Safe Workplace and Safety News

Electronic tools helping small businesses evaluate workplace safety and health management programs was among the topics presented at a recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) forum "Challenges Small Businesses Face in Complying with Regulations."

Nicholas Owens (right), Small Business Administration national ombudsman, said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration "provides helpful, easy to use resources that help small businesses be in compliance with OSHA's standards." Owens was joined by Vincent Santoro (center), vice president of Ideal Jacobs Corp., and Elyce Biddle, a senior economist at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health during presentations at OSHA's Office of Small Business Assistance 'Business of Small Business' forum. It was the ninth event in the series that has included topics on teen summer job safety and maritime safety and health issues.

The ninth in the "Business of Small Business Series," these forums provide another venue for small businesses to obtain safety and health management information. Topics ranging from teen summer job safety to lean manufacturing are presented to an average of 40-50 attendees. Speakers from government agencies and private industry share guidance, resources and best practices to help small businesses implement and improve on their safety and health management systems.

Speaker Nicholas Owens (see photo), national ombudsman for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), discussed the role of the SBA as a liaison between small businesses and regulatory agencies. Fairness in enforcement, Owens said, was a major concern as it relates to small business compliance with regulations. He acknowledged OSHA's commitment to regulatory fairness and noted the tools and resources the agency provides to make compliance easier and more business-friendly.

The message that OSHA offers small businesses a helping hand with regulatory compliance was emphasized by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) senior economist Elyce Biddle. She discussed a series of electronic tools that businesses can use to determine costs associated with implementing safety and health systems. Included was OSHA's "$afety Pays" program that helps employers estimate the costs of occupational injuries and illnesses. Biddle said this tool is one of the resources OSHA offers to minimize challenges small employers face with regulatory compliance.

Compliance with federal regulations was less complicated for the Ideal Jacobs Corporation, a screen printing manufacturer. Vincent Santoro, vice president of global manufacturing, acknowledged his company benefitted from OSHA's On-site Consultation Program addressing worksite hazards that were identified and subsequently corrected.

As a member of OSHA's Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP), Santoro said, "Customers look at a company differently when they see it takes safety seriously. SHARP made us think about everything from a different perspective. Is what you're paying for safety worth it? Of course, it's always worth it," he said.

SHARP recognizes small employers who operate an exemplary safety and health management program. Businesses accepted into the program are considered models for worksite safety and health.

The above is a press release from OSHA.

Labels: osha information, Safety Training

Paper mill chemical recovery boilers are dangerous. They burn black liquor to recover the chemicals used in pulp digesters. The black liquor burns in a pile in the bottom of a water cooled furnace, with smelt running off through openings near the bottom of the furnace. Water and smelt is an explosive mixture. It only takes a small amount of water getting into the furnace to produce a huge explosion. Since the furance walls are made from tubes filled with water, there is always water close at hand. As a result following proper start-up procedures is critical.

Here is the OSHA press release:

OSHA investigation followed May explosion that killed an employee, injured 22 others

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited International Paper Co.'s Vicksburg Mill in Vicksburg for workplace safety violations following an investigation into the May explosion of a recovery boiler during a start-up where 23 employees were injured, one fatally.

"The fines reflect the company's failure to establish procedures for a re-start of the recovery boiler without the power boiler being on-line," said Clyde Payne, OSHA's area director in Jackson, Miss. "Employees were exposed to a fire and explosion because the employer failed to develop written boiler set-up and operating procedures."

International Paper received one alleged willful and one serious violation. The willful violation is for failing to start the recovery boiler without adequate steam and not developing safe procedures to start up the recovery boiler when the primary power boiler is off-line. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

The serious violation is for failing to have written procedures to determine that an adequate amount of odorant was being added to the natural gas supply line coming into the power plant. A serious violation is one that could cause death or serious physical harm to employees and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard.

For these citations, OSHA is proposing $77,000 in penalties against the company.

International Paper, headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., is a paper and packaging manufacturer operating throughout the world. About 300 employees work at the Vicksburg site.

Labels: OSHA Citations, OSHA Fines

The Alberta Employment and Immigration department has released a series of web-based safety videos targeted at teen workers. They are graphic (bloody) but they get their point across. At the end of each video a set of buttons provides additional information. The six buttons are:

Prevent This - how the incident in the video could have been prevented.

Real Stories - a real-life story about someone who experienced what was shown in the video.

Real Stats - statistics about the frequency of workplace injuries

Play Again - view the video again

Play Another - view another of the six videos

Send To A Friend - send an email

Here is their press release:

A new public awareness campaign has been launched to remind young working Albertans that injuries and fatalities can be only moments away.

“Anybody who loses focus for a moment is at risk of making a mistake on the job, and our young workers heading into the work force are the most vulnerable,” said Hector Goudreau, Minister of Employment and Immigration.

The campaign focuses on specific questions young workers should ask their employers to avoid a workplace injury or death. Based on extensive research and testing, the campaign focuses on 15 to 19-year-olds and emphasises that workplace incidents can be very real with lasting consequences. It includes transit ads, video productions for movie theatres, posters, Internet banner ads - all of which encourage young workers to visit www.bloodylucky.ca.

“We find that every workplace incident uncovers several unfortunate choices that were made that led to the tragedy; there are no accidents,” says Dr. Michael Alpern of the Job Safety Skills Society, a member of the Young Worker Provincial Advisory Committee. “Research shows that young workers have a higher injury rate than their workplace peers. We see it first hand and we endorse any program that might save a life or limb.”

The campaign is part of Work Safe Alberta, a unique partnership between industry, labour and government. An integral part of the initiative is promoting workplace safety by increasing public awareness.

Labels: safety statistics, Safety Training, safety videos

A total of 252,784 nonfatal injuries and illnesses were reported by private industry workplaces in Texas during 2007. The resulting rate of 3.4 cases per 100 equivalent full-time employees marks a five-year low. The rate of injuries and illnesses reflects a 15% decrease from 4.0 in 2003, when data collection began under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The Texas rate is below the national rate of 4.2 for 2007; the national rate for 2006 was 4.4.

The 2007 injury and illness data are the latest available from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses conducted by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The occupational injury and illness rates are based on a statistical sample of approximately 10,000 private employers in Texas.

Workplace injury and illness rates vary widely among private sector industries (Table 1).

• The goods producing industries reported an overall 7% decrease from 2006. Within this group, mining showed the largest decrease (29%) of all sectors, matching the rate in 2003 and 2004. Manufacturing slightly decreased from 2006 and is down by 17% from 2003. Meanwhile, construction remained the same and the industry maintained a 14% decrease from 2003.
  
  
• The service providing industries also showed a decrease of almost 6% from 2006. Health care and social assistance reported the largest decrease (20%).
  
  
• In 2007, the manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, utilities, financial activities, educational services and health care and social assistance (7 of 16) sectors experienced their lowest nonfatal injury and illness rate in the last five years (since collecting the data under NAICS).

Workplace injury and illness rates varied among the major industries with the 10 highest rates in 2007 (Table 2).

• Wood product manufacturing (7.1) recorded a notable 17% increase from 2006 (5.9) and beverage and tobacco product manufacturing (6.6) experienced a slight increase (6.4). These two industries replaced transportation equipment manufacturing (5.0), which had a significant 26% decrease from 2006; and furniture and related product manufacturing (5.6), which experienced a substantial 22% decrease.
  
  
• The remaining industries also experienced decreases from 2006. The largest decreases were in air transportation (13%) followed by nursing and residential care facilities (10%).
  
  
• Within the goods producing group, industries that experienced the highest rates were primary metal manufacturing (7.2), wood product manufacturing (7.1) beverage and tobacco product manufacturing (6.6), food production (6.5) and animal production (6.5).
  
  
• Air transportation (10.5) and couriers and messengers (10.2) continued to report the highest rates in all industries, followed by warehousing and storage (7.4).

The TDI-DWC collects survey data in order to assist employers, safety professionals, and policymakers in identifying safety and health issues in the state. Visit the TDI website at http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/wc/safety/index.html .

Labels: Industrial Safety, safety statistics, workplace safety

A new doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet reveals that professionals may overlook important information when they search for research findings about injury prevention and safety promotion. The typical search uses no more than one or two online databases, and often only familiar search terms are used thereby limiting the search even further.

"Our findings are compelling because we were able to identify problems both with how professionals look for published research about safety and with the way that the online literature databases is organized," says Dr David Lawrence, Postgraduate Student at Karolinska Institutet. "This knowledge should be helpful in teaching people to be better searchers and for making improvements to the design of databases."

The researchers conducted six studies of the information-seeking behaviors of professionals who work in the fields of injury prevention and safety promotion. They used subscribers to the weekly SafetyLit Literature Update Bulletin as a pool for a survey. Subscribers included attorneys, engineers, staff members of legislative and other government offices, community planners, physicians, psychologists, workplace safety specialists, consumer product safety specialists, building codes and standards professionals, academic researchers and others. Among the respondents there where professionals from 173 countries represented. All terms used to search the SafetyLit database during the years 2000-2005 were registered. During the six years that the web logs were examined the site averaged 2500 searches each week.

The researchers found that when injury prevention professionals search for information, they typically search no more than one or two online databases. They only use familiar search terms and often exclude professional terms commonly used by professionals in other fields. Because at least thirty distinct professional disciplines contribute to what is known about injury prevention and safety promotion topics, this means that the searchers are self-limiting their ability to find new information. Further, professional journals exist to serve researchers in each of these disciplines but online literature databases tend to focus on the perceived needs of researchers in a single specialty and exclude journals from other disciplines.

"A large proportion of injury prevention and safety promotion professionals may hold a biased view of the full nature of injury problems and the options for prevention", says Dr Lawrence. "When they search a database they find a satisfyingly large list of articles and conclude that they must have received comprehensive information, unintentionally missing information from other perspectives."

David Lawrence is also affiliated to Center for Injury Prevention Policy & Practice, San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health. For further information, please contact: Dr David Lawrence Mobile: +1-619-322-4917 (US) or +46 76-2817009 (Sweden) Work: + 1-619-594-1991 (US) E-mail: david.lawrence@sdsu.edu

Doctoral thesis:

David Lawrence. The information-seeking behaviors of professionals and information sources in the field of injury prevention and safety promotion.

Read thesis

Labels: hazard prevention, safety management, workplace safety

www.EconomicRecovery.gov is gateway for information and assistance

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its participation in a one-stop Web tool offering a number of resources to assist those negatively impacted by the recent turmoil in the worldwide economy.

"We want to make information easily accessible and quickly available to American workers affected by the economic downturn," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "The new www.EconomicRecovery.gov one-stop Web page gives workers easy access to Department of Labor resources including unemployment insurance, local job openings and retirement security information as well as help available at other government agencies."

Affected workers and employers are encouraged to visit the federal government's Economic Recovery Web site at http://www.EconomicRecovery.gov. Useful information and links will assist Americans with questions about benefits, eligibility, locations of operating One-Stop Career Centers and career service centers, unemployment insurance information by state, and available assistance from other government departments and agencies.

Workers can call the department's toll-free number at 866-4-USA-DOL (487-2365) to obtain the latest information on where to file a claim and access temporary job information. Impacted workers can place their calls from anywhere and will be directed to sites near them that can take their claims.

Labels: Department Of Labor

Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers in 2007 occurred at a rate of 4.2 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers—a decline from 4.4 cases in 2006.

Similarly, the number of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses reported in 2007 declined to 4 million cases, compared to 4.1 million cases in 2006. The total recordable case injury and illness incidence rate among private industry employers has declined significantly—by 0.2 cases per 100 workers—each year since 2003, when estimates from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) were first published using the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Key findings of the 2007 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses

• The total recordable case injury and illness incidence rate in 2007 (4.2 cases per 100 workers) was the lowest among private industry employers since 2002, when recordkeeping requirements were revised. The decline is similar to that seen from 1972 to 2001, prior to the recordkeeping revisions.


• Incidence rates and numbers of cases for injuries and illnesses combined declined
  significantly in 2007 for several case types: total recordable cases; cases with days away from work, job transfer or restriction; cases with days away from work; and cases with job transfer or restriction. The incidence rate and number of cases for other recordable cases remained relatively unchanged.


• Both the incidence rate and the number of injuries alone declined significantly in 2007 compared to 2006—5 percent and 2 percent, respectively.


• The incidence rate and the number of illnesses alone each declined significantly in 2007 compared to 2006—mainly the result of declines among skin diseases and disorders and all other illness categories, which accounted for 89 percent of the decline in illness cases.


• The total recordable case injury and illness incidence rates declined among 5 of the 19 private industry sectors: agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting; mining; construction; manufacturing; and health care and social assistance—in 2007 and remained statistically unchanged in the remaining 14 industry sectors.


• Manufacturing was the only industry sector over the decade spanning 1998 to 2007 in which the rate of job transfer or restriction cases exceeded the rate of cases with days away from work.


• The total recordable case injury and illness incidence rate was highest among mid-size establishments (those employing between 50 and 249 workers) and lowest among small establishments (those employing fewer than 11 workers) compared to establishments of other sizes.


• Similar to 2006, 14 detailed industries, each reporting at least 100,000 injury and illness cases, combined to account for nearly 1.8 million cases (45 percent) of the 4 million total cases reported nationally in 2007. General medical and surgical hospitals (NAICS 6221) reported more injuries and illnesses than any other industry in 2007—more than 253,500 cases.

The overall decline in the total recordable case (TRC) incidence rate among private industry employers in 2007 was driven primarily by declines among all goods-producing industry sectors: agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting; mining; construction; and manufacturing together reporting 111,500 fewer cases compared to 2006.

Comparatively, while not a statistically significant increase, service industry sectors together reported nearly 29,000 more cases in 2007 than a year earlier. Health care and social assistance was the only service industry sector to show a decline in the TRC rate, falling from 5.8 to 5.6 cases per 100 workers between 2006 and 2007.

Labels: Industrial Health, Industrial Safety

The Center For Disease Control (CDC) released a study on illness and injuries resulting from Total Releases Foggers, commonly known as bug bombs. This one caught my attention because I was asked about this subject last week and I didn't have the answer.

The study is available at: CDC TRF Study. Here is the introduction to the report:

Total release are pesticide products designed to fill an area with insecticide and often are used in homes and workplaces to kill cockroaches, fleas, and flying insects. Most TRFs contain pyrethroid, pyrethrin, or both as active ingredients. TRFs also contain flammable aerosol propellants that can cause fires or explosions.

The magnitude and range of acute health problems associated with TRF usage has not been described previously. This report summarizes illnesses and injuries that were associated with exposures to TRFs during 2001--2006 in eight states (California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington) and were investigated by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) and state health departments participating in the SENSOR-Pesticides program.

During 2001--2006, a total of 466 TRF-related illnesses or injuries were identified. These illnesses or injuries often resulted from inability or failure to vacate before the TRF discharged, reentry into the treated space too soon after the TRF was discharged, excessive use of TRFs for the space being treated, and failure to notify others nearby. The findings indicate that TRFs pose a risk for acute, usually temporary health effects among users and bystanders.

To reduce the risk for TRF-related health effects, integrated pest management control strategies that prevent pests' access to food, water, and shelter need to be promoted and adopted. In addition, awareness of the hazards and proper use of TRFs need to be better communicated on TRF labels and in public media campaigns.

Labels: home safety, Industrial Health

A report in Japan's The Daily Yomiuri brings to light a new explosion hazard. Recycling facilities in Japan have been experiencing explosions as copy machine toner cartridges are processed. The article reports that:

"Two explosions that occurred earlier this year at recycling plants in Kanagawa Prefecture were found to have been caused by photocopier toner particles that chemically reacted with oxygen in the air, according to police. In the technological competition to achieve clearer printing, manufacturers are developing finer toner particles, increasing the risk of dust-induced explosions. "

Leftover toner in old cartridges mixes with air, reacting with the oxygen to create an explosive mixture.

Read the complete article: Copy Toner Explosions

Labels: printers, safety

Owais Mughal writes a blog about Pakistan. His October 13th post presents pictures of power company electricians, and the general public, working on utility wires. The post features lots of pictures along with Mr. Mughal's commentary.

I don't think I can do this report justice by trying to describe it, so I'll just let you read it yourself. Here is the link:

Daredevil Eletricians of Pakistan

P.S. You'll see lots of people in dangerous situations.

Labels: Electrical Hazards, electrical safety

Fall hazards were the most frequently cited violation found at New York City construction sites by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during a two-week enhanced enforcement effort this past summer.

As part of its New York City construction safety task force, OSHA detailed 12 inspectors to conduct 96 safety inspections at 46 construction sites throughout the city from June 23 to July 3. The sites were randomly selected to encompass a cross-section of high-risk construction activities including tower cranes, high-rise construction, poured-in-place concrete operations, steel erection, gut-rehab and other high-risk construction activities.

Citations were issued to 60 contractors for 129 violations with a total of $247,400 in proposed fines. The major categories of violations cited included fall hazards (39), electrical safety (29), scaffolds (17), cranes and rigging (13), welding/gas (10) and 20 other categories covering personal protective equipment, tools, material handling, concrete, hoists, stairs and ladders.

"These violations are consistent with the types of hazards we find on far too many jobsites and cannot be written off as the inevitable by-products of an inherently dangerous profession," said Richard Mendelson, OSHA's area director in Manhattan. "OSHA will use this information to further hone its inspection targeting, so we can direct our resources to those areas where we can have the most impact."

On Aug. 7, OSHA conducted a construction stakeholder safety meeting with industry representatives in which the agency analyzed trends in construction safety violations and recommended that all parties involved in New York City construction work to "raise the bar" on safety.

The meeting and the task force are among several OSHA efforts planned or underway to enhance construction safety in the city. These include an ongoing cross-training alliance with the New York City Department of Buildings and sending copies of citations to project owners, developers, employers' insurers, workers' compensation carriers and union training funds to raise awareness of occupational hazards found on city jobsites. In addition, OSHA will conduct a second round of concentrated construction inspections in the future.

"These findings reinforce the need for all parties - employers, developers, building trades, unions and employees - to work aggressively, effectively and continuously to minimize construction hazards," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "An effective approach is implementing and maintaining an effective safety and health management system through which employers and employees work together to identify and eliminate work-related hazards."

Labels: Construction Safety, OSHA Inspections

To coincide with the proposed rule on Cranes and Derricks in Construction, published in today's Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has initiated a National Crane Safety Initiative to address safety hazards during construction crane operation.

The Crane Safety Initiative also builds on a number of steps taken by OSHA earlier this year to raise awareness on crane safety and increase enforcement of the current standards, including launching local emphasis programs in a number of regions to inspect high-rise construction, stakeholder outreach and additional training on crane safety.

"Three important features of this initiative are that it will provide information and outreach to the construction industry and other stakeholders, offer enhanced resources to OSHA inspectors who address crane safety and implement a National Emphasis Program on Crane Safety," said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported the 2007 fatality rate was the lowest in recorded history, including a reported five percent reduction in fatalities for the construction industry. This initiative builds upon this successful record."

Through its agency partners in the construction industry, OSHA will increase awareness of and provide information on how to avoid crane hazards. The agency's compliance safety and health officers will receive enhanced resources on crane safety. Additionally, the National Emphasis Program will incorporate increased targeted inspections of construction worksites to identify crane hazards and promote compliance with workplace crane safety requirements.

OSHA's proposed rule on cranes and derricks addresses the key hazards associated with construction cranes and derricks.

Labels: Construction Safety, OSHA, osha information

I mostly go to the same places over and over, year after year. Some are exciting and far away, such as an annual trip to Russia. But most are close to home. Today, however, I had the opportunity to visit a paper mill I had not been in for 18 years.

I was surprised, not much had changed. The main office building was closed and I had to check in at the front gate. That was different. But the refiners were the same, the paper machines the same, the storage tanks looked the same. The boilers I had inspected 18 years ago were worn out and were just now being replaced, but everything was pretty much the same except...

...there were labels and signs everywhere. 18 years ago labels and signs were not used nearly as much.

But here is what really caught my eye...

Most mills have banners exhorting employees to improve safety or productivity. Here the maintenance shop had a banner I loved: LABELS, Read Them, Heed Them.

It's an important safety message.

This is obvious to us. Pay attention to labels. Although after 18 years the contrast was noticeable to me, for those who work there (in any industrial environment) it is easy for the labels and signs to become a part of the background. We need a constant reminder to pay attention to the labels and signs in our work place. And we also need to have labels and signs that clearly communicate their message. Effective visual communication is critical to safety.

Labels, Read Them, Heed Them... it's a message to pay attention to.

For more information about labels:
Pipe Markers
RTK Labels
Arc Flash Labels
Wire Markers

Labels: Industrial Safety, safety signs