A series of severe storms has been raging through parts of the Midwest, South, and Eastern United States. The violent weather devastated a number of communities in Arkansas and Oklahoma. As residents recover from these events, OSHA urges recovery workers, employers, and the public to be aware of the hazards they can encounter and take necessary steps to stay safe.
“Recovery and cleanup work should not put you in the hospital emergency room. OSHA is on the ground in affected areas providing compliance assistance,” said Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. “Storm recovery efforts expose workers to a wide range of hazards, which can be mitigated by safe work practices and personal protective equipment.”
Storm and tornado cleanup work can involve hazards related to restoring electricity, communications, and water and sewer services. Other hazards relate to demolition activities; cleaning up debris; tree trimming; structural, roadway, and bridge repair; hazardous waste operations; and emergency response activities.
In addition, areas affected by flooding have unique cleanup challenges including dam and levee repair, removal of floodwater from structures, and repairing downed electrical wires in standing water. Workers and residents taking defensive action to protect structures or evacuate severely impacted areas may encounter numerous hazards, such as rapidly rising streams and moving water.
Only workers provided with the proper training, equipment, and experience should conduct cleanup activities. Protective measures should involve evaluating the work area for all hazards; employing engineering or work practice controls to mitigate hazards; using personal protective equipment; assuming that all power lines are live; properly using portable generators, saws, ladders, vehicles, and other equipment; and paying attention to safety precautions for traffic work zones.
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.
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.
Hilton Head RCRA and DOT Training
Orlando RCRA and DOT Training
Baltimore RCRA, Transportation, and Hazard Communication Training
Five Star Commercial Roofing Exposes Workers to Dangerous Fall Hazards, Fined $49,000
Five Star Commercial Roofing Inc., has been cited for a willful safety violation after exposing workers to fall hazards of 29 feet at a commercial roofing project in Bartonville, Illinois. OSHA found workers exposed during a March 3 investigation and proposed civil penalties of $49,000.
The exposure came as workers installed roofing materials on a commercial sales and service building. Last year, nearly 300 workers were fatally injured in construction-related falls nationwide. Since 2009, the Hartford City, Indiana-based company has been cited by OSHA five times in Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana for similar violations.
“Falls remain the leading cause of death in the construction industry. Allowing construction workers on roofs without fall protection is inexcusable,” said Tom Bielema, OSHA’s area director in Peoria. “OSHA has previously provided Five Star Commercial Roofing with safety information, examples of safety and health programs, training and other information to assist them in abating these safety issues and protecting their workers. Yet the employer failed to ensure that workers were protected.”
Roofers at the Bartonville site were working on a roof 29 feet high without the recommended means of fall protection, such as guardrail systems, safety nets, warning-line systems or personal fall arrest, directly violating OSHA’s construction safety standards. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.
The page offers fact sheets, posters, and videos that vividly illustrate various fall hazards and appropriate preventive measures. OSHA standards require that an effective form of fall protection be in use when workers perform construction activities 6 feet or more above the next lower level.
Additionally, OSHA will have a National Safety Stand-Down from June 2–6 to raise awareness among employers and workers about the hazards of falls. During the stand-down, employers and workers are asked to pause during their workday to talk about fall prevention in construction and discuss topics, such as ladder, scaffolding, and roofing work safety. Afterward, employers will be able to provide feedback and receive a personalized certificate of participation.
US Labor Department and Republic Steel Reach Comprehensive Settlement Agreement
The comprehensive settlement, in which the company agrees to abate all cited hazards and implement numerous safeguards to prevent future injuries, addresses more than 100 safety and health violations found by OSHA at the company’s facilities during inspections conducted in the fall of 2013. The agreement also resolves contested citations from two previous inspections regarding a June 2013 arc flash incident at the Lorain facility and a case alleging numerous fall hazards at the company’s Canton facility that OSHA issued in August of 2013.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Republic Steel has agreed to pay $2.4 million, and has further agreed on additional penalty amounts in the event there is a determination of substantial non-compliance with the agreement.
Republic Steel will:
- Hire additional safety and health staff
- Conduct internal safety and health inspections with representatives of the United Steelworkers
- Establish and implement a comprehensive safety and health management program to identify and correct hazardous working conditions
- Hire third-party auditors to assure that hazards are identified and improvements are made; and
- Meet quarterly with OSHA staff to assure implementation of this agreement
OSHA initiated the inspections last fall in response to a serious injury after an employee fell through the roof of a building at the Lorain plant.
“By agreeing to the terms of this settlement, Republic Steel has demonstrated a commitment to change its culture, invest in its employees, and work with OSHA and the United Steelworkers to make significant changes at its facilities that will improve the safety and health of its workers,” said US Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “The Labor Department looks forward to working with Republic Steel to ensure that it lives up to its commitment to improve workplace safety.”
In addition to improvements noted, Republic Steel has agreed to several key changes in the management of its safety and health program, including:
- Reviewing and improving plant procedures to ensure OSHA compliance with machine guarding, control of hazardous energy (lockout/tag out), fall protection, personal protective equipment, and other critical safety procedures
- Implementing an electronic tracking system for identifying hazards/near misses, injuries, and illnesses reported by workers
- Mailing a letter to workers’ families detailing the company’s commitment to health and safety
- Providing a card to employees informing them of the right to refuse to perform work that they reasonably and in good faith believe is unsafe or unhealthful without fear of being disciplined
- Providing supplemental training for all production and maintenance employees, including managers
“The terms of this agreement to improve conditions and training are unprecedented,” said Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. “The company has committed to supporting extensive worker participation, an important role for the joint health and safety committee, and implementation of a comprehensive safety and health program to better protect Republic Steel employees.”
OSHA Commemorates Workers’ Memorial Day by Signing Two Alliances to Promote Worker Safety
“We welcome this unique opportunity to join with the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association and the Workers Defense Project in emphasizing workplace safety and health,” said Stephen Boyd, OSHA’s Dallas Area Director. “The combined resources of these relationships will provide education and training to help protect workers employed in high-risk industries, such as construction.”
In addition to signing the alliance agreements, OSHA’s Dallas Area Office also commemorated Workers’ Memorial Day at a prayer service at the OSHA Education Center, a division of Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service in Mesquite, Texas.
Under this alliance, the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association personnel will work closely with OSHA’s Dallas Area Office to enhance outreach and awareness to improve the understanding of worker’s rights regarding workplace safety and health.
The WDP is a worker center and part of a national movement of organizations that seek to provide low-wage workers with the resources they need to improve their working and living conditions. Under this alliance, Workers Defense Project personnel will work closely with OSHA’s Dallas Area Office to enhance outreach and awareness to improve the understanding of worker’s rights.
The purpose of each alliance is to develop compliance assistance tools and resources, and educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities. Alliance Program participants do not receive exemptions from OSHA programmed inspections.
Construction Workers on Aurora Public Library and OSHA Form Strategic Partnership
“Through these relationships, we aim to control or eliminate serious workplace construction hazards and build a foundation for an effective safety and health program,” said Jacob Scott, OSHA’s area director in North Aurora.
The New Main Aurora Public Library will consist of a 93,000-square-foot building to be constructed at the southwest corner of River and Benton Streets in Aurora. R.C. Wegman Construction Co., will be the construction manager for the project, with completion expected in late spring 2015.
As part of the agreement, R.C. Wegman will hold monthly meetings with partners and subcontractors, provide a site-specific job hazard analysis, and perform safety audits.
California DIR Commemorates Workers’ Memorial Day
In keeping with the California Department of Industrial Relations’ (DIR) commitment to protecting workers’ rights to a safe and healthy work environment, the department strongly supports Workers’ Memorial Day 2014.
This internationally recognized day of remembrance is dedicated to workers who have suffered and lost their lives on the job. It offers an opportunity to rededicate ourselves each year to the ongoing struggle for workers’ rights.
“DIR observes Workers’ Memorial Day every April 28th to honor those who have given up their lives as well those who have contributed to California’s legacy of protecting workers rights, and to renew our efforts to ensure safe workplaces,” said DIR Director Christine Baker. “While the types and number of jobs will change over time, there will always be a compelling need to protect worker well-being.”
“It is important that we truly honor the memory of workers who are no longer with us and pay tribute by making a safe and healthy workplace a reality for all” said Juliann Sum, Acting Chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA).
Cal/OSHA was established by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 to enforce effective standards, assist and encourage employers to maintain safe and healthful working conditions, and to provide for enforcement, research, information, education, and training in the field of occupational safety and health.
Cal/OSHA was the first in the nation to adopt an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) standard in 1991, requiring that all employers have effective safety and health programs tailored to their own workplaces. It was also the first to enact heat illness prevention regulations in 2005 with specific high heat regulations for five occupations in 2011.
Recent Cal/OSHA initiatives include:
- . Cal-OSHA’s comprehensive heat illness prevention program has been effective in increasing compliance and reducing heat-related illnesses and deaths to outdoor workers through enforcement, education and outreach, media, and partnerships with business and labor organizations to educate employers and workers about the risks of heat illness and simple steps necessary to prevent illness and death.
- The Confined Space Initiative launched statewide in 2012 in response to the deaths of seven workers who died in hazardous industries.
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