HR Forum: OSHA safety training

Showing posts with label OSHA safety training. Show all posts

OSHA to focus on forklift hazards in four states

Today's post comes from G.Neil's HR News Weekly:

Under a new regional inspection program, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hopes to reduce fatalities and serious injuries caused by forklifts and powered industrial trucks. The program will focus primarily on employer compliance in warehouses and service companies in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi. (If a company is the subject of a complaint inspection or site-specific targeting inspection, however, it will be checked for forklift violations, too).

Inspections will cover:

•    Operator training – Employees should be trained for the specific vehicle they’re operating (and each vehicle they operate), and re-evaluated every three years, per OSHA standards. OSHA investigators will observe actual forklift operations and interview employees to determine compliance with operating, traveling and loading requirements.

•    Maintenance and repair – Forklifts and powered industrial trucks should have the appropriate load plates and fully operational safety equipment. Investigators will review the shift pre-operation inspection checklist, as well as the company’s procedures for correcting equipment defects and problems.

•    Clear pathways – Just as important as proper training and the condition of the vehicles themselves are the pathways the forklifts travel. Investigators will look for clearly visible pathways, which are necessary to reduce “struck by” hazards.

Check out our Forklift Training Compliance Bundle for all the tools you need to ensure compliance – a 2-disc forklift safety training program, a forklift safety poster, a forklift operator’s daily checklist and a forklift operator evaluation form.

Are you steering clear of OSHA's top 10 safety violations?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently shared the 10 most frequent workplace safety violations for 2010 in a presentation to the National Safety Council.

Here are the 10 safety issues that made the list:

1. Scaffolding
2. Fall Protection
3. Hazard Communication
4. Respiratory Protection
5. Ladders
6. Control of Hazardous Energy – Lockout/Tagout
7. Electrical-Wiring Methods
8. Powered Industrial Trucks
9. Electrical – General
10. Machine Guarding

How safe and sound is your workplace? More important, what are you doing to build awareness and train your employees on proper safety procedures? With the right training resources, you can help prevent these top 10 safety offenses and avoid costly OSHA penalties.

Employers can expect a spike in OSHA penalties under new policy

As part of a longer-term enforcement plan, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is moving forward with a new, stricter administrative penalty policy that became effective October 1, 2010. Many experts felt that OSHA’s penalties, which have been around since the early 1970s, were too low to act as a deterrent. A handful of penalty adjustments will have a much wider, harder-hitting effect on employers.

Under the new policy, the time period for reviewing an employer’s past history of OSHA violations – to determine a “repeat” violation and any penalty increases or reductions – will expand from three to five years. An employer who has been cited by OSHA for a high-gravity, serious, willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violation within the last five years will receive a 10% penalty increase, up to the statutory maximum. (At the same time, any employer who has been inspected in the last five years and has none of these violations will receive a 10% penalty reduction.)

Among the other adjustments with the new policy:

• High-gravity, serious violations under OSHA’s Severe Violators Enforcement Program (SVEP) don’t have to be grouped but, rather, can be cited as separate violations with their own penalties

• OSHA officers can consider the gravity of serious violations (the severity and probability of an injury/illness resulting from a hazard) to issue penalties ranging from $3,000 to $7,000

• Employers with 251 or more employees will not receive any penalty reduction for employer size

• Good-faith procedures will continue, where employers can earn a reduction if they have a solid safety and health program in place, and are clear of any high-gravity, serious, willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations

• Also retained is the 15% “quick fix” reduction for employers who immediately address any hazards identified in an inspection

• The minimum proposed penalty for a serious violation will increase to $500, and the minimum penalty for a posting violation will increase to $250 (if OSHA previously provided the company a poster)

In light of OSHA’s new penalty policy, you should carefully audit your safety and health program, remove all workplace hazards, enhance your safety practices, and properly document accidents and injuries. Check out our OSHA recordkeeping forms and tools for clear direction and easier compliance.

OSHA issues a new program to prevent chemical-related workplace hazards ... more safety inspections to follow

Effective July 8, 2010, a new directive by OSHA will assist enforcement personnel in carrying out a National Emphasis Program to eliminate workplace accidents associated with the catastrophic release of highly hazardous chemicals. The PSM Covered Chemical Facilities National Emphasis Program will include programmed inspections in three regions:

• Region I – Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island
• Region VII – Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri
• Region X – Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho

Unprogrammed inspections will be conducted in seven other OSHA regions, as well.

(Basically, programmed inspections are based on “objective or neutral” criteria, while unprogrammed inspections are in response to “alleged hazardous working conditions that have been identified at a specific worksite.”)

The new directive will focus primarily on chemical processing facilities, refineries, and water and/or wastewater treatment facilities. More than 15,000 facilities nationwide could face inspections as a result.

Improve your safety practices and prepare for an OSHA inspection with the ComplyRight™ SolveIt Now™ Answers to All Your Questions: OSHA Compliance.

OSHA cracking down on careless employers who endanger workers

In an effort to reduce the number of workers seriously injured or killed while on the job, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently developed the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP). The program will take aim at employers who “have demonstrated indifference to the OSHA obligations by willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate violations.” How they’ll do this is through increased and more aggressive worksite inspections, follow-up inspections and greater penalties for safety violations.

Employers of all sizes will fall under the scrutiny of the SVEP, with the following incidents drawing particular attention:

1) Fatality and/or catastrophe situations resulting in three or more hospitalizations or the death of an employee
2) Non-fatality and/or catastrophe situations where you’ve exposed an employee to one of the most severe workplace hazards, including “high-gravity serious violations,” such as fall hazards, combustible dust hazards and lead hazards
3) Hazards due to the potential release of a highly hazardous chemical
4) Any violation considered “egregious” (conspicuously bad or offensive) under current OSHA obligations

The consequences for an employer on the SVEP list are equally severe. First, if just one of your facilities has come under fire, OSHA may order a nationwide inspection of all your facilities. There will be mandatory follow-up investigations at every facility, and OSHA will publicize your citations and violations.

Then there’s the financial hit. Over the next couple of months, the maximum penalty for a violation causing death or serious physical harm will increase from $7,000 to $12,000 – and the maximum penalty for a willful violation will increase from $70,000 to $250,000. (Penalties have increased only once in 40 years, despite inflation.)

June is National Safety Month. Are you doing everything possible to create a safer, OSHA-compliant workplace? Meet OSHA safety standards and prevent injuries year-round with G.Neil’s training and compliance solutions.

OSHA reveals its "top 10" safety violations for 2009

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) shared the 10 most frequent workplace safety violations for 2009 in a presentation to the National Safety Council last week. Unfortunately, these types of safety missteps have increased almost 30 percent from the previous year.

“The sheer number of violations gives us new resolve in raising awareness about
the importance of having sound safety procedures,” says National Safety
Council President and CEO Janet Froetscher.

Here are the 10 safety issues that made the list:

1. Scaffolding – 9,093 violations
Scaffold accidents most often result from the planking or support giving way, or to the employee slipping or being struck by a falling object.

2. Fall Protection – 6,771 violations
Fall protection is required for any work at a height of four feet or more in general industry, five feet in maritime and six feet in construction.

3. Hazard Communication – 6,378 violations
Chemical manufacturers and importers are required to evaluate the hazards of the chemicals they produce or import, and prepare labels and safety data sheets to convey this hazard information to employees and customers.

4. Respiratory Protection – 3,803 violations
Respirators protect workers against insufficient oxygen environments, harmful dusts, fogs, smokes, mists, gases, vapors and sprays (all of which may cause cancer, lung impairment, other diseases or death).

5. Lockout-Tag out – 3,321 violations
"Lockout-Tag out” refers to specific procedures to safeguard employees from the unexpected startup of machinery and equipment, or the release of hazardous energy during service or maintenance activities.

6. Electrical (Wiring) – 3,079 violations
Working with electricity poses certain hazards for engineers, electricians and other professionals who work with electricity directly, as well as office workers and sales people who work with electricity indirectly.

7. Ladders – 3,072 violations
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) www.dol.gov/ lists falls as one of the leading causes of traumatic occupational death, accounting for eight percent of all occupational fatalities.

8. Powered Industrial Trucks – 2,993 violations
Employees may be injured when powered industrial trucks (PIT), or forklifts, are inadvertently driven off loading docks, they fall between docks and an unsecured trailer, they are struck by a lift truck, or they fall while on elevated pallets and tines.

9. Electrical – 2,556 violations
Again, working with electricity poses certain hazards for engineers, electricians and other professionals who work with electricity directly, as well as office workers and sales people who work with electricity indirectly.

10. Machine Guarding – 2,364 violations
Any machine part, function or process that may cause injury to the operator of the equipment (or through accidental contact) must be safeguarded to eliminate hazards.

How safe and sound is your workplace? More important, what are you doing to build awareness and train your employees on proper safety procedures? G.Neil makes safety training and OSHA compliance easy and affordable. From forklift training videos to eye-catching safety posters, our full selection of products can help you conduct the type of OSHA training that prevents these top 10 safety offenses.

Company faces serious OSHA violations and fines, third year in a row

Neglectful businesses that take safety shortcuts and fail to protect employees can bet that they will soon find themselves subject to strict Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) investigations and owing steep penalty fines.

At most cases, one negative OSHA inspection is all it takes to turn a company’s poor safety standards around. For some, like 4 Brothers Stucco Co., the third time’s a charm.

OSHA has proposed $118,650 in fines against the Cleveland, Tenn.-based 4 Brothers for 15 alleged repeat violations of safety standards, making this citation the third in three consecutive years for the stucco contractor.

The latest inspection discovered employees exposed to falls of up to 22 feet when working on scaffolding, in an aerial lift and on the roof of a worksite. OSHA also identified electrical, overhead and chemical hazard communication (HAZCOM) weaknesses at the worksite.

"These sizable fines reflect both the seriousness and recurring nature of several of the conditions cited here," said C. William Freeman III, OSHA's area director in Hartford, Conn. "Keep in mind that falls are the number one killer in construction work and can occur in an instant. Be it a scaffold, an aerial lift, or a roof, proper and effective fall protection must be in place and in use at all times."

The latest inspection resulted in six repeat citations for violations ranging from no fall protection for employees in an aerial lift, to workers not wearing helmets and employees not trained to recognize scaffold hazards. Similar violations were also found in 2007 and 2008.

OSHA issues serious violations in instances where death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew or should have known about the danger.

It’s most important to note that out of the latest set of nine serious citations 4 Brothers received included “lack of a hazard communication program, training, material safety data sheets, and protective gloves for employees working with cement and hazardous chemicals.”

There’s an alarming trend emerging as the economy suffers that has more businesses including necessary OSHA safety training in their budget cuts. It may seem like cutting safety training could help some companies save money, but it will only put more workers at risk for serious injury and death, leading to increased OSHA fines, workers’ compensation claims and wrongful injury lawsuits.

With the total cost of work-related injuries in the U.S. is more than $50 billion annually, it should be a clear sign that cutting workplace safety corners, especially employee safety training, puts the success of your business in serious danger.

As our country continues to work through this recession, the demand for cost-effective safety training has never been higher. G.Neil is answering that call with affordable safety training products that take the guesswork out of OSHA compliance and help keep your employees safe from workplace hazards.

Obesity linked to more expensive workers’ comp claims

Data released earlier this month indicates that obesity is having an increasingly larger impact on workers’ compensation claims and workplace safety efforts.

Workers’ comp medical claims involving obese claimants open for one year can be up to three times as costly than those involving healthier employees, according to preliminary findings released by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI).

Claims that remain open for five years can be five times as expensive and the extra treatments related to obesity involved in some “smaller claims” can exceed almost 30 times the cost of treating a non-obese individual, according to NCCI.

Studies have shown that along with obesity, the heath care costs associated with employees who smoke and with conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure can be significantly higher than healthy employees.

In addition to mounting health care costs, the cost of work-related injuries in the U.S. totals more than $50 billion a year. Though the costs are high, a growing number of business have been taking their chances with employee safety by cutting vital OSHA safety training out of the budget in the wake of the recession.

The combination of unhealthy employees and more businesses cutting safety training corners has the potential to add even more financial stress to organizations that are already feeling the pressure.

Employers can take a comprehensive approach to combating both rising health care costs and more expensive workers’ comp claims by promoting the importance of employee wellness and workplace safety.

Employer-sponsored wellness programs can help employees take that first step to improving their health. Find a gym to partner with that can give you a good deal on memberships for employees or bring health specialists in-house to train employees on the benefits of wellness.

As the economy continues to challenge businesses, more are searching for inexpensive safety training methods to save money and limit the number of workplace injuries that can lead to costly workers’ compensation claims.

G.Neil is meeting that challenge with new products that make employee safety training and OSHA compliance easier and affordable. With the right tools, it’s possible to keep workers safe and healthy without jeopardizing your budget.

Are your MSDS practices OSHA compliant?

Working with chemicals is a dangerous business. Employees have a right to know about the chemicals they work with and the hazardous effects those chemicals may cause.

Wearing the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) can protect your body from a chemical’s potential hazards, but the information your Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) takes that protection one step further. An MSDS may become your lifeline when a disastrous event like an accidental spill, fire or explosion happens in the workplace.

An MSDS is a document that contains detailed information about a potentially hazardous substance including it’s potential hazardous effects, physical and chemical characteristics, and recommendations for protective measures. It is an integral part of every organization’s hazard communication (HAZCOM) program.

MSDSs are reference documents that basically serve as a “one-stop shopping source” for anything you may want or need to know about chemicals in your workplace. Employers must have an MSDS for each hazardous chemical they use.

The documents must be easily accessible to employees whenever they are in their work areas. There must be no barriers to access, such as a locked drawer, office door or having to ask for an MSDS.

While many employers keep their MSDSs in a centrally-located binder, it is acceptable to make the documents available electronically through the use of a computer with a printer, microfiche machine, Internet site, CD-ROM or Fax-on-demand system.

If you choose to use electronic MSDSs, employers must ensure that:

Electronic devices must be reliable and readily accessible to employees at all times,
Every employee is trained on how to use the electronic MSDS system,
A back-up system is in place in the event of an emergency, including power outages or equipment and online access delays,
And the electronic system is part of your overall HAZCOM program.

Remember, providing employees with MSDSs is just one part to complying with OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). Along with developing your MSDSs, the HCS involves properly labeling hazardous containers and employee training.

Visit G.Neil’s HR Library for more information on hazardous materials safety, OSHA compliance and the tools to help keep employees safe on the job.

More cutting OSHA training, taking chances with employee safety

In the wake of our country’s recent economic challenges, a disturbing trend has emerged that could cause a spike in employee injuries and safety violations. Recent reports show that many companies are taking their chances with employee safety by including vital OSHA safety training in this year’s budget cuts.

Delaying, trimming back or even eliminating employee safety training may result in an oncoming flood of new workplace injuries or even fatalities. Along with the danger to employees, businesses face the additional risk of increased OSHA fines, workers’ compensation claims and wrongful injury lawsuits.

Evidence of this hazardous trend can be seen in states like North Carolina, where the number of workplace deaths increased by 31 percent in 2008 after three years of steady decline, according to the Charlotte Observer.

The sagging economy could exacerbate the trend. Labor department officials worry workers could be in greater danger if companies scrimp on safety to make ends meet.

Department spokeswoman Dolores Quesenberry said Wednesday that company training and other safety initiatives are often among the first to go during hard economic times. “That's one of the first messages we want to get to employers: Make sure your employees are trained. It's not worth a life.”

According to a survey of safety professionals by Kimberly-Clark Professional, U.S. workers are putting themselves at risk by not complying with important safety procedures and failing to wear personal protective equipment (PPE).

Key findings of the survey:

89% of safety professionals have witnessed workers not wearing PPE when they should
33% cited compliance with safety protocols as the top workplace safety issue in their facilities
34% said the economy affected their worker safety training programs or resources
63% of those impacted by the economy said it had led to less money for safety education and training
33% of those impacted by the economy said business concerns get more attention than safety concerns during tough economic times

With the cost of work-related injuries in the US totaling more than $50 billion a year, businesses can’t afford to cut any corners when it comes to employee safety training and equipment. The financial burden of just one serious injury or fatality could put your company out of business forever.

As the economy falters, the need for more inexpensive safety training has never been more critical. G.Neil is meeting the challenge with new products that make safety training and OSHA compliance easier and affordable. From forklift training videos to safety posters, our wide variety of products can help you complete mandatory OSHA training without jeopardizing your budget or employee safety.

Related information:

Press release: Skipping OSHA safety training could spell death for employees

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