Safe Workplace and Safety News

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a lean manufacturing technique. The cover story in the January issue of Reliable Plant Magazine profiles Karl Schmidt Unisia in Marinette, Wis. They use TPM, and other lean manufacturing techniques, to manage and continually improve their ability to produce a diverse product line of pistons. It makes interesting reading.

The article quotes Scott Haulotte, the Manager of Technical Services and Continuous Improvement, as saying, "We are, I believe, a success story," says Haulotte. "We are showing that you can succeed, even in a high-labor-cost country, if you work hard, think smart and come together."

Labels: Lean Manufacturing

An article in yesterday's Akron Beacon Journal provides a concise overview of OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program. The article states:

"Companies that are accepted into OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) pass a thorough application and audit but become exempt from occasional OSHA drop-in inspections, said Joe Warner, assistant area director of the Cleveland-area OSHA office."

The article also reports on a facility that has decided not to apply for OSHA's VPP.

Labels: VPP

LockOut / Tagout is an important part of your safety program. This February 22nd press releases annouces an OSHA citation and fine that is, in part, the result of failure to enforce lockout / tagout proceedures.

OSHA Press Release

OSHA Proposes $155,000 in Penalties
Federal Action Follows August 2006 Fatality

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed $155,000 in fines against Insulfoam-Columbus in Columbus, Ohio, for alleged repeat, willful and serious violations of federal workplace safety standards following the death of an employee in August 2006.

OSHA opened an inspection after receiving notification that an employee had died after being caught in and crushed by moving machinery that was not properly guarded. Two willful citations were issued alleging the company allowed the practice of by-passing interlock guards and failed to enforce lockout/tagout procedures. A serious violation alleged the lack of an annual lockout audit, and one repeat violation was issued for the lack of lockout/tagout training for employees.

"The tragedy of serious injuries and fatalities resulting from failing to prevent unintended movement of dangerous machinery is made worse by the fact that such hazards are entirely preventable," said Deborah Zubaty, OSHA area director in Columbus.

OSHA had conducted two previous inspections since May 2003 resulting in serious violations of OSHA standards covering lockout/tagout issues, machine guarding, powered industrial trucks and blood borne pathogen regulations.

Labels: LOTO, OSHA Citations

An article in the Gloucester County Times (New Jersey) expresses a concern that because VPP STAR facilities are not regularly inspected by OSHA, they represent a terrorism danger. The article opens by stating:

"Thirteen chemical plants in New Jersey with the potential to create a disaster affecting a minimum 15,000 people living nearby including plants in both Gloucester and Salem counties have not had on-site inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) since Sept. 11, 2001, according to a coalition of labor and environmental organizations urging stronger oversight by the agency."

Most of the facilities are refineries or chemical plants. Later in the article the Chemistry Council of New Jersey responsed to the above statement by saying:

"The Chemistry Council of New Jersey, representing 80 companies in the chemical and refining field, contends that a number of the companies have undergone a rigorous process to receive Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) status a process that allows internal inspections by the company with the results submitted to OSHA, the reason on-site inspections have not been conducted. "

What do you think? Should facilities that have achieved VPP STAR status continue to be inspected by OSHA as a terrorism prevention measure?

Labels: OSHA, VPP

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees has a health and safety section on their web site which includes information about lockout/tagout. It provides an excellent overview of this important topic. It covers:

Identifying hazardous energy
What is lockout/tagout?
When is lockout/tagout needed?
What does OSHA require?
Tagout vs. Lockout
Tagout Program
Lockout Tagout equipment
Applying Lockout/Tagout
Release From Lockout/Tagout
Periodic Inspections
Training
Retraining

The information was developed using a grant from OSHA. One of the introductory paragraphs states:

"The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a regulation on the Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) on September 1, 1989. This regulation, (29CFR 1910.147) helps safeguard employees from hazardous energy while they are performing service or maintenance on machines and equipment. The OSHA regulation requires that employer have documented clearance procedures to ensure that machinery does not start up while an employee is working on it."

We offer the Master Lock line of Safety Lockout/Tagout products. Master Lock provides an exclusive line of Lockout/TagOut equipment and supplies that include innovative and patent-pending cable lockouts, gate valve, ball valve, circuit breaker, plug covers and more. It is called the Master Lock Safety Series of products.

Master Lock Safety Series products are designed to help you successfully develop and implement the best possible lockout/tagout system for your facility. While it’s important to satisfy regulations, preventing accidents and protecting your employees is critical. You can rely on Master Lock Safety Series lockout and tagout products to perform to the high standards you expect from Master Lock.

Labels: osha information

A 2005 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index "estimates that overexertion - defined as injuries caused by excessive lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying or throwing of an object - in 2003 cost employers $13.4 billion."

Mention ergonomics and the first thing that comes to mind is typically an office setting and preventing repetitive stress injuries. Or maybe a warehouse in which workers are doing a lot of lifting and stretching. But, ergonomics is a major issue in the construction industry also. An article published in the January 29th issue of Occupational Hazards magazine points out:

"Construction, after all, involves gritty, physical labor - often performed by workers who aren't in peak physical condition. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that the BLS statistics for 2005 indicate that construction not only led the way in the lost-days injury and illness incidence rate for sprains and strains, but also in the lost-days incidence rate for cuts and lacerations; fractures; and multiple traumatic injuries."

How can injuries such as these be prevented? This article has several recommendations including stretching exorcises and getting lean. Not workers getting lean, but applying lean manufacturing techniques such as 5S to construction.

Labels: Lean Manufacturing, Safety Training

A new section about making safety signs was added to our web site today. It describes four methods for making safety signs. Actually the first one is not a method for making signs as it just says to buy the signs you need... preprinted and ready to go.

The second method is to use a vinyl tape printer such as the DuraLabel. These printers use vinyl tapes up to four inches wide. Tapes can be joined (tiled) to create larger signs.

To make larger signs a vinyl cutter is used. Vinyl cutters can cut out adhesive-backed vinyl letters that are up to 72 inches tall. Cut text and graphics can be applied to a sign board, window, glass door or vehicle.

The last method is to use a poster printer. A poster printer is a large format printer that connects to you PC. It can print on a variety of materials including economical paper, or heavy-duty poly-papers.

Labels: printers

A story published yesterday in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is about the only shipyard that is a participant in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program, the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard. At one time shipbuilding was the third most dangerous job, it has now dropped to the 24th most dangerous job. The article reports:

"Northrop Grumman Newport News, the country's largest shipyard and a maker and repairer of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines, has helped drive that reduction. The yard's rates fell 62 percent over the same stretch, from 21.9 cases per 100 workers in 1992 to 8.28 cases per 100 employees in 2005."

Read this article to learn how the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard has accomplished this.

Labels: VPP, workplace safety

OSHA News Release - February 5, 2007

President's FY 2008 Budget Request for Department of Labor's OSHA Will Increase Federal Enforcement and Compliance Assistance

WASHINGTON -- Edwin G. Foulke Jr., assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), today announced that President Bush has requested $490.3 million for OSHA in fiscal year 2008. The request represents an increase of nearly $18 million over the FY 2007 continuing resolution level and includes increases for federal enforcement and federal compliance assistance.

Foulke explained the increase will help the agency improve workplace safety and health through compliance assistance and enforcement of occupational safety and health regulations and standards. "We are proposing to increase resources supporting the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) by more than $4.6 million," Foulke said. "VPP recognizes exemplary work sites for their enhanced safety and health performance. This translates into substantial benefits for both employers and employees, including significant reductions in injury and illness rates which have proven to deliver millions of dollars in cost savings for participants."

Since 2001, OSHA has implemented a balanced approach consisting of aggressive enforcement, cooperative programs, outreach, education and compliance assistance which has yielded a 19 percent reduction in occupational illness and injury rates. During this same period, the overall fatality rate has declined by 7 percent and it has fallen by 18 percent among Hispanic employees.

More than $17 million will go to increasing resources allocated to the federal enforcement, federal compliance assistance and cooperative programs. OSHA has planned 37,700 workplace inspections throughout the year and will continue to focus its resources on workplaces and industries with high rates of injuries and illnesses. The Enhanced Enforcement Program focuses on employers who ignore their safety and health obligations while the agency's Local and National Emphasis Programs focus on specific industries or safety and health issues.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. OSHA's role is to assure the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

Labels: OSHA

On August 28, 2006, at the Idaho National Laboratory, a maintenance worker accidentally drilled into a pressurized fire extinguisher, releasing its contents. The worker was drilling into a wall and did not realize that a recessed fire extinguisher cabinet was located on the other side of the wall. The maintenance worker was not injured.

The worker drilled an inspection hole through the 5/8-inch sheetrock wall, then used a flashlight to look for any obstructions. When he saw no obstruction, he started drilling holes for thermostat wires and the 1/4-inch diameter center guide using a 1-inch hole saw. As the worker began to drill the holes for the center guide, he penetrated the fire extinguisher, which released its contents into the cabinet and into the room where it was located.

Investigators determined that the team leader and workers walked down the area before work began. The workers had a building drawing that indicated which rooms required a thermostat, but the workers received no direction on exact locations where the thermostats should be hung. Instead, they were given latitude to mount the thermostats wherever it was convenient to do so.

The procedure used by the workers permitted removal of a section of wall surface material (i.e., plasterboard or drywall) to inspect for wires or piping in the interior of the wall or to install a receptacle when cutting would not penetrate significantly beyond the interior surface of the wall surface material.

Investigators learned that the worker who drilled into the fire extinguisher did not walk around the wall to see what was on the other side because he did not intend to drill completely through the wall. This event would not have occurred if the worker had simply checked the other side of the wall before drilling. However, the procedure that was used for this work has been changed as a result of the event, and exploratory penetrations must now be performed with a non-powered tool. The revised procedure also does not permit workers to use a power tool before they have made absolutely certain that there is no interference inside the wall. When performing similar drilling tasks, workers and their supervisors should remember that recess-mounted panels, unlike surface-mounted panels, reduce the margin for error when drilling into the wall from the other side. Workers must also remember that the depth of the recess must be accounted for when drilling.

As the following similar events show, inattention to detail and inadequate procedures can have potentially serious consequences.

On October 14, 2003, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a carpenter mounting a key box set penetrated a 480/277-volt panel on the other side of the wall, resulting in arcing in the panel and between the screw head and the box. The carpenter was mounting the key box set directly below existing boxes and when some anchors did not "bottom-out" on the sheet rock, he thought it was because there were metal studs in the wall. Since he ran out of 2-inch sheet rock screws, he decided to use 3-inch screws, and one of them penetrated the panel box and contacted the bus bar. The screw disintegrated, but the carpenter did not receive an electrical shock.

(ORPS Report DP-OAK--LLNL-LLNL-2003-0036)
Investigators determined that no special procedure or permit was required for the job and that the contractor made no effort to check the other side of the wall for any potential obstructions. The worker, who had worked in the facility for many years, did not consider that there might be a recessed breaker box in the next room because he had never encountered one during previous, similar tasks.

Preventing Hazardous Events
Walk down the work site and perform the following checks.
• Identify equipment you will be working on.
• Ensure that equipment requiring isolation is clearly marked.
• Verify that drawings reflect as-built conditions.
• Identify any safety hazards or issues that may not be immediately apparent (e.g., check the other side of the wall
before work begins).

Drilling into electrical components is far more common across the DOE complex than drilling into a fire extinguisher, but both types of events can stem from similar problems. An analysis performed for an August 2004, Lessons Learned Report on
Electrical Safety at DOE found that about three-quarters of the electrical work occurrences were caused by personnel errors (e.g., procedure violations or inattention to detail) or work control weaknesses. The report presented measures to prevent such occurrences, including walking down the work site to (1) identify equipment to be worked on; (2) ensure that equipment to be isolated is clearly marked; (3) verify or modify drawing to reflect as-built conditions; and (4) identify any additional hazards or safety issues.

Although the maintenance workers and their team leader at Idaho National Laboratory performed a walkdown, it was not thorough enough to identify the safety hazard presented by the fire extinguisher on the other side of the wall.

OSHA regulations in 29 CFR 1926.416(a)(3) state that before work is begun the employer shall ascertain by inquiry or direct observation or by instruments whether any part of an energized electric power circuit, exposed or concealed, is so located that the performance of work may bring any person, tool, or machine into physical or electrical contact with the electrical power circuit. However, workers also must take responsibility for their own safety by performing an independent check of the area in which they intend to perform work tasks that are potentially hazardous.

These events illustrate the importance of taking responsibility for one’s own safety, as well as the necessity of developing procedures that adequately address work performance. Even when a task appears to be uncomplicated and easily performed, workers must check for any unseen hazards before they begin a work task. Supervisors and managers must also ensure that all work is adequately planned, that all hazards are identified, and that appropriate controls are in place before work begins. The simplest “skill of the craft” task can present serious hazards and may require additional, task-specific procedures to ensure worker safety.

The above article is from: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Health, Safety and Security OE Summary 2006-13 November 17, 2006

Labels: Industrial Safety

Yesterday's Boston Globe has an article about a U.S. Postal Facility in Massachusetts that has achieved VPP STAR status. What I like about this article is that it describes how employees were involved to make small changes that had a big impact on safety. It reminded me of Kaizen, which is approach to making improvements that involves continuous improvement through small changes resulting from employee suggestions.

Read the entire Boston Globe article

Labels: VPP Safety Articles and Papers

C. R. Meyer is an industrial and commercial general contractor with a facility located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. In attaining VPP STAR status last September they also had two other significant accomplishments. They were the first contractor to be selected for the Star level of the Mobile Workforce VPP Demonstration for Construction, and they also became the first company to achieve Star status directly resulting from participation in the VPP OSHA Challenge Pilot.

An article in Occupational Hazards Magazine describes C.R. Meyer's accomplishment and provides some background on what C. R. Meyer did to earn STAR status, and how their systems and successes lead to their achieving these VPP firsts.

Labels: Industrial Safety, VPP