Tag Archives: osha

General Safety Issues

ABIDING BY THE LAWS OF WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY (GUEST POST)

The federal laws stated by the “Occupational Safety and Health Act” (OSHA), makes it mandatory for the employers to create a safe environment of working for the employees. Several states have their own laws for workplace safety. In order to abide by OSHA, employers are required to learn their obligations and also determine whether they need to abide by the state or federal laws. 

Depending on the state on which your company or business operates, it is determined whether you need to follow the sate or federal laws. This article mentions the state names that are governed by the state laws. The states not falling in that category need to follow the federal laws.

 The State Laws: 

OSHA, when passed, preempted all the state laws for occupational safety and health. At that time, every state had the choice to submit a plan to “Secretary of Labor” to get it approved. If the plan was found to be acceptable by the secretary, then the laws of the state were permitted to stand. In such states, referred to as the “state plan states”, employers must abide by the state’s standards, regulations and laws on workplace health and safety. The states do not require following the federal OSHA. 

The names of states falling in the category of “state plan states” are – Wyoming, Washington, Virginia, Vermont, Utah, Tennessee, South Carolina, Oregon, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Minnesota, Michigan, Maryland, Kentucky, Iowa, Indiana, Hawaii, California, Arizona and Alaska.

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut also own workplace safety laws, but they are applicable to only the local and state government employees. Private employers are bound to follow the federal laws. 

In case your business runs in one of the states falling in the category of “state plan states”, you can gather information and details about the resources and laws of your state of the website of “U.S. department of Labor” at www.osha.gov. In the website, look for “State Occupational Safety and Health Plans”. 

If your business does not operate in one of the states listed above, then you must follow the federal OSHA. 

The Federal Laws: 

OSHA is applicable to everyone in a workplace. 

The rules of OSHA must be followed for each and every employee in your business, irrespective of the employee’s classification, status or title. This implies that the federal law is applicable to stockholders, partners, supervisors, mangers, officers, rank-and-file workers and the family members who are working in your business.

However, the law is not applicable to the family members of an operator of a farm and independent contractors. 

General rules of safety for all types of businesses: 

According to OSHA, the employers are required to maintain the workplace free from hazards, which they know about or should know, and which are likely to lead to or are leading to the occurrence of serious physical injuries or may prove to be fatal. Such hazards are known as “recognized hazards”. 

Hazards can be in the form of unsafe conditions such as broken equipment or toxic fumes. They can also be in the form of unsafe practices like operation of circular saws using one hand rather than using both hands, or push starting tractors. Hazards can be easily detected by walking around the workplace and utilizing the senses. For example, hazards can be detected by sight or smell. 

Your duty is also to ensure safety of employees when they are sent outside the workplace for any work. If the employees are being sent to a demolition or construction site, ensure it is a safe place. The tools and equipment used by the workers should be safe to use. 

Conclusion: 

This information would help you as an employer to determine which laws you are being governed by. Workplace safety is an extremely important factor, and you must abide by the laws, rules and regulations strictly. 

 

Author’s Bio: Alisa Martin, is a regular blogger, and has been authoring articles on various law topics for the past decade. She is a regular contributor to http://abinternationallaw.com/.

 

General Safety Issues, Respiratory Safety

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PROPOSED WORKPLACE STANDARD REGARDING SILICA DUST

Our parent company, Texas America Safety Company, recently received this information, and we want to pass it on to our readers, because you can help.

As you may know, about 1.7 million workers in the United States each year are exposed to silica dust and run the risk of developing silicosis, lung cancer and other debilitating diseases. Public health experts estimate that 280 workers die each year from silicosis—and thousands more develop silicosis as a result of workplace exposures. 

But a proposed workplace standard on silica dust exposure from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been delayed for nearly two years as the Office of Management and Budget reviews the proposed standard.

Your membership and audience can help spur action on controlling this deadly workplace hazard by signing a White House “We the People” petition urging the Obama administration to move forward with the silica dust standard. 

Laborers (LIUNA) President Terry O’Sullivan says:

Any further delays in the rule-making process will only add to the death toll. The construction industry urgently needs stronger OSHA standards to prevent overexposure to silica dust. LIUNA and our supporters across the country will keep fighting for progress on this issue until a new safety standard is approved.

The petition requires 25,000 signatures by Feb. 11 to elicit a formal response from the White House. Click here to sign the petition. 

The current delay in moving ahead with a silica dust standard is just the latest in what is now a 15-year saga of trying to protect workers, even though the dangers of exposure to silica dust and the crippling and fatal lung disease it causes have been known for decades. 

At a Senate hearing last year focusing on the innumerable delays and roadblocks new OSHA safety standards must clear before becoming law—about eight years—Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, blasted corporate opposition to workplace safety laws and anti-worker lawmakers for blocking needed safety measures.

Today, rather than hearing outrage over worker deaths, we hear misinformation campaigns from corporate lobbyists about OSHA supposedly killing jobs. We see legislative proposals that call for blanket prohibitions on new regulations and proposals to add even more red tape to the regulatory process….We must come up with ways for OSHA to do its job without intimidation or interference.

Strategic Communications Department
Tad Kicielinski / Media Outreach Manager

Note: For your information, Blog4Safety wishes to explain more about silica dust to help in your decision regarding the petition:

What is crystalline silica?
Crystalline silica is a basic component of soil, sand, granite, and many other minerals. Quartz is the most common form of crystalline silica. Cristobalite and tridymite are two other forms of crystalline silica. All three forms may become respirable size particles when workers chip, cut, drill, or grind objects that contain crystalline silica.

What are the hazards of crystalline silica?
Silica exposure remains a serious threat to nearly 2 million U.S. workers, including more than 100,000 workers in high risk jobs such as abrasive blasting, foundry work, stonecutting, rock drilling, quarry work and tunneling. Crystalline silica has been classified as a human lung carcinogen. Additionally, breathing crystalline silica dust can cause silicosis, which in severe cases can be disabling, or even fatal.

What can employers/employees do to
protect against exposures to crystalline silica?

  • Replace crystalline silica materials with safer substitutes, whenever possible.
  • Provide engineering or administrative controls, where feasible, such as local exhaust ventilation, and blasting cabinets. Where necessary to reduce exposures below the PEL, use protective equipment or other protective measures.
  • Use all available work practices to control dust exposures, such as water sprays.
  • Wear only a N95 NIOSH certified respirator, if respirator protection is required. Do not alter the respirator. Do not wear a tight-fitting respirator with a beard or mustache that prevents a good seal between the respirator and the face.
  • Wear only a Type CE abrasive-blast supplied-air respirator for abrasive blasting.
  • Wear disposable or washable work clothes and shower if facilities are available. Vacuum the dust from your clothes or change into clean clothing before leaving the work site.
  • Participate in training, exposure monitoring, and health screening and surveillance programs to monitor any adverse health effects caused by crystalline silica exposures.
  • Be aware of the operations and job tasks creating crystalline silica exposures in your workplace environment and know how to protect yourself.
  • Be aware of the health hazards related to exposures to crystalline silica.
  • Smoking adds to the lung damage caused by silica exposures.
  • Do not eat, drink, smoke, or apply cosmetics in areas where crystalline silica dust is present. Wash your hands and face outside of dusty areas before performing any of these activities.
  • Remember: If it’s silica, it’s not just dust.

Source: OSHA

General Safety Issues

DO YOU UNDERSTAND HIPAA?

HIPPA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191.  This means that “covered entities” must protect the privacy of individuals’ health information.  When it first began, it was hard to get the message across to some individuals that they could not discuss private patient information.  Employees that are guilty of leaking private health information can be penalized by fine and even jail, depending on the circumstances.

Prior to this law, hospitals displayed a list of patients in the hospital, or even published them in the newspaper.  That made it pretty handy for local citizens to visit their friends if they learned that they were hospitalized.  However, once the law was passed, and the list was not public information, many persons were very mad and just couldn’t understand why hospitals kept their census secret.  I had a lady slam the phone down one day because I wouldn’t tell her who was in the hospital so she could put them on their church prayer list.  Volunteers at hospitals or other health care facilities must observe HIPAA law, as well.

“Covered entities” include healthcare plans, healthcare providers, healthcare clearing houses, pharmacies, private care, dentists, emergency service providers, and physical therapists, etc.  If you call a nurses’ desk and ask for the condition of a patient by name, they may give you a brief description, such as fair, or good.  The HIPAA privacy regulation provides that individually identifiable information about a person’s physical or mental health or health care (in any written or oral form) – including computer records – is protected from unauthorized disclosure.  Most physicians’ forms require the patient or guardian to fill out the name of any other doctor and entity that their report should be sent to, as well as permission to release their medical information to family members and/or friends.

The Privacy Rule does not require a health care provider or health plan to share information with your family or friends, unless they are your personal representative.  Then providers may share information with them in certain circumstances.  A provider or plan may also share relevant information with these persons if, using its professional judgment, it believes that you do not object.  For example, if you send your friend to pick up your prescription for you, the pharmacist can assume that you do not object to their being given the medication.  When you are not there or when you are injured and cannot give your permission, a provider may share information with these persons when it decides that doing so would be in your best interest. 

In all reality, this is a good thing, because if you are hospitalized, your diagnosis will kept between you, your family and physician; you have the right to know that it will not be given to anyone else.  Many times, things get stretched and are not so bad as rumors would have one believe.  Rest assured, most hospitals and healthcare facilities are very aware to respect HIPAA.  This means that your medical information is safe.

We will do an article later this week regarding Rights as a Whistleblower, and how it pertains to HIPAA, as well as other workplace laws.

Respiratory Safety

BREATHE EASIER WITH RESPIRATORY PROTECTION

Number 5 on our  “Hit Parade” countdown of OSHA’s Top Ten violations for 2010 is Standard 29 CFR 1910.134,  Respiratory Protection, General Industry.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, respirators protect the user in two basic ways. The first is by the removal of contaminants from the air. Respirators of this type include particulate respirators, which filter out airborne particles; and “gas masks” which filter out chemicals and gases. Other respirators protect by supplying clean respirable air from another source. Respirators that fall into this category include airline respirators, which use compressed air from a remote source; and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), which include their own air supply.  Respirators should only be used when engineering control systems are not feasible. Engineering control systems, such as adequate ventilation or scrubbing of contaminants are the preferred control methods for reducing worker exposures. 

If you work where there is dust, heat, humidity, or mist around you, respirators are needed.  Respiratory protection is regulated by OSHA, which determines which type of respiratory protection is appropriate for each kind of hazard.  NIOSH regulates the manufacture and testing of face masks/respirators, labels them for the appropriate type of use, and OSHA is responsible for their use.  Employers are in charge of establishing and implementing a written respiratory protection program with worksite-specific procedures and elements for required respirator use.  The provisions of the program include selecting the correct protection, medical evaluation, fit testing, training, use and care of respirators.  Persons with mustaches or beards may not be able to get a secure fit.  OSHA requires fit-testing, to be sure there are no leaks.  Respirators Fit-testing kits must be used to ensure their compliance to safety requirements. 

N95 filtering respirators, “air purifying respirators” cover the nose and mouth.  A respirator classified as N95 means that 95% of most penetrating particulates will be filtered out. This type of respirator protects the wearer against breathing in small particles that contain viruses, such as in a healthcare setting.  For other occupational exposures, the respirators filter out dust, mist, heat and vapors that can be harmful to your health.  To be fully effective, N95 respirators must fit closely to form a light seal over the mouth and nose.   Manufacturers make several different sizes of respirators to accommodate smaller faces.  The use of powered air-purifying respirators may be chosen as a suitable type in some cases. 

Workers must have received comprehensive and understandable training at least annually, and more often if necessary.  This training should include, at a minimum:

  • Limitations and capabilities of the respirator;
  • Effective use in emergencies;
  • Why it is necessary and how improper fit, use and maintenance can compromise its protective effect;
  • Recognition of medical signs and symptoms that may limit or prevent effective use;
  • How to inspect, put on and remove, use and check the seals;
  • Maintenance and storage.

Listed among the top five violations by companies in the United States is an indicator that employees are being exposed to hazards that can be very harmful to their health.  We hope by this time next year,  most of the serious violations will be corrected, and that respiratory protection will be taken off the list.  We’ll all breathe easier when this happens, especially our workers!

 

Sources: OSHA, CDC

General Safety Issues

DISTRACTED DRIVING IS A WORKPLACE HAZARD

Thus states OSHA, in an open letter to employers:  “It is (the employer’s) responsibility and legal obligation to create and maintain a safe and healthful workplace, and that would include having a clear, unequivocal and enforced policy against the hazard of texting while driving.  Companies are in violation of (OHSA) if, by policy or practice, they require texting while driving, or create incentives that encourage or condone it, or they structure work so that texting is a practical necessity for workers to carry out their job.”  This letter was written to kick off “Drive Safely Work Week”, an article we featured on this blog.

Has this policy been established at your workplace yet?  Several workplace employees have told me that they are not allowed to text while driving during work hours, and if caught doing so, they will be fired.  The Department of Labor and Department of Transportation are joining OSHA in this initiative by creating public awareness campaigns on the serious issue of distracted driving.  OSHA’s top priority is keeping workers safe.  Year after year the leading cause of worker fatalities is motor vehicle crashes.  Distracted driving increases the risk of a vehicle accident.

Federal employees are prohibited to text while driving.  Because it is well known that texting while driving is a hazard, it is imperative that employers do not encourage workers to text while driving, which violates everything that safety rules stand for.  As stated by Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, “Although communication technology helps businesses work smarter and faster, it does not justify the dramatically increased risk of injury and death that comes with texting and driving.”

There are thirty states that ban texting and driving for all drivers.  OSHA’s website features a video message and the letter mentioned above to showcase employer policies and team up with employer and labor associations to communicate OSHA’s message.  According to fellow blogger, Ken Oswald, a complete listing of current state laws on cell phone use and texting while driving can be found on the Governors Highway Safety Association’s website or the National Conference of State Legislatures’ website. Also, Mr. Oswald states that OSHA has warned employers that it will investigate complaints that an employer requires or encourages texting while driving and penalties will be imposed to employers who fail to comply with its guidelines. 

In a separate report, Federal statistics include a code for factors involved in fatal crashes, which point to a big increase in inattentive driving.  “U.S. data combines  talking, eating, and using cell phones in the same group.  There has been a 42 per cent increase in fatal crashes in which the coder labeled inattention as a factor.”  (I recently received a comment on one of our latest  distracted driving blogs that questioned not only texting and talking on the cell phone, but also putting on makeup, reading, and other distractions while driving.  Good point.) 

Maybe when companies enforce these rules regarding texting and driving, those employees will adjust to not texting and driving during their free time.  It would be a better habit to turn the phone off and retrieve the messages when you are on your lunch break, or after you get home.  Hands-free phones should be the only type allowed, and even then, certain conversations may keep the driver from focusing on their driving.

Join in with OSHA and your state to make the highways safer.  Leave the phone off until your vehicle is stopped.  Their little answering machines work just fine!

General Safety Issues

ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS HELP SOLVE THE PUZZLE

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We recently talked about “human error” in the workplace.  Regardless of the reason behind an industrial accident, the failure of equipment, people, supplies, or surroundings to behave or react as expected is the cause of most of them.  Thousands of accidents occur throughout the United States every day.  By using information gained by an accident investigation, the why’s and how’s can be determined, and hopefully, prevent them from happening again. 

An industrial accident can cause extensive physical damage to a structure where the accident happened and injuries or death to workers involved in the accident.  This is the point where the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), steps in and conducts an investigation.  An OSHA inspection procedure is conducted, utilizing specialized investigation techniques.   The following information from OSHA explains the reasons for investigating an accident;  if any of the following four events take place:

  1. If there is an employee fatality during the accident;
  2. If there is a critical injury or sickness;
  3. If there is exposure to a serious toxic chemical or disease occurs;
  4. If there are more than three employees that undergo hospitalization from the accident. 

OSHA representatives will come to the site of the accident once receiving word of the event.  They will then do an initial report.  Accident investigations are more complex than other inspections, requiring a greater degree of technical and investigative skill than other types of programmed or non-programmed inspections.  They often require coordination between Federal, state, and local investigative entities.  Compliance personnel and employers are required to interact with the investigating authorities. 

The main goal of the inspection is to identify the causes of an industrial accident, which could lead to citations.  The inspection will not only reveal the causes, but the probability of hazards in surrounding areas, while creating an injury log and calculating the amount of time required for complete cleanup.  OSHA is also required to coordinate with the Bureau of Investigations if there is a fatality at the scene of the accident.  OSHA will contact family members of the employees involved in the accident to provide them with important information related to the accident. 

Another important technique that OSHA uses is interviewing witnesses that were present during the accident.  The representatives of OSHA do not conduct interviews until after they are familiar with the industry in which the accident occurred.  Then they will interview people who saw the event, those who have first-hand knowledge of the accident, and other witnesses who have information about the circumstances that led up to and preceded the accident.  The purpose of these interviews is not fault-finding, but rather fact-finding.  There will also be documentary evidence, photographs and videos, as well as diagrams, sketches and maps that better describe the work-site accident.   Depending on the results of the investigation, OSHA will cite the corporation or individuals involved in the accident, recommend criminal proceedings (if deemed appropriate), and create a detailed investigative report.

American workers and employers want safe and healthful places in which to work.  They want everyone on the job to go home whole and healthy each day.  Determined to make that dream possible, OSHA is committed to assuring, so far as possible, that every working man and woman in the nation has safe and healthful working conditions.  OSHA believes that providing workers with a safe workplace is central to their ability to enjoy health, security, and the opportunity to achieve the American dream.

 

Source: OSHA, Cal/OSHA

General Safety Issues

ENSURING THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS ABOUT SAFETY!

Safety Meetings and Safety Training are conducted to keep you safe while you earn your pay.  But what if these meetings were presented in a language that you didn’t know?  America has always been known as a Melting Pot, with immigrant workers coming from all over the world.  Many of them are from disadvantaged countries, and work in seasonal jobs such as agriculture.  Others work in construction, mining, and industries with high mortality rates.  Some are machine operators, assemblers, cleaners, and helpers.  Limited English proficiency may be a direct contributor to workplace injuries or fatalities.
OSHA has a history of requiring employers to train their employees in a manner that they understand.  If they don’t speak English, then preparation for their job tasks, as well as safety and health training, is to be conveyed in the language that they understand.  If the employee’s vocabulary is limited, training must account for that limitation.  Simply telling them to read training materials will not satisfy the employer’s obligation.  OSHA also requires employers to verify that employees have acquired the knowledge and skills for which they have been trained; i.e., lockout/tagout, respiratory protection, bloodborne pathogens, etc.
Having worked for an oilfield construction company in West Texas several years ago, I know there were many of our employees that didn’t understand or speak English, and were dependent on their Spanish-speaking supervisors to instruct them.  They worked hard for minimum wage, and did a good job.  But there were injuries, as well.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health shares these examples of how they are working to improve problems that immigrant workers face:
§ The NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program identifies and studies work-related injury deaths, with the goal of identifying effective prevention measures.
§ Through on-site investigations, NIOSH and cooperating states collect detailed circumstances for select incident types, including deaths of Hispanic workers since 2002.
§ Targeted research programs focused on the construction and agricultural sectors, both of which employ a disproportionate share of immigrant workers.
§ An occupational health disparities program, which is conducting research on the causes and prevention of occupational health disparities including those experienced by immigrant workers.
§ A Spanish language website and translation of several NIOSH publications into Spanish.
§ An innovative information and communication effort with the Spanish-language television network Telemundo and other partners, in which construction safety messages were incorporated dramatically into a widely watched prime-time series, and supplemented with a public service announcement and a special website.
Companies and their supervisors are responsible for the safety of all workers, must understand the hazards of their job, as well as the importance of wearing Personal Protective Equipment, and how to take care of it.  If employees see a co-worker that is at risk, regardless of a language barrier, or any other reason, they need to reach out and help.  That way, everyone stays safe!
Sources:
OSHA
NIOSH
Safety Meetings and Safety Training are conducted to keep you safe while you earn your pay.  But what if these meetings were presented in a language that you didn’t know?  America has always been known as a Melting Pot, with immigrant workers coming from all over the world.  Many of them are from disadvantaged countries, and work in seasonal jobs such as agriculture.  Others work in construction, mining, and industries with high mortality rates.  Some are machine operators, assemblers, cleaners, and helpers.  Limited English proficiency may be a direct contributor to workplace injuries or fatalities.
OSHA has a history of requiring employers to train their employees in a manner that they understand.  If they don’t speak English, then preparation for their job tasks, as well as safety and health training, is to be conveyed in the language that they understand.  If the employee’s vocabulary is limited, training must account for that limitation.  Simply telling them to read training materials will not satisfy the employer’s obligation.  OSHA also requires employers to verify that employees have acquired the knowledge and skills for which they have been trained; i.e., lockout/tagout, respiratory protection, bloodborne pathogens, etc.
Having worked for an oilfield construction company in West Texas several years ago, I know there were many of our employees that didn’t understand or speak English, and were dependent on their Spanish-speaking supervisors to instruct them.  They worked hard for minimum wage, and did a good job.  But there were injuries, as well.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health shares these examples of how they are working to improve problems that immigrant workers face:
  • The NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program identifies and studies work-related injury deaths, with the goal of identifying effective prevention measures.
  • Through on-site investigations, NIOSH and cooperating states collect detailed circumstances for select incident types, including deaths of Hispanic workers since 2002.
  • Targeted research programs focused on the construction and agricultural sectors, both of which employ a disproportionate share of immigrant workers.
  • An occupational health disparities program, which is conducting research on the causes and prevention of occupational health disparities including those experienced by immigrant workers.
  • A Spanish language website and translation of several NIOSH publications into Spanish.
  • An innovative information and communication effort with the Spanish-language television network Telemundo and other partners, in which construction safety messages were incorporated dramatically into a widely watched prime-time series, and supplemented with a public service announcement and a special website.
Companies and their supervisors are responsible for the safety of all workers, must understand the hazards of their job, as well as the importance of wearing Personal Protective Equipment, and how to take care of it.  If employees see a co-worker that is at risk, regardless of a language barrier, or any other reason, they need to reach out and help.  That way, everyone stays safe!
Sources:
OSHA
NIOSH
General Safety Issues

COMING ATTRACTIONS: CERTAIN ENFORCEMENTS ON OSHA STANDARDS

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Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA’s role has been to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women.  OSHA has the authority to enforce standards developed under the Act, assist and encourage States in their efforts to carry out such conditions.  Working under the Department of Labor, OSHA provides research, information, education and training, focusing on keeping America’s workers safe.

Through the years, the role of OSHA has been diverse, but here are some of the changes in industrial safety standards brought about in past years:

  • Making sure there are guards on moving parts of machinery.
  • Permissible exposure limits to hazardous chemicals.
  • Confined space regulations.
  • Lockout/Tagout procedures.
  • Workers’ exposure to bloodborne pathogens.
  • Safety restrictions when involved with excavations and trenches.
  • Asbestos exposure standards.
  • Using Personal Protective Equipment, as required.

According to Hilda Solis, current United States Secretary of Labor, “We are strengthening our efforts to be vigilant in protecting the rights and safety of workers by hiring additional enforcement personnel, and revising and improving our regulatory efforts.”  Employers would be wise to take note of the following current considerations being addressed by OSHA:

  • If the Protected American Workers Act (now pending before Congress) passes, there will be enhanced civil and criminal penalties, changes in abatement requirements, expansion of victims’ rights, and revision to whistleblower structure. This may result in significant repercussions for American employers.
  • The national employer record program was announced by OSHA on October 1, 2009, requiring more scrutiny of the company’s ability to properly prepare OSHA logs, reporting workplace incidents, injuries and illnesses.
  • Another mandate from OSHA is requiring uniformity in the language of ALL settlement agreements- language that uses the settlement process as a way to get employers to agree to undertake more obligations.
  • OSHA issued a final rule allowing citations be given employers on a “per employee basis” for failure to wear/use required Personal Protective Equipment.
  • On April 29, 2009, OSHA announced it would initiate rulemaking on combustible dust hazards.
  • The issue of ergonomic hazards will be revisited by the Obama administration.
  • OSHA is seeking to align its Hazardous Communication Standard with the provisions of the United Nations Globally Harmonized Standard of Classifying and Labeling of Chemicals.

While employers face many challenges in their daily operations, the safety and well-being of their employees should come first.  Organized safety meetings, planning, hazard assessments, risk management, and ensuring compliance are just part of the steps to be taken to create a safe work environment.   In the event of a company mishap, OSHA will be knocking on the door to make sure that all safety policies and procedures were followed.

General Safety Issues, Respiratory Safety

DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM STANDARDS COMPLIANCE

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published the final Hexavalent Chromium (CrVI) Standard on February 28, 2006, with a deadline for full compliance on May 31, 2010.  Three versions of the standard apply each to General Industry, Construction, and Shipyards, with similar provisions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control: Cr(VI) compounds are a group of chemical substances containing the metallic element chromium in its positive- 6 valence (hexavalent) state.  Occupational exposures to Cr(VI) occur during the production of stainless steel, chromate chemicals, chromate pigments, chrome plating, and thermal cutting.

NIOSH considers all Cr (VI) compounds to be potential occupational carcinogens.  Rarely found in nature, Cr(VI) is a toxic form of the element chromium.  Other uses for chromium are making bricks in furnaces, leather tanning, wood preserving, and may be in dyes, paints, and inks.  Cr(VI) may be inhaled through dust, fumes or mist.  Prolonged exposure can cause irritation or damage to the respiratory tract, eyes and skin if it comes in contact with those organs, and lung cancer.

To prevent this, employers must first determine the air quality and element of risk to their employees.  An Industrial Hygienist should perform air monitoring and inform the company of the employees’ time weighted average for an 8-hour workday.

OSHA requires engineering controls put into place to eliminate employees’ exposure to Cr (VI) and enhance their protection by the use of respirators or N95 types of facemasks. Respiratory protection requirements are the same in all three standards. Respirators are required in situations whenever exposure levels exceed the permissible exposure limit and/or emergencies.

The OSHA standards also require that separate change rooms are available to prevent cross-contamination of street clothes.  The employer must provide disposable clothing, or clean, repair and replace all protective clothing used by employees when they have been exposed to Cr (VI).  Medical surveillance is to be available free for the employee who has been exposed to the substance at or above the action level for 30 or more days per year, or those who are experiencing symptoms of adverse health effects.  Employees must wash their hands and face at the end of each shift.  No eating or drinking in the work areas is permitted.

Most of us may be more familiar with the name Erin Brokovich than this chemical compound.  She was credited with investigating the case of alleged contamination of drinking water with Cr (VI) in the southern California town of Hinkley. At the center of the case was a facility called the Hinkley Compressor Station, part of a natural gas pipeline connecting to the San Francisco Bay Area and constructed in 1952. Between 1952 and 1966, a major natural gas and electricity provider used hexavalent chromium to fight corrosion in the cooling tower. The wastewater dissolved the Cr (VI) from the cooling towers and was discharged to unlined ponds at the site. Some of the wastewater seeped into the groundwater, affecting an area near the plant approximately two miles long and nearly a mile wide.. The case was settled in 1996 for $333 million, paid to 634 Hinkley residents, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct action lawsuit in U.S. history.