Tag Archives: workers safety

General Safety Issues

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY – 2012

Saturday, April 28th is International Workers Memorial Day.  It is a day when unions around the world campaign for improvements in workplace health and safety.  Started by the Canadian Union of Public Employees in 1984, and adopted by the Canadian Labour Congress the following year, the day has been officially recognized by more than twenty countries, including the USA and the UK.  The Canadian National Day of Mourning is also observed on this day.   The U.N. adopted the day in 1996. 

The following  information comes from r@w news, in Australia.  This day is one to remember workers who died, were injured or fell ill due to unsafe, unhealthy or unsustainable work and workplaces around the world.  The most updated information shows that there are almost 360,000 fatal occupational accidents in any year, and almost 2 million fatal work-related diseases.  Every day, more than 960,000 workers get hurt because of accidents, and on average 5,330 workers die because of work-related diseases.  April 28th should be commemorated for those who have lost their lives or their health at or because of their work; to raise awareness about the risk of disease, injury or death for workers in all sectors and countries; and to engage all workers and unions in a positive action day for dialogue, transformation, and progress on occupational safety. 

We checked out other announcements from countries that also commemorate this day, such as our own country, the United States.  The IAFF is encouraging its affiliates to observe Workers Memorial Day and National Day of Mourning on April 28, remembering those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew the fight for safe workplaces.  In 1989, April 28 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the day OSHA went into effect.  OSHA protects workers by instituting occupational health and safety standards that cultivate safe working environments and remove recognized hazards that may cause death or serious harm to workers.  The theme for the AFL-CIO for this year is “Safe Jobs Save Lives.” 

UNISON Scotland, Scotland’s biggest and liveliest trade union’s theme is “Cuts Cost Lives – Mourn for the Dead, Fight for the Living.  In the United Kingdom, IOSH feels that this  is the most important day of occupational safety and health calendar on the horizon.  They are encouraging persons to send in snapshots of themselves and their co-workers and describe “What does Workers’ Memorial Day Mean toYou?”  The images will then be uploaded to IOSH’s Twitter and Flickr accounts to give people around the world an insight into the real meaning of the Day. 

For your information, here are the countries that observe and promote this day around the world: Argentina, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Greece, Luxembourg, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan, U.S.A., Ukraine and the United Kingdom.  In addition to which the Andean Community of countries has adopted this day on behalf of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and their associate member Venezuela. 

Whether you are union or non-union, chances are every one of us has known someone who died on the job.  We must do everything possible to encourage employers to make jobs safer for workers around the world.  Pause and be thankful on this day that is set aside to honor those who lost their lives simply doing their job.

General Safety Issues

UPDATE TO OSHA’S HAZARD COMMUNICATION STANDARD

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and Assistant Secretary of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. David Michael, held a press conference, March 20th, to announce a rule updating OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard.   The revised standard will align with the United Nation’s Global Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals to better protect workers from hazardous chemicals, as well as help American businesses compete in a global economy.  Secretary Solis stated that “exposure to hazardous chemicals is one of the most serious dangers facing American workers today.”  This revision of OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard will improve the quality, consistency and clarity of the information that workers receive, making it safer for workers to do their jobs and easier for employees to stay competitive in the global marketplace. 

The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of chemicals (GHS) provides a single set of harmonized criteria for classifying chemicals according to their health and physical hazards and specifies hazard communication elements for labeling and safety data sheets.  These criteria and elements will help chemical manufacturers to determine if a chemical product produced and/or supplied is hazardous, and explains how to prepare an appropriate label and/or safety data sheet.  This harmonized standard will ensure that workers will have information that is easier to find and understand through the use of standardized formats and label elements: signal words, pictograms, hazard statements, and precautionary statements.  As one participant expressed during OSHA’s rulemaking process, this update will give workers the right to understand, as well as the right to know.  It will reduce confusion in the workplace, facilitating safety training and improving understanding of hazards, especially for low-wage and limited-literacy workers.  The Hazard Communication Standard, first issued in 1983, was designed to ensure that employers provide information about health hazards and physical hazards, giving workers the right to know the hazards and identities of the chemicals they are exposed to in the workplace. 

Employers must train workers on the new label elements and SDS format by December 1, 2013.  Chemical employers must comply with all modified provisions of the final rule by June 1, 2015; however, distribute under the old system until December 1, 2015.  By June 1, 2016, employers must update alternative programs as necessary, and provide additional worker training for new identified physical and health hazards. 

The GHS is not a regulation or a standard, but a set of recommendations that a competent authority such as OSHA can adopt.  The GHS is being implemented around the world in countries such as Australia, the EU, and China.  This document provides countries with the regulatory building blocks to develop or modify existing national programs that address classification of hazards and transmittal of information about those hazards and associated protective measures.  This helps to ensure the safe use of chemicals as they move through the product life cycle and around the world.  Benefits to workers and members of the public include consistent, simplified communications on chemical hazards, safe handling practices, greater awareness of hazards and overall safer use of chemicals.  Benefits to employers include safer work environments, improved relations with workers, increased efficiency, reduced costs of compliance, and expanded use of training programs on health and safety. 

For more information about the benefits of harmonization, visit OSHA’s Guide to the GHS.

Source: OSHA