Amended Heat Safety Regulations in Effect May 1

 

 

“The new heat illness prevention requirements offer additional safeguards for outdoor workers,” said Christine Baker, Director of the Department of Industrial Relations. “With warmer weather expected, these new requirements give employers tools to prevent and deal with serious heat-related medical conditions that can happen to employees on the job.” Cal/OSHA is a division within DIR.

The revisions in the heat illness prevention regulation include the following:

• Water must be pure, suitably cool, and provided free to workers. It must be located as close as practicable to where employees are working so they can hydrate frequently during their shift.
• When temperatures exceed 80 degrees Fahrenheit, shade is required for all workers on break, and for all those who take their meal periods on-site. For climates cooler than 80 degrees, shade must still be made available upon request.
• Workers who take cool-down rest breaks must be monitored and asked if they are experiencing heat illness symptoms.
• High-heat procedures have been modified for the agriculture industry to mandate one 10-minute preventative cool-down rest break every two hours when temperatures equal or exceed 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Employers must ensure that supervisors and workers are adequately trained to recognize and react to heat illness signs or symptoms and how to contact emergency medical services (EMS).
• Any workers who display or report any signs or symptoms of heat illness, must not be left alone or sent home without being offered on-site first aid or emergency medical services.
• All workers must be closely observed during a heat wave.
• Any worker newly assigned to a high-heat area must be observed by a supervisor or designee during the first 14 days of employment.
• Training must be provided for all outdoor workers before starting any work involving heat illness risk. The training must be presented in a language that employees understand, and must be documented.

“These modifications will help further reduce the heat-related risks associated with working outdoors,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum.” The changes provide valuable information to help employers understand how to prevent heat illness in the workplace, and our goal is to help them comply with the new requirements.”

With unusually high temperatures predicted for summer 2015, Cal/OSHA urges employers with outdoor workers to prepare for high heat now. Preparation is essential to prevent heat illness, which can include headaches, fatigue, excessive sweating, and muscle cramps in the early stages, and can rapidly progress to mental confusion, vomiting, fainting, seizures, and death.

These resources also include details on free training for all employers with outdoor worksites in both Northern and Southern California.

How to Implement OSHA’s Globally Harmonized Hazard Communication Standard (GHS)

OSHA has issued a final rule revising its Hazard Communication Standard, aligning it with the United Nations’ globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals. This means that virtually every product label, safety data sheet (formerly called “material safety data sheet” or MSDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard. Worker training must be updated so that workers can recognize and understand the symbols and pictograms on the new labels as well as the new hazard statements and precautions on safety data sheets.

Environmental Resource Center is offering live online training for you to learn how the new rule differs from current requirements, how to implement the changes, and when the changes must be implemented. 

Virginia Beach RCRA and DOT Training

 

Atlanta DOT/RCRA, Advanced RCRA, and Storm Water Training

 

Tampa DOT/IATA Training

 

Three Massachusetts Roofers Hospitalized after Substandard Scaffold Breaks

Three roofing workers employed by Provencher Home Improvement of Beverly, Massachusetts, were hospitalized after a two-story fall from a scaffold platform that broke beneath them, OSHA inspectors have determined. The incident occurred, inspectors said, because a spruce plank used as the platform could not support the workers’ weight, was not graded for scaffold use, and the plank’s invoice was clearly marked “not for scaffold use.”

OSHA found numerous violations in its inspection and has cited the company’s owner Daryl J. Provencher with fines totaling $294,500. The incident underscores the severity of fall hazards in the construction industry. Each year, hundreds die as a result of falls, many of which are preventable when proper safety rules are observed.

“Had this employer obeyed the law and followed OSHA standards, this incident and the resulting serious injuries to three workers would not have occurred. It was completely preventable,” said Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. “Instead of purchasing and using scaffold grade planking that could support the load, this employer needlessly gambled with the safety and well-being of its employees.”

The incident occurred as the employees performed roofing work on a ladder-jack scaffold at 12 Parsons Hill Road in Wenham, Massachusetts, on October 2, 2014, at an A.C. Castle Co., Inc., jobsite. In addition to a number of significant safety violations, the investigation found that the operations of Danvers-based A.C. Castle Construction Co., Inc., were sufficiently integrated with Provencher’s to render the two a single employer of the affected workers.

The three workers who fell were taken to local hospitals for treatment. Two were admitted as inpatients and the third received outpatient treatment. Their injuries included spinal, eye, facial, chest and rib fractures, broken bones, broken ribs, and a punctured lung.

“While the affected workers here were nominally employed by Provencher, A.C. Castle exercised a degree of control and oversight over Provencher’s operations sufficient to render the two a single employer under the OSH Act, responsible as one entity for their employees’ safety,” said M. Patricia Smith, Solicitor of Labor. “We will hold business entities responsible as employers where the circumstances so warrant, even in the face of claims by some to the contrary.”

OSHA identified additional hazards at the Wenham jobsite, including scaffold platforms that exceeded the maximum allowable height of 20 feet, ladders that did not extend at least three feet above landings for stability and not ensuring that the employees were using fall protection. Other hazards encompassed the use of defective or damaged scaffold components, missing or inadequate scaffold anchorage, and failure to train employees in scaffold erection and safety. 

The willful and repeat violations stem from Castle/Provencher’s knowledge of the hazards and prior history of OSHA violations. A.C. Castle had been inspected three times by OSHA since 2005, and Daryl J. Provencher, doing business as Provencher Home Improvement, had been inspected twice since 2011, resulting in a total of 47 violations and $123,720 in fines for the two entities. Three of the inspections involved scaffold violations, five involved ladder hazards and three involved fall protection violations. The previous inspections took place at worksites in Danvers, Hamilton, Peabody, Revere Beach and Salem.

Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work. In 2013, there were 294 fall fatalities out of 796 total fatalities in construction.

Employers and workers will pause during their workday for safety topic talks, demonstrations and training on how to use safety harnesses, guard rails and other means to protect workers from falls.

“There are employers who provide fall protection and take pride in it. Many of them will participate in the Stand-Down and we encourage other employers to do so as well,” said Michaels. “It’s a small investment of time, resources and knowledge that will pay big dividends for both workers and employers.”

American Spincast Inc. Fined $165,200 for Numerous Safety and Health Violations

An inspection of American Spincast, Inc., in Belton, Texas, which included both safety and health, began October 2014 as part of the OSHA’s Site Specific Targeting program, which directs enforcement resources to high-hazard workplaces where the highest rates of injuries and illnesses occur.

Some of the violations cited include failing to:

• Provide guardrails or personal fall arrest systems for work on elevated locations
• Ensure forklift man basket had safe design and was properly attached
• Provide machine guarding for lathes, saws, sander, conveyors, and other machinery
• Guard transmission belts and pulleys on multiple machines
• Ensure arc welding cables were undamaged
• Implement administrative or engineering controls when noise levels exceed 100 decibels
• Ensure flammable liquids were stored in tanks or closed containers
• Provide Hazard Communication training on methylene chloride and hexavalent chromium

A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. Proposed penalties total $165,200.

“These workers were needlessly exposed to hearing loss, falls and other dangers,” said Casey Perkins, area director of OSHA’s Austin Area Office. “American Spincast failed to provide the minimal protective standards required by law. Employers need to implement programs for finding and fixing these hazards before workers become seriously injured or receive irreversible health effects.”

Nabors Completion and Production Services Co. Fined $97,200 for Explosion that Caused Worker Fatality

Dustin Payne traveled to North Dakota looking for a good job, the opportunity to use his skills and the chance to secure a future for him and his fianc? back in Alabama. Instead, the 28-year-old Marine veteran with combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan to his credit is dead, the victim of a massive explosion that his Williston employer could have prevented.

Payne was welding inside a water hauling tank when vapors ignited. He succumbed to his injuries five days after the October 3, 2014, explosion, one of six worker fatalities related to operations in the Williston Basin formation since October 2014.

His employer, Nabors Completion and Production Services Co., failed to clean the water hauling tank thoroughly prior to welding and cutting operations, OSHA investigators found. 

“Dustin Payne and his fianc?e should be discussing marriage and their future together. Instead, she is left stricken and trying to move forward without him. This tragic incident was recognizable and preventable,” said Eric Brooks, OSHA’s area director in Bismarck. “Containers of oil production water, even after emptied, have the potential to contain flammable vapors. Employers must develop and implement a stringent container cleaning program. No container should be assumed to be safe for welding operations.”

The willful violation cites Nabors for failing to clean the container of oil residue thoroughly. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing, or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.

OSHA inspectors noted the company failed to inspect welding areas prior to work; vent container spaces; separate oxygen and fuel-gas cylinders; and provide a fire watch, resulting in the issuance of four serious violations.

Nabors, a Houston-based company that operates the world’s largest land-based drilling rig fleet, faces proposed penalties of $97,200.

In February, OSHA signed an alliance with both North Dakota and Montana, and the Montana-North Dakota chapter of the National Service, Transmission, Exploration, and Production Safety Network, to foster safer and healthier working conditions in the oil and gas fields of North Dakota and Montana. The alliance’s goal is to reduce occupational exposure to physical and chemical hazards, which have resulted in numerous injuries and fatalities.

Court Orders Dentist to Pay $85,000 to Employee Fired for Safety Complaint

It began when Massachusetts dentist Dr. N. Terry Fayad changed his practice’s procedure for disposing of contaminated needles. He told those in his Beverly, Massachusetts-based office to first remove the protective caps before dropping them into sharps disposal containers, allegedly to fill the containers with more used needles and reduce the frequency and cost of their disposal.

Concerned that she and her co-workers could be exposed to needle stick injuries and the risk of infection from bloodborne pathogens such as hepatitis and HIV, a dental assistant raised the issue with Fayad. When he dismissed her concern, she filed a complaint with the OSHA. After an OSHA inspector visited on November 23, 2010, Dr. Fayad fired her later that day.

A whistleblower investigation followed and, in September 2011, the Department of Labor sued Fayad in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. In its complaint, the department charged that the dentist violated the anti-retaliation provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The suit eventually went to trial before US District Judge George A. O’Toole.

Judge O’Toole has ruled in favor of the department and ordered Fayad’s practice, N. Terry Fayad, D.M.D., P.C., to pay the worker $51,644.80 in back wages and ordered both Fayad and the practice to pay her $33,450.26 in compensatory damages. The judge found that the employee’s firing by Fayad shortly after OSHA began its inspection was retaliatory and a violation of section 11(c) of the OSH Act.

“This worker suffered needless financial and emotional distress because Dr. Fayad chose to disregard a clear and important principle: Employees have the right to contact OSHA and raise workplace health and safety concerns with their employer without fear of termination or retaliation,” said Greg Baxter, OSHA’s acting regional administrator for New England. “Employers must pay attention to this verdict. It makes it clear that there will be legal and financial consequences if you retaliate against your employees in this manner.”

“The OSH Act gives employees both a right to a safe and healthy workplace, and a right to voice concerns about workplace conditions, without fear of adverse consequences,” said Michael Felsen, the department’s New England regional solicitor of labor. “This case demonstrates the Labor Department will pursue legal remedies aggressively when employers fire workers or try to intimidate them into silence when they assert those rights.”

The court also entered an injunction against Fayad, his P.C., and their agents and employees, preventing them from violating the anti-retaliation provisions of the OSH Act, and directing the defendants to post a notice to their employees stating that they will not in any way discriminate against employees for activities protected by the Act.

The case was tried on the Secretary’s behalf by Senior Trial Attorney Kelly Lawson and Trial Attorney Nathan Goldstein of the department’s regional Office of the Solicitor in Boston.

The violations were corrected and he paid a fine of $11,000 in 2012.

 

Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government.

Armor Shield Construction Violates Fall Protection Standards for the 6th Time Since 2004

A construction crew installing roofing and heating and air-conditioning units on a seven-story Des Plaines condominium could have fallen because their employer did not provide protection required by OSHA. This was the sixth time since 2004 that Armor Shield Construction was found exposing workers to fall hazards. 

The most recent OSHA inspection came after investigators saw workers without fall protection at the Des Plaines site on October 30, 2014. As a result, Armor Shield was cited for three repeated and two serious safety violations and faces penalties of $72,380.

“Armor Shield needs to make immediate changes to its safety program. No worker should ever be subject to fall hazards when basic safety equipment can prevent tragedies,” said Angeline Loftus, OSHA’s area director for the Chicago North Area Office in Des Plaines. “Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. Hundreds of workers die each year and thousands more suffer catastrophic, debilitating injuries. Yet, lack of proper fall protection remains the most frequently cited violation by OSHA. We need to change that culture in the construction industry.”

Two serious violations were issued for failing to protect workers from falling through nine unprotected skylights on the roof and misuse of ladders.

As well, Armor Shield received three citations for repeated violations by exposing workers to fall hazards while working on top of a seven-story building. OSHA issues repeated violations if an employer was previously cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule, or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

Beacon Industries Inc. Fined $71,000 for Mechanical, Electrical, and other Hazards

Beacon Industries, Inc., an aircraft engine and parts manufacturer, headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut, was inspected by OSHA on October 21, 2014 in response to a complaint.

Specific hazards included inadequate training and lack of protective equipment for employees required to perform live troubleshooting on electrical equipment; missing or inadequate safeguards to prevent employees from coming into contact with the operating parts of machines; failure to conduct required inspections and provide safeguarding for a mechanical power press; absent or inadequate procedures to prevent the unintended startup of machinery during servicing; lack of inspections to ensure adequate airflow in a ventilation system; a padlocked exit door; and incorrect lifting capacity labels for forktrucks. As a result of these conditions, OSHA cited Beacon Industries, Inc., for 18 serious violations of workplace safety standards. Proposed penalties total $71,100.

“Our inspection identified a sizable number of violations of workplace safety standards that should not have existed in the first place. Beacon Industries needs to promptly and effectively address these conditions and show us what steps it will take to prevent them from occurring again,” said Warren Simpson, OSHA’s area director in Hartford.

Metso Minerals Fined $64,250 for Exposing Workers to Serious Hazards

 

“More than 200,000 American workers are injured by machine hazards annually. Workers pay the price when companies fail to follow standards to reduce injuries,” said Bill McDonald, area director of OSHA’s St. Louis office. “The safety mechanisms at Metso Minerals are inadequate, and the company was cited for similar hazards in 2013. The company needs to take immediate steps to comply with this safety standard.”

The January 27 investigation found workers endangered by amputation hazards because machines were not shut down properly prior to service and maintenance. Workers were also found operating press brakes without appropriate safety devices. This inspection resulted in one repeated violation.

Similar violations were discovered at Metso Minerals in Warrenton in May 2013.

Inspectors also determined that the company failed to monitor hexavalent chromium exposure levels among workers. Chromium is added to harden alloy steel and help it resist corrosion. In this case, workers were exposed to chromium during “hot work,” when stainless steel and other alloy steels containing chromium metal were welded.

Investigators also noted the company did not secure live conductors to power boxes, failed to close unused openings in electrical boxes, and did not store compressed gas cylinders properly.

A total of eight serious health and safety violations were issued.

North American Container Corp. Fails to Protect Workers from Multiple Hazards

The company makes crates and corrugated boxes for lawn and garden products, such as all-terrain vehicles, tractors, lawn mowers, and blowers. Headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, North American Container has eight other production facilities in Georgia, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

After a complaint, OSHA began an inspection in October 2014 and identified eight safety and health violations, with proposed penalties of $59,400.

“North American Container puts workers at risk of serious injury or illness by disregarding OSHA safety and health standards,” said Christi Griffin, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-West Area Office. “The repeated violations cited in this inspection show the employer’s lack of commitment to protect employees from workplace hazards.”

 North American Container was cited for these same violations in 2010 and 2014.

Four serious violations include equipping exit doors with sliding locks that could prohibit employees from leaving the facility quickly; not providing proper hand protection; failing to establish a noise testing program; and not training employees on the hazards of excessive noise levels.

North American Container employs temporary workers through staffing agencies TRP Partners, LLC, in Dalton, and Flexible Staffing, in Cartersville. North American provides training and oversight for its temporary employees, so OSHA did not cite the staffing agencies after this inspection.

OSHA has inspected North American Container four times since 2010. The company received citations for noise exposure, respirator protection and proper installation of guards to protect users from operating machine parts.

Global Construction & Engineering Inc. Exposes Workers to Safety Hazards

 At the time of the inspection, workers were installing sewer lines at 3025 Wood Drive, Center Point, Alabama.

OSHA requires that all trenches and excavation sites 5-feet or deeper be protected against sidewall collapses. Protection may be provided through shoring of trench walls, sloping of the soil at a shallow angle or by using a protective trench box. One repeated citation was issued for not providing workers safe entrance and exit from the trench. Additionally, five serious citations were issued for allowing workers to perform trenching operations without head protection; not providing reflective vests for employees working near vehicular traffic; and not removing workers from a trench when cave-in hazards were discovered.

“Trenching and excavation operations are widely known for being very dangerous, yet Global Construction made no attempts to protect its workers,” said Ramona Morris, OSHA’s area director in Birmingham. “When an employer willfully ignores OSHA standards it puts workers at risk of being injured or killed and OSHA will not tolerate this.”

Proposed penalties total $48,840.

Enbridge G&P LP Fined $41,250 for 8 Serious Safety Violations

OSHA began investigating Enbridge G&P (North Texas) L.P., the natural gas processing facility in Springtown, Texas, in October 2014.

The violations include:

• Not ensuring that the 2011 PSM audit findings were promptly corrected
• Not performing inspections and tests on controls designated as safeguards
• Not ensuring that written procedures were established and implemented for block/stop valves of pressure relief devices
• Not ensuring that pressure relief valve stacks complied with American Petroleum Institute standards
• Not properly storing and securing unused cylinders to prevent employees from being struck
• Not guarding an open-sided platform guardrail system to prevent workers from falling to a lower level

Proposed penalties total $41,250.

“Chemical facilities can be very hazardous, and deficiencies like the ones found during this inspection should have been promptly corrected when identified,” said Jack Rector, OSHA’s area director in Fort Worth. “Employers must provide a safe and healthful working environment for their workers.”

OSHA and Airline Ground Safety Panel Renew Alliance to Protect Airline Ground Personnel

 

The alliance will address worker injuries that occur during operation of ground support equipment; use of seat belts; new and emerging hazards; slips, trips, and falls; ergonomic hazards; extreme temperatures; and understanding the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers under the OSH Act.

“OSHA and members of the airline industry have worked together in recent years to address safety issues among ground personnel,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “The efforts of our continued alliance with AGSP will go a long way toward keeping workers across the country safe and healthy at the end of every workday.”

The alliance will develop toolbox talks on extreme temperatures and a case study on emerging workplace hazards, review existing Best Practice Facts Sheets with a focus on the use of seat belts in all ground support equipment, and incorporate ergonomic guidance in existing toolbox talks, case studies, and other guidance resources.

“Our member airlines are very pleased with the progress that the OSHA Alliance with the Airline Ground Safety Panel has produced over the past seven years,” said Airlines for America Vice President and Assistant General Counsel Rob DeLucia. “We look forward to continuing our voluntary, cooperative program with OSHA to further enhance employee safety with our labor union partners and the companies that service our aircraft.”

“The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is committed to the mission of the Airline Ground Safety Alliance and appreciative to OSHA for bringing both labor and management together to address mutual safety concerns,” said Mike Flynn, director, Occupational Safety and Health Department, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

AGSP comprises most major airlines, several regional airlines, representatives of trade unions, and contractors for ground crew employees. The alliance agreement has been renewed for five years.

The purpose of each alliance is to develop compliance assistance tools and resources, and to educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities. Alliance Program participants do not receive exemptions from OSHA inspections or any other enforcement benefits.

Team Elmer’s and MIOSHA Sign Partnership to Protect Workers During Reconstruction of US-31/M-72

The Traverse City, Michigan-based and family-owned company, Team Elmer’s, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) signed a formal partnership with the goal of enhanced safety and health, and zero worker injuries during the reconstruction of US-31 between 3 Mile Road and Holiday Road.

The project officially began April 6 at 7 p.m. and is expected to be completed on or before June 27, 2015. It will replace 1.556 miles of existing asphalt pavement, including concrete curbs and gutters, sidewalks, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant ramps, as well as storm sewer improvements. The partnership continues with 3.14 miles of capital preventative maintenance (CPM), including mill and overlay of the top wearing course on US-31 from Holiday Road to south of Dock Road after Labor Day.

“MIOHSA applauds Team Elmer’s for its high standards of safety and health that begin with pre-employment screening and safety training, and continue with regular safety training and certifications,” said MIOSHA Director Martha Yoder. “The agency is proud to partner with a company so dedicated to providing the highest level of worker protection on this reconstruction project.”

Signing partners included Yoder and Team Elmer’s Safety Director Steve Ward, Project Manager Nick Broad, Division Manager Max Bott, Vice-President and co-Owner Todd Broad, and Site Superintendent Steve Endres. Representatives from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) were also in attendance.

“It is a great relationship to build on because everyone has the same goal, the safety of our workers, our partnering sub-contractors, and the traveling public,” said Steve Ward, director of safety at Team Elmer’s.

Partnerships are an important emphasis in the MIOSHA Strategic Plan to improve the health and safety of workers through cooperative relationships; they move away from traditional enforcement methods and embrace collaborative agreements.

The safety and health of the reconstruction project’s employees is fundamental to this partnership with MIOSHA. The leadership of Team Elmer’s, partnering contractors, LARA and MIOSHA are aligned and committed to achieving the objective of worker protection by providing a workplace with an effective safety management system that is hazard-free.

“Partnering with MIOSHA is a unique opportunity to showcase how we value safety,” said Nick Broad, Team Elmer’s project manager for the US-31 reconstruction. “Upholding this emphasis on safety creates excellence in our work environment and allows us to protect workers. We look forward to collaborating with all partners, including MIOSHA, ensuring a safe work environment.”

All partners agree to commit their leadership, time and resources to achieve this valuable goal.

Partnering employers include:

• Bella Concrete
• PK Contracting
• Give ‘Em a Break
• Diane Dukes
• J. Ranck Electric
• Pollution Control Services
• Nashville Construction
• Antigo Construction
• K&H Concrete Cutting

Supporting partners also include the MDOT, Grand Traverse County, Travelers Insurance, Inland Seas Engineering, Soils and Structures, and Early Safety Services, LLC.

Key elements of the site-specific safety and health program for reconstruction include:

• Adherence to All Safety Policies, procedures, and MIOSHA standards
• 100% Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including hard hats, eye protection—prescription eye wear with side shields or ANSI Z-87.1 protective safety glasses with built in side shields, and appropriate work footwear
• Mandatory attendance to a project safety orientation. This includes project orientation, project-specific safety training, and passing a written test on the information given at such training at the completion of session. A hardhat sticker will be given at the end of this training. All workers are to place this sticker on their hardhat to demonstrate that they have completed the safety orientation.
• All crane operators will be Certified Crane Operators (CCO) as recognized by the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO).
• Mandatory pre-work substance abuse testing
• Mandatory post-accident substance abuse testing
• Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is to be completed and submitted to Team Elmer’s prior to each shift and prior to the beginning of critical work.
• Contractors shall provide a competent and/or qualified person for work operations as identified by MIOSHA standards and/or Team Elmer’s.
• Team Elmer’s and the partnering employers on this project will uniformly enforce a disciplinary action plan for employees who fail to work in a safe manner. Automatic dismissal from this project shall result from any willful or deliberate violation of safety rules or safety policies and procedures.
• Daily tool box talks will be given prior to the start of the shift. Any near-miss accidents from the previous day will be discussed and action will be taken to eliminate any potential hazards.

“The MIOSHA program is committed to partnering with employers to continually improve Michigan’s workplace safety and health,” said Martha Yoder. “Through these important partnerships, MIOSHA can offer employers a voluntary, cooperative relationship to help eliminate serious hazards and achieve significant safety and health management goals.”

The partnership does not preclude MIOSHA from enforcing its mission of addressing complaints, fatalities, or serious accidents, nor does it infringe on the rights of employees to report workplace hazards.

State Honors Cascade Asset Management as a Leader in Workplace Safety and Health

Asset Management, located in Indianapolis, earned certification in the prestigious Indiana Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (INSHARP). INSHARP sites are workplace safety and health leaders, recognized for their success in protecting employees on the job.

“No one earns INSHARP certification by accident,” said Indiana Department of Labor (IDOL) Commissioner Rick J. Ruble. “Cascade Asset Management made a commitment to employee safety and worked hard to ensure success. We are proud to certify them as among the safest workplaces in Indiana.”

To participate in INSHARP, a company must develop, implement, and maintain an exemplary worker safety and health management system and pass a comprehensive safety and health evaluation by the IDOL. In addition, the facility’s occupational injury and illness rates must be below the national industry average for their respective industry. Fewer than 50 Indiana companies have achieved INSHARP certification.

Cascade Asset Management was formed in 1999 to provide comprehensive information technology equipment retirement services for businesses, institutions, and municipalities. The company now operates full scale processing facilities in Wisconsin and Indiana and collects between 300-400 tons of computers, office electronics, consumer electronics, and test equipment each month from sites across North America.

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