OHSA may (finally) get teeth.

From: the Las Vegas Sun

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats today introduced a sweeping bill to beef up worker protections laws under the Occupational Safety and Health Act that lawmakers believe have been too lax...The Protecting America’s Workers Act would stiffen fines for violations of workplace safety law and create a new felony category for criminal violations....read more here.

There are many workplaces that are safety conscious, who treat their employees as assets. However, as noted recently, there are also companies with a flagrant disregard of worker's safety and treat their workers as expendable. Unfortunately, those are the companies that caused OSHA to need the felony charge teeth proposed within this bill.

While I don't think that OSHA should be only a regulatory agency, I do believe that gross, and willful negligence of workplace safety leading to the death of a worker should carry the force of a felony charge. I also believe that the investigation should include the decision makers within the company instead of merely the managers who are forced to carry out out those decisions.

Another company with blinders on....

From: http://www.wvgazette.com, in reference to the Bayer CropScience Institute Plant explosion in Institute, WV last summer.

INSTITUTE, W.Va. -- Bypassing important safety systems "became the norm" in a Bayer CropScience Institute plant chemical-making unit that blew up and killed two workers last August, federal investigators said Thursday.

"This could have been going on for years," said John Bresland, chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.

Bresland said the explosion and fire in Bayer's Methomyl-Larvin unit was "certainly avoidable" if the company had followed proper and accepted safety practices.

"The explosion at Bayer was a very serious and tragic event that could have had additional grave consequences," Bresland said, reading from a prepared statement.

Bresland and his investigators blamed "significant lapses" in plant safety systems for the explosion. The blast came close to damaging a nearly methyl isocyanate tank "the results of which might have been catastrophic for workers, responders and the public," Bresland said....read more here.

U.S. Attorney Charles T. Miller stated his office was going to look into the explosion, after Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper referred the matter to prosecutors. One has to wonder if this will play out to the same conclusion, as did the Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co. (See Monday's post.)

Reading through the list of safety violations that look to have taken place over years, a few things stand out - inadequately trained employees, routine 12- and 18-hour work days, and the practice of consistently bypassing safety devices.

It all seems to have been done in the name of increased productivity. While I realize that production is what pays the bills in a company, this kind of tunnel vision to the exclusion of safety isn't productive. An effective safety culture can produce measurable increases in productivity according to operational priorities without the risks.

As always comments are welcome.

Training Thoughts

From: The Las Vegas Sun

Washington — Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said Tuesday that the top priorities of her department are hiring investigators and enforcing regulations on worker safety and fair pay.

The previous administration had neglected those issues, Solis said in one of her first appearances on Capitol Hill.

Solis said the focus on the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration as well as its Wage and Hour Division is especially important now. Federal recovery funding is launching construction projects that will need oversight to protect workers.... Read more here.

Whether you feel OSHA should make hiring investigators and enforcing regulations a priority or not, the fact remains that approximately 100 employees per week die in the course of their jobs.

The stimulus projects will result in hiring employees, some of whom have transitioned from other fields. A company is mandated
to furnish employees "a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees".

Unfortunately many workplaces are inherently dangerous. If the hazards can not be engineered out they must be controlled. Part of the control involves hazard recognition and training. Employees need to learn to properly wear PPE. They also need to be trained to recognize the dangers of the workplace, and how to avoid those dangers. This training needs to be done both initially and also constantly throughout the year.

If a company truly believes, and just as importantly, shows that safety is a very important part of the job, so to will the employees.

Fire Safety in the Workplace

As far as possible, a company should take proactive approaches to prevent fire. An active, committed safety committee is one of the foundations for this approach. Extensive training, both through formal methods, and informal tool time talks, not only in fire safety, but also in proper equipment use are the keys. Diligence in separating materials and processes which could cause ignition is an effective approach. Proper hot-work methods, and permits are necessary measures to minimize fire hazards. Limit switches, detector switches, and alarms for both building systems and individual machine areas are all proactive measures. Safety department sign-off for any adjustment or reuse of the area can detect and minimize potential fire hazards. Consistent safety and 5S audits can catch such issues as potential electrical hazards, ventilation hazards, housekeeping problems, and other potential problems that could cause fire hazards. Proper security must be put in place, to prevent non-employees intent on harm from entering the building.

Because there is no perfect system to prevent fire, there must be a system in place to manage the fire. Automatic, self-contained, fire suppression canisters can stop fire spread before whole-system back-up sprinklers are activated. Again here, effective, consistent, training is needed to make sure every employee understands what to do during a fire. Proper methods for egress will need to be addressed. Fire Safety Guidelines will need to be developed and readdressed each year. A method must be established so that visitors, the disabled, and other at-risk groups will be able to safely exit the building.

Fire department operations design is an important area for consideration. However, other measures should be given priority. If other measures fail, fire department operations are measures of last resort. For fires necessary for fire department support, all other measures should have been exhausted and personnel removed so that firefighting becomes a property management operation, rather than a rescue operation.

Comments welcome.

Jail Time for OSHA Violations

From: lehighvalleylive.com

"Former Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co. plant manager John Prisque was sentenced today to 70 months in federal prison for his part in a conspiracy that created unsafe working conditions, covered up workplace injuries and polluted the Delaware River."

Unfortunately, OSHA needed the teeth of the EPA to make this a felony. Killing workers in the workplace is still only a misdemeanor. Perhaps this Congress will provide OSHA the teeth to stand on its own.

Safety Suggestion Program

All employees want to stay safe. The best safety management programs encourages employee involvement at all levels. Once training is done, there must be a system in place to allow employees to contribute to their own safety and health. On too many factory floors, employees worry their suggestions will fall on deaf ears, or worse bring that employee unwanted negative attention.

A safety suggestion system allows employees to point out safety issues (anonymously if desired). This proactive approach can catch many issues before they cause accidents. Suggestions and the resulting corrections can be tracked as a leading indicator in a total safety management program.

An effective safety suggestion program not only asks employees to point out hazards, but also stimulates problem-solving thinking by having employees offer solutions. Encourage on-going participation by giving incentive cards, savings sharing, etc. for suggested solutions that are implemented. Even something as simple as publicized thanks quite often works well.

A safety suggestion system takes time and commitment. Suggestions must be gathered frequently, and addressed in a timely manner. Whether employee suggestions are used or not, the safety issue must be resolved as soon as possible. The system can not be allowed to fall by the wayside.

Employees must know their suggestions are valued. Communication throughout is vital. All employees must understand the procedures and time-lines from suggestion to implementation to reward. Employee’s whose suggestions aren't used must be given a reason why. The program must be fair, impartial, and non-retaliatory.

Potentially profiting from suggestions creates proactive thinking that encourages consideration of every step of a job. This results in decreased accidents and increased production, adding real value to the program. Whether you use a simple suggestion box or one of the myriad third-party set-ups, a safety suggestion system is an essential part of a total safety management program.

As always, I encourage comments and suggestions.

Introduction to Ergonomics on the Production Floor

Musculoskeletal injuries are one of the most common types of injuries in the workplace. The objective of an ergonomics program is to identify, evaluate, and fix the work areas, tools and job tasks that cause those injuries. Ideally ergonomics is a team-based approach that strives to better fit the tools, tasks and the workspace to the employee instead of forcing the employee to make-do with "standard" equipment and procedures (ie. not based on any ergonomic data).

As an example, how does a company identify the lifting requirements of an average employee for a specific job? Too often many companies base their reasoning off existing needs and equipment rather than the actual lifting ability of an average worker - and then wonder why workers are injured, or turnover is so high. An effective corporate ergonomics program can result in fewer injuries, better workplace flow, and higher production.

Liberty Mutual Insurance and NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) researched lifting abilities (and other things like pushing and pulling abilities) of an extensive cross section of the population. This was originally done because Liberty Mutual was the insurer for UPS. (You can imagine why that information would be valuable as boxes get quite large, awkward, and heavy.) The results of those lifting studies have resulted in checklists, formulas, and tables to make it easier to determine what the recommended weights for lifting, etc for a given percentage (75%) of a workforce population. (See the first link.)

Work areas that need targeted for evaluation can be determined by several factors such as: areas of poor work-flow or frequent congestion; work areas with a history of musculoskeletal injuries (back strains, carpal tunnel, tendinitis, etc.); repetitive motion jobs; areas with a high turnover (employees tend to bid out of or leave areas that cause them pain, or is excessively physically demanding); etc.

Once you have determined which area to check first, you will need to pick one specific task to observe. Start by observing current work practices across all shifts. Employees do tasks a certain way for a reason. Older employees or those that have been at that task the longest will have found work-arounds to some problems that newer employees may not have. Filming these tasks can be helpful, but only if the employee doesn't fear he himself is being evaluated. Identify job tasks and procedures that can be improved upon (including housekeeping aspects and tools). Be sure to include the employee in determining problem areas or issues. You will find that most times minor changes such as table lifts to eliminate bending, ergonomically designed hand tools, layout changes to minimize twisting, adjusting sizes and weights of packages, etc. will make huge improvements to the area.

Management involvement in corporate ergonomics is a must. However employee engagement and empowerment is key. The employee is the one most susceptible to injury. They are the one responsible for accomplishing the task. Their opinions and ideas are critical to finding solutions. If you engage and empower the employee as part of the process, they will better understand what ergonomics achieves and will take ownership of their area including pointing out other areas that need improvement.

I am including some other links for you to check out. If you have other questions or want more specifics, please contact me. I'd be happy to help. If you'd like some of the formulas and tables for recommended maximum lifting weight, etc. just let me know.

Links
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/97-117/default.html
http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ergonomics
Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
Liberty Mutual
MSD Prevention Toolbox
Analysis Tools for Ergonomists