 "Where Are My Keys?" The top violations are up almost 30% from 2008 and include the following:
1. Scaffolding – 9,093 violations
Scaffold accidents most often result from the planking or support giving way,
or from the employee slipping or being struck by a falling object.
2. Fall Protection – 6,771 violations
Any time a worker is at a height of four feet or more, the worker is at risk
and needs to be protected. Fall protection must be provided at four feet in
general industry, five feet in maritime and six feet in construction.
3. Hazard Communication – 6,378 violations
Chemical manufacturers and importers are required to evaluate the hazards of
the chemicals they produce or import, and prepare labels and safety data
sheets to convey the hazard information to their downstream customers.
4. Respiratory Protection – 3,803 violations
Respirators protect workers against insufficient oxygen environments, harmful
dusts, fogs, smokes, mists, gases, vapors and sprays. These hazards may cause
cancer, lung impairment, other diseases or death.
5. Lockout-Tag out – 3,321 violations
“Lockout-Tag out” refers to specific practices and procedures to safeguard
employees from the unexpected startup of machinery and equipment, or the
release of hazardous energy during service or maintenance activities.
Continue reading Top 10 OSHA Safety Violations for 2009
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A synopsis of OSHA’s Fall Protection Standards (OSHA standard 29 CFR 1926.501 through 503).
Fall protection is generally thought of as:
- Guardrail systems
- Safety net systems
- Personal fall arrest systems
- Positioning device systems, and/or
- Warning line systems
The standard:
- Covers most construction workers except persons inspecting, assessing, or investigating the workplace conditions prior to the start of work or after the completion of work.
- Identifies areas or activities where fall protection is needed.
- Sets a uniform threshold height of six (6) feet
- Allows employers to select fall protection measures that are best suited for the work being performed.
Guardrail requirements:
- Top edge height of top rails must be 42 inches (+/- 3 inches) above working/walking level & support 200 lb. force (use at least 2″x4″ lumber for wood top rails).
- Mid rails, screens, mesh, intermediate vertical members, or equivalent emmbers shall be installed mid-way between the top rail and working/walking level & support 150 lb. force (use at least 1″x6″ lumber for wood mid rails).
- Toe boards shall be 3.5 inches high & support 50 lb. force.
- Posts shall be no more than 8 feet apart (use 2″x4″ lumber for wood posts).
Fall Arrest Systems: Harness, Lanyard, Connectors & Anchors
- Shall be inspected prior to each use.
- Attachment point to body shall be in the center of the wearer’s back.
- Limit fall to six (6) feet and prevent contact with lower levels.
- Limit maximum deceleration distance to 3.5 feet.
- D-rings & snaphooks must have minimum tensile strength of 5,000 pounds.
- Lanyards & lifelines must have minimum breaking strength of 5,000 pounds.
- Self retracting lifelines & lanyards that limit fall distance to 2 feet or less must have minimum tensile strength of 3,000 pounds applied to the device with lifeline fully extended. Greater than 2 feet the minimum tensile strength must be 5,000 pounds.
- Anchorages must be capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds.
- Body belts & other positioning device systems are not a part of the personal fall arrest system.
Continue reading Fall Protection Guidelines
Effective September 30, 2009, OSHA has begun a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) for inspecting the accuracy
of the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements for low rate establishments in selected industries.
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).
Industries included have a DART (days away, restrictions and transfers – based on the 200,000 hour benchmark) rate of 5.7 to 8.1 and include:
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From OSHA’s Interpretations:
Question: Construction employees working on highway/road construction work zones often risk being struck by traffic. Do the OSHA standards require high-visibility apparel for these construction workers?
Answer: Road and construction traffic poses an obvious and well-recognized hazard to highway/road construction work zone employees. OSHA standards require such employees to wear high visibility garments in two specific circumstances: when they work as flaggers 1 and when they are exposed to public vehicular traffic in the vicinity of excavations2. However, other construction workers in highway/road construction work zones are also exposed to the danger of being struck by the vehicles operating near them. for such workers, section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, 29 U.S.C. §654(a)(1), also known as the General Duty Clause, requires similar protection3.
The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) recent issuance of a final rule (Worker Visibility, 23 CFR Part 634)4 demonstrates the need for all workers who are exposed either to public traffic or to construction vehicles and equipment to wear high-visibility apparel5. Section 634.3 of the Worker Visibility Rule states:
All workers within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway who are exposed either to traffic (vehicles using the highway for purposes of travel) or to construction equipment within the work area shall wear high-visibility safety apparel.
The purpose of this requirement, as stated in section 634.1, is “to decrease the likelihood of worker fatalities or injuries caused by motor vehicles and construction vehicles and equipment….” In the preamble to the Worker Visibility rule (Volume 71 of the Federal Register, page 67792), the FHWA stated:
High visibility is one of the most prominent needs for workers who must perfonn tasks near moving vehicles or equipment. The need to be seen by those who drive or operate vehicles or equipment is recognized as a critical issue for worker safety. The sooner a worker in or near the path of travel is seen, the more time the operator has to avoid an accident. The FHWA recognized this fact and included language in the 2000 Edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) to address this issue.
The FHWA’s rationale underlying the rule well illustrates that the industry recognizes that construction workers in highway/road construction work zones need protection against the hazard posed by moving traffic. The FHWA’s recent mandatory standard for workers on federal-aid highways shows that struck-by hazards in highway/road construction work zones are well recognized by the construction industry. Furthermore, the standard indicates that a feasible means of addressing that hazard is the wearing of high-visibility apparel. Accordingly, high-visibility apparel is required under the General Duty Clause to protect employees exposed to the danger of being struck by public and construction traffic while working in highway/road construction work zones. Typically, workers in a highway/road work zone are exposed to that hazard most of the time.
Richard E. Fairfax, Acting Director
Directorate of Construction
(footnotes after the break) Continue reading High Visibility Apparel When Working Near Vehicular Traffic
Washburn Mill
“OSHA is requesting comments, including data and other information, on issues related to the hazards of combustible dust in the workplace. For the purposes of this notice, the term “combustible dust” includes all combustible particulate solids of any size, shape, or chemical composition that could present a fire or deflagration hazard [...]
OSHA is proposing to modify its existing Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to conform with the United Nations’ (UN) Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). OSHA has made a preliminary determination that the proposed modifications will improve the quality and consistency of information provided to employers and employees regarding chemical hazards [...]
Within the Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will receive an additional $50 million dollars ($577 million total) for the 2010 budget, a 10 percent increase over last years funding of $522 million.
Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis stated the need for even more money to erase years [...]
Per information provided today by the WHO:
The Emergency Committee, established in compliance with the International Health Regulations (2005), held its second meeting on 27 April 2009. The Committee considered available data on confirmed outbreaks of A/H1N1 swine influenza in the United States of America, Mexico, and Canada. The Committee also considered reports [...]
 Jordan Barab Greetings.
I’ve now been on the job for two busy weeks as Acting Assistant Secretary and my greeting to everyone is overdue. I can first tell you that I’m thrilled to be back at OSHA and ready to work with you to raise the profile of worker safety and health in this country.
Earlier this week I met with Secretary of Labor Solis, and I’m very happy to report that she gets it. She understands working people, she understands and strongly supports the mission of this agency and wants to put her energy into ensuring that this agency succeeds in its mission. The first message I conveyed to her is that OSHA is full of some of the finest, most energetic, most dedicated people in the federal government and that I was proud to help her lead this agency.
Now, it’s no secret to any of you that this agency has come under some heavy criticism and scrutiny over the past few years. From my perspective, that criticism was focused not on what you do every day for working people, but on the lack of strong leadership promoting worker protection, strong regulatory activity, and aggressive enforcement.
I had more than one friend who warned me not to take this job because they felt that OSHA is a terminally sick agency. Nothing can be done to help it. The law is weak, resources lacking, the bureaucracy stifling, the regulatory system glacial, and the staff demoralized.
But I reject those arguments. Clearly there are some changes that need to be made in workplace safety in this country that are beyond OSHA’s control. But I have complete faith in OSHA’s mission, the staff of this agency and that OSHA can fulfill that mission – to protect American workers and assure safe workplaces.
Continue reading A Word from the Acting Assistant Secretary
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“The Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) promote effective worksite-based safety and health. In the VPP, management, labor, and OSHA establish cooperative relationships at workplaces that have implemented a comprehensive safety and health management system. Approval into VPP is OSHA’s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safety [...]
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