Janet heads off to AIHce EXP 2023, billed as the premier conference for occupational and environmental health and safety scientists in May 22-24. She’ll be presenting a session, Answers to the Top Confined Space Questions. She’ll also be stepping down as Chair of AIHA’s Confined Space Committee.
Carol will be in San Antonio June 2-7 for the American Society of Safety Professionals professional development conference. If there are safety related products that you want Carol to keep an eye out for, let her know.
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