Safe Workplace and Safety News

OSHA surveys employers to collect workplace injury and illness data it uses to identify employers whose injury and illness rates are considerably higher than the national average. OSHA has sent a letter to about 15,000 workplaces that have the highest numbers of injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work, restricted work activities or job transfers, known as the DART rate.

"Receipt of this letter means that workers in that particular establishment are being injured at a higher rate than in most other businesses of its kind in the country," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. "Employers whose businesses have injury and illness rates this high need to take immediate steps to protect their workers."

Employers receiving the letters also were provided copies of their injury and illness data, along with a list of the most frequently cited OSHA standards for their specific industry. The letter offered assistance in helping to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses by suggesting, among other things, the use of OSHA's free safety and health consultation services for small businesses provided through the states.

OSHA identified businesses with the nation's highest rates of workplace injuries and illnesses through employer-reported data from a 2009 survey of about 100,000 worksites. (This survey collected injury and illness data for calendar year 2008.) Workplaces receiving notifications had DART rates more than twice the national average among all U.S. workplaces.

OSHA's consultation program is available to assist in addressing safety and health in the workplace for employers with 250 or fewer workers. This program is administered by a state agency and operated separately from OSHA's enforcement program. The service is free and confidential, and there are no fines even if problems are found. Designed for small employers, the consultation program can help an employer identify hazards while finding effective and economical solutions for repairing them. In addition, the OSHA state consultant can assist in developing and implementing a safety and health management system for the workplace.

A list of the employers receiving the letter is available on OSHA's public Web site at http://www.osha.gov/as/opa/foia/hot_16.html. A list of OSHA's consultation services is available at http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/consult.html.

Labels: OSHA, osha information, safety statistics

Recently, several academic studies have asserted varying degrees of under-recording of workplace injuries and illnesses on the OSHA Form 300. At the request of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the House Committee on Education and Labor, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) initiated a study on the accuracy of employer injury and illness records.

In an effort to identify and correct under-recorded and incorrectly recorded cases and to work cooperatively with the GAO, OSHA is initiating this NEP. This NEP also complements the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ efforts to investigate factors accounting for differences in the number of workplace injuries and illnesses estimated by the BLS and other data sources.

OSHA postulates the most likely places where under-recorded injuries and illnesses may exist would be low rate establishments operating in historically high rate industries. The NEP will pilot test OSHA’s ability to effectively target establishments to identify under-recording of occupational injuries and illnesses.

This NEP is one component of OSHA’s effort to address the issue of inaccurate recording of occupational injuries and illnesses. In addition to this NEP, OSHA will address the issue through comprehensive training of its compliance staff to identify and correct violations of the recordkeeping regulation. OSHA will also develop other enforcement and quality assurance programs to address the recordkeeping issue in establishments and industries outside the scope of this NEP (e.g., the construction industry, Partnerships, VPP and SHARP establishments).

You can read the OSHA notice on this NEP here.

Labels: OSHA, osha information, safety statistics

An article in yesterday's online edition of Business Week points out:

"Cell phone usage and texting have grown to become a leading factor in automobile accidents. As of this writing, only nine states have legislated against driving while texting. That means that 41 states have no laws restricting DWT. And that can mean trouble for any business owner."

You may have heard about the mass transit accidents that have happened as a result of drivers texting while driving. Those are the high-profile accidents that make the news. To protect your business the Business Week article (read here) recommends that all business have a written policy against texting while driving.

Related Past Posts:
Working Safety With Forklifts
Online Training For Required OSHA Certifications

Labels: Safety Blog, safety statistics, workplace safety

"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

Workday Minnesota reports that former MNOSHA inspectors testified yesterday that the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry alters OSHA reports and citations. The article reports that:

"...two former Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors testified that the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has engaged in a number of fraudulent activities. Among the charges brought by the whistle-blowers are:

• Changes have been made to final OSHA inspection reports even after the OSHA inspector has signed the report;

• Documents have been removed from inspection files:

• Inspectors have been pressured to not find violations against MNSTAR companies or issue citations to them."

You can read the complete article here.

Labels: safety management, safety politics, safety statistics

An article in Abeceder/Independent Minds discusses recent research that indicates that adult ADHD may be a factor in workplace safety. The article opens with the following statement:

"Some people just seem to be accident prone. Well now that we understand more about childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) maybe we should be asking what happens to those children when they grow up and go to work, and what about the undiagnosed adults currently in the workforce."

The research showed that: "Based on the extra sick leave the staff with ADHD took and their lower work performance, the researchers estimated that each staff member with ADHD was costing their employer $4336 a year in lost revenue."

Read the complete article here.

Labels: Industrial Health, Industrial Safety, safety statistics, Safety Training, workplace safety

ONTARIO SAFETY BLITZ TARGETS INDUSTRIAL WORKPLACES

The Ontario provincial government is cracking down on hazards involving forklifts and lifting devices at industrial workplaces during February, Labour Minister Peter Fonseca announced yesterday.

Inspectors will focus on ensuring employers are inspecting and maintaining lifting devices in good condition, using competent persons to operate the equipment and ensuring that the equipment is being used in a safe work environment.

For each conviction, the court can impose a fine of up to $500,000 against a corporation convicted under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Individuals face a fine of up to $25,000 or imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both.

This initiative is part of the province’s new Safe At Work Ontario blitz strategy, announced on July 23, 2008. Keeping more workers safe means increased productivity for Ontario’s economy and less strain on the health care system.

“Forklifts and other lifting devices are a significant cause of serious worker injury and deaths,” said Labour Minister Peter Fonseca. “The Government of Ontario and its workplace partners are committed to eliminating all workplace injuries, including those related to these lifting devices. Workers have a right to come home each day to their families, safe and sound.”

QUICK FACTS

* The Ministry of Labour compliance program that ran from April 1, 2004 to March 31, 2008 reduced the workplace injury rate by 20 per cent, or more than 50,000 incidents.

* Thirteen workers died between 2003 and 2007 as a result of industrial incidents involving lift trucks, reach trucks, forklifts and tow motors, according to ministry statistics.

* In total, there were 10,308 forklift–related incidents where there was a lost time injury between 1996 and 2008, an average of 793 incidents a year, according to the data compiled by the Occupational Health and Safety Council of Ontario (OHSCO).

* Because of the drop in the annual rate of lost–time injuries, employers have avoided about $5 billion in direct and indirect costs during the four years ending March 31, 2008. Reduced injuries also result in less strain on the health care system, and fewer workers off the job means increased productivity for Ontario’s economy.

Learn more about Ontario’s new four year plan, Safe at Work Ontario, that will help strengthen workplace safety.

Labels: Canadian Safety Standards, safety management, safety statistics, Vehicle Safety, workplace safety

The Alberta Employment and Immigration department has released a series of web-based safety videos targeted at teen workers. They are graphic (bloody) but they get their point across. At the end of each video a set of buttons provides additional information. The six buttons are:

Prevent This - how the incident in the video could have been prevented.

Real Stories - a real-life story about someone who experienced what was shown in the video.

Real Stats - statistics about the frequency of workplace injuries

Play Again - view the video again

Play Another - view another of the six videos

Send To A Friend - send an email

Here is their press release:

A new public awareness campaign has been launched to remind young working Albertans that injuries and fatalities can be only moments away.

“Anybody who loses focus for a moment is at risk of making a mistake on the job, and our young workers heading into the work force are the most vulnerable,” said Hector Goudreau, Minister of Employment and Immigration.

The campaign focuses on specific questions young workers should ask their employers to avoid a workplace injury or death. Based on extensive research and testing, the campaign focuses on 15 to 19-year-olds and emphasises that workplace incidents can be very real with lasting consequences. It includes transit ads, video productions for movie theatres, posters, Internet banner ads - all of which encourage young workers to visit www.bloodylucky.ca.

“We find that every workplace incident uncovers several unfortunate choices that were made that led to the tragedy; there are no accidents,” says Dr. Michael Alpern of the Job Safety Skills Society, a member of the Young Worker Provincial Advisory Committee. “Research shows that young workers have a higher injury rate than their workplace peers. We see it first hand and we endorse any program that might save a life or limb.”

The campaign is part of Work Safe Alberta, a unique partnership between industry, labour and government. An integral part of the initiative is promoting workplace safety by increasing public awareness.

Labels: safety statistics, Safety Training, safety videos

A total of 252,784 nonfatal injuries and illnesses were reported by private industry workplaces in Texas during 2007. The resulting rate of 3.4 cases per 100 equivalent full-time employees marks a five-year low. The rate of injuries and illnesses reflects a 15% decrease from 4.0 in 2003, when data collection began under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The Texas rate is below the national rate of 4.2 for 2007; the national rate for 2006 was 4.4.

The 2007 injury and illness data are the latest available from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses conducted by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The occupational injury and illness rates are based on a statistical sample of approximately 10,000 private employers in Texas.

Workplace injury and illness rates vary widely among private sector industries (Table 1).

• The goods producing industries reported an overall 7% decrease from 2006. Within this group, mining showed the largest decrease (29%) of all sectors, matching the rate in 2003 and 2004. Manufacturing slightly decreased from 2006 and is down by 17% from 2003. Meanwhile, construction remained the same and the industry maintained a 14% decrease from 2003.
  
  
• The service providing industries also showed a decrease of almost 6% from 2006. Health care and social assistance reported the largest decrease (20%).
  
  
• In 2007, the manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, utilities, financial activities, educational services and health care and social assistance (7 of 16) sectors experienced their lowest nonfatal injury and illness rate in the last five years (since collecting the data under NAICS).

Workplace injury and illness rates varied among the major industries with the 10 highest rates in 2007 (Table 2).

• Wood product manufacturing (7.1) recorded a notable 17% increase from 2006 (5.9) and beverage and tobacco product manufacturing (6.6) experienced a slight increase (6.4). These two industries replaced transportation equipment manufacturing (5.0), which had a significant 26% decrease from 2006; and furniture and related product manufacturing (5.6), which experienced a substantial 22% decrease.
  
  
• The remaining industries also experienced decreases from 2006. The largest decreases were in air transportation (13%) followed by nursing and residential care facilities (10%).
  
  
• Within the goods producing group, industries that experienced the highest rates were primary metal manufacturing (7.2), wood product manufacturing (7.1) beverage and tobacco product manufacturing (6.6), food production (6.5) and animal production (6.5).
  
  
• Air transportation (10.5) and couriers and messengers (10.2) continued to report the highest rates in all industries, followed by warehousing and storage (7.4).

The TDI-DWC collects survey data in order to assist employers, safety professionals, and policymakers in identifying safety and health issues in the state. Visit the TDI website at http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/wc/safety/index.html .

Labels: Industrial Safety, safety statistics, workplace safety