The current HCS requires chemical manufacturers and importers to evaluate the hazards of the chemicals they produce or import and provide information to subsequent users. The current standard requires all employers to have a hazard communication program for workers exposed to hazardous chemicals. The program includes materials such as container labels, safety data sheets, and employee training.
A number of countries, including the United States, international organizations, and stakeholders participated in developing the GHS to address inconsistencies in hazard classification and communications. The GHS was developed to provide a single, harmonized system to classify chemicals, labels, and safety data sheets with the primary benefit of increasing the quality and consistency of information provided to workers, employers, and chemical users. Under the GHS, labels would include signal words, pictograms, and hazard and precautionary statements. Additionally, information on safety data sheets would be presented in a designated order.
“The proposal to align the hazard communication standard with the GHS will improve the consistency and effectiveness of hazard communications and reduce chemical-related injuries, illnesses and fatalities,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “Following the GHS approach will increase workplace safety, facilitate international trade in chemicals, and generate cost savings from production efficiencies for firms that manufacture and use hazardous chemicals.”
Comments on the proposed rule may be submitted through December 29, 2009.
OSHA Begins National Emphasis Program on Recordkeeping
The recordkeeping NEP involves inspecting occupational injury and illness records prepared by businesses and appropriately enforcing regulatory requirements when employers are found to be under-recording injuries and illnesses.
“Accurate and honest recordkeeping is vitally important to workers’ health and safety,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “This information is not only used by OSHA to determine which workplaces to inspect, but it is an important tool employers and workers can use to identify health and safety problems in their workplaces.”
The inspections include a records review, employee interviews, and a limited safety and health inspection of the workplace. OSHA will be focusing the NEP efforts on the most likely places where under-recorded injuries and illnesses may exist. OSHA anticipates this will focus on low rate establishments operating in historically high rate industries. The NEP will pilot test OSHA’s ability to effectively target establishments to identify under-recording of occupational injuries and illnesses.
At the request of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the House Committee on Education and Labor, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a study on the accuracy of employer injury and illness records. This NEP will help OSHA work cooperatively with the GAO. It also complements the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) efforts to investigate factors accounting for differences between the number of workplace injuries and illnesses estimated by BLS and those estimated by other data sources.
OSHA Revises Enforcement Policies for Fall Protection During Steel Erection
One of the revised policies addresses the standard’s requirement that employers install a floor or net within two stories or 30 feet, whichever is less. The other policy states that employers must comply with the requirement that steel studs, known as shear connectors, be installed at the worksite. Shear connectors bind concrete to the steel.
“Falls are the leading cause of death among construction workers,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “We are intent on reducing the number of injuries and fatalities in the construction industry and believe these policy revisions will help us attain that goal.”
Bureau of Labor Statistics 2007 data show that 1,204 fatalities occurred in the construction industry, 447 of which resulted from falls. The steel erection standard sets forth requirements to protect workers from the hazards associated with steel erection activities when constructing, altering, and repairing single and multi-story buildings, bridges, and other structures where steel erection occurs.
NIOSH Issues Guidance on Health Hazard Evaluation
An HHE is an evaluation of possible health hazards at a workplace. Employees, employee representatives, or employers can request an HHE if they have concerns about health hazards at work. During an evaluation, NIOSH investigators evaluate whether a health hazard to employees caused by exposure to hazardous materials or conditions exists. Workplace agents NIOSH has studied include chemicals such as lead, bromopropane, and choramines; biological agents such as anthrax and mold; and physical agents such as heat stress, noise, radiation, and ergonomic stressors.
The following people can request an HHE:
- A current employee + two coworkers for a total of three signatures
- One employee can make the request without additional signatures in a work area with three or fewer employees
- Union representatives
- Employers
- Employees, their representative, or any management official of a federal, state, or local government agency
In some cases, NIOSH may not have the authority to do an investigation without the cooperation of the employer.
If desired, NIOSH will not disclose the name(s) of the person(s) who requested the HHE to the employer. The Occupational Safety and Health Act prohibits employers from retaliating or punishing employees for making HHE requests or cooperating with NIOSH investigators.
CSB Releases Safety Bulletin on Dangers of Purging Gas Piping into Buildings and Urges Outdoor Venting of Gases
Chemical Safety Board () is urging companies, gas installers, and contractors to follow safe practices during gas purging operations, including venting purged gases outdoors whenever practicable.
The explosion, which occurred at the Slim Jim meat processing plant on June 9, 2009, killed three workers when a large section of the building collapsed. The blast critically burned four others and sent a total of seventy-one people to the hospital. About 18,000 pounds ammonia was released from the plant’s refrigeration system as a result of the explosion and subsequent emergency response activities. ConAgra has announced that approximately 300 employees will be laid off due to the accident.
The explosion occurred during the installation of a new natural gas-fired industrial water heater located in an interior utility room of the plant. An employee of Energy Systems Analysts, a North Carolina firm under contract to ConAgra, was purging a new three-inch gas line in preparation for commissioning the heater. Purged gases were vented directly into the utility room. Although a number of individuals noticed the smell of gas, purging was continued intermittently over several hours, eventually leading to the accumulation of natural gas above the lower explosive limit (LEL). Combustible gas detectors were not used during the purging operation to monitor the concentration of gas within the utility room. Over 200 employees were inside the building at the time of the purging.
CSB urges companies to ensure their personnel and contractors vent purged gases directly to a safe location outdoors, away from people and ignition sources, whenever practicable. Purging indoors should be restricted to situations where outdoor purging is not practicable and should require strict safeguards, including the evacuation of non-essential personnel, the elimination of ignition sources, proper ventilation, and the use of gas detectors to always maintain the gas level well below the LEL.
The bulletin identifies several other serious gas explosions that occurred during purging operations, including a 2008 blast at a Hilton Hotel in San Diego that injured 14 and an explosion at a Cary, North Carolina, fitness center a decade ago. All were linked to venting gas indoors without proper monitoring or safeguards. The bulletin warns against relying on odor alone to detect the release of fuel gases, noting that an individual’s ability to detect odor is highly variable and subject to “odor fatigue” during prolonged exposures. New gas pipes also have a tendency to absorb the odorant from natural gas and propane, an effect termed “odor fade.”
The North Carolina Building Code Council, which oversees the state’s fuel gas code, enacted emergency changes to the code last month in response to preliminary findings from the ConAgra investigation. The council adopted new safety measures including a requirement that workers purging fuel gas lines vent the gases outdoors.
“I strongly commend North Carolina for taking immediate action to protect workers following this tragic explosion,” said CSB Chairman John Bresland. “I urge code officials around the country to review the new safety bulletin as well as heed the positive steps taken by North Carolina.”
The CSB investigation of the ConAgra explosion is continuing, with a final report expected next year. The collapsed section of the building remains too dangerous for investigators to enter. Following the explosion, ConAgra developed a new procedure for gas purging that requires venting outdoors, personnel evacuation, and extensive gas monitoring.
For more information, contact CSB’s Daniel Horowitz at 202-261-7613 or 202-441-6074 (cell) or Sandy Gilmour at 202-261-7614 or 202-251-5496 (cell).
A-1 Excavating to Pay $474,000 Fine for Excavation Hazards
Underground construction contractor A-1 Excavating Inc., headquartered in Bloomer, has agreed to pay $474,000 in penalties as part of a settlement agreement with OSHA addressing hazards cited during three inspections. The company also will take comprehensive steps to upgrade worker safety and health at its worksites.
The settlement agreement involves three separate excavation hazard inspections including one during September 2008 at a worksite in Weston, Wisconsin, where OSHA proposed penalties totaling $693,000; another during August 2009 at a New Richmond, Wisconsin, worksite, with penalties totaling $98,000; and the third during September 2009 at a worksite in Merrimac, Wisconsin, with penalties totaling $70,000.
The signed settlement resolves all issues relating to the three inspections and affirms all instances of alleged willful violations. Under the agreement, A-1 Excavating has agreed to abate all the cited hazards and take the following additional steps beyond what is required under OSHA standards:
- Select and employ a full-time safety director to have authority and responsibility for safety and health on all projects.
- Develop and implement site-specific safety and health plans for all major projects, ensure that the job superintendent reads the plan and ensure that all employees are briefed on and have access to the plan.
- Provide additional safety and health training to all employees, including supervisory employees.
- Identify all jobsites to OSHA before work begins and allow access to jobsites without the need for a warrant for the next three years.
- Reduce the salary of job superintendents and project managers who fail to comply with applicable OSHA requirements.
- Retain a third-party safety consultant to audit trenching and excavation work and to conduct unannounced worksite inspections.
- Conduct monthly foremen meetings during the construction season to discuss safety and health issues.
“We are pleased that A-1 Excavating has agreed to take significant steps to ensure worker safety at their worksites,” said OSHA Area Director Mark Hysell in Eau Claire, Wis. “It has long been known that cave-in injuries and fatalities are preventable, and A-1’s renewed commitment to worker safety is a positive step to preventing these accidents.”
ALON USA Refinery Inspection Results in Proposed Fines of $237,500
OSHA has cited ALON USA LP with alleged serious, repeat, and other-than-serious violations following an inspection at the company’s crude oil refinery in Big Spring, Texas. Proposed penalties total $237,500.
OSHA’s Lubbock Area Office began its investigation April 2 at the company’s facility on 200 Refinery Road. The inspection was initiated as part of the agency’s National Emphasis Program on Petroleum Refineries, which has mandated inspections for refineries across the nation.
“Failure to effectively implement OSHA’s process safety management regulations to protect workers from potential hazards at high risk facilities, such as petrochemical refineries, will not be tolerated,” said Dean McDaniel, the agency’s regional administrator in Dallas. “This planned inspection has identified hazards for corrective action to help prevent accidents or injuries.”
A serious citation, which includes 27 violations, has been issued for hazards associated with process safety management, confined space, control of hazardous energy, portable fire extinguishers, emergency response and evacuation, electrical deficiencies, chemical storage and walking/working surfaces. A serious violation is one in which there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
A repeat citation, which includes three violations, has been issued for hazards associated with process safety management. OSHA issues a repeat violation when an employer previously was cited for the same or similar hazard within the past three years.
An other-than-serious citation, which included four violations, has been issued for hazards associated with danger signs and compressed gas cylinders. An other-than-serious violation is issued when the most serious injury or illness likely to result from a hazardous condition cannot reasonably be predicted to cause death or serious physical harm.
Sunoco Inc. Receives $147,000 in Proposed Penalties after OSHA Safety Inspection
OSHA has proposed $147,000 in fines against Sunoco Inc., (R&M), an oil refinery in Oregon, Ohio, for alleged willful and serious violations of federal workplace safety standards. OSHA initiated a safety inspection at the facility in April 2009 and found one serious violation and two willful violations. The most critical citations issued are for the alleged failure to ensure the use of properly engineered pipe clamps; ensure pipe leaks were repaired properly; repair or replace pipe valves, follow proper repair procedures and implement safe practices for hazard control during the service and maintenance process.
“Injuries and fatalities from incidents at refineries are preventable,” said Jule Hovi, OSHA’s area director in Toledo. “OSHA will not tolerate employers who ignore safety hazards that threaten the lives and well-being of their workers.”
OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard of worker safety and health.
Sunoco Inc., has about 500 employees at its Oregon refinery and 13,500 employees company-wide. OSHA has inspected the site five times since 1974. The agency has inspected Sunoco-owned and operated refinery complexes, petrochemical plants and bulk terminals 35 times since 1970. The inspections have resulted in more than 100 citations.
OSHA Proposes $136,000 in Fines Against S.D. Warren Co. for Hazards at Paper Mill
OSHA has cited S.D. Warren Co., for 19 alleged violations of workplace safety standards at the company’s Somerset Mill in Skowhegan, Maine. The paper manufacturer faces proposed fines totaling $136,000.
“The sizable fines proposed here reflect both the gravity of the conditions identified during this inspection and the recurring nature of several hazards found during a previous inspection of the company’s Westbrook Mill,” said William Coffin, OSHA’s area director for Maine.
The recurring conditions included unguarded open-sided floors and platforms; unguarded inrunning nip points on paper machines; defective guarding for a saw; uncovered revolving shaft couplings; and an unguarded conveyor drum. These violations resulted in the issuance of five repeat citations carrying $107,500 in proposed fines.
The inspection at the Somerset Mill also identified fall hazards; unguarded floor and wall openings; work areas not kept in a sanitary and orderly condition; unsecured materials in storage racks; inadequate work space around electric equipment; ineffectively closed electrical panel openings; a jagged railing; and additional instances of unguarded moving machine parts.
OSHA issued the company 14 serious citations with $28,500 in fines for these conditions.
“Left uncorrected, or allowed to reoccur, these conditions expose workers to the hazards of falls, lacerations, amputation, crushing injuries or death,” said Coffin. “They must be addressed effectively, completely and continuously for the safety and health of the mill’s workers.”
OSHA Cites Hiland Dairy Foods Co. for Alleged Safety Violations and Proposes $124,500 in Penalties
OSHA has cited Hiland Dairy Foods Co., in Wichita, Kansas, for alleged violations of the OSH Act and has proposed $124,500 in penalties. OSHA’s inspection found 24 alleged serious violations of the OSH Act, the majority of which relate to deficiencies with the company’s process safety management program (PSM), an OSHA requirement for preventing the catastrophic release of hazardous chemicals.
“There is no excuse for Hiland Dairy’s inattention to such a critical program aimed at preventing the catastrophic release of hazardous chemicals,” said Charles Adkins, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, Missouri. “The company needs to address these issues quickly and sufficiently to ensure the safety and health of its workers and the surrounding community.”
The serious violations stem from overall deficiencies in the company’s PSM program. Other issues included lack of hoist system inspections, unguarded floor holes, deficiencies in the facility’s lockout/tagout program, unguarded belts, pulleys and sprockets, and electrical hazards.
OSHA cited the company following an inspection conducted under its site-specific targeting program, which targets employers with high injury and illness rates.
OSHA Proposes More than $87,000 in Fines for Violations at Seward Ship’s Drydock, Inc., in Seward, Alaska
OSHA has cited Seward Ship’s Drydock Inc., for alleged willful, serious, and repeat violations of safety and health standards at its ship repair facility in Seward, Alaska. The company faces a total of $87,300 in proposed fines. OSHA investigated after receiving a complaint concerning working conditions in the confined spaces and voids of a dredging barge, the Paula Lee, and determining a possible imminent danger situation existed at the worksite.
“When an employer is indifferent to its OSHA Act obligation to provide a safe workplace, OSHA will use its full enforcement authority to change that attitude,” said Richard S. Terrill, OSHA regional administrator in Seattle.
OSHA’s inspection found a willful violation involving lack of gas testing of confined work spaces; nine serious violations involving tripping hazards, respiratory protection hazards, electrical hazards, struck-by hazards from compressed air equipment, struck-by hazards from the use of damaged hooks and slings, drowning hazards, recording of air monitoring results, and the lack of fire watch when required by specific instructions; and three repeat violations due to the continuing use of damaged welding leads and cables, damaged ladders and fall hazards as a result of unguarded flush open hatches.
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