Safe Workplace and Safety News

OSHA has published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) addressing tree care operations, including hazards, fatalities and control measures. OSHA is requesting data, information and comments on effective measures to control hazards in tree care operations and prevent injuries and fatalities.

"This rulemaking will assist us in determining effective measures to control hazards and prevent employee injuries and fatalities," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "Input from the public is important as we proceed in our efforts to protect the safety and health of the men and women working in tree care operations."

The ANPR includes several questions for public comment related to current employer practices, along with tasks, tools, equipment, machines, vehicles, processes, controls and procedures involved in tree care operations. Additionally, OSHA requests comment on regulatory alternatives to reduce injuries and fatalities, as well as what requirements a standard addressing hazards in this industry should include and the potential costs and benefits of such a standard.

Comments must be submitted by Dec. 17, 2008. To submit electronically, visit http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal and follow the instructions. If your comments do not exceed 10 pages, you may fax them to 202-693-1648. If submitting by mail, hand delivery, or messenger/courier service, send three copies of your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2008-0012, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Room N-2625, Washington, DC 20210; telephone 202-693-2350. Please include the docket number on all submissions.

Labels: OSHA, osha information

Completing their school's sweep of the animation awards, students of Nanyang Polytechnic also won the Bronze Award for animation. This safety video is called "The Cleaner."

This year's Silver Award for animation also went to students from Nanyang Polytechnic, Yeo Hui Xuan & Teo Yan Bing. This video is called "Falling Bricks."

Labels: safety videos, VPP Implementation

Students of Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore also took the First Place Prize for animation work with this video called "Take The Lead."

Labels: Safety Training, safety videos

The Safety@Work Creative Awards is a film and poster competition for students in Singapore.

Jointly organized by the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council and Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering) in collaboration with Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the Safety@Work Creative Awards showcases students’ creative talents in advocating the importance of safety at the workplace. The theme for this year competition is Safety@Work, with specific focus on Fall Preventions.

Four posts today will provide four of the award winning videos. This first video, from students of Nanyang Polytechnic, received the Judges' Choice Award. It is called "Safety Harness".

Labels: Safety Training, safety videos

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today announced that a proposed rule for cranes and derricks in construction will be published shortly in the Federal Register.

A current copy of the proposed standard is available on OSHA's Web site at http://www.osha.gov/doc/proposedrule/Cranes_Derricks_Proposed_Rule.html for the public to review. The public comment period on the proposed rule will only begin after the proposal has been formally published in the Federal Register.

"The cranes and derricks proposed rule comprehensively addresses the hazards associated with the use of cranes and derricks in construction, including tower cranes," said Edwin G. Foulke Jr., assistant secretary of labor for OSHA. "This draft rule will both protect construction employees and help prevent crane accidents by updating existing protections and requiring crane operators to be trained in the use of construction cranes."

The cranes and derricks proposed rule would apply to the estimated 96,000 construction cranes in the U.S., including 2,000 tower cranes. The proposed standard addresses key safety issues associated with cranes, including ground conditions, the assembly and disassembly of cranes, the operation of cranes near power lines, the certification and training of crane operators, the use of safety devices and signals, and inspections of cranes. It significantly updates existing tower crane requirements and more comprehensively addresses tower crane safety, with respect both to erecting and dismantling, and to crane operations.

The proposed standard would establish four options for the qualification or certification of crane operators:

(1) certification through an accredited third-party testing organization
(2) qualification through an audited employer testing program
(3) qualification issued by the U.S. military
(4) qualification by a state or local licensing authority.

This proposed rule was developed through negotiated rulemaking by the Cranes and Derricks Advisory Committee (C-DAC). The federal Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health subsequently recommended that OSHA use that document for developing its proposed rule. Since then and as required by law, OSHA has conducted a regulatory flexibility analysis, small business review and paperwork burden analysis of the proposed rule. In addition, OSHA was required to write a preamble to the regulatory proposal that explains in detail the purpose and application of the proposed standard. That preamble is almost 1,000 pages. The members of C-DAC were sent an advance copy for review as part of their role in the negotiated rulemaking.

OSHA has improved workplace safety and health over the past 37 years. This success is reflected in the latest data showing the lowest national fatality and injury and illness incidence rate that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has ever recorded.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. OSHA’s role is to promote 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.

Our previous posts on crane safety include:
Tower Crane Safety
Unqualified Hardhats Feared As Fake Crane-Safety Papers Found
OSHA Investigates Crane Accident
OSHA Citations Issued In Connection With Fatal NYC Crane Collapse

Labels: Construction / Installation, Construction Safety

MOBILE, Ala. -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is proposing $41,650 in penalties against Ganapatibapa Inc. for one willful and two serious safety violations found at its Ozark, Ala., Beeline Store.

The willful violation, which carries a proposed penalty of $38,500, stems from the company's failure to provide a standard guardrail or its equivalent on an open-sided platform four feet or more above the ground. The agency defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

Ganapatibapa Inc. had been told about this violation in December 2007. After announcing that it would no longer utilize the platform, the company resumed its practice of requiring employees to use the platform to change gas pricing signs without modifying the structure to conform to OSHA safety regulations. Instead, the company supplied employees with a full-body safety harness but did not instruct them on its use.

"OSHA will not tolerate the practice of employers agreeing to correct safety hazards and then failing to make the required changes," said Clyde Payne, OSHA's acting area director in Mobile.

Ganapatibapa Inc. is also being cited for two serious violations with $3,150 in proposed penalties for exceeding the weight duty limit of a portable ladder and failing to provide appropriate training to employees.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to contest them and the proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA's Mobile Area Office, 1141 Montlimar Drive, Suite 1006; telephone 251-441-6131.

Labels: OSHA Citations, OSHA Fines, workplace safety

NEW YORK -- The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued citations to three contractors with proposed penalties totaling $313,500 for alleged violations of safety standards after investigating the catastrophic March 15 collapse of a tower crane in New York City that killed seven people. The accident took place at 303 E. 51st St. in midtown Manhattan.

Cited were Rapetti Rigging Services Inc., the crane's erector; Reliance Construction Group, the project's general contractor; and Joy Contractors Inc., the project's concrete and superstructure contractor. Rapetti was cited for alleged problems associated with rigging the crane and lack of fall protection, while Reliance and Joy were cited for lack of fall protection, fire protection and other hazards unrelated to the crane collapse.

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Edwin G. Foulke Jr. said, "This case illustrates in stark terms that failure to follow required procedures can have wide-ranging and catastrophic consequences."

Rapetti Rigging has been issued three willful citations with penalties totaling $210,000 for allegedly failing, among other things, to comply with the crane manufacturer's specifications and limitations when erecting and raising the tower crane, to protect synthetic rigging slings from damage, to inspect the slings for damage or defects before use, and to remove a defective sling from service.

"Ultimately, the crane collapse was a failure to follow basic, but essential, construction safety processes," said Richard Mendelson, OSHA's area director in Manhattan.

Rapetti also has been issued five serious citations, with $10,000 in proposed fines for fall hazards. Employees working on the crane’s mast and at the edge of the 18th floor level and other areas lacked proper fall protection. Penalties proposed against Rapetti total $220,000.

Joy Contractors has been issued one repeat and 14 serious citations with proposed penalties totaling $74,000. The repeat citation alleges the lack of fall protection for employees working 180 feet above the ground. OSHA cited Joy in March 2007 for a similar hazard at a Mt. Pleasant, N.Y., worksite. The serious citations allege failure to train employees in jobsite hazards, unsafe work area debris, fire hazards, fall hazards, unsafe material storage, and hazards created by the eccentric loading of concrete shoring and formwork.

Reliance Construction Group has been issued 11 serious citations with a total of $19,500 in proposed penalties. The citations allege failure to train employees in jobsite hazards, unsafe work area debris, fire hazards, fall hazards, and hazards created by the eccentric loading of concrete shoring and formwork.

This inspection was conducted by OSHA's Manhattan Area Office; telephone 212-620-3200. OSHA’s inspection of the May 30 crane collapse at 91st Street and First Avenue in New York City is still ongoing.

Labels: Construction / Installation, Construction Safety, OSHA Citations, OSHA Fines

The following is a press release from OSHA:

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into a settlement with Encore Management Co. in Arlington to resolve findings by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that the company illegally terminated an employee because she complained about safety and health issues.

OSHA whistleblower investigators found that Encore Management terminated the employee, who served as the community director at one of the apartment complexes it managed, after discovering she filed a complaint with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) regarding possible asbestos exposure.

"Employees should be free to exercise their rights under the law without fear of termination or retaliation by their employers," said Dean W. McDaniel, OSHA's regional administrator in Dallas. "This settlement underscores the Labor Department's commitment to vigorously take action to protect those rights."

The employee expressed concerns to her supervisor that a renovation project at the complex was exposing workers to asbestos. When Encore Management failed to address the employee's concerns, she filed a complaint with DSHS, which conducted an inspection and found the apartment complex had not performed sufficient asbestos testing prior to beginning its renovation and had hired an unlicensed contractor to remove known asbestos material.

After being terminated, the employee filed a whistleblower complaint alleging she had been fired by Encore Management in retaliation for filing the complaint with DSHS. OSHA investigated the complaint and determined that Encore Management's termination of the employee was in violation of the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act.

The company entered into a voluntary settlement after OSHA referred the case to the Labor Department's Solicitor's Office for enforcement. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, Encore Management paid the complainant $25,000 for lost wages, job seeking expenses, out of pocket medical expenses and a year of future lost earnings. The company also agreed to provide the complainant with a neutral job reference and remove derogatory information related to her termination from her personnel file.

Encore Management, headquartered in California, provides property management services to several apartment complexes throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act and 16 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail and securities laws. Detailed information about employee whistleblower rights, including fact sheets, is available online at: http://www.osha.gov/dep/oia/whistleblower/index.html.

Labels: OSHA, safety management

A very different safety video made in the Republic of China (Taiwan) won first first place at an international film festival. You can view the video on the web site of the International Social Security Association. I don't feel this video will deliver a strong safety message in the typical American workplace culture, but it may be useful when training workers from Asian cultures.

The following is a press release announcing the award:

The Republic of China Institute of Occupational Safety and Health won first place at the International Film Festival in Seoul, Korea during the XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work: A Global Forum for Prevention, Safety and Health at Work: A Societal Responsibility. The International Film and Multimedia Festival attracted 115 films and 50 multimedia applications from 25 countries, and brought a wide range of topics, new and old, to the attention of the Juries.

The Nick of Time, produced by the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Council of Labor Affairs in Taiwan, Republic of China, was awarded a first prize for a very different approach. Taking the concept that "Death is watching", the film uses animation to present the many risks and dangers facing workers, and how their attitude to safety is critical in avoiding injury. The Jury commended the excellent quality of the film, and applauded the original approach.

Labels: Safety Training, workplace safety