Safe Workplace and Safety News

A web site for the Michigan Mine Safety & Health Training Program provides a variety of safety training aids. This site takes a different approach to safety training than I've seen before, possibly because it appears to have been created by university students. I'd be interested in your comments about the usefulness of this web site.

The web site includes a lot of pictures showing safety hazards, but I could not find much information describing those hazards or what should be done to eliminate them. It also has a number of safety games and quizzes. Take a look at this site and then let everyone know what you think by adding your comments to this blog.

Labels: workplace safety

Valero Energy has been ranked as the No. 1 "Big" company to work for by Fortune magazine. An article in yesterday's San Antonio Business Journal reports that Fortune Magazine's new Best Big Companies to work for list has Valero Energy at the top of the list. They report Fortune's web site as saying "Valero's participation in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Program as a key reason for being selected."

Labels: VPP

A power point presentation about the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program is available for downloading. For those who need to explain VPP this presentation can be a good starting point for your own presentation. The topics covered include:

• What is VPP?


• The VPP Program Levels


• What Are The Benefits?


• Won't VPP Increase Paperwork?


• Will WE Quality?


• How Do I join?


• Where To Get More Information?

Labels: VPP Implementation

NIOSH Electrical Safety Publications

"Electrical current exposes workers to a serious, widespread occupational hazard; practically all members of the workforce are exposed to electrical energy during the performance of their daily duties, and electrocutions occur to workers in various job categories. Many workers are unaware of the potential electrical hazards present in their work environment, which makes them more vulnerable to the danger of electrocution."

"Electrical injuries consist of four main types: electrocution (fatal), electric shock, burns, and falls caused as a result of contact with electrical energy."

The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) makes a variety of electrical safety publications available for downloading from their web site. These include:

Electrical Safety: Safety and Health for Electrical Trades -- Student Manual

Worker Deaths by Electrocution: A Summary of Surveillance Findings and Investigative Case Reports

NIOSH Alert: Request for Preventing Worker Deaths from Uncontrolled Release of Electrical, Mechanical, and Other Types of Hazardous Energy -- This Alert describes five fatal incidents in which workers contacted uncontrolled hazardous energy during installation, maintenance, service, or repair work. To prevent such deaths, the recommendations in this Alert should be followed by every employer, manager, supervisor, and worker who installs, maintains, services, or repairs machines, equipment, processes, or systems.

NIOSH Alert: Request for Assistance in Preventing Electrocutions of Crane Operators and Crew Members Working Near Overhead Power Lines (Available in English and Spanish) -- This Alert describes five cases (six electrocutions) that resulted from the hazards of operating cranes near overhead power lines and makes recommendations for preventing similar incidents. The Alert updates a previous NIOSH Alert published in July 1985 [NIOSH 1985].

Plus there are about a dozen other NIOSH electrical safety publications available on this web page.

Labels: Electrical Hazards

32 workers in China were killed yesterday when they were engulfed by red hot molten steel. A newspaper article reported that "Industrial accidents occur frequently in China with more than 15,000 work place fatalities recorded in 12,800 mishaps at mines, companies and factories in 2005, according to government figures."

110 workers were killed in a Siberian mine explosion last month. The death toll increased to 110 yesterday when two additional bodies were found. It appears the "accident" was caused by the methane detectors in the mine being intentionally blocked by workers who did not want their work (their pay) interrupted.

Workplace safety is serious. In American, at times we start to give safety a back seat because it seems as though everything is going right... and maybe we can take a few shortcuts and save some time or money. Safety always needs to be first.

Labels: workplace safety

A new Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide for People with Disabilities was developed and issued this month by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The document provides general information to assist in identifying the needs of people with disabilities related to emergency evacuation planning.

According to the U.S Census Bureau, nearly 49 million Americans had one or more disabilities in 2000. The guide addresses the need for evacuation plans to include everyone, and highlights the needs, criteria, and minimum information required to incorporate appropriate planning strategies for people with disabilities into these plans.

"Other than preventing an emergency before it happens, having a plan and practicing it is the best way to prepare ourselves for the unexpected," said James M. Shannon, NFPA’s president. "NFPA developed this guide as a resource for creating an all-inclusive evacuation plan that considers everyone's needs for evacuation, including the needs of people with disabilities."

The Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide for People with Disabilities is available for download at no cost from NFPA’s Web site, www.nfpa.org/evacuationguide.

The document is a valuable resource for people with disabilities as well as employers, building owners and managers, and others involved in developing emergency evacuation plans. Critical information on the operational, planning, and response elements necessary to develop a well-thought-out plan for evacuating a building or taking other appropriate action in the event of an emergency are covered.

Five general categories of disabilities covered in the guide include mobility impairments, visual impairments, hearing impairments, speech impairments, and cognitive impairments. Four elements of evacuation information needed by occupants are: notification, way finding, use of way, and assistance. Basically, in the event of an emergency, a person would need to be notified of the emergency; identify a way out; assess if they can get out on their own, with the help of a device, or with assistance; and identify and express if assistance is needed and what that would involve.

Materials include a personal emergency evacuation planning checklist that building services managers and people with disabilities can use to design a personalized evacuation plan.

Labels: Emergency Planning, workplace safety

I just found the OSHAcademy Safety Training Network, which offers free online safety training. It was created by Steven Geigle who is a a 16-year veteran Senior Safety Education and Training Specialist previously with Oregon OSHA. Several years ago I took several online courses through Oregon OSHA for which Steve was the instructor. The courses were excellent as was Steve as the instructor.

The OSHAcademy web site offers workbooks, audits, sermons, notes and safety books in addition to the free safety courses. The safety courses are freely available for anyone to take. If you need a course certificate there is a $14.95 fee.

Don't expect these courses to be something you can just breeze through and then "purchase" a certificate. Steve is serious about safety. These are serious courses that are detailed, comprehensive and they use effective teaching techniques. Currently 15 topics are covered by the online courses.

Course 700: Introduction to Safety Management
Course 701: Effective Safety Committees
Course 702: Effective Accident Investigation
Course 703: Train the Safety Trainer
Course 704: Hazard Analysis and Control
Course 705: Hazard Communication Program
Course 706: Conducting a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA)
Course 707: Effective Safety Committee Meetings
Course 708: OSHA 300 Recordkeeping
Course 709: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Course 711: Introduction to Ergonomics
Course 712: Safety Supervision and Leadership
Course 716: Safety Management System Evaluation
Course 720: Preventing Workplace Violence
Course 722: Ergonomics Program Management

Labels: Safety Training

Many workers are unaware of the potential electrical hazards present in their work environment, which makes them more vulnerable to the danger of electrocution. OSHA provides a variety of references that help recognize hazards associated with electrical work. OSHA makes all of these available through a single resources page titled Electrical Hazard Recognition.

The available resources include:

• Working Safely with Electricity, OSHA Fact Sheet


• Portable Generator Safety, OSHA Quick Card


• Using Portable Generators Safely, OSHA Fact Sheet


• Electrical Safety Hazards of Overloading Cable Trays, OSHA Fact Sheet


• Construction Pocket Guide


• Electrical safety web page that provides links to information about electrical safety and electrocutions.


• OSHA Assistance for the Maritime Industry


• Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills web page provides links to safety and health information.


• Electrical Safety: Safety and Health for Electrical Trades Student Manual


• Fire Fighters Exposed to Electrical Hazards During Wildland Fire Operations


• Electrocutions Fatality Investigation Reports


• Construction Industry Safety and Health Outreach Program

Labels: Free Safety Guides, osha information

Does it seem impossible to go several years without a lost time accident? After all, accidents happens... as the saying goes. Sometimes things happen and a lost time accident just can not be avoided. If this is the way you are thinking, start changing your thinking. Accidents can be prevented and there should not be a level of accidents that is acceptable.

Reliable Plant magazine reports that CF Industries Inc. of Aurora, Neb., has had 15,000 consecutive days of operation without a lost-time incident. That's more than 40 years without a lost time accident. They have been a "Star" member of OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) since August 2001.

Labels: VPP

The following is from a news report about revisions of OSHA's Electrical Installation Standard (Subpart S of 29 CFR Part 1910) in EC&M Magazine:

"According to OSHA, 'The agency has determined that electrical hazards in the workplace pose a significant risk of injury or death to employees, and that the requirements in the revised standard, which draw heavily from the 2000 edition of the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces (NFPA 70E), and the 2002 edition of the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70), are reasonably necessary to provide protection from these hazards.'"

An OSHA press release provides additional information. It states:

"Changes to OSHA's general industry electrical installation standard focus on safety in the design and installation of electric equipment in the workplace. The updated standard includes a new alternative method for classifying and installing equipment in Class I hazardous locations; new requirements for ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) and new provisions on wiring for carnivals and similar installations."

"The final rule updates the general industry electrical installation requirements to the 2000 edition of the NFPA 70E, which was used as the foundation of the revised standard. The final rule also replaces the reference to the 1971 National Electrical Code in the mandatory appendix to the powered platform standard with a reference to OSHA's electrical installation standard."

You'll find the OSHA "Electrical Standard; Final Rule - 72:7135-7221" online at: http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=19269

Labels: Construction / Installation, Industrial Safety

"The conflict between keeping machines running and maintaining a safe working environment always will exist. Fortunately, advances in machine automation and safety systems are like having a guardian angel on your shoulder, minimizing tradeoffs between uptime and safety."

The above summarizes an article in the April 2nd issue of Plant Services magazine. It presents the "old-school versus new" school approach to machine and process safety, and shows how automation can improve safety and productivity through capabilities such as predictive maintanance.

The article reports:

"The diagnostic information provided by automated safety systems not only helps plant personnel find the problem, it also can help when planning repairs. 'We use sensors and instrumentation to ascertain the state of the machine so the operators know the tasks to be performed before they enter into the hazard area,' reports Mike Harrington, director of engineering at Alliance Machine Systems, a builder of automation and material handling equipment for corrugated box plants. Knowing what tasks need to be performed beforehand allows manuals and procedures to be reviewed before starting work."

Labels: Arc Flash, safety automation, workplace safety