This is the safety news blog for the Safe Workplace web site. We cover safety related news with a focus on how safety, or a lack of safety, impacts employers, employees and their families. We also cover topics such as safety training, safety tools, and legal issues related to safety. For regular safety news and information enter your email address in the box above the Subscribe Me! button (then click on the button).
Friday, November 30, 2007
OSHA Issues Confined Spaces in Construction Proposed Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published in the Federal Register a proposed rule to enhance the protection provided to construction employees working in confined spaces. The agency is accepting public comments on the proposed standard until January 28, 2008.
"The existing construction standard for confined spaces would be updated and comprehensively revised to better protect construction employees from atmospheric and physical hazards," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "This rule will reduce the number of construction injuries and fatalities and greatly improve safety and health in the workplace."
The proposed rule addresses construction-specific issues and uses a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to confined space safety by setting out how to assess the hazards, classify the space, and implement effective procedures to protect employees. The proposed rule would require controlling contractors to coordinate confined space operations among a site's multiple employers.
Interested parties are invited to submit comments on the proposed rule by January 28, 2008. Comments may be submitted electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal; send three copies to the OSHA Docket Office, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20210; telephone 202-693-2350; or fax to 202-693-1648. Comments must include the agency name and the docket number of this rulemaking, Docket No. OSHA-2007-0026. See the Federal Register notice for more information on submitting comments.
First Coast News in Florida reports that: "A man from Orange Park has filed a lawsuit after a can of beer fell on him at a supermarket in Ocala."
Among other things, the injured man is claiming safety violations by the supermarket for not preventing his access to a four-pack of beer in which one of the cans was not tightly secured by the plastic rings. His lawsuit states that the four-pack of beer "constituted unsafe and dangerous conditions."
His lawsuit claims that as a result of being struck by the can of beer, he has "suffered bodily injuries and resulting damages including, without limitation, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, chiropractic, medical and nursing care and treatment, loss of income, loss of earning capacity, and loss of ability to earn money. These losses are either permanent or continuing and said Plaintiff will suffer the losses in the future."
His wife is also suing for "loss of the value of her husband's services, society, companionship and consortium by reason of his injuries as alleged herein."
I read a story like this and tend to think it will be immediately thrown out of court. Yet, the woman who spilled hot McDonald's coffee on herself was awarded millions in damages and the attorneys I've spoken with said the award was just and correct. I'd like to file this story under safety humor, but it may not turn out to be all that humorous.
The following is a November 27th press release from NEMA:
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published ANSI Z535.2-2007 American National Standard for Environmental and Facility Safety Signs. This publication contains the requirements for safety signs to be used to alert and inform viewers of the existence of potential hazards to personnel or property in the environment or in facilities, the nature and potential severity of the hazard, and the steps to be taken to avoid the hazard.
According to Allen Clapp, chairman of Subcommittee Z535.2 on Environmental and Facility Safety Signs, this document also includes requirements for signs describing safety procedures, the location of safety equipment, and directional arrows used to alert viewers of safe locations or safety equipment. The requirements cover both fixed signs and larger, movable signs that are sometimes used on large industrial sites with changing conditions.
"This edition helps users differentiate hazards that are likely to result in personal injury from hazards likely to result only in damage to facilities," Clapp said. "The safety sign formats in this standard are consistent with those of ANSI Z535.4 for product safety signs and labels, and ANSI Z535.5 for temporary safety tags and barricade tapes. This standard, however, appropriately reflects the different requirements for environmental and facility safety signs to alert viewers at greater distances, so that they may avoid entering—or take appropriate cautions before entering—the location containing the hazard."
This standard incorporates a new annex to help users estimate and evaluate risks from potential hazards in the environment or in facilities, and select the appropriate alerting signal word and sign format consistent with the type and degree of hazard. Updated references also help users design effective, efficient safety signs.
The table of contents and scope of ANSI Z535.2-2007 may be viewed, or a hardcopy or electronic copy purchased for $78 by visiting NEMA’s website at www.nema.org/stds/z535-2.cfm Copies may also be purchased by contacting IHS at 800-854-7179 (within the U.S.), 303-397-7956 (international), or 303-397-2740 (fax).
NEMA is the trade association of choice for the electrical manufacturing industry. Founded in 1926 and headquartered near Washington, D.C., its approximately 450 member companies manufacture products used in the generation, transmission and distribution, control, and end-use of electricity.
Watch America's Funniest Videos, or similar shows on TV, and you'll see a lot of people doing very unsafe things. We laugh, but safety is serious and in many cases just involves thinking a little before we act. The final video this week shows people who were not thinking.
Today is the Thanksgiving so I thought I'd offer something different for the holiday. We've been featuring safety videos this week. With all the sports on TV today I thought we'd feature a sports video on our blog today. Today's featured sport is Cardboad Tube Wacking. Notice that some of the participants use cardboard body armor for protection.
We continue today with two more safety videos from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board in Ontario, Canada. The first video is a construction safety video from the 2007 marketing campaign. WARNING: This video has graphic content.
The following video is the 2006 WSIB Student Video Contest Winner. This video is different from the "shock" type videos produced by WSIB. It is an emotionally powerful video.
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) promotes workplace health and safety, and provides a workers compensation system for the employers and workers of Ontario, Canada. The vision of WSIB is to eliminate all workplace injuries and illnesses.
Tomorrow we'll feature two more WSIB workplace safety videos.
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (Ontario, Canada) has an aggressive attitude toward safety... "when it comes to counting up injuries and illnesses at work, the only acceptable number is zero."
They have sponsored and produced a number of safety videos that are realistic, hard-hitting, and highly effective. We will feature several of them in this blog this week. The first is an animation created to help young workers to refuse to work in unsafe working conditions.
Tomorrow we'll feature two more WSIB workplace safety videos.
This next video came out just a week ago and has already been viewed over 15,000 times on YouTube. WARNING: this video contains graphic content.
OSHA Announces Employer-Paid Personal Protective Equipment Final Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) yesterday announced a final rule on employer-paid personal protective equipment (PPE). Under the rule, all PPE, with a few exceptions, will be provided at no cost to the employee. OSHA anticipates that this rule will have substantial safety benefits that will result in more than 21,000 fewer occupational injuries per year. The rule will be published in the Federal Register on November 15, 2007.
"Employees exposed to safety and health hazards may need to wear personal protective equipment to be protected from injury, illness and death caused by exposure to those hazards," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "This final rule will clarify who is responsible for paying for PPE, which OSHA anticipates will lead to greater compliance and potential avoidance of thousands of workplace injuries each year."
The final rule contains a few exceptions for ordinary safety-toed footwear, ordinary prescription safety eyewear, logging boots, and ordinary clothing and weather-related gear. The final rule also clarifies OSHA's requirements regarding payment for employee-owned PPE and replacement PPE. While these clarifications have added several paragraphs to the regulatory text, the final rule provides employees no less protection than they would have received under the 1999 proposed standard.
The rule also provides an enforcement deadline of six months from the date of publication to allow employers time to change their existing PPE payment policies to accommodate the final rule.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces 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.
This video, from Lakeland FL, is of a demonstration showing the hazards of power lines. If you thought wood was a safe insulator , be sure to watch this video.
New Report finds safety and health violations in Cananea Mine
The United Steelworkers (USW) today said a new report conducted by a group of independent health and safety experts should serve as a wake-up call for Grupo Mexico, the world’s third-largest copper producer with a deadly record of worker safety violations.
The report released today concludes that there are "serious health and safety violations" at Grupo Mexico's Cananea copper mine in Sonora, Mexico. Violations include a lack of preventive maintenance, failing equipment, high levels of toxic dusts and acid mist and a refusal by the company to properly implement worker health and safety programs.
The experts "found a high concentration of silica dust, which is a carcinogen. They found that the company was not implementing its safety program. They found inadequate ventilation in the mine, lack of safety equipment, a very high rate of accidents – problems that unfortunately we’ve seen before in the Mexican mining industry and especially at Grupo Mexico," said Ben Davis of the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center in Mexico City.
Cananea workers, represented by Mexico’s National Union of Mine and Metal Workers, have been on strike since July 30 to protest poor health and safety conditions. The strike follows a February 2006 explosion at a Grupo Mexico mine that killed 65 miners. The government consorted with Grupo Mexico to shut down rescue efforts after only six days, leaving the 65 miners entombed for eternity.
Last month, a Mexican Congress committee found the company responsible for "negligence and omission" in the Pasta de Conchos explosion.
"This report should serve as a wake-up call to Grupo Mexico and German Larrea," said Manuel Armenta, USW's District 12 Sub-Director in Arizona. "We are trying to prevent another disaster like at Pasta de Conchos."
Grupo Mexico also has mines in the United States, operating as Asarco. The USW represents these workers in Arizona and Texas.
The report was conducted by a volunteer team organized by the Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network (MHSSN), a volunteer network of 400 occupational health and safety professionals provide information, technical assistance and on-site instruction regarding workplace hazards in the 3,000 maquiladora, or foreign-owned, workplaces along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The team conducted an inspection of the Cananea mine from October 5-8, 2007, and performed tests on a sample population of 68 workers. The investigators concluded that “there are serious health and safety hazards at the Cananea mine operation that require immediate and long-term corrections in order to protect workers from both accidents and occupational diseases,” said MSHHN director Garrett Brown.
Members of the team included Heather Barr, a registered nurse from San Francisco; Certified Industrial Hygienist Garrett Brown of Oakland; Dr. Octavio Castro of Hermosillo, Mexico; Dr. Robert Cohen of Chicago; Dr. Marian Fierro of Mexicali, Mexico; Certified Industrial Hygenist Enrique Medina of San Diego; Moises Ortega, a registered pulmonary function technologist from Chicago; and Ingrid Zubieta, who has a masters in public health, from Los Angeles.
Key findings of the investigation include:
· The conditions observed inside the mine and processing plants, and the work practices reported by the interviewed workers, paint a clear picture of a workplace being "deliberately run into the ground." A serious lack of preventive maintenance, failure to repair equipment and correct visible safety hazards, and a conspicuous lack of basic housekeeping has created a work site workers have been exposed to high levels of toxic dusts and acid mists, operate malfunctioning and poorly maintained equipment, and work in simply dangerous surroundings.
· The deliberate dismantling of dust collectors in the Concentrator area processing plants by Grupo Mexico approximately two years ago means that workers in these areas have been subjected to high concentrations of dust containing 23% quartz silica, with 51% of sampled dust in the respirable particle size range, protected only by completely inadequate personal respirators. Occupational exposures to silica can lead to debilitating, fatal respiratory diseases including silicosis and lung cancer.
· Semi-quantitative calculations indicate workers in the Concentrator area are exposed to dust levels of at least 10 milligrams per cubic meter of air (mg/m3). The respirable quartz silica component of this dust would be at least 1.2 mg/m3, or 10 times greater than the Mexican Maximum Permissible Exposure Limit (LMPE) of 0.1 mg/m3. Without any operating dust collection equipment, workers in the Concentrator area must be provided with Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (PAPRs), or supplied-air respirators in continuous flow mode, to protect them against inhalation exposures to silica dust, instead of the paper filtering facepieces currently in use.
· Implementation of Grupo Mexico's overall safety program at the mine has not resulted in effective, comprehensive protection of workers. There are serious health and safety hazards created by industrial-scale mining, crushing and pulverizing, acid leaching and electro-plating, and milling operations to produce fine powder copper ore from a huge open-pit, hard rock mine. The required Joint Management-Labor Safety Committee is small – six members total – and unable to conduct or oversee effective safety inspections, hazard corrections, accident investigations and employee training.
· Grupo Mexico has not conducted sufficient industrial hygiene monitoring to identify, evaluate, and later control health hazards to miners including exposure to mineral dusts (including silica), acid mists, airborne solvents, high noise levels, high vibration levels, hot and cold conditions. The employer has failed to inform, as required by Mexican law, monitored employees of their measured exposures to hazardous substances.
· Grupo Mexico has not conducted a comprehensive medical surveillance program to determine the health status of workers exposed to airborne contaminants (silicia, heavy metals like lead, acid mist, solvents) and physical hazards such as noise and vibration. The employer has failed to inform, as required by Mexican law, the few workers who have been examined of the results of the medical tests.
· Grupo Mexico has not provided the training required by Mexican law to workers with hazardous exposures that trigger the training requirement. Despite high noise levels, exposure to chemicals, and exposures to energized machines, 91% of the interviewed mines had not received noise training, 58% had not received chemical hazards training, 70% had not received electrical hazards training, and 75% did not get training on lockout/tagout procedures for operating and repairing energized equipment.
· Grupo Mexico has failed to install effective ventilation and source pollution controls in the two ESDE plants to prevent hazardous exposures to sulfuric acid mists to workers. One marker of the levels of acid mist is that the floors and structural steel frame of ESDE II building have been eaten away by highly concentrated acid mist.
· In addition to disassembling or failing to install effective local exhaust ventilation to reduce worker exposure to airborne contaminants, Grupo Mexico has relied on personal protective equipment (PPE), inappropriate N-95 paper respirators, to protect workers from particulates, acids and vapors. Moreover, respirator users have not been medically evaluated, fit-tested and trained in the use of the PPE.
· Although the OHS survey team could not verify the exact circumstances of the 50 separate accidents reported to have occurred on site in the last 12 months, the anecdotal reports of broken limbs, amputations, electrocutions, falls, burns, and at least one fatality, suggest these incidents were the result of unsafe working conditions, poorly maintained machinery and equipment, and inadequate safety procedures. Such root causes of the reported accidents would closely coincide with the on-site observations of the OHS survey team.
The USW represents 850,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada employed in the industries of metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service sector. For more information: www.usw.org/.
The National Safety Transportation Board (NSTB) held a meeting last Thursday to review its Most Wanted List of safety improvements. The NSTB Safety Most Wanted list calls for action by federal agencies and state governments on the most critical transportation safety issues.
The Most Wanted List was developed in 1990 to focus attention on safety improvements the Board believes will have the greatest impact on transportation safety. Some of the issues to be reviewed this year include: runway incursions, flight crew resource management, positive train control, medically unqualified commercial drivers, operator fatigue, and collision prevention through advanced automobile technology.
Regional Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Regulation Workshop
The EPA will be offering a regional Regional Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Regulation Workshop on November 15, 2007. The workshop will be offered via satellite at locations throughout Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In the workshop the EPA will provide detailed information about the current SPCC regulation including:
* oil pollution prevention rules * who needs an SPCC plan? * requirements for preparation, implementation and changing an SPCC plan * required inspection, testing and records * training and security requirements * loading and unloading areas * oil production facility drainage and containers * secondary containment measures * transfer operation considerations * applicability exercises * financial and environmental impacts of a spill * photos from actual inspections * current proposed revisions and deadlines * and much more
Safety is a lifestyle. When your employees are thinking safety at both work and at home, you'll have a much safer workplace.
The Electrical Safety Foundation International publishes a series of booklets about safety, with an emphasis on electrical safety in the home. Most are available free and in both English and Spanish. Topics include:
Indoor Electrical Safety Check Booklet
Outdoor Electrical Safety Check Booklet
Electrical Safety Precautions During Disasters
Test Before You Touch Brochure
Test Before You Touch Industrial Panel Label
Arc Faults and Electrical Safety Brochure
Look Up! Look Down! Look Out! Powerline Safety
Electrical Panel Labels
GFCI Poster and Flyer
Home Safety Quiz Poster
Electrical Safety Tips Bookmarks
Wired for Safety Video & Guide to Home Wiring Hazards
Cincinnati Facility Earns OSHA VPP Star Certification
The following is a press release issued yesterday.
Clean Harbors' Cincinnati Facility Earns OSHA VPP Star Certification - Third Clean Harbors Location to be Recognized for Superior Health & Safety Awareness
Norwell, MA - Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc., the leading provider of environmental and hazardous waste management services throughout North America, today announced that its Cincinnati, Ohio (Spring Grove Resource Recovery) facility has received a "Star" designation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP).
The Cincinnati Spring Grove location is Clean Harbors' third Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facility (TSDF) to receive this prestigious recognition from OSHA. Clean Harbors' Lone Mountain facility in Oklahoma was the first TSDF in the country to be recognized with this award in 2005, followed by the Clean Harbors Reidsville, North Carolina TSDF in 2006. Clean Harbors' TSDFs are the nation's only TSDFs to receive this certification.
Spring Grove's total recordable incidence rate (TRIR) has steadily declined each year since 2003 and the facility's rate was zero in 2006. As defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, TRIR measures the total number of recordable injuries and illness cases per 100 full-time employees that a site has experienced in a given time frame.
"It is a privilege to work with a team of employees that is committed to elevating workplace safety and health programs, which ultimately works for everyone's benefit," said Andrew Hudson, General Manager for Clean Harbors Spring Grove Resource Recovery. "VPP status can only be achieved through a team effort that requires everyone in the plant to contribute. Each co-worker has played an integral role in this three-year endeavor: attending safety meetings, providing feedback to management, improving their individual safety performance, and looking out for their co-workers. Our facility also received unparalleled support from our corporate staff, emphasizing Clean Harbors' desire for continuous safety improvement and culture of protecting its employees' health and safety."
The VPP Star Program is a comprehensive health and safety process that requires employee involvement, management support, and cooperation with OSHA. Star facilities demonstrate a strong safety culture from both management and employees who ensure a safe and healthful workplace environment. Additionally, facilities that are awarded the certification have occupational injury and illness incidence rates below the state and national averages for companies within the same industry classification. "Congratulations to each and every employee at the Clean Harbors Spring Grove Resource Recovery facility for their participation, dedication, and achievement in being recognized as an OSHA Star. It was truly a collaborative effort," Hudson concluded.
The Spring Grove Resource Recovery location is a commercial hazardous waste management facility primarily engaged in receiving hazardous waste generated off-site for on-site treatment or consolidation and temporary storage while in transit to a final treatment, recycling, or disposal site.
About Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc.
Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc. is North America's leading provider of environmental and hazardous waste management services. With an unmatched infrastructure of 49 waste management facilities, including nine landfills, six incineration locations and six wastewater treatment centers, the Company provides essential services to over 45,000 customers, including more than 325 Fortune 500 companies, thousands of smaller private entities and numerous federal, state and local governmental agencies. Headquartered in Norwell, Massachusetts, Clean Harbors has more than 100 locations strategically positioned throughout North America in 36 U.S. states, six Canadian provinces, Mexico and Puerto Rico. For more information, visit www.cleanharbors.com.
