Safe Workplace and Safety News
This is the safety news blog for the Safe Workplace web site. We cover workplace 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 button to the right (then click on the button).
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
ASSE Submits Comments on Proposed Combustible Dust Legislation, Urges Caution
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), representing 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professionals, provided a statement for the record to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions’ Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety for their hearing held July 29 titled “Dangerous Dust – Is OSHA doing enough to protect workers?” ASSE urged caution in moving ahead to address hazardous dust risks legislatively without developing a deeper understanding of current Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, their enforcement by OSHA, and the approach taken through national consensus standards.
The ASSE statement said, following the February 2008 combustible dust explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, that killed 13 workers and injured 40, it understands the urge to find a legislative solution, as reflected in the “Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008” (HR 5522) introduced by House Committee on Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller. ASSE supports much in Chairman Miller’s approach, including the bill’s assurance that any new OSHA rule concerning combustible dust will not be less effective than the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) voluntary consensus standards.
Several other issues related to managing combustible dust should also be addressed by the legislation, ASSE said. Most important is the lack of adequate OSHA’s resources to conduct inspections, which contribute to missing dangerous workplaces by OSHA and can result in inspections that are hurried or done without an adequate basis in training. ‘If only 50 of OSHA’s 1029 inspectors had “extensive dust training,’ as Assistant Secretary for OSHA Edwin Foulke, Jr., told 60 Minutes recently, ‘then a bill requiring more standards without the adequate capability to enforce them will not be adequate to address this hazard when workers’ lives are at stake.’
Further, ASSE advised that, due to the complex technical and policy issues involved, Congress should require OSHA to address the issue through negotiated rulemaking, which mirrors the voluntary consensus-building process used by industry and the occupational safety and health community to address combustible dust.
ASSE also expressed concern over setting unrealistic dates for OSHA to issue an interim final standard within 90 days of enactment followed by a final standard within 18 months. The complexities posed by the current statutory obligations under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act (SBRFA) and the required regulatory and economic impact analyses lead ASSE to conclude that completion of a final rule within 24 months is a more realistic goal. Reasonably more time would allow Congress working with OSHA and the occupational safety and health community to address what may be the key underlying difficulty with the current regulatory approach to combustible dust. With 17 different OSHA regulations impacting combustible dust risks, it is reasonable to expect difficulties in employers’ efforts to establish a cohesive and effective combustible dust hazard management program in a workplace.
ASSE noted the 17 existing OSHA standards in place to address combustible dust hazards in addition to Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act (General Duty Clause) : 1910.22, housekeeping; 1910.38, emergency action plans; 1910.94, ventilation; 1910.119, process safety management; 1910.132, personal protective equipment; 1910.146, permit-required confined spaces; 1910.157, portable fire extinguishers; 1910.165, employee alarm systems; 1910.176, handling materials – general; 1910.178, powered industrial trucks; 1910.263, bakery equipment; 1910.265, sawmill operations; 1910.269, electric power generation, transmission, and distribution; 1910.272, grain handling facilities; 1910.307, hazardous (classified) locations; and 1910.1200, hazard communication.
While no simple answer to the complexities involved in managing combustible dust exists, a more organized, comprehensive approach by OSHA is needed to facilitate compliance. ASSE’s primary concern is that an answer to the current difficulties involving combustible dust risk management be based on sound science and done in a way that affords all stakeholders due process, without any undue delay.
Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the largest and oldest professional safety organization and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment.
The ASSE statement said, following the February 2008 combustible dust explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, that killed 13 workers and injured 40, it understands the urge to find a legislative solution, as reflected in the “Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008” (HR 5522) introduced by House Committee on Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller. ASSE supports much in Chairman Miller’s approach, including the bill’s assurance that any new OSHA rule concerning combustible dust will not be less effective than the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) voluntary consensus standards.
Several other issues related to managing combustible dust should also be addressed by the legislation, ASSE said. Most important is the lack of adequate OSHA’s resources to conduct inspections, which contribute to missing dangerous workplaces by OSHA and can result in inspections that are hurried or done without an adequate basis in training. ‘If only 50 of OSHA’s 1029 inspectors had “extensive dust training,’ as Assistant Secretary for OSHA Edwin Foulke, Jr., told 60 Minutes recently, ‘then a bill requiring more standards without the adequate capability to enforce them will not be adequate to address this hazard when workers’ lives are at stake.’
Further, ASSE advised that, due to the complex technical and policy issues involved, Congress should require OSHA to address the issue through negotiated rulemaking, which mirrors the voluntary consensus-building process used by industry and the occupational safety and health community to address combustible dust.
ASSE also expressed concern over setting unrealistic dates for OSHA to issue an interim final standard within 90 days of enactment followed by a final standard within 18 months. The complexities posed by the current statutory obligations under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act (SBRFA) and the required regulatory and economic impact analyses lead ASSE to conclude that completion of a final rule within 24 months is a more realistic goal. Reasonably more time would allow Congress working with OSHA and the occupational safety and health community to address what may be the key underlying difficulty with the current regulatory approach to combustible dust. With 17 different OSHA regulations impacting combustible dust risks, it is reasonable to expect difficulties in employers’ efforts to establish a cohesive and effective combustible dust hazard management program in a workplace.
ASSE noted the 17 existing OSHA standards in place to address combustible dust hazards in addition to Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act (General Duty Clause) : 1910.22, housekeeping; 1910.38, emergency action plans; 1910.94, ventilation; 1910.119, process safety management; 1910.132, personal protective equipment; 1910.146, permit-required confined spaces; 1910.157, portable fire extinguishers; 1910.165, employee alarm systems; 1910.176, handling materials – general; 1910.178, powered industrial trucks; 1910.263, bakery equipment; 1910.265, sawmill operations; 1910.269, electric power generation, transmission, and distribution; 1910.272, grain handling facilities; 1910.307, hazardous (classified) locations; and 1910.1200, hazard communication.
While no simple answer to the complexities involved in managing combustible dust exists, a more organized, comprehensive approach by OSHA is needed to facilitate compliance. ASSE’s primary concern is that an answer to the current difficulties involving combustible dust risk management be based on sound science and done in a way that affords all stakeholders due process, without any undue delay.
Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the largest and oldest professional safety organization and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment.
Labels: hazard prevention, Industrial Safety, OSHA, SHARP
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Saturday, September 15, 2007
MCO Recycling of Idaho Earns OSHA ‘SHARP’ Status
IMCO Recycling of Idaho has earned membership in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). A recognition ceremony recently was held at the company’s plant in Post Falls, Idaho.
“IMCO Recycling of Idaho has identified safety as a core value in its business plan,” said Richard Terrill, OSHA’s regional administrator in Seattle. “In collaboration with employees, the company continues to improve on its already excellent safety and health management system.”
IMCO Recycling of Idaho’s aluminum recycling operations convert beverage cans, scrap and dross (a by-product of aluminum melting) to aluminum. The Post Falls facility has 26 employees.
In addition to its safety and health management system, the plant has an injury and illness case rate well below the industry average. As a participating SHARP company, IMCO Recycling of Idaho is exempt from OSHA programmed inspections until July 6, 2009.
Through SHARP, OSHA recognizes smaller employers that implement, operate and continuously improve exemplary safety and health management systems at their worksites. SHARP status, which is designed to provide incentives and support to employers, may be renewed.
“IMCO Recycling of Idaho has identified safety as a core value in its business plan,” said Richard Terrill, OSHA’s regional administrator in Seattle. “In collaboration with employees, the company continues to improve on its already excellent safety and health management system.”
IMCO Recycling of Idaho’s aluminum recycling operations convert beverage cans, scrap and dross (a by-product of aluminum melting) to aluminum. The Post Falls facility has 26 employees.
In addition to its safety and health management system, the plant has an injury and illness case rate well below the industry average. As a participating SHARP company, IMCO Recycling of Idaho is exempt from OSHA programmed inspections until July 6, 2009.
Through SHARP, OSHA recognizes smaller employers that implement, operate and continuously improve exemplary safety and health management systems at their worksites. SHARP status, which is designed to provide incentives and support to employers, may be renewed.
Labels: SHARP
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Tuesday, January 23, 2007
VPP Not Right For Your Company?
OSHA offers more options for partnerships than the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). Fr example, SHARP is an option for smaller companies and organizations. The OSHA web site describes SHARP this way:
"The Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) recognizes small employers who operate an exemplary safety and health management system. Acceptance into SHARP by OSHA is an achievement of status that will single you out among your business peers as a model for worksite safety and health. Upon receiving SHARP recognition, your worksite will be exempt from programmed inspections during the period that your SHARP certification is valid."
Spruce Park Auto Body in Anchorage, Alaska employs 27 people and has been a long-time member of SHARP.
The OSHA web site describes their experience this way:
"Spruce Park received its first OSHA Onsite Consultation visit in October 2001 after hearing about the program from an Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Program enforcement officer. The company’s introduction to Consultation was so influential, and sparked such a deep level of interest and commitment among the Spruce Park management team, that it began requesting annual Onsite Consultation walkthrough visits to ensure that the establishment’s worksite was healthy and safe."
"Employees of Spruce Park fully support the company’s safety and health culture – even without special incentive programs used by many companies to persuade employees to work more safely. Lewis Charles Perrault, President of the company, noted that commitment to safety and health is exemplified during monthly departmental meetings, which include a standard agenda-item covering company-wide safety and health issues. This provides a regularly scheduled forum for safety and health information sharing among employees and between management and employees. To further reinforce the company’s safety and health philosophy, and to encourage buy-in among all employees, regular safety and health meetings are held where workers have an opportunity to voice their safety and health concerns and receive assurance that real action will be taken to resolve issues brought to the table."
"Working over time with the Alaska Onsite Consultation Program, Spruce Park was accepted into OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). The SHARP program recognizes small employers who operate an exemplary safety and health management system. While in SHARP status, employers are exempted from OSHA’s programmed inspection list. Having now been in the program for several years, Spruce Park’s SHARP status was last renewed for a two-year period in December 2003."
"The Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) recognizes small employers who operate an exemplary safety and health management system. Acceptance into SHARP by OSHA is an achievement of status that will single you out among your business peers as a model for worksite safety and health. Upon receiving SHARP recognition, your worksite will be exempt from programmed inspections during the period that your SHARP certification is valid."
Spruce Park Auto Body in Anchorage, Alaska employs 27 people and has been a long-time member of SHARP.
The OSHA web site describes their experience this way:
"Spruce Park received its first OSHA Onsite Consultation visit in October 2001 after hearing about the program from an Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Program enforcement officer. The company’s introduction to Consultation was so influential, and sparked such a deep level of interest and commitment among the Spruce Park management team, that it began requesting annual Onsite Consultation walkthrough visits to ensure that the establishment’s worksite was healthy and safe."
"Employees of Spruce Park fully support the company’s safety and health culture – even without special incentive programs used by many companies to persuade employees to work more safely. Lewis Charles Perrault, President of the company, noted that commitment to safety and health is exemplified during monthly departmental meetings, which include a standard agenda-item covering company-wide safety and health issues. This provides a regularly scheduled forum for safety and health information sharing among employees and between management and employees. To further reinforce the company’s safety and health philosophy, and to encourage buy-in among all employees, regular safety and health meetings are held where workers have an opportunity to voice their safety and health concerns and receive assurance that real action will be taken to resolve issues brought to the table."
"Working over time with the Alaska Onsite Consultation Program, Spruce Park was accepted into OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). The SHARP program recognizes small employers who operate an exemplary safety and health management system. While in SHARP status, employers are exempted from OSHA’s programmed inspection list. Having now been in the program for several years, Spruce Park’s SHARP status was last renewed for a two-year period in December 2003."
Labels: OSHA, SHARP, workplace safety
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