All Blog Posts Tagged 'OSHA' (115)

Workplace accident prevention can be divided into two categories: those things the employer can do and those things the employees must do.

OSHA places the responsibility for employee safety squarely with the employer. It is the employer's responsibility to not only provide a safe workplace, but to also ensure their employees work and behave in a safe manner. Should someone be injured, the…

This new OSHA directive assists OSHA representatives in communicating investigation procedures with the family members of the victim after a workplace fatality incident has occured. OSHA representatives will contact and explain the investigation process and timeline, providing the family with updates throughout the investigation which ensures that early in the inspection process, an established point of contact can be made and a working relationship can be established. Once…

A new memorandum by OSHA published on Monday of this week seeks to clarify issues regarding safety incentives that may actually be illegal.

At issue is the fact that certain types of incentive programs would actually discourage employees from reporting injuries which is not only discrimination and illegal but also puts everyone at…

Reblogged from L.A.W. Construction Safety Consultants, LLC

OSHA fines cost companies, small and large, millions of dollars each year. What some companies may not know is it’s a lot easier to have citations reduced or even deleted when you’re making an effort to maintain a safe workplace. One very important way to ensure worker safety is to schedule training for them – training which OSHA requires you to have in the first place!

Still…

A worker’s perception of safety in the workplace and the work-life balance that businesses establish with their employees have a significant effect on the numbers of on-the-job injuries according to a recent University of Georgia study.

“We’ve known for some time that certain occupations are more dangerous than others due to a variety of physical and other hazards. But in the last 20 years, there has been growing evidence that management and organizational factors also play a critical…

The U. S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is apparently tired of OSHA dragging its feet on the combustible dust standard it promised to address as early as 2003 and has yet to act on.

In two separate statements, both of which can be found on the CSB website. Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso speaks out about OSHA's failure to address the issue despite promises to do so.

Rafael…

Effective as of February 1st 2012 (2 weeks ago now), the new crane rule went into effect.

In the wake of several crane accidents and fatalities, not to mention the cost of damages, OSHA has put together a new rule for crane inspection, maintenance and operation. If you haven't been aware of this new rule, don't panic yet. While it went into effect at the beginning of the month, you've got until…

Well, president Obama release the FY 2013 budget yesterday and with regards to OSHA, the main points had to do with an increased funding for the whistle-blowers' program and a decrease in money for personnel through the consolidation of three different regional offices which would effectively eliminate some redundant positions.

1. The Whistle-blowers' program: OSHA would receive an additional $5 million to help fund all the investigations that are currently backlogged. What this is…

The old adage that says "if you want something done right, do it yourself" doesn't necessarily hold true. Sometimes the best course of action is to let the professionals do it and when you're talking about safety related issues, who better than OSHA.

With that in mind, why not let OSHA do your respiratory training for you? They've just added several more respiratory training videos to bring their total up to 17 (9 in English and 8 in Spanish).

English:…

Based on a proposal back in the spring of 2010, a new white paper by OSHA entitled "Injury and Illness Prevention Programs" makes a convincing case for a proactive approach to health and safety in the workplace through the identification and fixing of potential hazards before they injure employees.

The benefits, according to the white paper, include "higher productivity and quality, reduced turnover, reduced costs, and greater employee satisfaction."

These findings are…

There's a blog that I want to call your attention to because it's one that, if you have anything to do with safety, you should know about. It's www.oshalawupdate.com. Written by a team of professionals, mostly related to OSHA laws and enforcement, it is updated pretty regularly and contains a lot of really great information regarding OSHA, OSHA enforcement and all the applicable laws and regulations that go with it.…

The "Fatal Four" is the term that OSHA gives to the four leading causes of death in the workplace. According to stats on the OSHA website, "eliminating the Fatal Four would save 431 workers' lives in America every year."

The fatal four account for 57% of construction workers deaths in 2010.

What are the Fatal Four?

• Falls – 260 out of 751 total deaths in construction in CY 2010 (35%)
• Electrocutions –…

Here's a new twist...

Most of us are familiar with the OSHA Santa, the OSHA cowboy, etc... (If not, click here to view them). As strange as it may seem, these humorous drawings may be closer to the truth than we might think and some people are sick and tired of all the fun in the holiday season being taking away in the name of safety.

According to…

In an effort to address the more than 800 construction worker deaths and 137,000 injuries, OSHA has put together a special "V-Tools: Construction Hazards" website.

The website consists of a virtual construction site (see below). Click around on it to launch a video that addresses the hazard that might be present based on what's happening at that location.…

Need to calculate your company's incident rate? Here's how it's done:

1. Collect all OSHA 300 Forms from your company for the given year
2. Add the numbers from column H (days away from work), column I (job transfers or restrictions) and column J (other recordable cases)
3. Multiply this number by 200,000
4. Add up the total number of man-hours worked for the whole company (all employees) for the same year
5. Divide the number you got in step 4 by the number…

OSHA published their final rules today of the Federal Register that revise regulations governing whistleblower complaints. The act protects employees of publicly traded companies and their subsidiaries, and of certain other employers, from retaliation for reporting mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, securities fraud, violations of SEC rules or regulations, or violations of any provision of federal law relating to fraud against shareholders. OSHA is requesting public comment on the interim…

OSHA has just published a free 124 page document entitled "Small Entity Compliance Guide for the Respiratory Protection Standard"

The document is "intended to help small businesses comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Respiratory Protection Standard… OSHA's goal for…

Yesterday, OSHA unveiled it's top 10 most cited violations of 2011 during a live presentation at the NSC stating that falls are still the leading cause of death in construction. Fall Protection peaked this year at #1 with 7,139 citations issued.

For more information and the complete top 10 list, please visit: http://ehstoday.com/standards/osha/OSHA-top-10-citations-0202/

OSHA has just released the statistics for 2010 and the news is good. For the seventh year in a row the number of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses has dropped. From 5% in 2003 it has steadily declined to 3.5% in 2010 as the chart below illustrates.

While one might be tempted to conclude that the drop has to do with the fact that fewer people are working as a result of the economy, the numbers are based on the number of people who are employed full-time not…