SSPs would be designed to help the railroad proactively identify and mitigate or eliminate hazards and the resulting risks on each railroad’s system. Railroads would have considerable flexibility in tailoring an SSP to specific operations. The FRA would review and approve a railroad’s proposed SSP and audit compliance. Interested parties are invited to submit comments on the proposed rule by November 6, 2012.
How to Prepare for OSHA’s Globally Harmonized Hazard Communication Standard (GHS)
This means that virtually every product label, MSDS (called “safety data sheet” or SDS under the new standard), 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 SDSs.
Environmental Resource Center is offering webcast 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.
How to Author GHS Safety Data Sheets
OSHA has adopted the new Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals. A cornerstone of GHS is the adoption of a completely revised Safety Data Sheet (SDS).
How to Label Hazardous Chemicals Using OSHA’s New GHS Hazcom Standard
Columbus RCRA and DOT Training
Spartanburg RCRA and DOT Training
Chicago RCRA and DOT Training
2012 Safety Summit: A System that Works
EnPro Industries, Inc., two-time award winner of EHS Today’s America’s Safest Company Award and winner of the Liberty Mutual Safety Excellence Gold Award, in conjunction with Environmental Resource Center, Inc., will be hosting a Safety Summit at the Hilton Columbia Center, Columbia, South Carolina, October 2–3, 2012.
“We have had a lot of success and created a passion with our proven safety practices because our focus has been at cultural level,” says Joe Wheatley, director of risk management and EHS affairs. “Every employee in the company participates in a safety pledge to renew their personal and public commitments toward safety. We spend a tremendous amount of energy across the company recognizing the positive accomplishments and safety ethic of our employees. We constantly look for ways to increase our safety awareness, and every new employee is immediately introduced to our high safety ethic.” Safety, he adds, “makes for a great place to work.”
This conference will help your organization move from a reactive to a proactive organization, preventing injuries and illnesses before they happen. Learn how to drive manufacturing safety systems and build a strong safety culture that builds morale, productivity, and profits.
Attend this conference to gain the tools you need to improve your company’s safety performance, including:
- How to build your organization’s Safety Plan
- Visionary Safety: How to improve on Management Commitment and Accountability
- Importance and impact of Behavior Based Safety
- How to identify and trigger on key injuries related to your organization
- How to engage, involve, and empower employees to take ownership and responsibility
- Motivation and morale of employees in the workforce
- Skill set training needed for safety sustainability
- How to develop a process to capture leading and lagging indicators (Goal Setting and Metrics)
- Tools needed to improve on methodology and continuous improvement with all EHS Standards/Programs:
- Committee-Based Safety Systems, Safety Stand Downs, SafetyFirst Kickoff/Mid-year Events, Family Safety Day, Safety Leadership Training, Recognition/Incentive Programs, Escorting injured employees and 24 Hour Reporting, Job Hazard Analysis (JHA), Personal Protective Equipment Assessment, Risk Assessments, and “Best Practice” Standards.
”Safety is a core value. We recognize that all injuries are preventable and our motivation is our genuine caring about the well-being of others,” says CEO Steve Macadam. “Our ultimate vision is a culture where employees look out for each other in the workplace and carry their safety practices home at the end of every day and we have made great progress in creating this culture. We have developed a comprehensive playbook for our safety practices and our team is relentless in executing these practices.”
You will not want to miss this highly informative and inspirational program.
Safety Consultant/Trainer
Environmental Resource Center has a new opening for a safety consultant and auditor. We are looking for a former OSHA CSHO, OSHA trainer, or state inspector for this position in our Cary, North Carolina, office. Applicants should have excellent writing and speaking skills and be willing to travel 5–10 days per month. We are looking for an expert in all of the General Industry standards who is capable of performing audits of industrial facilities, developing computer based training programs, and conducting on-site training.
Strong consideration will be given to applicants who also have experience providing Hazwoper, hazard communication, lockout/tagout, confined spaces, and machine guarding training.
The position includes maintenance of training materials (books and presentations), working on consulting projects, development of classes and computer-based training programs, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Leading Scientists to Congress: Do Not Block Government List of Cancer-Causing Chemicals
More than 70 leading scientists are calling on Congress to reject an attempt to block a biennial government assessment of the cancer risks of posed by industrial chemicals and other agents.
“Honest, hard-working Americans and their families rely on Congress to protect their right to know about health risks from toxic chemicals in their homes, workplaces, schools, and consumer products,” the environmental health scientists wrote.
Their letter expressed strong opposition to a proposal to defund the annual Report on Carcinogens that was approved on July 18, 2012 by the House Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. The Report on Carcinogens is compiled biennially by the National Toxicology Program in the Department of Health and Human Services.
“It would be harmful to public health to suspend the Report on Carcinogens,” said Dr. Henry Anderson of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “Health professionals and the public rely on the Report for an up-to-date, clear, and objective assessment of the current science regarding potential cancer-causing substances.”
“The chemical industry is unhappy when a substance like formaldehyde or styrene is listed in the Report on Carcinogens, and their response has been to blame the messenger,” said Dr. Adam Finkel, Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). “But a lengthy and inclusive process has led to these evidenced-based determinations. We are calling on Congress not to play along and to instead defend the Report on Carcinogens from special interest attacks.”
Global Pyrotechnic Solutions Cited for 31 Violations After Three Workers Injured in Fireworks Plant Explosion
The employees were transported to local hospitals, and two were treated for serious burns and released. The third employee, who suffered third-degree burns, was hospitalized for approximately 20 days.
The serious violations relate to hazards associated with the improper handling of explosives, improper storage of flammable liquids a lack of ventilation in rooms where the liquids are used. 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.
The other-than-serious violations involve a lack of explosives warning signs on storage buildings and transport vehicles, using trucks that are not appropriate for transporting explosives, other issues with process safety management, and various respirator deficiencies. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
Global Pyrotechnic Solutions Inc., employs 20 workers.
Logan Machine Co. Cited for 16 Violations After Complaint of Hazards at Machine Shop
OSHA has cited Logan Machine Co., in Akron, Ohio, with 16 safety and health violations following a March inspection that was initiated upon receiving a complaint that alleged hazards. Proposed penalties total $66,600.
Eight serious safety violations involve failing to evaluate each powered industrial truck operator’s performance at least once every three years, regularly inspect powered industrial vehicles, establish proper lockout/tagout procedures for the energy sources of equipment, use undamaged web slings, properly guard machines, and reduce compressed air used for cleaning to 30lb per square inch.
Seven serious health violations involve failing to properly store flammable and combustible materials, use undamaged welding helmets, provide fire extinguishers, and use explosion-proof electrical fixtures in the paint room.
One other-than-serious violation is failing to train workers on using and cleaning respirators. This inspection was OSHA’s first of the Akron company.
Citgo Refining and Chemicals Cited for Exposing Workers to Hazardous Materials
Citgo Refining and Chemicals Co., LP, has been cited for five safety violations by OSHA. OSHA opened an inspection at the company’s Corpus Christi, Texas, facility upon receiving a complaint that employees had been exposed to a leak of hydrofluoric acid at a flange in the alkylation unit while performing maintenance work. Proposed penalties total $66,500.
OSHA identified four serious violations related to the company’s process safety management program, including failing to properly record process safety information, ensure that the process hazard analysis is accurate, ensure that equipment complies with the required engineering practices, secure operating procedure certification, and provide a satisfactory relief valve design.
One repeat violation is failing to follow modification procedures in the alkylation unit. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule, or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. A similar violation was cited in January 2010.
The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company is a subsidiary of Houston-based CITGO Petroleum Corp., and employs about 3,500 workers nationwide with 550 in Corpus Christi.
DOL Sues Contractor for Allegedly Firing and Harassing Employee Who Reported Asbestos Hazards at School
The US Department of Labor (DOL) has filed a lawsuit against Albany, New York-based demolition and construction disposal contractor Champagne Demolition LLC, and manager Joseph Champagne for allegedly firing an employee who reported improper asbestos removal practices while working at Gloversville High School.
On June 10, 2010, the employee informed company management of the improper practices. The worker was fired the next day and subjected to verbal threats and legal action. The worker then filed a complaint with OSHA, which opened a whistleblower investigation and found merit to the worker’s allegations.
The department’s complaint charges that the defendants discriminated against the employee by conducting retaliatory acts in violation of Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act).
The department’s suit asks the court to order the defendants to offer the employee reinstatement with full benefits and no break in seniority, expunge the employee’s personnel record of any reference to the circumstances in this matter, and post a notice of employees’ right to report hazards without retaliation. In addition, the department is seeking lost wages as well as compensatory, punitive, emotional, and financial distress damages for the worker.
OSHA Notifies Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center Southwest About Employees’ Exposure to Toxic Materials
OSHA has issued notices to the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest regarding violations of workplace health and safety standards at its facility in Coronado, California, that exposed workers to extremely toxic materials such as lead, cadmium, and beryllium.
Fleet Readiness Center Southwest is an agency of the US Navy and has a workforce of about 10,000 employees nationwide. The Coronado aircraft maintenance facility employs approximately 500 workers.
As required by the OSH Act, federal agencies must comply with the same health and safety standards as private sector employers. The federal agency equivalent of a private sector citation is the notice of an unhealthful or unsafe working condition, which informs agency officials of violations. OSHA cannot propose monetary penalties against another federal agency for failure to comply with its standards.
Two alleged willful violations involve allowing workers to store and consume food and beverages in areas contaminated by toxic materials such as lead, cadmium, and beryllium; hazards associated with the accumulation of cadmium in the workplace; and hazards associated with dry sweeping, which may be used only when vacuuming or other methods to minimize the likelihood of cadmium dust becoming airborne have been tried and are not effective. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
Two alleged serious violations involve the accumulation of lead dusts throughout the workplace, the use of dry sweeping to clean work areas where lead was found, and a failure to implement a program for beryllium hazard prevention and control.
The facility was inspected by OSHA three times in 2011, resulting in notices for 21 serious violations, including two related to the accumulation of cadmium.
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