Safe Workplace and Safety News

Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth (DELEG) Director Stanley "Skip" Pruss today announced the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) has cited V&S Detroit Galvanizing LLC, of Redford, following a fatal accident, with $245,000 in proposed penalties for allegedly failing to adequately protect employees during overhead crane operations.

On Nov. 3, 2009, V&S Detroit Galvanizing employees were attaching parts to be galvanized onto two 1½ ton racks (steel I-beams). The racks were supported by rack stands. A crane operator moved the first rack up and over employees who were hanging parts on the second rack. The crane clipped the rack stands, causing the remaining rack to fall. A temporary employee, Darryl Johnson, was caught and crushed under the weight of the rack, resulting in his death.

"This tragic workplace fatality could have been prevented. V&S Detroit Galvanizing knew their rack system was unstable, and yet they continued to expose their employees to daily hazards during overhead crane operations, which led to the death of this worker," said Pruss. "This failure to protect their workers will not be tolerated. We are sending a clear message to all employers that they must be proactive and consistently protect their workers."

V&S Detroit Galvanizing LLC, of Redford, employs approximately 39 employees, with some employees represented by Teamsters Local 299. The plant is over 50,000 square feet and does hot dip galvanizing of all types of metal parts, for a wide variety of industries.

On Oct. 21, 2008, a V&S Detroit employee received multiple fractures to his left leg in a very similar incident. A rack that was loaded with parts fell on him and crushed his leg as a crane lifted another rack off the same supporting pair of rack stands. "This accident should have been a warning to the company to alter their procedures to protect their workers," said Pruss.

In V&S Detroit's normal racking procedure there are two rackers, a crane operator and a hi-lo operator. This is a permanent operation at the facility and the company had several alternatives available to protect their workers:

* They could have bolted the rack stands to the concrete floor in order to prevent them from moving when the first stand is lifted.
* They could have changed the set up so that only a single rack was supported by a rack stand.
* They could also have required employees to move to the side of the building when a crane was lifting and moving a rack.

General Industry Safety Standard, Part 18, Overhead and Gantry Cranes, is a comprehensive standard that covers the equipment, installation, maintenance, and operation of top running overhead and gantry single and multiple girder cranes in, about, and around places of employment, in order to safeguard employees. It also details the necessary employee training and certification that employers must provide.

From Nov. 3, 2009, to Feb. 11, 2010, MIOSHA conducted the fatality investigation, as well as a companion investigation at V&S Detroit Galvanizing LLC. As a result of these two investigations, MIOSHA is issuing citations for 10 alleged violations of MIOSHA regulations. The combined citations for both investigations include seven Serious and three Willful Serious violations. The combined penalty for both investigations is $245,000.

The responsibility to protect employees lies with the employer. It is anticipated that issuing these citations will cause the employer to strengthen their safety and health efforts by maintaining corrections. (The Summary of Violations for both cases are below.)

"MIOSHA is committed to helping employers who want to do the right thing. Our Consultation Education and Training (CET) Division can help employers build an effective safety and health system," said MIOSHA Director Doug Kalinowski. "However, MIOSHA will not tolerate employers who place their employees at risk of injury or death and will take appropriate enforcement action to protect workers."

Related Past Posts
Foam Insulation Company Fined For Fatality
What To Do Before There Is A Fatal Accident
National Initiative On Cranes

Labels: hazard prevention, Industrial Safety, safety management, workplace fatalities

Yesterday's edition of the Kansas City Star includes an article titled "Obesity becomes a workers’ comp complication". It describes situations in which workers were injured had weight loss surgery paid for by worker's comp.

One of the examples in the article states:

"...the Oregon Supreme Court said an employer must pay for surgery for an employee who suffered a workplace knee injury — not for knee replacement but for a weight-loss procedure. Decisions like those are causing employment law attorneys and human resource consultants to send an alert..."

Read the entire article here.

Labels: hazard prevention, Industrial Health, Workers' Comp

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently revised the steel erection compliance directive for the agency's Steel Erection Standard to change two enforcement policies related to tripping hazards and installation of nets or floors during steel erection.

One of the revised policies addresses the standard's requirement that employers install a floor or net within two stories or 30 feet, whichever is less.

The other policy states that employers must comply with the requirement that steel studs, known as shear connectors, be installed at the worksite. Shear connectors bind concrete to the steel.

"Falls are the leading cause of death among construction workers," said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. "We are intent on reducing the number of injuries and fatalities in the construction industry and believe these policy revisions will help us attain that goal."

Bureau of Labor Statistics 2007 data show that 1,204 fatalities occurred in the construction industry, 447 of which resulted from falls. The steel erection standard sets forth requirements to protect workers from the hazards associated with steel erection activities when constructing, altering, and repairing single and multi-story buildings, bridges, and other structures where steel erection occurs.

Labels: Construction / Installation, Construction Safety, hazard prevention, safety management

A 30 minute safety video from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) shows how accumulations of combustible dust at industrial workplaces can provide the fuel for devastating explosions that kill and maim workers, shut down plants, and harm local economies.

Labels: Chemical Safey Board, combustible dust, hazard identifcation, hazard prevention, sugar dust

Former OSHA head Edwin G. Foulke, Jr has an article in last Friday's edition of Manufacturing.NET, a manufacturing news publication. However, it's an article that applies to any workplace. The article is called "Catastrophic Workplace Accidents: It Could Happen To You."

The article discusses advance planning and preparation for catastrophic events in the workplace, and the importance of anticipating each workplace emergency before it happens. Here is how hesummarizes his article:

"In summary, employers can effectively deal with workplace fatalities and catastrophic accidents, but only through proper planning and execution. It is virtually impossible for an employer to deal with all the competing audiences which assemble during a catastrophic accident or fatality without proper planning. In fact, effective planning may help reduce the pain and suffering suffered by the surviving family and co-workers, while at the same time allow the employer to resume normal operations quicker and reduce the financial and potential legal burdens placed on the company."

You can read the entire article here.

Related Past Posts
Planning For A Workplace Emergency
NFPA Issues Emergency Evacuation Guide For People With Disabilities
What To Do When Responding To A Fire

Labels: Emergency Planning, hazard prevention, safety, Safety Training

"Beware the ides of March" was the soothsayer’s warning to Julius Caesar in Shakespeare's play about the Roman Emperor. These days, the phrase has taken on the ominous meaning that something bad is about to occur on or around March 15.

Now, two researchers from Michigan State University have conducted a research project that could well contain the warning "Beware of the days after the change to Daylight Savings Time," the second Sunday in March when an hour of sleep is lost as clocks jump ahead.

Using U.S. Department of Labor and Mine Safety and Health Administration data, Christopher Barnes and David Wagner, both doctoral candidates studying industrial and organizational psychology, found that the number of workplace accidents spikes after Daylight Savings Time changes every March.

On the other hand, they found no significant increase in workplace accidents or sleep loss when the clocks were set back an hour in November.

In two separate studies, they found that the March switch to Daylight Savings Time resulted in 40 minutes less sleep for American workers, a 5.7 percent increase in workplace injuries and nearly 68 percent more work days lost to injuries.

The research will be reported in the September issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology.
But can losing one hour of sleep really make a difference? "Yes," said Barnes, "it can. Especially for those engaged in jobs requiring a high level of attention to detail. Studies have shown that lost sleep causes attention levels to drop off."

Recognizing this, that’s why some industries, like trucking and airlines, have regulations setting limits on the consecutive hours that truckers can drive or crews fly without taking a break.
Barnes and Wagner noted that some researchers claim the one-hour clock adjustment does not, and could not, impact accident rates in organizations. "We contend that the springtime change is associated with an increase in the number and severity of workplace accidents," they said.

There is other research available that tends to support Barnes and Wagner. A University of British Columbia study, using data from the Canadian Ministry of Transport, found that when Canada went into daylight savings time, there was an 8 percent increase risk of accidents on the Monday after the changeover. A similar study, using information from the U. S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, cited sleep deprivation as the most likely cause of a 17 percent increase in accidents on the Monday following the time change.

Barnes pointed out that is not uncommon for people to complain how tired they are when they lose sleep. Many people adjust to a pace where events recur regularly and they can be adversely affected when that schedule is disrupted. An obvious example is jet lag, which occurs when people travel across several time zones.

"Their internal clocks need some recovery time for these kind of disruptions," Wagner said.
Barnes noted that people assume the change to Daylight Savings is not going to greatly affect them. After all it’s only one hour. And if they do have an accident or make a mistake, they are not likely to attribute it to sleep loss.

While their study focused on physical accidents, Barnes and Wagner said a logical extension could be mistakes in the office or workplace, such as transposing figures on a spread-sheet or filling the wrong prescription in a pharmacy.

The researchers used figures from the American Time Use Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which included more than 14,000 interviews. They also studied data from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. In analyzing those figures, it was clear that people lost an average of 40 minutes’ sleep following the change to Daylight Savings and there was a jump in workplace accidents following the time change.

They looked at all Mondays in a year and allowed for seasonal effects and other factors. For example, there is more likelihood of snow in Michigan and Minnesota in March than in other parts of the country and the bad weather may have been more of a contributing factor to accidents than the time change.

However, the results clearly show that sleep does have a profound effect upon human behavior and lack of sleep can have significant and serious results, they say.

So, when next March rolls around and clocks are turned forward an hour, organizations should be aware that Daylight Savings Time may save daylight, but not without some cost to organizations.

By the way, Caesar would have done well to heed the soothsayer’s warning. On the 15th of March his friends and colleagues assassinated him.

Labels: hazard identifcation, hazard prevention, safety statistics

Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and two other institutions have described a major step toward creating a universal personal decontamination system for almost any toxic or hazardous chemical.

(In the photograph to the right LLNL chemical engineer William Smith holds a decontamination system currently used by the military -- called Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion -- in the green packet and a sponge from the system. LLNL's Forensic Science Center evaluated 30 different decontamination materials for removing gross chemical contamination from surfaces, including the nonwoven dry wipe material with an activated carbon core sandwiched between two absorbent layers shown in the plastic package.)

The scientists have reported on the development of a layered wipe that can be used to rapidly decontaminate people and equipment exposed to a wide range of military and industrial chemicals, including the blister agent sulfur mustard. These wipes could assist in saving the lives of soldiers and civilians.

Their research results are described in an article slated for online publication today in the American Chemical Society journal, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, a bi-weekly publication.

Under a study conducted by LLNL’s Forensic Science Center, researchers evaluated 30 different decontamination materials for removing gross chemical contamination from surfaces.

The study results showed that a nonwoven dry wipe material with an activated carbon core sandwiched between two absorbent layers turned in the top performance. It is designed by researchers at The Institute of Environmental Health and Human Health (TIEHH) at Texas Tech University.

The decontamination system currently used by the military – called Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion (RSDL) – is effective for a small subset of industrial chemicals and chemical warfare agents.

However, according to LLNL chemical engineer William Smith, one of the study’s co-authors, “By combining the existing military decontamination system with this wipe, there is promise for treating nearly every chemical. You’re in much better shape using both technologies than with either one alone.”

The Lab’s Forensic Science Center evaluated existing and novel materials for their chemical decontamination capabilities. They looked at the ability of the combined system – the TIEHH-developed layered wipe followed by use of RSDL -- to absorb sulfur mustard, a toxic liquid that causes skin blistering, as well as four other chemicals – sulfuric acid, nitric acid, methylparathion and phosphorous trichloride.

The Forensic Science Center studies found:

* The newly developed fabric exhibits excellent resistance to corrosive chemicals and minimizes vapor hazards after decontaminating toxic chemicals;

* The layered wipe can absorb a large volume of most liquids, while maintaining its integrity;

* The fabric is flexible so that it conforms to the surface being cleaned

The next steps for advancing the decontamination system, in Smith’s view, are to conduct field trials of the wipe and RSDL used in conjunction to evaluate their usability, and to test the two systems’ efficacy with other chemical agents and industrial chemicals.

The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2004 and has been managed by the Technical Support Working Group, a joint venture between the U.S. State Department and the military.

Other LLNL researchers who co-authored the study include chemists Carolyn Koester and Adam Love, and former Laboratory employee Garrett Keating.

Labels: hazard prevention, hazardous materials, Industrial Health, PPE

A new doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet reveals that professionals may overlook important information when they search for research findings about injury prevention and safety promotion. The typical search uses no more than one or two online databases, and often only familiar search terms are used thereby limiting the search even further.

"Our findings are compelling because we were able to identify problems both with how professionals look for published research about safety and with the way that the online literature databases is organized," says Dr David Lawrence, Postgraduate Student at Karolinska Institutet. "This knowledge should be helpful in teaching people to be better searchers and for making improvements to the design of databases."

The researchers conducted six studies of the information-seeking behaviors of professionals who work in the fields of injury prevention and safety promotion. They used subscribers to the weekly SafetyLit Literature Update Bulletin as a pool for a survey. Subscribers included attorneys, engineers, staff members of legislative and other government offices, community planners, physicians, psychologists, workplace safety specialists, consumer product safety specialists, building codes and standards professionals, academic researchers and others. Among the respondents there where professionals from 173 countries represented. All terms used to search the SafetyLit database during the years 2000-2005 were registered. During the six years that the web logs were examined the site averaged 2500 searches each week.

The researchers found that when injury prevention professionals search for information, they typically search no more than one or two online databases. They only use familiar search terms and often exclude professional terms commonly used by professionals in other fields. Because at least thirty distinct professional disciplines contribute to what is known about injury prevention and safety promotion topics, this means that the searchers are self-limiting their ability to find new information. Further, professional journals exist to serve researchers in each of these disciplines but online literature databases tend to focus on the perceived needs of researchers in a single specialty and exclude journals from other disciplines.

"A large proportion of injury prevention and safety promotion professionals may hold a biased view of the full nature of injury problems and the options for prevention", says Dr Lawrence. "When they search a database they find a satisfyingly large list of articles and conclude that they must have received comprehensive information, unintentionally missing information from other perspectives."

David Lawrence is also affiliated to Center for Injury Prevention Policy & Practice, San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health. For further information, please contact: Dr David Lawrence Mobile: +1-619-322-4917 (US) or +46 76-2817009 (Sweden) Work: + 1-619-594-1991 (US) E-mail: david.lawrence@sdsu.edu

Doctoral thesis:

David Lawrence. The information-seeking behaviors of professionals and information sources in the field of injury prevention and safety promotion.

Read thesis

Labels: hazard prevention, safety management, workplace safety

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.

Labels: hazard prevention, Industrial Safety, OSHA, SHARP

In an article for Today's Facility Manager Gary Ganson provides an overview of how to establish a health and safety plan, and have compliance with that plan. He begins by pointing out that:

"Compliance begins with commitment to a health and safety program that’s tailored to fit the company. It must blend with its operations and culture so it can help employers maintain a system that continually addresses a focus on prevention of workplace injuries and illnesses."

He then addresses the need to involve employees in health and safety policy making and he follows this with a discussion of an initial and ongoing workplace safety audit and analysis.

He goes on to talk about continually reviewing workplace health and safety to control or prevent workplace hazards.

The article concludes with a discussion about the need and value of training.

You can read the article at Today's Facility Manager.

Labels: hazard prevention, Industrial Health, Industrial Safety, Safety Training, workplace safety

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

More information and registration is available at: http://www.kstate.tv/epa/

Labels: hazard prevention, hazardous materials