The November issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine features a special section on various aspects of research on long work hours, health, and safety. This collection of articles is a response to the "2004 Long Work Hour Conference," sponsored by NIOSH and the University of Maryland School of Nursing.
NIOSH Personal Protective Technology Dockets Opened and Extended
The Personal Protective Technology cross-sector, one of 15 cross-sector programs in the NIOSH Program Portfolio, seeks to advance the current state of knowledge and application of personal protective technologies. This includes the technical methods, processes, techniques, tools, and materials that support the development and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) worn by individuals to reduce effects of their exposure to a hazard. Interested parties can comment on the Draft Goals presented at the Public Meeting on October 13.
NPPTL Releases September Figures on the Respirator Certification and Approval Process
During September 2006, the Technology Evaluation Branch of NPPTL issued a total of 26 respirator approvals. Of these, 17 included approval of modifications of products that had been previously approved. Nine of the approvals were for new products. Approval was denied for 16 products, including nine new and seven modifications.
The engineering evaluation team conducted one site audit of a manufacturing site to evaluate the quality assurance process and manufacturing practices. They also completed two product audits.
This process involves NPPTL purchasing previously approved products, through the open market, and putting the product through a complete approval check to ensure compliance with the approval issued. One product audit was initiated. The Certified Product Investigation Process completed five evaluations of previously certified products and started three investigations. These evaluations are initiated by the reporting of a potential problem either by a manufacturer or user. If a problem with the equipment is identified, the result can be a product redesign or issuance of a user notice or other remedies.
Oil Industry Asked to Eliminate Blowdown Drums Similar to Equipment at BP Texas City Refinery
The accident occurred during the startup of the refinery's octane-boosting isomerization (ISOM) unit, when a distillation tower and attached blowdown drum were overfilled with highly flammable liquid hydrocarbons. Because the blowdown drum vented directly to the atmosphere, there was a geyser-like release of highly flammable liquid and vapor onto the grounds of the refinery, causing a series of explosions and fires that killed workers in and around nearby trailers.
The announcement followed by one day the release of new preliminary findings in the CSB's ongoing, independent federal investigation of the accident. The board's final report is expected in March 2007.
The first recommendation calls on the American Petroleum Institute (API), a leading oil industry trade association that develops widely used safety practices, to change its Recommended Practice 521, Guide for Pressure Relieving and Depressuring Systems. The revised guidance should warn against using blowdown drums similar to those in Texas City, urge the use of inherently safer flare systems, and ensure companies plan effectively for large-scale flammable liquid releases from process equipment.
Further recommendations call on OSHA to establish a national emphasis program promoting the elimination of unsafe blowdown systems in favor of safer alternatives such as flare systems. OSHA should also emphasize the need for companies to conduct accurate relief valves studies and use appropriate equipment for containing liquid releases, the board said. A national emphasis program results in a concerted inspection and enforcement effort around a specific safety hazard.
CSB Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt said, "Unfortunately, the weaknesses in design, equipment, programs, and safety investment that were identified in Texas City are not unique either to that refinery or to BP. Federal regulators and the industry itself should take prompt action to make sure that similar unsafe conditions do not exist elsewhere. Taken as a package, the new CSB safety recommendations we issued today will provide for effective guidance, outreach, and regulatory enforcement to reduce the risk of similar tragedies in the future."
Lead Investigator Don Holmstrom noted that the ISOM unit blowdown drum at the BP Texas City refinery had a number of safety problems. "This drum simply wasn't large enough to hold all the liquid released from the distillation tower if it flooded. Not only could the blowdown drum not hold enough liquid, but it could not assure safe dispersion of flammable vapors through the vent stack," Mr. Holmstrom said. He added that safe dispersion of flammable vapors would require a high exit velocity that could never be guaranteed when handling multiple discharges through a complex piping system.
That design weakness resulted in unsafe conditions in Texas City prior to the March 23, 2005, accident. The CSB documented eight previous releases of vapor from the same blowdown drum from 1994 to 2004. In six cases, dangerous flammable vapor clouds formed at ground level but did not ignite; in two other cases, the blowdown stack caught fire.
Prior to the 2005 accident, BP operated 17 blowdown drums for disposal of flammable materials at its five U.S. refineries. BP has since pledged to eliminate all the drums and use safer alternatives, such as flare systems. A properly designed flare system includes an adequately sized vessel for containing liquids and a stack with a flame for safely burning flammable vapors, preventing an uncontrolled fire or explosion near personnel. Flares are the most commonly used disposal system for flammable releases in refineries.
In 1992, the Texas City refinery, then owned by Amoco Corporation, was cited by OSHA for operating an unsafe blowdown drum. However, Amoco succeeded in having the citation and fine withdrawn, asserting that the drum complied with accepted industry standards embodied in API Recommended Practice 521. Today's recommendation from the CSB would strengthen that guidance document so that it would explicitly warn against such unsafe blowdown systems.
Preventing Injuries from Installing Drywall
A new NIOSH workplace solutions document offers recommendations for preventing and reducing injuries to workers who install drywall.
OSHA Cites GILCO for Exposing Workers to Trenching Hazards
OSHA has cited GILCO Contracting of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and proposed penalties totaling $112,000, for exposing employees to alleged trenching hazards at the City of Tuscaloosa Cottondale Sewer Project.
"A worker was seriously injured because this employer ignored safe trenching practices and failed to use safety equipment available at the site," said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA's area director in Birmingham. "Employers must protect employees working in this very hazardous industry."
On April 23, 2006, a GILCO employee, standing in a filled rock-box bucket of a track-hoe, was being lowered into an excavation when the soil under the equipment collapsed, spilling the stones and pinning the worker underneath the bucket in an 18-foot-deep trench. Rescuers removed the worker, but he sustained a fractured leg and a crushed arm which later had to be amputated.
The company received two willful citations, with proposed penalties totaling $100,000, for failing to provide a safe means for employees to enter and exit excavations and to protect workers from cave-ins by using a protective system, such as a trench box or properly sloping or shoring trench walls.
OSHA also issued one serious citations, with a proposed penalty of $4,000 for failing to train employees to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions in a language they understood. The company also received one "repeat" citation, with a proposed penalty of $8,000, for failing to keep excavated material at least two feet from the edge of the trench; operating equipment on unstable soil; and placing equipment over the edge of an excavation causing workers to be exposed to additional fall, struck-by and crushing hazards.
OSHA Settles the Surface Finishing Industry Council’s Challenge to the Hexavalent Chromium Standard
OSHA is publishing a minor amendment in the Federal Register to the compliance date provision of its hexavalent chromium standard for general industry. The amendment is part of a settlement agreement with the Surface Finishing Industry Council (SFIC), Public Citizen Health Research Group, and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union.
The agreement creates an optional, alternative compliance timetable for metal- and surface-finishing operations at eligible facilities. Facilities that become parties to the agreement must implement engineering controls for electroplating operations on an expedited schedule (by Dec. 31, 2008), but will have relief from certain respirator requirements in the interim. The amendment has no impact on the compliance requirement for facilities that are not eligible to or do not become parties to the agreement.
A facility is eligible to become a party to the agreement if: (1) the employer is a member of SFIC or the facility is a surface-finishing or metal-finishing job shop that sells plating or anodizing services to other companies; and (2) the facility is within the jurisdiction of federal OSHA.
Employers can make their eligible facilities parties to the agreement by sending OSHA a completed declaration of party status. A separate declaration must be completed for each facility and must be received by OSHA or postmarked on or before Nov. 30, 2006.
Petitions for review of the hexavalent chromium standard filed by other petitioners remain pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
OSHA Cites Postal Facility for Safety and Health Hazards
OSHA has cited the U.S. Postal Service mail processing facility in White River Junction for alleged willful and serious violations of safety and health standards following inspections conducted in response to employee complaints. The facility faces a total of $44,250 in proposed fines.
OSHA's inspections began in May and found that a machine used to process bulk mail was inadequately guarded against employees coming into contact with its moving parts, exposing employees to lacerations and fractures. The facility failed to provide adequate guarding even after a job safety analysis identified the hazard.
As a result of this condition, OSHA issued a willful citation, carrying a fine of $40,000. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations.
OSHA also found that employees and supervisors were handling and cleaning up spills of unknown materials from leaking containers in violation of Postal Service policy and without proper respiratory protection.
"The Postal Service requires that unidentified substances be handled by outside hazardous materials experts and OSHA standards require proper respiratory protection when employees respond to spills," said OSHA Area Director Rosemarie Ohar. "Although no injuries have yet resulted, failure to follow these safeguards places first responder employees at risk of inhaling unknown and potentially hazardous substances."
OSHA issued two serious citations, with $4,250 in fines, for these hazards. A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Unguarded 21-foot Deep Trench in Coventry Leads to $41,000 in Fines from OSHA for Warwick Contractor
A Warwick contractor faces $41,000 in fines from OSHA for allegedly allowing employees to work in a 21-foot deep trench that lacked protection against cave-ins. RICO Corp. was cited for a total of five alleged willful and serious violations of safety standards following a June 8 OSHA inspection of a sewer-installation work site on Hopkins Hill Rd. in Coventry, RI.
"Effective cave-in protection is essential since the walls of a trench can collapse without warning, crushing and burying workers beneath tons of soil and debris before they can react or escape," said Patrick Griffin, OSHA's area director in Rhode Island. "While it's fortunate that no cave-in occurred, safety should never be a matter of luck. The potential for death or serious injury was clear and present."
OSHA also found that the trench lacked a safe means of exit, excavated materials were stored less than two feet away from its edge and an employee working inside the trench lacked a helmet to protect against falling debris. In addition, employees were exposed to injuries from a severely damaged trench box that had been used earlier at the jobsite.
OSHA issued a willful citation with a $35,000 fine for the lack of cave-in protection and four serious citations, carrying $6,000 in fines, for the other items. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations. OSHA issues a serious citation when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
OSHA standards require that all excavations 5 feet or deeper be protected against collapse.
OSHA Cites Georgia Company for Repeat Scaffolding Violation
OSHA has again cited Padgett Tabby & Stucco for allegedly exposing workers to falls from unsafe scaffolding; this time at a Demere Road work site on Saint Simons Island, Ga. The agency is proposing penalties totaling $140,000.
"The penalties proposed in this case will serve as a deterrent for this company, which OSHA has cited on multiple occasions for similar conditions," said John Deifer, OSHA's area director in Savannah. "It is unacceptable for employers to continue to ignore workers' safety and health."
Deifer explained that more than 40 percent of all fatal construction accidents in the Southeast over the past year resulted from falls. "This inspection began after OSHA compliance officers observed workers 10 feet from the ground on scaffolding without fall protection installing stucco onto the exterior walls of a shopping center," he said. "OSHA has a fall prevention program that allows for an immediate inspection when hazards like these are observed before an accident has occurred."
OSHA issued five repeat citations to Padgett, with proposed penalties totaling $136,000, for failing to provide employees with a safe means of climbing to or descending from scaffolds; allowing employees to work from tubular-welded-frame scaffolding that was not fully braced; not providing fully planked flooring and guardrails; and failing to have a designated competent person train employees who erected the scaffolding.
The company also received one serious citation, with a proposed penalty of $4,000, for failing to instruct employees to recognize and avoid safety and health hazards. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazards.
FKI Logistex Cited for Alleged Safety and Health Violations by OSHA; $237,200 Penalty Proposed
OSHA cited FKI Logistex, Olivette, Mo., for 45 alleged serious, willful, and repeat safety and health violations. OSHA proposed a $237,200 penalty against the company, a subsidiary of FKT plc., headquartered in the United Kingdom.
FKI is a global supplier of automated material handling products and employs more than 13,000 workers world-wide. The Olivette plant primarily manufactures palletizers with approximately 400 employees.
“An April 24 OSHA inspection found employee exposure to several severe safety and health hazards and a lack of employer commitment to ensuring the safety of its workers,” said Charles E. Adkins, CIH, OSHA regional administrator in Kansas City.
The 33 serious safety citations addressed such hazards as lack of fall protection; blocked exit doors; improper storage of flammable and combustible liquids; inadequate emergency response plan; inadequate lockout/tagout training; deficiencies in overhead crane operation, inspection and use; general electrical deficiencies including the absence of electrical safe work practices and use of personal protective equipment.
Included among 10 serious health citations were such violations as failure to provide a mechanical exhaust ventilation system for inside storage rooms; quantity of flammable liquids maintained in the paint spray booths exceeded the minimum required for operation; and employees were permitted to consume food and beverages in areas that contained toxic materials.
Employee exposure to struck-by or crushing hazards from a deficient overhead crane was the basis for the single willful citation. The repeat violations cited the absence of a work rest for employees operating an abrasive wheel grinder and path to ground was not permanent and continuous. OSHA previously issued a citation for violation of the same standard and the company certified corrections were made on October 15, 2004.
Willful violations are those committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970 and regulations. Serious violations are those which could result in death or serious physical harm, about which the employer knew or should have known. Repeat violations involve hazards for which the company was previously cited.
One other-than-serious citation was also issued to FKI Logistex.
Harvard Website Calculates Your Cancer Risk
Users input their age and gender and some more specific info about their lifestyle to get personalized risk level comparisons for a given disease against those of others in the same demographic.
Safety Workshops for Washington Small Businesses
Spend 90 minutes to prevent accidents and save money. The Washington Department of Labor and industry is offering no-cost workshops that can be useful to anyone interested in promoting safety in their workplace. Topics include:
- True costs of an accident
- Useful tools on how to avoid accidents
- Hazard assessment
- Accident prevention program
- Safety meetings
- How to control the financial impact of an accident on your business
- Workers Compensation 101
- How injuries impact premiums
- Elements of an effective claims plan
There’s no charge for these workshops. Register on-line or ask your industry association or local business group to invite Labor & Industries to give one or both of these 90-minute workshops at your local chapter meeting.
For group presentations, contact the DOSH workshop program at 1-800-574-2829.
Georgetown Forum Looks at Federal and State OSHA Programs
On October 23, the Center for Business and Public Policy at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business hosted an interactive forum titled “Federal and State OSHA Programs: What We Have Learned.” The forum focused on examining the effectiveness of federal and state level programs from the researcher and practitioner perspectives.
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