OSHA recently released a new educational resource that focuses on requirements for injury recording of temporary worker injuries and illnesses. The bulletin explains the requirements for both the staffing agency and the host employer.
OSHA's Temporary Worker Initiative is an agency-wide concerted effort that uses enforcement, outreach and training to assure that temporary workers are protected in their workplaces. In recent months, OSHA has received and investigated many reports of temporary workers suffering serious or fatal injuries, many of which occur within their first week on the job. OSHA's initiative was launched to raise awareness and compliance with requirements that temporary workers receive the same training and protection that existing workers receive.
"The Recordkeeping Bulletin is the first of many materials we are releasing and helps clarify which employers are responsible for reporting injuries and illnesses," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. "These materials will provide valuable information for both host employers and staffing agencies on how they can work together to make sure their workers are properly trained and protected."
"The American Staffing Association appreciates and supports OSHA's efforts to ensure temporary workers' safety and well-being, and looks forward to continuing to work with OSHA towards that end," said Stephen Dwyer, general counsel with ASA, the national trade association representing the staffing industry.
Under the OSHA Recordkeeping rule (, covered employers are required to prepare and maintain records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses.
The temporary worker Recordkeeping Bulletin helps businesses determine which employer is responsible for recording work-related injuries and illness on the OSHA 300 log. This is the first in a series of guidance documents that will be released to support the initiative to raise awareness about compliance with OSHA requirements for temporary workers.
EPA’s New Solvent Wipe, Shop Towel Rule Demystified
- Does the rule apply to both cloth and paper wipes and rags?
- What solvents can be on the towels, and which are prohibited?
- Does the rule also apply to towels that contain characteristic hazardous waste?
- Can P or U-listed wastes be on the towels?
- How must the towels be stored on-site?
- Do they need to be tested for anything?
- How long can they be stored?
- How must the containers be marked or labeled?
- How must they be prepared for transportation?
- Where can you ship them and what are the disposal and recycling options?
- What are the documentation requirements?
- How is the new rule impacted by current state regulations?
Did You Miss OSHA’s December 1 GHS Hazard Communication Training Deadline? Use Environmental Resource Center’s GHS OSHA Hazard Communication Training PowerPoint
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.
OSHA’s December 1, 2013, deadline under the revised Hazard Communication Standard required that all employees at your site who work with, or are exposed to, hazardous chemicals 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 is designed to cover your site’s GHS Hazard Communication training requirements, is in a format that is easy to understand.
Price and options:
Multiple PDF copies can be purchased for $99/copy (1–10), $79/copy (11–20), or $69/copy (21+).
Multiple PowerPoint copies can be purchased for $199/copy (1–10), $179/copy (11–20), or $169/copy (21+).
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
*Call 800-537-2372 for Spanish pricing
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.
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CSB Releases Safety Message Featuring Sister of Worker Fatally Burned in 2010 Tesoro Explosion
The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released its second safety message in an occasional series focusing on the impacts of chemical accidents on people’s lives.
California to List New Proposition 65 Carcinogen
The California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced that it plans to list N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine (CAS 99-97-8) as known to the State to cause cancer under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.
The chemical is used as an accelerator in the curing of methyl methacrylate monomers, it is used in the manufacture of dental materials and bone cements, in industrial glues, and in artificial fingernail preparations. Also used as an intermediate in dye and pesticide synthesis.
In 2012, the National Toxicology Program published a report on N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine, entitled Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of N,N-Dimethyl-p-Toluidine (CAS No. 99-97-8) in F344/N Rats and B6C3F1/N Mice (Gavage Studies), that concludes that the chemical causes cancer (NTP, 2012). This report satisfies the formal identification and sufficiency of evidence criteria in the Proposition 65 regulations. OEHHA is relying on the NTP's discussion of data and conclusions in the report that N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine causes cancer.
OSHA Seeks Nominations for Members to Serve on the Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee
OSHA recently announced that nominations are being accepted for members to serve on the Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee.
OSHA seeks to fill 12 committee positions that will become vacant January 1, 2015. The agency is initiating staggered terms whereby six members will be appointed to one-year terms and six will be appointed to two-year terms. OSHA is seeking to fill one public, one State Occupational Safety and Health Plan, two management, and two labor representatives to one-year terms. The agency also seeks to fill two management, two labor, and two public representatives to two-year terms. Additionally, the committee will have three non-voting members selected by the secretary of labor who are government employees from other federal agencies that have jurisdiction over statutes with whistleblower provisions. Current committee members can be re-nominated.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of Section 11(c) of the OSH Act, and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various securities laws, trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, maritime, health care, workplace safety and health regulations, and consumer product safety laws.
Schwan's Global Supply Chain Fined $264,360 for Serious Health and Safety Violations
OSHA has cited Schwan's Global Supply Chain, Inc., which manufactures frozen foods sold under several brand names, including Red Baron pizza and Mrs. Smith's desserts, for 32 serious safety and health violations at its Atlanta facility. Two other companies providing maintenance and staffing services for Schwan's, including Cimco Refrigeration, Inc., and Adecco USA, Inc., were cited for 18 safety and health violations.
"All workers, whether full-time or temporary, deserve the same commitment and access to a safe workplace. Schwan's, Cimco Refrigeration and Adecco are not providing that for their employees," said Bill Fulcher, director of OSHA's Atlanta-East Area Office. "OSHA standards are there to protect workers from predictable and preventable injuries and deaths. These standards were disregarded at the expense of worker safety."
OSHA inspectors found that the employers did not provide adequate training for employees to work safely with ammonia, a hazardous and corrosive chemical used in refrigeration. The employers also were cited for exposing workers to unguarded machines and damaging noise levels, and for failure to provide properly fitted personal protective equipment. OSHA initiated the inspection at Schwan's facility in September 2013, following a worker complaint. OSHA's citations carry $185,700 in penalties for Schwan's.
The employer was cited for failing to ensure that doors to the ammonia handling machinery fit properly, created a chemical hazard, and failed to provide training on safe work practices applicable to the ammonia refrigeration systems used at the facility. Schwan's was cited for blocked and mismarked exits in hazardous areas, failure to train workers on controlling hazardous energy through standard lockout/tagout procedures during maintenance and services, and exposing workers to electrical hazards. 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 Minnesota-based company employs approximately 14,000 employees nationwide. The Atlanta facility, which produces dough, cookies, and piecrusts for popular products, employs approximately 494 workers.
These included noise and unguarded machines and platforms, which created a fall hazard. As a result, OSHA cited Adecco for 12 serious safety and health violations, carrying penalties of $58,500. With headquarters in Melville, New York, Adecco employs more than 300,000 workers nationwide. Adecco maintains an office at the Schwan's facility and provides labor and management of the on-site workforce.
In April 2013, OSHA announced an initiative to improve workplace safety and health for temporary workers. During the inspection, OSHA inspectors paid special attention to the hazards facing temporary workers to determine the role of the host employer and the staffing agency in failing to eliminate serious hazards.
Cimco provided service and maintenance for the ammonia refrigeration system at Schwan's Atlanta facility. It was cited for six serious safety and health violations, carrying penalties of $20,160. The violations were cited for exposing contract workers to excessive noise levels by failing to implement a noise monitoring program. Cimco also failed to provide necessary training, properly fitted respirators, and clearly marked exits.
OSHA Proposes $112,000 in Penalties for Workers Exposed to Amputation Hazards
Proposed penalties total $112,000. OSHA's investigation found the company was requiring employees to operate two press brakes and a horizontal boring machine where the machine guards had been removed. Machine guarding protects workers from lacerations, caught-in, and amputation hazards.
"It is unacceptable that Gaspar would expose workers to the hazards of unguarded machinery each day," said Howard Eberts, OSHA's area director in Cleveland. "The company was previously cited for these hazards. Then, it removed protections it had installed. These actions demonstrate a willful lack of concern for employee safety. Injuries involving machinery and equipment often result in death or permanent disability, and OSHA continues to focus on identifying and eliminating these types of hazards."
OSHA issued two willful citations for lack of machine guarding on a horizontal boring mill and two press brakes. OSHA last inspected the company in 2011 and cited the same violations. Gaspar had provided documentation showing that guarding had been installed on the equipment. OSHA's latest investigation found the company had removed the installed guarding.
A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for, or plain indifference to, employee safety and health.
Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities or job sites.
Reconstruction Experts Exposes Workers to Trench Cave-Ins, Fined $81,400
Reconstruction Experts, Inc., was cited by OSHA for three safety violations, including one willful. Chivas Contractors was also cited for three serious safety violations during a November 2013 complaint inspection of an unsafe trenching work site in Aurora. The combined proposed penalties total $81,400.
Reconstruction Experts solicited help from a framing subcontractor, Chivas Contractors, to locate a damaged water pipe for an apartment complex that was being renovated. Workers dug a trench that exceeded 11 feet in depth without the use of a cave-in protective system.
"Employers continue to expose workers to trenching hazards that can end a life in a matter of seconds when a trench caves in. OSHA will not tolerate such disregard for worker safety," said David Nelson, OSHA's area director in Greenwood Village. "During the last 20 years, OSHA has provided a number of resources for employers to eliminate trenching hazards."
The willful violation for Reconstruction Experts, with a penalty of $63,000, was cited for failing to ensure workers were protected from cave-in hazards while working in a trench that exceeded 5 feet in depth. The two serious violations, with a penalty of $10,800, were cited for failing to provide a fall protection system for workers leaning over the edge of the trench while hoisting up excavated material from the bottom of the trench and for failing to provide an access ladder that extended 3 feet above the landing surface.
Chivas Contractors was cited for three serious safety violations, with a penalty of $7,600, for similar failures to provide a cave-in protective system and a fall protection system for workers leaning over the edge of a trench.
New Jersey Severe Violator Cited by OSHA for Recurring Hazards
On January 16, Paterson-based F&G Sons Contractors, Inc., doing business as F&G Stucco and Stone Contractors, Inc., was cited by OSHA for two repeat and two serious safety violations for failing to provide required protective equipment and to protect workers from serious fall hazards. The company was working on a building at 231 Union Blvd. in Totowa at the time of the inspection.
"Basic safety precautions, such as hard hats and eye protection, were not provided at this work site. By repeatedly jeopardizing the safety and health of his workers, F&G owner Peter Guidice continues to demonstrate a blatant disregard for worker safety," said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA's Hasbrouck Heights Area Office. "This is reflected in the fact that the same violations from this investigation have been cited at several work sites overseen by Guidice."
OSHA previously cited this company in September 2009, August 2010, and in March 2013, resulting in $108,640 in proposed penalties. The agency's SVEP focuses on employers that consistently endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations.
The repeat violations, with a $53,900 penalty, are due to the company's failure to provide helmets to protect workers from struck-by hazards from a scaffold pole that was being lowered over their heads, and failure to ensure employees cutting stone wore eye protection. A repeat violation is issued 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.
Carrying a $12,500 penalty, the serious violations include employee exposure to fall hazards and stairways unequipped with guardrails.
"F&G Sons, and employers like them that repeatedly fail to supply and ensure the use of effective fall protection and standard safeguards, continue to gamble with their workers' lives," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's New York regional administrator. "This company's active and ongoing disregard for its workers' safety is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."
Information on fall protection standards is available in English and Spanish.
OSHA Fines New Wave Plastics $51,800 for Multiple Serious Hazards at Cleveland Facility
New Wave Plastics has been cited for 13 safety violations after OSHA found a lack of training and personal protective equipment at the Cleveland facility, a recycler and plastic products supplier. After receiving a complaint in November 2013, OSHA initiated an inspection of the facility. Proposed penalties total $51,800.
"Employers have a responsibility to train workers about hazards found in their facilities and to take precautions to prevent injuries and illnesses," said Howard Eberts, OSHA's area director in Cleveland. "Employers must ensure workers are protected from hazards and that they receive the required safety training."
Twelve serious violations involve failing to train workers about wearing personal protective equipment; hazards associated with the use of chemicals in the work environment; forklift safety and fire extinguishers; and failure to provide fire-retardant clothing. New Wave Plastics was also cited for failing to develop a hearing conservation program, create a hazard workplace assessment and develop a hazard communication program. The presence of combustible dust was also found.
One other-than-serious violation was cited for not providing required information to workers on OSHA's respiratory standards. 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 Proposes Fines of $46,900 for Celtic Environmental Workers Exposed to Lead Hazards
Employees of Celtic Environmental, Inc., were exposed to lead paint hazards while conducting abrasive blasting operations on a viaduct located at Richards and Herkimer Streets in Joliet in October 2013. OSHA cited the company for 10 serious safety violations, carrying proposed penalties of $46,900. OSHA initiated a complaint inspection of the site under the National Emphasis Program for Lead Exposure in Construction. Lead exposure can cause damage to the nervous system, kidneys, and other organs.
"OSHA has specific regulations to protect construction workers from dangerous lead exposure on the job," said Richard Langenderfer, OSHA's acting area director in Calumet City. "OSHA standards require employers to implement engineering controls to reduce exposure, practice good hygiene to ensure lead dust and particles are not transported off the work site and to provide required and appropriate respiratory protection. Unfortunately, we found all these violations at this work site."
Ten serious safety citations were issued to the company. Eight of those violations involve failing to adhere to lead protection standards, including failure to:
- Collect samples and conduct biological monitoring to determine employee exposure
- Implement a respiratory protection program
- Provide appropriate protective clothing
- Provide hygiene and changing stations to ensure lead was not transported from the site
- Train workers on lead exposure
- Establish and implement a compliance program
Celtic Environmental was also cited for failing to secure pneumatic power tools to prevent injury and not providing hazard communication training to employees working with hazardous chemicals.
Safety Council Recognizes Alaskans at 2014 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
More than 300 Alaskans attended the 2014 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference, participating in training tracks in employer resources, youth safety, safety education, oil industry, transportation, and hospitality.
The conference, which is sponsored by the Alaska Safety Advisory Council, focuses on emerging safety and health issues, and advanced safety needs that are unique to Alaska.
A highlight of the annual conference is recognition of Alaskans and Alaska businesses that exemplify good corporate citizenship and a commitment to the health and safety of their workers.
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