When 2009 H1N1 Influenza A virus (H1N1) was first recognized in March-April 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention () and the California Department of Public Health () recommended a system of controls to protect health care workers from infection, including the use of respirators at least as effective as a fit-tested N95 filtering facepiece respirator when in direct contact with a patient who is a suspect or confirmed case of H1N1. The recommendation for respirator use was reviewed in October 2009 and remains in effect at this time.
California has continued to have H1N1 cases, and some health care facilities have been unable to maintain an adequate supply of respirators. To address this problem, on October 22, 2009, respirators that had been purchased by the State to establish a stockpile to protect health care workers in the event of an influenza pandemic or other health care surge event were made available to local health departments for distribution to health care facilities. Since then the federal government has also released respirator supplies to the states.
Recall of 3M 8000 by State
Cal/OSHA warns employers that use of a respirator by an employee who cannot pass a fit-test for that model is prohibited by regulation. Recently CDPH and Cal/OSHA have become aware that the 3M 8000, a prevalent respirator model in the state and federal supply, has a low success rate in fit-testing. After further investigation, and discussions with the manufacturer and other respirator experts, CDPH has decided to withhold further shipments of this respirator and has asked local health departments to stop providing these respirators to health care facilities. CDPH is now developing procedures for the return of remaining supplies of the 8000 respirators by local health departments and health care facilities.
Fit-testing is a critical component of respirator use, since respirators protect people against inhaling infectious particles by sealing to the face, therefore forcing inhaled air to pass through the respirator filter instead of around the sides of the respirator. While Cal/OSHA is not prohibiting use of the 3M 8000 per se, it strongly recommends against using this model for prevention of aerosol transmitted disease and urges employers, if they decide to issue a respirator of this model to any employee, to assure a successful fit-test with that employee.
Other models of respirators continue to be issued from local, state, and federal stockpiles. Health facilities are urged by CDPH to utilize other respirators for employee protection, and CDPH will provide other brands and models of respirators to local health departments upon request.
At this time, even with the CDPH’s recall of the 3M 8000 respirator, there are respirators available from local, state, and federal stockpiles to enable health care employers to comply with California’s Aerosol Transmissible Diseases Standard ). This includes respirator use by any employee in a health care facility, service, or operation who has direct contact with a patient who is a suspected or confirmed case of H1N1, TB, or other disease requiring respirator use.
The state respirator supply remains under stress—CDPH is urging employers to implement respirator conserving procedures. The state stockpile continues at the current time to be available to relieve respirator supply gaps, but employers must continue to make every effort to obtain respirators through commercial channels. In some jurisdictions, local health departments have stockpiles of N95 respirators as well. In addition, employers should take whatever steps they can to limit employee exposures by appropriate patient identification and placement, source control measures, and use of other engineering and work practice controls that will minimize the need to use respirators to protect employees from exposure to patients with aerosol-transmissible disease.
Extended Use and Redonning.
Until there is a more reliable supply of respirators than currently exists, CDPH is urging employers to institute procedures for conserving respirator supplies through extended use and redonning of filtering facepiece respirators where this can be done without compromising patient and employee safety.
Employers should continue to document their efforts to obtain and conserve respirators.
Workplace Safety is OSHA’s Top Priority in the New Year
In this new year, OSHA is stressing making workplace safety and health a top priority for workers.
OSHA encourages employers to use the agency’s free, on-site consultation service and other compliance assistance services and products to help them comply with OSHA requirements and prevent workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities. Compliance assistance resources on OSHA’s Web site include eTools addressing construction, medical and chemical safety issues, along with training materials including videos and a library of reference materials.
New OSHA Videos Provide Respirator and Facemask Safety
OSHA has developed two new videos for healthcare workers that feature training and guidance on respirator safety. OSHA’s Respirator Safety video demonstrates how to correctly put on and take off common types of respirators, such as N95s. The Difference between Respirators and Surgical Masks video explains how they prevent exposure to infectious diseases.
“Respirators play an important role in protecting many workers from exposure to chemical and biological hazards in the workplace,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, David Michaels. “At a time when pandemic influenza has highlighted the risk to healthcare workers, these videos will prepare and protect workers from the very illnesses they are responsible for treating.”
The videos also explain how workers can perform a user seal check to test whether a respirator is worn properly and will provide the expected level of protection.
CSB Releases Board Voting Information and Board Orders
As part of an ongoing effort to increase transparency and promote public understanding of the agency’s work, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board () has begun publishing voting records of the Board and copies of Board orders that govern agency operations.
The information presents the views of the board members on issues considered by the agency, including report drafts, closure of safety recommendations, and budgetary matters. Other votes posted to the web site are related to internal CSB operations. Most of the voting records concern written, or notational, votes of the Board which are primarily used to handle routine agency matters. In addition the Board members vote at public meetings, particularly those concerning major investigation reports and safety recommendations.
Making this information available to the general public acts upon a request from a November 10, 2009, letter to the CSB from U.S. Representative George Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, and U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. In addition, the initiative is designed to help implement President Obama’s Open Government Directive, issued in December 2009, which promotes government-wide “transparency, participation, and collaboration” with the public.
“The CSB is committed to conducting more of its business in public meetings and making additional information on agency operations and activities readily available to the American public,” said CSB Chairman John Bresland. “We will continue to add agency information to our website in an effort to improve the public’s understanding of the Board’s decisions.”
Chairman Bresland said that by early February 2010, the agency plans to release additional voting information, and that the Board also is planning to continue to hold public meetings on a number of its investigations this year.
The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency’s board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.
The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.
For more information, contact Hillary Cohen at 202-261-3601 or 202-446-8094 (cell) or Dr. Daniel Horowitz at 202-261-7613 or 202-441-6074 (cell).
Assistant Secretary Michaels Promotes Worker Safety at Green Jobs Conference
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels was a featured speaker at NIOSH’s conference Making Green Jobs Safe: Integrating Occupational Safety and Health into Green and Sustainability held on December 14-16 in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Michaels stressed that whether a workplace is involved in manufacturing solar panels, erecting wind turbines, reducing emissions, or recovering hazardous materials, employers must be made to understand that green jobs workplace hazards exist and can injure and kill. NIOSH, OSHA, and other organizations have partnered to raise awareness, provide guidance, and address occupational safety and health issues associated with green jobs.
New NIOSH Office of Construction Safety and Health
In December, NIOSH announced its new Office of Construction Safety and Health. Christine Branche, Ph.D., NIOSH Principal Associate Director, will serve as acting director of the new office. Construction is a key industrial sector that employs over eight million Americans. To address the special problems in construction, it is critical that NIOSH ensures rigorous coordination of our construction safety and health research.
Alliance Aims to Promote Labor Rights of Mexican and other Hispanic Workers
Promoting the labor and human rights of Mexican and other Hispanic Workers is the focus of a new alliance formed December 10, among OSHA, Wage and Hour Division, Consulate General of Mexico in New York, New York State Department of Labor, and Catholic Migration Office of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. Alliance participants will support a call center that provides Mexican and Hispanic workers in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut education, guidance, and assistance about their workplace rights.
Video Addresses Bullying in the Workplace
The document defines workplace bullying, describes its impact on individuals and organizations, and includes a workplace bullying policy example as well as additional resources.
OSHA Proposes Fines of More than $1.4 Million Against CES Environmental Services Inc. Following Fatal Explosion
OSHA has issued CES Environmental Services Inc., numerous willful and serious citations after an investigation into a fatal explosion at the company’s Griggs Road facility in Houston. Proposed penalties total $1,477,500.
In July 2009, an employee cleaning a tank was killed in an explosion when an altered piece of equipment ignited flammable vapors inside the tank. The fatality was the third death in less than a year at this employer’s facilities; two hydrogen sulfide exposure-related deaths occurred on separate occasions at a related facility, Port Arthur Chemical & Environmental Services LLC (PACES), in December 2008 and April 2009.
“Proper precaution prevents deaths,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Employers should take steps to eliminate hazards and provide a safe working environment for their workers. That is the law.”
Based on the most recent investigation, OSHA has issued 15 willful citations with proposed penalties totaling $1,050,000, alleging that 15 pieces of electrical equipment were unsafe to use in the tank wash area due to the presence of flammable and combustible vapors. Two additional willful citations with proposed penalties totaling $125,000 have been issued. One alleges that CES failed to ventilate tanks in which employees were working, exposing the workers to toxic atmospheric hazards. The other alleges that CES stored flammable and reactive chemicals together, which posed fire and explosion hazards.
In addition, OSHA has issued 54 serious violations with proposed penalties totaling $302,500. These include allegations that CES failed to implement all aspects of the process safety management standard; provide proper respiratory protection, confined space rescue equipment, and adequate fall protection; properly install and maintain boiler equipment; implement an emergency response plan and adequate energy control procedures; train powered industrial truck operators; guard and anchor machinery adequately; store compressed gas cylinders safely; and label hazardous chemicals.
A willful citation is characterized by an employer’s intentional disregard of the standards or plain indifference to employee safety and health. A violation is characterized as serious when death or serious physical harm could result if an accident were to occur as the result of a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
OSHA previously cited PACES following the December 18, 2008 and the April 14, 2009, fatalities and proposed penalties of $16,600 and $207,800, respectively. Both of those fatalities occurred in Port Arthur, Texas. Those citations were contested and are being litigated before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. CES and PACES together employ 155 workers.
OSHA Proposes $137,250 in Fines against Two Georgia Peanut Processors
OSHA is proposing 41 safety and health violations against Birdsong Corporation’s facilities in Sylvester and Blakely, Georgia. OSHA began an inspection of Birdsong’s Sylvester plant in June 2009.
Compliance officers found 21 serious safety violations and one other-than-serious safety violation, including lack of machine guards, fall hazards, electrical hazards, a lack of emergency lighting, and unmarked exit doors. In July 2009, a separate inspection was opened to address possible noise hazards at the plant, resulting in three serious and one other-than-serious health violations.
In September 2009, OSHA began a comprehensive inspection of the company’s Blakely, Georgia, facility following a fatality at the site in which a worker was caught in a conveyor belt. That investigation led to the issuance of three serious safety violations and one other-than-serious safety violation, including lack of machine guarding and lack of guardrails.
During the course of the fatality investigation, the compliance officer grew concerned about possible combustible dust hazards at the plant. A separate combustible dust inspection was begun and resulted in the issuance of 11 serious violations.
The inspections resulted in proposed penalties of $137,250, with $88,200 for the Sylvester plant and $49,050 for the Blakely plant.
Birdsong Corp., is headquartered in Suffolk, Virginia, and has facilities in Georgia, Texas, and Virginia.
OSHA Proposes $55,200 in Fines for CELCO Construction Corp. Cave-in Hazard
OSHA has cited CELCO Construction Corp., for alleged willful, serious and other-than-serious violations of safety standards after an OSHA inspector observed a company employee working in an unprotected 6-foot deep excavation at a Randolph, Massachusetts, worksite. The Pembroke, Massachusetts, construction contractor faces a total of $55,200 in proposed fines.
OSHA’s December 3, 2009, inspection found that the trench lacked both cave-in protection and a ladder or other safe means for workers to exit the trench. OSHA standards require that all excavations 5 feet or deeper be protected against collapse. In addition, an excavator, driven to the edge of the trench, caused soil and rocks to fall into the trench.
“No one ever thinks the trench he or she is working in will collapse, but the fact is cave-ins happen in seconds, crushing and burying workers beneath tons of soil and debris before they have a chance to react or escape,” said Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for southeastern Massachusetts. “That’s why mandatory safeguards must be in place and in use at all times.”
As a result of its findings, OSHA has issued CELCO Construction two willful citations, with $50,000 in fines, for the unprotected excavation and missing ladder; two serious citations, with $4,000 in fines, for the excavator at the trench’s edge and for the lack of a high visibility vest for an excavator operator exposed to vehicular traffic; and one other-than-serious citation, with a $1,200 fine for an incomplete injury and illness log.
NIOSH Collaborates with Industry to Protect Workers Using Hydraulic Stump Cutters
NIOSH and Vermeer Corporation have collaborated to apply capacitive sensing technology to detect operators at the controls of a hydraulic stump cutter. This partnership provides an opportunity for the technology to be adapted into a commercial product. Vermeer effectively transferred NIOSH’s basic research and integrated the concepts into their stump cutter product line. Collectively, these efforts produced a stump cutter that can detect an operator at the machine’s controls, which will benefit equipment owners and operators. References to companies and commercial products do not constitute a NIOSH commercial endorsement.
National Healthcare and Social Assistance Agenda Available
The agenda contains five strategic goals designed to address top safety and health concerns and to promote the greatest opportunities to advance protections within the sector.
Bleach, Labeled as Ammonia, Recalled
The bottle, which is labeled as containing ammonia, actually contains household bleach. The mislabeling of the bottles can pose a chemical hazard to consumers. If bleach is accidentally mixed with ammonia or acid, irritating or toxic gases could be produced.
Gas Cans Recalled by No-Spill because they Can Leak and Create Fire Hazard
The gas containers can leak fuel at the black plastic collar where the spout connects to the can, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers.
Acer Recalls Notebook Computers Due to Burn Hazard
An internal microphone wire under the palm rest can short circuit and overheat. This poses a potential burn hazard to consumers.
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