Safe Workplace and Safety News

Today is Halloween so it seems like a good day to resurrect the "Klause: First Day On The Job" safety video spoof. It's a little gory (lots of blood), so if you have a weak stomach it is not for you.

Labels: safety humor, safety videos

Today's edition of the Patriot Ledger newspaper (South of Boston) reports on the results of quarterly inspections of the Quincy Massachusetts schools by the fire department. In some cases schools are repeatedly failing on the same issues, such as uninspected fire extinguishers and emergency lighting not working, for three or four inspections in a row.

The tone of the article seems to be that the fire department is being too harsh on the schools. For example, when one inspector found exit doors in a high school blocked by construction material and one chained shut. He wrote in his report: ‘‘Current conditions of the egresses need to be corrected before someone dies!!!’’ However, Fire Chief Timothy Pettinelli called this comment "outrageous".

Was such a strongly worded comment outrageous or appropriate?

To me blocked emergency exits and chained exits bring to mind fires in nightclubs in which hundred's died. But, what do you think?

Read the article at: http://www.patriotledger.com/articles/2007/10/30/news/news01a.txt

Labels: safety

A growing safety issue is that of arc flash protection and determining the proper PPE. An article in Maintenance Technology magazine addresses this topic. The problem is that PPE requirements are based on tests that may not be reflecting real-life situations. The article states:

"Recent research into arc flash phenomena, however, indicates that workers could be under-protected against the heat generated during an arc flash event. Test results presented at IEEE conferences and at the 2007 IEEE Electrical Safety Workshop show that different configurations of electrodes (conductors) yielded heat energy higher than current predictions due to the directional nature of the arc development. Additionally, initial tests of PPE, when placed within this directional plasma fl ow, did not provide the level of thermal protection predicted by its APTV."

You can read the article at: http://www.mt-online.com/articles/0507_electricalsafety.cfm

Labels: Arc Flash, Electrical Hazards, PPE

Today's online edition Occupational Health & Safety magazine reports that the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics show that small businesses report the lowest injury rate.

The BLS Report states:

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

"Small establishments (those employing 1 to 10 workers) reported the lowest rate for injuries and illnesses combined (1.9 cases per 100 full-time workers). Mid-size establishments (those employing 50 to 249 workers) reported the highest rate (5.5 cases per 100 full-time workers)."

"While the incidence rate remained relatively unchanged for small establishments employing fewer than 11 workers, the rates for establishments in all other size classes declined significantly in 2006 compared to 2005."

"These data are from the BLS Injuries and Illnesses and Fatalities program."

Labels: workplace safety

OSHA made the following annoucement on Friday, October 19th:

The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today issued a new safety and health instruction that details OSHA policies and procedures for inspecting workplaces that handle combustible dusts and that may have the potential for a dust explosion.

"With this National Emphasis Program, we will focus our efforts on the fire and explosion hazards that may exist at facilities where combustible dusts accumulate," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "A combustible dust fire and/or explosion is a potential hazard to America's working men and women. This instruction will be a valuable resource for those who inspect industrial facilities in the United States."

Combustible dusts are often either organic or metal dusts that are finely ground into very small particles, fibers, chips, and/or flakes. These dusts can come from metal, wood, plastic and organic materials such as grain, flour, sugar, paper, soap and dried blood. Dusts can also come from textile materials. Some of the industries in which combustible dusts are particularly prevalent include agriculture, chemical, textile, forest and the furniture industry.

The instruction provides detailed information on OSHA's inspection scheduling, resource allocation, inspection resources and procedures. This information is particularly useful in educating businesses on how to achieve compliance with OSHA requirements in advance of any inspection.

The instruction is available electronically on OSHA's Web site at http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/Directive_pdf/CPL_03-00-006.pdf.

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: workplace safety

A press release from the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) states that AIHA is now offering podcasts of highly rated and well attended sessions from the 2007 American Industrial Hygiene and Conference Exposition in Philadelphia.

The first podcast AIHA will offer is from Roundtable 236, "Critical Steps in Starting and Sustaining an Independent H&S Consultancy." The presentation’s complete audio and handout materials are now available for individuals to download, listen, and review at www.aiha.org/Podcasts.htm.

"AIHA is very excited to bring this new feature to members and the occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) community," said AIHA President Donald J. Hart, PhD, CIH.

The AIHA’s Distance Learning Program strives to provide new services and education to industrial hygienists and other members of the OEHS community via nontraditional educational formats. "Our hope is to offer glimpses of courses, roundtables, crossovers, and podium sessions and other continuing education courses through this easily accessible and portable educational format in the future," said AIHA Director of Meetings and Education Carol Tobin.

Labels: Industrial Safety

The title of the Power Magazine article is: "Arc flash protection should be job No. 1"

The opening paragraph of the article states:

"Arc flash is arguably the most deadly and least understood hazard faced daily by plant personnel. Research indicates that even the best safety plan, training regimen, and protective equipment may be no match for the heat and blast effects of an arc flash. Consider this article a wakeup call to retrofit every switchgear cubicle in your plant with a properly designed remote racking system. Forewarned is forearmed."

The first part of this article describes the mechanisms resulting from an arc flash that cause injuries or death. These range from the thermal energy, blast effects, high sound levels, toxic gases, shrapnel, electromagnetic radiation and other effects. This is probably the most complete description of arc flash effects that I've seen in a single article.

The second half of the article describes the research planned by the IEEE/NFPA Collaboration on Arc Flash Phenomena. The article states, "The IEEE/NFPA Arc Flash Collaborative Research Project is a multiyear effort encompassing more than 2,000 test protocols."

"The initial phase of the project will explore published and unpublished information on arc flash and blast to build a coherent picture of what is known about these phenomena. This will lead to a research and test plan that seeks to tie the electrical characteristics of equipment to arc-fault hazards. The program will go well beyond what was done in the past. For instance, most arc fault studies to date have involved controlled conditions and stabilized arcs between opposing electrodes. In real life, turbulent arcs often occur between parallel electrodes and vary by several orders of magnitude along their length and with time."

The above link goes to the online version of this article. The print version includes an excellent side-bar article about Wolf Creek Generating Station that is not provided in the online version. This short article describes the process the Wolf Creek Plant Safety Committee went through that resulted in their purchasing a remote-racking system for racking in breakers. The article stated:

"Plant management realized that safer work practices and buying higher-rated safety gear was no longer the answer: Somehow, technicians and bystanders had to be safely separated from the source of the arc flash."

The Wolf Creek plant chose the Safe-T-Rack (STR) remote racking system from Switchgear Solutions. The article gave this reason: "One of the key selection criteria was that the system required no internal switchgear cabinet rewiring. Because those cabinets are part of the plant's safety systems, the time and cost to design, approve, and update hundreds of drawings could exceed the capital cost of the STR system."

Labels: Arc Flash

Kimberly-Clark Professional has an online Safety Knowledge Network that provides free access to safety related information and white papers. Accessing some of the white papers requires going through a quick registration process, following which you have immediate access to the white paper.

Topics covered include:

• Eyewear Technical Guide


• Evaluating Chemical Splash Protection


• Chemical Barrier Performance & Protective Apparel Selection


• Safety Doesn't Cost: It Pays


• Katrina Clean-up Crews Threatened by Lack of Personal Protective Apparel


• Protecting Workers From Bloodborne Pathogens


• How To Select The Right Protective Clothing For The Job


• Interactive Chemical Selector Tool

I've included a link on the first topic, protective eyewear, because this is an excellent paper providing information covering everything a safety professional needs to know about protective eyewear. This paper is freely available, so it provides an example of the quality of these resources without having to register.

Labels: Industrial Safety, PPE

NIOSH is seeking public comment on a draft action plan that responds to issues and recommendations in an April 2007 report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The IOM report, which represented findings from an independent review commissioned by NIOSH, addressed research at NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory. The research aims at developing a modern, representative data base of facial sizes and shapes that will help in the design of respirator face masks for the increasingly diverse U.S. employee population.

The draft action plan, the IOM report, further details about the NIOSH research, and contact information for submitting public comments are available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/review/public/111.

Labels: NIOSH

This one is just for fun... but it was so odd that I couldn't pass it up.

Safety is very important, but in some circumstances total safety--the absolute elimination of all risk-- gets taken too far. This past week this issue became news as a result of the participation of a team from the U.K. Institution of Occupational Safety and Health in the 2007 World Conker Championships. The champions were held on Ashton village green, near Oundle in Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom.

By the way, an Englishman beat a Frenchman this year to take the World Conker Championship.

Conkers is a game that involves swinging chestnuts on strings in an attempt to smash your opponent's chestnut. You can read about this year's championships, and the implications for industrial safety, in an article in The Times (U.K.).

If after reading The Times article you'd like to learn more about Conkers, the official Conkers World Championship web site is at: Aston Conker Club.

Labels: safety humor

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced last week that more than $10.1 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants have been awarded to 55 nonprofit organizations for safety and health training and educational programs.

"Outreach and education are at the heart of our compliance assistance efforts for employers and employees," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "The Harwood grants will help OSHA expand its educational resources to protect working men and women."

The Susan Harwood Grants support workplace safety programs and the development of training materials to educate employees in high-hazard industries, those with limited English proficiency, those who are hard-to-reach and those in industries with high fatality rates, as well as small business employers.

The grants support training programs to educate employees on targeted topics such as construction hazards; general industry hazards; and other safety and health topic areas including pandemic flu and driver safety.

A complete list of the 2007 Susan Harwood Grant recipients is posted at www.osha.gov/dcsp/ote/sharwood.html.

Labels: osha information, Safety Training

U.S. Senate's bill S. 742, the Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007, was unanimous approved last Thursday. This new law puts in place a complete ban on the production, manufacture, and distribution of asbestos in the U.S.

A press release from bill co-sponsor Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga announced the passage of S. 742. It states:

"The bill establishes a permanent ban of asbestos that will be enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency. The bill also mandates the most thorough government study of asbestos to date. The study will ensure the best experts from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the National Academy of Sciences and the EPA examine all aspects of asbestos, including its natural properties, its geographic distribution across the United States and its effects on the human body."

"Asbestos is known to cause diseases, including mesothelioma, a cancer that occurs when malignant cells develop in the protective lining around the lungs. Despite this hazard, the substance is not banned. The EPA initially proposed a ban of most asbestos-containing materials in the late 1970’s, but the rule was not finalized until 1989. In 1991, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the rule, finding that EPA had 'failed to muster substantial evidence' in support of the ban. Today, the United States uses about 2,000 tons of asbestos annually, down from almost 800,000 tons used in the mid-1970's."

In addition to an outright ban on asbestos, the bill also calls for a national mesothelioma registry, a public information campaign about the hazards of asbestos-containing materials, some narrow exemptions for the few areas in which asbestos can be used safely and an annual testing program for asbestos-containing material in products."

Labels: workplace safety