OSHA has announced its plans to require improved worker protection from tripping, slipping, and falling hazards on walking and working surfaces. . A public hearing on the revised changes will be held after the public comment period ends August 23, 2010.
“This proposal addresses workplace hazards that are a leading cause of work related injuries and deaths,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Dr. David Michaels.
The NPRM describes revisions to the Walking-Working Surfaces and Personal Protective Equipment standards to help prevent an estimated annual 20 workplace fatalities and more than 3,500 injuries serious enough to cause people to miss work. For example, in July 2009, a worker at a chocolate processing plant was killed after falling from an unguarded work platform.
“This is a clear and grave example of the human cost incurred when fall protection safeguards are absent, ignored or inadequate,” said Michaels. “The loss of a worker’s life might have been prevented if the protective measures in these revised standards had been in place and in use.”
The current walking-working surfaces regulations allow employers to provide outdated and dangerous fall protection equipment such as lanyards and body belts that can result in workers suffering greater injury from falls. Construction and maritime workers already receive safer, more effective fall protection devices such as self-retracting lanyards and ladder safety and rope descent systems, which these proposed revisions would also require for general industry workers.
The current walking-working surfaces standards also do not allow OSHA to fine employers who let workers climb certain ladders without fall protection. Under the revised standards, this restriction would be lifted in virtually all industries, allowing OSHA inspectors to fine employers who jeopardize their workers’ safety and lives by climbing these ladders without proper fall protection.
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OSHA, NIOSH Pledge Cooperation on PELs, Other Worker Protection Issues
In a recent joint appearance at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, OSHA’s Assistant Secretary of Labor, David Michaels, and NIOSH’s Director, John Howard, expressed agreement on many issues related to worker health and safety, including the need to update OSHA’s Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs). Responding to questions from ACGIH® Vice President Lisa Brousseau, Michaels and Howard described a working relationship between their agencies that includes an unprecedented level of cooperation.
Discussing his agency’s efforts to ensure the relevance and quality of its research, Howard indicated that NIOSH science should provide a sound basis for OSHA regulations. “It’s important for us to generate the science that can inform good policy,” Howard said, adding that NIOSH is “very anxious to support” OSHA’s regulatory agenda.
Michaels said that OSHA relies on NIOSH for information about emerging workplace hazards and that he intends to try to eliminate the duplication of risk assessments at the agencies. Both Michaels and Howard expressed support for the formation of a federal “clearinghouse” for risk assessments that would house all studies of workplace risks conducted by various agencies in one federal entity.
Michaels’ response to Brosseau’s question about the need to update OSHA PELs, many of which are based on 1950s-era science, drew applause from the occupational health and safety professionals in attendance. “OSHA has not taken leadership on this issue, and we need to,” Michaels said. OSHA recently named an independent task force to study options for updating PELs. Howard indicated that NIOSH would be willing to help OSHA decide which PELs are most in need of updating.
However, Michaels said that requiring companies to institute injury and illness prevention programs is a more pressing issue than PELs. “We believe it should be required for employers to assess and abate hazards” in their workplaces, Michaels said.
Throughout the hour-long session, Michaels referred several times to the need for Congress to increase OSHA penalties for companies that willfully violate safety rules. The maximum fine that OSHA can impose on a company is $70,000, even in cases that result in worker deaths. That figure is a fraction of fines that can be leveled for violations of many environmental laws.
Better Animal-Free Test for Chemicals that can Cause Contact Dermatitis
Scientists are reporting on the development of a fast, simple, inexpensive method for determining whether chemicals in consumer products and workplaces may cause skin allergies in people.
Itai Chipinda and his colleagues note the existence of public sentiment against the use of animals to determine whether ingredients in consumer soaps, shampoos and other consumer products, and workplace chemicals, may cause skin sensitization and contact dermatitis. Chemicals cause dermatitis by bonding to proteins in the skin, and then aggravating the immune system so that redness, irritation, itching, and other symptoms occur. Existing chemical tests use substances like glutathione that mimic skin proteins and bond to allergy-causing ingredients. None, however, are suitable for use in detecting the critical early stages of skin sensitization, the scientists say.
Instead of glutathione, Chipinda and his team developed a test with nitrobenzenethiol as the skin protein surrogate. When used on 20 different chemicals known to cause skin irritation, the test produced positive results. It produced negative results when used to test substances that usually do not produce skin sensitization. “This simple, rapid and inexpensive absorbance-based method has great potential for use as a preliminary screening tool for skin allergens,” the report states.
Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Web Site on Everyday Chemicals
The new Web site provides non-chemists and others with useful information about everyday chemicals by searching either a chemical name or a corresponding CAS Registry Number. The site includes about 7,800 chemicals of general interest as well as all 118 elements from the Periodic Table, providing alternative names, molecular structures, a Wikipedia link, and other information.
OSHA Fines South Dakota Wheat Growers Association $1.6 Million for Grain Handling Violations
OSHA fined the South Dakota Wheat Growers Association of Aberdeen, South Dakota, more than $1.6 million following the December 22, 2009, death of a worker at the company’s McLaughlin, South Dakota, grain handling operation. The worker suffocated after being engulfed by grain in one of the facility’s bins. OSHA’s investigation found that five additional workers were also at risk of being engulfed when they were sent into the bin to dig the victim out.
“The South Dakota Wheat Growers Association ignored long-established standards addressing safety in grain handling operations,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “The company’s intentional disregard for its safety and health responsibilities put its workers at risk, and more egregiously, led to an unnecessary loss of life. Worker safety must be a top priority.”
Following its investigation, OSHA proposed $1,610,000 in fines for 23 alleged willful violations of the grain handling and confined space standards, including: failing to prohibit workers from walking on top of clumped grain; failing to prohibit entry into the grain bins where the buildup of grain existed; failing to shut off and lock out equipment to prevent grain from moving through the bin while workers were inside; failing to equip workers with grain engulfment protection; failing to provide observers equipped to provide assistance; failing to train workers; failing to issue permits to control entry into grain bins; failing to test the atmosphere; a lack of rescue equipment; and failing to implement an emergency action plan prior to entry. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing, or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.
“We know that safety precautions could have prevented this tragedy,” said Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. “The dangers of grain bin entry are well known in the industry, yet the South Dakota Wheat Growers Association chose to ignore these hazards.”
The death in South Dakota follows a similar May 2009 death of a 17-year old employee of Tempel Grain LLP, in Haswell, Colorado. That worker also suffocated after being engulfed by grain. OSHA issued $1,592,500 in fines for 22 alleged willful and 13 alleged serious violations in that case.
OSHA has implemented a regional emphasis inspection program in the grain handling industry to address the serious hazards associated with grain bins and confined spaces, and operators and industry associations have been sent letters announcing the program. OSHA’s area offices covering Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota are also providing assistance to help grain storage facilities comply with safety standards.
UL Introduces Safety Requirements for Battery Separators
Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a world leader in safety testing and certification, has announced the establishment of revised requirements addressing the safety of lithium batteries. The requirements, issued in December 2009 as UL Subject 2591, are designed specifically for separators, the porous film that keeps the anode and cathode components of batteries apart while still allowing ions to flow between them.
Evaluation of Subject 2591 will assist separator manufacturers, and manufacturers of lithium batteries who use separators, to control critical separator parameters in order to reduce the potential for product failure and enhance consumer confidence in their products.
“The importance of battery integrity and safety has grown as the capabilities and demands we place upon our portable electronic devices increase,” said Carlos Correia, Vice President, UL High-Tech Division. “UL has worked closely with members of the battery and IT industry to introduce separator requirements focused on reliability and, first and foremost, safety.”
UL now offers testing and certification services pursuant to the new requirements. UL also provides manufacturers with the technical information and guidance they need to maintain compliance with the requirements.
“UL is pleased to have played a pivotal role in establishing this important safety benchmark for lithium batteries,” said Correia. “Our track record of expertise in electronics, and our global leadership in testing and certification services give manufacturers and their customers peace of mind that their products carrying the UL Mark meet established standards for safety and performance.”
Amended Steel Erection Standard to Improve Highway Construction Worker Safety
OSHA has added a note to its Steel Erection standard informing employers of certain Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requirements, to better protect workers and motorists during highway bridge construction.
This added information will help prevent tragedies like the 2004 incident in which a 100-foot-long, 40-ton steel bridge girder fell from an overpass under construction in Golden, Colorado, crushing an SUV passing underneath and killing the family of three inside. The falling girder could just as easily have struck and killed the construction workers who were building the bridge had they been there at the time; therefore, OSHA is amending its Steel Erection standard to notify employers of FHWA regulations that could save the lives of workers constructing highway bridges.
In many cases, the FHWA requires that a Registered Engineer prepare plans for any temporary braces or supports used to stabilize structures such as bridges during highway construction. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the company erecting the bridge contributed to the fatal 2004 incident by failing to follow this requirement.
Adding notification of FHWA requirements to the Steel Erection standard is considered a technical amendment because it does not impose any additional compliance burden on employers and therefore does not require a public comment period before going into effect.
OSHA Issues NDK Crystals Egregious Willful and Serious Citations Following Explosion that Killed Bystander
OSHA has cited NDK Crystals Inc., in Belvedere, Illinois, with fines of $510,000 for alleged egregious willful and serious violations of federal workplace safety standards following an explosion at the company’s crystal manufacturing building that took the life of a truck driver parked at a nearby service station. Workers at this facility were exposed to hazards that created a dangerous environment.
“The employer knowingly operated high pressure vessels even after being warned of the potential for a catastrophic failure due to material design and fabrication defects,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Dr. David Michaels. “This simply is unacceptable, and OSHA will use the full extent of the law to ensure the company is held accountable for its actions.”
Following its investigation, OSHA cited NDK Crystals with seven willful and five serious violations. The willful violations, one for each of seven individual high pressure vessels, involved the company’s continued operation of these high quality quartz production vessels even though it knew the vessels were susceptible to explosion and catastrophic failure as a result of defective design and fabrication.
The serious violations include failing to evaluate the building for a catastrophic event; failing to have an emergency evacuation program; failing to implement a hazard communication program; and a lack of personal protective equipment assessment and training certification. An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.
OSHA Proposes $61,000 Fine against Contractor after Worker Falls 30 Feet
OSHA cited Misdea Enterprises LLC, a Weymouth, Massachusetts, masonry contractor, for alleged willful and serious violations of safety standards after an employee fell 30 feet while climbing a scaffold at a jobsite located on Summit Street in Brookline, Massachusetts. The company faces a total of $61,600 in proposed fines.
OSHA’s inspection found that the scaffold lacked a ladder or other safe means of accessing its upper levels and the workers were not supplied with fall protection while working on the scaffold. Employers must provide fall protection for each employee on a scaffold more than 10 feet above a lower level.
These conditions resulted in OSHA issuing two willful citations with $56,000 in proposed fines against the masonry company.
“Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work, and employers must take all required steps to prevent and minimize this potentially deadly hazard,” said Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts. “Safe working conditions must not and can never be a matter of luck.”
In addition, OSHA determined that the scaffold was not fully planked, which created an additional fall hazard. Furthermore, the agency found that workers were threatened by electrocution, since the scaffold was located less than 18 inches from uninsulated and energized power lines. These conditions resulted in two serious citations with $5,600 in fines.
OSHA Cites College Construction Company for Alleged Safety and Health Violations
OSHA cited Richard Hargrove Co., in Bryan, Texas, with three alleged serious and nine alleged repeat violations following an inspection at the company’s worksite in College Station for exposing workers to multiple safety hazards. Proposed penalties total $46,800.
“This employer has repeatedly put its workers in harm’s way,” said Bill Burke, OSHA’s deputy regional administrator in Dallas, Texas. “Circular saw guards were tied back, exposing workers to possible amputation of hands or fingers.”
OSHA’s Austin Area Office began its investigation February 2 at the company’s worksite at 4225 Rock Bend Drive, where six employees were engaged in building and framing a private residence. The inspection was initiated under the agency’s Construction Hazards Emphasis Program when an OSHA inspector observed employees working at heights of more than 14 feet without the use of fall protection. In 2009, OSHA cited the company $16,750 for 12 serious violations, including failing to provide fall protection equipment, failing to provide personal protective equipment, and failing to protect employees from electrical hazards.
The serious violations include failing to provide frequent and regular inspections of jobsites and equipment, to ensure that manufacturer’s guidelines were followed in the use of step ladders and failure to ensure that safety devices on automatic fastening equipment, such as nail guns, were functioning.
Repeat violations include failing to train employees in the recognition and avoidance of hazardous working conditions, failure to ensure working space is kept clear of debris, failure to provide personal protection equipment such as hard hats and eye goggles, failure to ensure extension cords were provided with grounding pins, failure to train employees on the hazards of scaffolding, and failure to provide fall protection to workers at elevated levels of 14 feet or more. OSHA issues repeat violations when it finds a substantially similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states.
OSHA Proposes $60,000 in Penalty against Baird Display for 19 Safety Violations
OSHA has cited KBRK Inc., doing business as Baird Display in Waukesha, Wisconsin, with $60,750 in proposed penalties for alleged willful and serious violations of federal workplace safety standards.
As a result of a January 2010 inspection, OSHA has issued a willful citation to the company with a proposed penalty of $35,000. OSHA discovered that employees were bypassing safety switches in order to reach into running machinery to un-jam it without shutting down the machine.
OSHA also has issued the company 18 serious citations with proposed penalties of $25,750. Some of the alleged violations include: failure to provide guardrails and other fall protection from platforms; failure to establish a lockout/tagout energy control program; failure to produce procedures for controlling potentially hazardous energy sources on equipment or provide proper training; and failure to have proper guarding on machinery or rotating shafts.
“There is no excuse for a company to disregard the safety and welfare of its workers by not following the OSHA safety guidelines,” said OSHA Area Director, George Yoksas, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “Those who ignore safe practices and OSHA regulations are inviting tragedy into the lives of their workers.”
The company, which manufactures displays and employs 68 people at its Waukesha factory, has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA Cites The De Moya Group with Willful Safety Violation, $63,000 in Penalties
OSHA is proposing $63,000 in penalties against The De Moya Group Inc., in Miami, Florida, for a willful safety violation. The company violated OSHA standards when it posted a reduced speed limit sign for a lane closure but failed to remove or cover the existing speed limit sign on Interstate 75.
“Although management knew the existing sign needed to be removed or covered, they chose to ignore the requirement and put their employees in danger,” said Darlene Fossum, OSHA’s area director in Fort Lauderdale. “This type of blatant disregard for the safety and health of workers is unacceptable.”
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