“It has the potential to significantly and positively impact occupational health and safety management on a global level.”
The US TAG to ISO PC 283 will advise ANSI on voting positions relevant to the proposed OH&S management standard, and will carry out detailed discussions on issues related to its development. As the US member body to ISO, ANSI accredits US TAGs to develop and transmit US positions on ISO technical activities. Following the TAG’s accreditation by ANSI, ASSE will head up the US work effort by serving as the US TAG administrator to ISO PC 283.
“Time and time again we’ve seen how investment in OH&S management can help to make work environments safer, while also serving to improve overall organizational performance and boosting the bottom line,” said Kathy Seabrook, CSP, CMIOSH, EurOSH, president of ASSE.
“ISO PC 283 will be doing critically important work, and the US needs to have a strong, active and engaged role in this activity,” added Mr. Bhatia. “ANSI and ASSE encourage all interested US stakeholders to get involved in this significant new global standards initiative.”
President Orders Improved Chemical Facility Safety and Security
Chemicals and the facilities that manufacture, store, distribute, and use them are essential to our economy. However, incidents such as the devastating explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas in April are tragic reminders that the handling and storage of chemicals present serious risks that must be addressed. While the cause of the Texas explosion is under investigation, we can take some common sense steps now to improve safety and security and build on Federal agencies’ ongoing work to reduce the risks associated with hazardous chemicals.
The Executive Order on Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security directs the Federal Government to:
- Improve operational coordination with state and local partners
- Enhance Federal agency coordination and information sharing
- Modernize policies, regulations and standards
- Work with stakeholders to identify best practices
Improving Operational Coordination with State and Local Partners
Federal, state, local, and tribal governments have different responsibilities in addressing risks associated with chemical facilities, including response planning for potential emergencies. To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of risk management and response measures, the Executive Order charges Federal agencies with improving coordination and information sharing with state and local governments. For example, the Executive Order requires Federal agencies to develop a plan within 90 days that identifies ways to ensure State homeland security advisors, State Emergency Response Commissions (SERCs), Tribal Emergency Response Commissions (TERCs), Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs), Tribal Emergency Planning Committees (TEPCs), State regulators, and first responders have ready access to key information in a useful format to prevent, prepare for, and respond to chemical incidents.
Enhancing Federal Coordination and Information Sharing
Programs designed to improve the safety and security of chemical facilities through regulations, information reporting requirements, site inspections, and voluntary partnerships are managed by multiple Federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Justice (DOJ). To improve the collective performance of these Federal programs, the Executive Order calls upon Federal agencies to initiate innovative approaches for working together on a broad range of activities, such as identification of high-risk facilities, inspections, enforcement, and incident investigation and follow up. For example, the Executive Order requires that the Federal agencies deploy a regional pilot program that will validate best practices and test innovative new methods for Federal interagency collaboration on chemical facility safety and security. Additionally, Federal agencies are specifically directed to modernize the collection and sharing of chemical facility information to maximize the effectiveness of risk reduction efforts and reduce duplicative efforts.
Modernizing Policies, Regulations and Standards
The Executive Order directs Federal agencies to work with stakeholders to improve chemical safety and security through agency programs, private sector initiatives, Federal guidance, standards, and regulations. For example, to reduce risks associated with ammonium nitrate, agencies will examine new options to address the safe and secure storage, handling, and sale of this explosive chemical. Agencies will also determine if additional chemicals should be covered by existing Federal regulatory programs, such as EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP), DHS’s Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATs), and DOL’s Process Safety Management Standards (PSM). In addition, agencies will consider whether to pursue an independent, high-level assessment of the US approach to chemical facility risk management to identify additional recommendations for all levels of government and industry to reduce the risk of catastrophic chemical incidents in the future.
Working with Stakeholders to Identify Best Practices
Many chemical facilities have taken steps to create safer work environments and reduce risks of chemical incidents to nearby communities. The Executive Order directs key Federal agencies to convene a wide range of interested stakeholders, including representatives from industry, state, local, and tribal governments, non-governmental organizations, and the first responder community, to identify and share successes to date and best practices to reduce safety and security risks in the production and storage of potentially harmful chemicals, including through the use of safer alternatives, adoption of best practices, and potential public-private partnerships.
GHS OSHA Hazard Communication Training PowerPoint Now Available
With OSHA’s adoption of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals, virtually every chemical label, MSDS—now called Safety Data Sheet (SDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard.
By December 1, 2013, all employees at your site that work with, or are exposed to, hazardous chemicals must be trained to understand the new classification system, labels, warning statements, precautions, pictograms, and safety data sheets for chemicals at your worksite.
Environmental Resource Center is making available a PDF presentation or a customizable PowerPoint that you can use for on-site worker training. The training program, which covers all of OSHA’s required GHS Hazard Communication training requirements in a format that is easy to understand.
Pricing and options:
Options:
1. Customized PowerPoint: send us your written GHS hazard communication plan and 10–20 safety data sheets. We’ll create a custom training program for your site: $899
2. If you have not updated your hazard communication plan, let Environmental Resource Center update it for you: $799
3. Customized PowerPoint and hazard communication plan: $1600.
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 SDSs.
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.
DOT Eliminates Major Paperwork Burden, Saves $1.7 Billion
US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx recently announced a proposal to eliminate a burdensome daily paperwork requirement for professional truck drivers that will reduce costs to the industry by an estimated $1.7 billion annually while still maintaining the Department's high safety standards.
“President Obama challenged his Administration to find ways to cut waste and red tape, a challenge I pledged to meet during my confirmation hearing," said Secretary Foxx. "With today’s proposal, we are delivering on that pledge, saving business billions of dollars while maintaining our commitment to safety. It's the kind of win-win solution that I hope our Department will continue to find over the coming months.”
"This is a great example of the progress being made under the Administration's regulatory lookback initiative," said Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell. "The Administration is carefully examining rules on the books to see where we can streamline, modify, or repeal regulations to reduce unnecessary burdens and costs on businesses and consumers. By making this common-sense change to the DVIR process, the Department of Transportation is dramatically reducing paperwork burdens on the trucking industry, while continuing to protect public safety."
Current federal regulations require commercial truck drivers to conduct pre- and post-trip equipment inspections and file Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIRs) after each inspection, regardless of whether or not an issue requiring repairs is identified. DVIRs are the 19th-highest paperwork burden, based on the number of hours needed to comply, imposed across all federal agencies and only 5% of reports filed include defects. The recent announcement represents the largest paperwork reduction achieved since President Obama's May 2012 Executive Order to reduce regulatory burdens on the private sector.
Under the proposed change announced recently, commercial truck drivers would continue conducting pre- and post-trip inspections. However, DVIRs would be required only if defects or deficiencies were discovered by or reported to the driver during the day’s operations.
"We can better focus on the 5% of problematic truck inspection reports by eliminating the 95% that report the status quo," said Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "Moving to a defect-only reporting system would reduce a significant paperwork burden facing truck drivers and save the industry billions without compromising safety."
Federal regulations require that every commercial vehicle in the US undergo a thorough annual safety inspection conducted by a certified commercial vehicle mechanic. In addition, state and federal inspectors conduct unannounced, random inspections of commercial vehicles at terminals, weigh stations, truck stops along the roadside and at destinations. Vehicles that fail random safety inspections are immediately placed out of service and not allowed to operate until the identified safety problems are addressed. In 2012, approximately 3.5 million random inspections were conducted.
In June 2012, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration eliminated a comparable requirement for truck drivers operating intermodal equipment trailers used for transporting containerized cargo shipments. By eliminating a requirement for drivers to submit "no defect" inspection reports of intermodal equipment trailer, cost savings to the intermodal industry is estimated to be $54 million annually without an adverse impact upon safety.
Birmingham RCRA and DOT Training
Indianapolis RCRA, DOT, and EHS Training
Charlotte RCRA, DOT, and Stormwater Training
OSHA and NIOSH Issue Hazard Alert on 1-Bromopropane,
"The use of 1-bromopropane has increased in workplaces over the last 20 years," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. "Workers exposed to this toxic chemical can suffer serious health effects, even long after exposure has ended. Hazardous exposure to 1-BP must be prevented. Employers have a responsibility to ensure the safety of their workers."
Exposure to 1-BP has been associated with damage to the nervous system among workers, and it has been shown to cause reproductive harm in animal studies. The chemical is used in degreasing operations, furniture manufacturing, and dry cleaning. The hazard alert was issued in response to information on the increased use of 1-BP as a substitute for other solvents as well as recent reports of overexposure in furniture manufacturing. 1-BP was nominated as a chemical of concern in OSHA's Web Forum to Identify Hazardous Chemicals.
Workers can be exposed to 1-BP by breathing in vapors or spray mists and by absorption through the skin. The most effective way to protect workers from exposure is to eliminate the use of 1-BP, substituting the chemical with a less toxic substance or less hazardous material. Replacement chemicals also may have associated hazards that need to be considered and controlled.
Engineering controls to reduce worker exposure to 1-BP include isolation of workplace operations and the installation of proper ventilation systems. Other controls, such as a reduction in the time a worker is exposed to the chemical, should also be considered.
OSHA Launches National Emphasis Program to Guard Against Hearing Loss
The regional emphasis program will focus on workplaces engaged in the manufacturing and fabrication of metal, plastic, stone, and wood products, as well as meat, dairy, and bakery production.
"Hearing loss is a serious matter. Exposure to high noise levels can cause permanent hearing loss that cannot be corrected through surgery," said Marthe Kent, OSHA's regional administrator for New England. "To prevent that from happening to workers, we are encouraging employers to explore and pursue better safeguards for their employees against everyday workplace noise hazards."
The program will identify and inspect workplaces with high noise levels and provide outreach to employers. OSHA will conduct the outreach and targeted enforcement phases of the regional emphasis program concurrently to raise awareness among employers and employees about the hazards associated with exposure to high levels of noise activities.
Approximately 22 million workers nationwide are exposed to potentially damaging noise yearly, and thousands of workers annually suffer from preventable hearing loss due to high workplace noise levels. In 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported more than 20,000 cases of work-related hearing loss.
Air Carrier Ordered to Reinstate Pilot and Pay Damages
OSHA has ordered Metropolitan Aviation, LLC, to reinstate a pilot after a whistle-blower investigation determined the Manassas-based air carrier violated the pilot's rights when he was fired for reporting an emergency landing.
The pilot filed a complaint with OSHA alleging retaliation for a protected activity under the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, the aviation industry whistle-blower law known as AIR21. An investigation conducted by OSHA's Philadelphia Regional Office found merit to the pilot's complaint.
"Pilots are protected by law when they refuse to fly an aircraft determined to be unairworthy," said MaryAnn Garrahan, OSHA's regional administrator in Philadelphia. "Air carriers that retaliate against employees for exercising their rights under AIR21 will be held accountable."
As a result of OSHA's findings, the company was ordered to pay back wages in the amount of more than $140,000 for the period from June 30, 2010, through June 30, 2013. Thereafter, the company will pay at a rate of $797 per week until it has made the complainant a bona fide offer of reinstatement. The company was also ordered to pay compensatory damages in the amount of $75,000. Additionally, OSHA ordered the air carrier to take other corrective action, including expunging the complainant's termination and any reference to the exercise of his rights under AIR21 from his employment records, and the posting and providing to its employees information on their AIR21 whistle-blower rights. OSHA also ordered Metropolitan Aviation to pay attorney's fees and interest on the back wages.
Metropolitan Aviation and the complainant have 30 days from receipt of the findings to file an appeal with the department's Office of Administrative Law Judges.
OSHA enforces the whistle-blower provisions of AIR21 and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various securities laws, trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, public transportation, workplace safety and health, and consumer protection laws.
Construction Worker Killed by Exploding Barrel, Company Faces Fines
The worker was killed when the flammable barrel he was torch cutting exploded at the employer's maintenance yard in Richmond.
"SCR Construction was aware of a near miss involving ignition and overpressurization of another drum just weeks before the fatal explosion, and did nothing to address it, which could have prevented this tragedy," said Mark Briggs, director of OSHA's Houston South Area Office. "It is the employer's responsibility to safeguard the workplace, and that means finding and fixing those hazards that could lead to injury or loss of life."
A willful violation was cited for failing to thoroughly clean drums or barrels containing flammable substances before welding or cutting work to prevent worker exposure to ignition or toxic emissions. 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.
The 12 serious violations include failing to provide hand and eye protection; lockout and tagout energy sources; train and certify workers on powered industrial trucks; provide machine guarding; properly store and handle compressed gas; and provide hazard communication training. 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.
Four other-than-serious violations include failing to provide an inhalation exposure assessment, respiratory protection, personal protective equipment hazard assessment and mark and inspect the alloy steel and synthetic web slings. 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.
OSHA has placed SCR Construction Co., Inc., in its SVEP, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. Initiated in June 2010, the program focuses on employers who have demonstrated recalcitrance or indifference to their OSH Act obligations by committing willful, repeated or failure-to-abate violations in one or more of the following circumstances: a fatality or catastrophe situation; in industry operations or processes that expose workers to severe occupational hazards; exposing workers to hazards related to the potential releases of highly hazardous chemicals; and all egregious enforcement actions.
Proposed penalties total $131,670.
The Western Sugar Cooperative Fined $193,300 for Serious and Repeat Violations
OSHA has cited The Western Sugar Cooperative in Billings, Montana, with 17 violations of safety and health standards, including 12 serious and four repeat. The Denver-based sugar producer faces $193,300 in proposed fines following a January inspection conducted by OSHA's Billings Area Office at the Billings manufacturing plant under the agency's National Emphasis Program for Site Specific Targeting.
The four repeat safety violations involve hazards associated with excessive accumulations of combustible coal dust, unguarded elevated platforms, lack of signs on permit spaces, and unguarded horizontal shafting. 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. OSHA has inspected this employer 16 times since February 2008, finding 30 violations at work sites in Montana, Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming.
"This employer continues to put its workforce in jeopardy by neglecting to comply with standards and implement safeguards," said Jeff Funke, director of OSHA's Billings Area Office. "OSHA will hold employers accountable, especially those who repeatedly fail to ensure workers' safety and health."
OSHA also cited The Western Sugar Cooperative for 12 serious safety violations, including unsafe use of flexible cords and electrical equipment; open junction boxes; inadequate fire exits; failure to provide standard railings on stairways; unguarded points of operation and rotating parts; unguarded vertical shafting and projecting shaft ends; and overhead crane hook deficiencies. In addition, OSHA inspectors found one other-than-serious safety violation for the employer's failure to provide workers with basic information on respirators.
Ohio Glass Manufacturing Plant Faces Fines for Six Safety Violations
Owens-Brockway Glass Container has been cited by OSHA with six safety violations carrying proposed penalties of $61,000 following a complaint inspection initiated in March. A repeat violation for a lack of signs marking exit directions was one violation.
"Owens-Brockway Glass Container has a responsibility to install properly working exit signs to protect workers on the job," said Deborah Zubaty, OSHA's area director in Columbus. "Employers who are cited for repeat violations demonstrate a lack of commitment to employee safety and health."
Five serious violations were cited, including a lack of fall protection for workers on open-sided platforms; nonworking emergency lighting; failing to require the use of head protection for workers exposed to overhead hazards; lack of an emergency eyewashing station for exposure to corrosive materials; and the use of an electrical panel box that not was protected from water and damp conditions.
Owens-Brockway Glass Container, with headquarters in Perrysburg, produces glass containers for the food and beverage industry. In the past 20 years, the company's 19 plants have been inspected under the company names of Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc., Owens Illinois, Inc., and Owens-Illinois Glass Containers, Inc.
Guam Shipyard Cited with 61 Repeat, Serious Safety and Health Violations
OSHA has cited Guam Industrial Services, Inc., in Santa Rita, doing business as Guam Shipyard, for a total of 61 alleged violations of workplace safety and health standards. The company faces a total of $293,450 in proposed fines following an inspection conducted by OSHA's Honolulu Area Office between January and February under the agency's Local Emphasis Program for Shipyards. The alleged violations include 46 serious, seven repeat and eight other-than-serious violations.
"Both the number and seriousness of safety and health violations we identified during our inspection are cause for grave concern," said Galen Lemke, director of OSHA's Honolulu Area Office. "We hope the results of our inspection will serve as a wake-up call, not only for this employer but for others, about the importance of ensuring workplace safety and health for workers in Guam's maritime industry."
The 46 serious safety and health violations include electrical hazards, such as failure to guard lights from damage, ground equipment, provide covers on electrical box openings, and ensure wiring was protected from abrasion and strain. The employer was also cited for the lack of guardrail protections; failure to establish and implement a lockout/tagout program; lack of a respiratory protection program; failure to maintain good housekeeping practices; and failure to check, inspect and maintain portable fire extinguishers. Workers were also exposed to metal fumes and were not properly wearing respiratory protection. Inspectors found that the employer did not conduct air monitoring to determine workers' exposure level to cadmium.
The seven repeat violations, totaling $145,000, include inadequate guardrails and fall prevention, failure to remove defective gear used with cranes, lack of eye protection and electrical wiring hazards.
OSHA Notifies US Army's Aberdeen Test Center About Unsafe Workplace Conditions
OSHA's investigation was initiated in January following the fatality of a civilian engineering technician who died while performing routine maintenance at ATC's Underwater Explosion Test Facility, known as the super pond.
"Tragedies, such as this, can be prevented by following OSHA's commercial diving operations standards, which are in place to protect divers from risk of serious hazards, including drowning, hypothermia, circulatory and respiratory problems," said Michael Stracka, acting director of OSHA's Baltimore/Washington Area Office. "All employers, especially those engaged in high-hazard activities such as diving, must provide a safe working environment for their employees."
The ATC provides test and test support services for authorized customers, within and outside the Department of Defense, including government and nongovernment organizations, domestic and foreign. The facility employs approximately 759 workers. The super pond measures 1,070 feet long and 920 feet wide with a maximum depth of 150 feet.
Seven alleged serious safety violations involve improper training for divers; the lack of a qualified, designated person in charge on the surface to manage all aspects of a dive; allowing diving activities to be performed without a standby diver; not maintaining continuous visual contact of other divers; no reserve breathing air supply during diving activities; and using breathing air to operate diver's buoyancy control rather than solely for breathing purposes.
Four other-than-serious violations include the center's failure to have a safe work practices manual and dive compression tables available at the dive site; maintain a depth profile, which is a record of how deep each diver goes during the course of a dive; and dive-specific information for all divers.
OSHA Announces Safety Stand-Down at Work Sites Throughout the Southeast to Focus on Fall Prevention
OSHA, along with trade associations and employers throughout Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida will conduct a one-hour safety stand-down at construction sites and workplaces on Tuesday, August 6. The stand-down supports OSHA's nationwide outreach campaign to raise awareness among employers and workers about the hazards of falls. Workers will voluntarily stop work from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. EDT to conduct safety training focused on the prevention of falls in the workplace.
In 2010, there were 264 fall fatalities out of 774 total fatalities in construction nationwide. When working from heights, such as ladders, scaffolds and roofs, employers must plan projects to ensure that the job is done safely. To protect workers, employers must provide fall protection and the right equipment for the job, including the right kinds of ladders, scaffolds, and safety gear. Workers need training to understand the proper setup and safe use of specific equipment they will use to complete the job. Falls can be prevented and lives can be saved through three simple steps: plan, provide, and train.
"This stand-down is intended to raise awareness among employers and workers about common fall hazards in all industries, focusing on how falls from ladders, scaffolds and roofs can be prevented and lives can be saved," said Teresa Harrison, OSHA's acting regional administrator for the Southeast. "It is the employer's responsibility to protect workers from injury and illness."
Additionally, OSHA invites the public to join in the effort by helping to reach workers and employers in local communities with the resources on fall prevention, developed by OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and National Occupational Research Agenda.
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