Workplace Hearing Loss Identified as Critical Workplace Issue
Work-related hearing loss continues to be a critical workplace safety and health issue. It is estimated that over 22 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise on the job and an additional nine million are at risk for hearing loss from other agents such as solvents and metals. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has a long history of working to prevent workplace hearing loss. While noise-induced hearing loss is 100% preventable, once acquired, hearing loss is permanent and irreversible.
Surveillance of occupational hearing loss and noise exposure is vital to prevention. It can identify the most problematic industries, occupations, and work activities, and can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention activities. While the program received high marks, the National Academies concluded that it was difficult for NIOSH to establish and prioritize research goals due to the lack of surveillance data on occupational hearing loss and noise exposure for U.S. workers.
Currently the U.S. does not have a national surveillance or injury reporting system for hearing loss. The Bureau of Labor Statistics annually reports hearing loss standard threshold shifts reported on OSHA Form 300. However, BLS data are not representative of the true magnitude of occupational hearing loss due to several barriers to the reporting system. The Michigan Sensor program is one possible model for collecting reliable and representative data on hearing loss, but funding is lacking. As such, comprehensive data on the prevalence and economic impact of hearing loss are not available.
To address this issue, NIOSH published two articles to estimate the national burden of hearing difficulty among workers in the U.S.: “Exposure to Hazardous Workplace Noise and Use of Hearing Protection Devices Among U.S. Workers—NHANES, 1999–2004” and “Hearing Difficulty Attributable to Employment by Industry and Occupation: An Analysis of the National Health Interview Survey—United States, 1997 to 2003.”
The articles extrapolate data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of 9,275 employed workers to the entire working population. The analysis revealed:
- More than 22 million U.S. workers were exposed to hazardous workplace noise.
- Workers in the mining industry had the highest prevalence of workplace noise exposure with almost 3 out of 4 mining industry workers exposed. The mining industry has the second highest prevalence of hearing difficulty among all industrial sectors.
- Over one third of all manufacturing workers (5.7 million workers total) reported exposure to loud noise.
- One in four manufacturing workers exposed to loud noise reported non-use of hearing protection devices.
To get a better picture of the full extent of workplace hearing loss, NIOSH has developed an ongoing surveillance program of occupational hearing loss in collaboration with audiometric services providers. NIOSH will develop a database and protocols to manage and analyze individual level audiometric data. Data from this surveillance effort will be used in several important ways. It will help to identify emerging hearing loss problems, including those associated with new industries, new technologies, or new pieces of equipment. The analysis of the data will also produce national reference statistics for the incidence (or prevalence) rate of occupational hearing loss across industry and occupations. By 2012, a total of 15 providers will be recruited to participate in this surveillance program.
New NIOSH Respirator ‘One-Stop-Shop’ Web Resource
NIOSH Issues Report on Proceedings of the Second American Conference on Human Vibration
If it moves, it vibrates. This is especially true in our modern industrial environments, where workers use powered tools, machinery, vehicles, and heavy equipment. How workers are affected by these elements of the industrial working environment is a concern of health professionals, governments, and scientists around the world. How to adequately assess the effects of human vibration exposure is an equally important issue. The human body comprises a dynamic structure that is living, intelligent, and complex. Consequently, it is not unreasonable to consider that exposing the body to an array of vibration environments would result in outcomes that are not necessarily simple or easily predictable.
The conference organizers hope that the publication of these conference proceedings will continue to foster new research and technological advances to reduce health hazards associated with occupational vibration exposures.
OSHA Fines Tempel Grain Elevators LLP More than $1.6 Million Following Teenage Worker’s Death
OSHA and the Wage and Hour Division together have fined Tempel Grain Elevators LLP of Wiley, Colorado, more than $1.6 million following the May 29 death of a teenage worker at the company’s Haswell, Colorado, grain storage operation. The youth suffocated after being engulfed by grain in one of the facility bins. The company also exposed three other teenage workers to the cited hazards.
Following its investigation, OSHA proposed $1,592,500 in fines for 22 alleged willful and 13 alleged serious citations. The willful citations include not providing an emergency action plan prior to entering grain bins, failing to train workers in safe bin entry, a lack of grain engulfment protection, failure to shut off and lock out equipment while employees were working inside bins, a lack of rescue equipment, and allowing hazardous accumulations of grain dust that could contribute to fire and explosion. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.
The serious citations include unguarded conveyors, fall hazards, a lack of first aid supplies and trained medical personnel, incomplete fire extinguisher inspections, using extension cords in place of permanent wiring, and failing to inspect electrical equipment. An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists. The company has 15 business days from receipt of all OSHA citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
The Wage and Hour Division conducted a separate investigation that disclosed 77 child labor violations involving 15 minor employees. These include employing underage workers, allowing teenage employees to work hours prohibited by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and allowing them to work in jobs prohibited by the act’s occupation standards as well as by the department’s hazardous occupations orders. These violations carry fines totaling $64,487. The investigation also found 59 workers due a total of $56,285 in back wages for minimum wage and overtime violations of the FLSA.
Violations include employment of a 13-year-old, and having 14- and 15-year-olds work prohibited hours and in prohibited occupations in connection with transportation, storage and warehousing of the grain and power-driven equipment. Employees ranging from 14 to 17 years of age were operating prohibited hazardous equipment, including hoisting apparatus such as skid loaders, front end loaders and forklifts, and riding elevator man lifts. Minors engaged in prohibited activities such as motor vehicle driving and working on or around the roofs of elevators.
The FLSA’s youth employment provisions identify 17 hazardous orders that prohibit specific activities for workers under 18, as well as hours restrictions. The law further states that 14 is the minimum age for employment. Employees 14 and 15 years of age may work only in non-manufacturing and non-mining occupations specifically permitted by the secretary of labor.
OSHA Proposes $484,000 in Fines for Cambria Contracting Inc. Due to Jobsite Asbestos Hazards
OSHA has issued citations to Cambria Contracting Inc., for 11 alleged willful violations of the OSHA construction asbestos standard for failing to train and protect its workers at a Buffalo jobsite. The Lockport, New York, demolition contractor faces a total of $484,000 in proposed penalties.
“These significant penalties reflect the fact that this employer, an asbestos contractor with extensive knowledge of the OSHA standards that govern asbestos removal and handling, chose not to follow these standards and put its workers, including young, inexperienced college students, in harm’s way,” said acting Assistant Secretary for OSHA Jordan Barab.
OSHA found that several Cambria Contracting workers, who were cleaning up debris at the former AM&A department store warehouse on Washington Avenue, had not been trained in asbestos hazards and how to protect themselves. The workers also lacked proper respirators and protective clothing, and had not been informed of the presence of asbestos at the site. In addition, the employer failed to determine the asbestos exposure level and to establish a regulated work area for asbestos removal and handling. It also did not use vacuums with HEPA filters to collect debris but used methods to move debris with asbestos-containing material that typically can cause asbestos to be released into the air.
“This employer knew that training and other safeguards, which are well-known in the industry, were required, yet chose not to provide them,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s New York regional administrator. “That is unacceptable and needlessly placed the health of these workers at risk.”
OSHA Fines Endres Processing LLC and Endres Processing Ohio LLC $472,900 for Combustible Dust Hazards
OSHA has cited Endres Processing LLC, headquartered in Rosemount, Minnesota, and its subsidiary, Endres Processing Ohio LLC, located in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, with safety and health violations that include exposing workers to combustible dust hazards. The firm manufactures an animal feed supplement from unsold bakery products. Proposed fines total $472,900.
OSHA began a health inspection in June after receiving information that fires had occurred in the Ohio plant, and that large amounts of dust from the manufacturing process had accumulated throughout the worksite.
“The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will not tolerate the exposure of workers to preventable hazardous conditions,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “The destructive and violent power of dust explosions is clear, and employers have an obligation to keep workers safe.”
Following the health inspection, OSHA issued four willful violations with penalties totaling $252,000 and five serious violations with penalties totaling $14,900. The willful violations allege the lack of explosion protection, the failure to equip process equipment with combustible dust collection systems, hazardous accumulations of dust, and the use of electrical equipment that was unsafe to use in areas with combustible dust accumulation. The serious violations address hazards from workers breathing the dust, allowing combustible materials in areas where workers were welding, and unsafe electrical equipment and practices. The proposed health violation fines total $266,900.
A safety inspection was also initiated, and OSHA issued two willful violations with penalties totaling $126,000 and 21 serious violations with penalties totaling $80,000 following that inspection. The willful violations allege confined space hazards and failing to train employees in using the fire fighting system. The serious violations allege a variety of hazards. They include fall hazards, problems with emergency exit lighting, failure to train on and exposure to hazardous machine-energy sources, and additional unsafe electrical equipment and practices. The proposed safety violation fines total $206,000.
The Upper Sandusky site, then owned by Advanced Organics Inc., has been inspected twice since 2004, with serious citations issued for fall protection, combustible dust issues, electrical hazards, machine guarding, and fall hazards following the earlier inspections.
OSHA Proposes $222,500 in Fines against Hovensa LLC for Safety and Health Hazards at St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Oil Refinery
OSHA has cited Hovensa LLC for 56 alleged serious violations of workplace safety and health standards at its oil refinery located in Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The company faces a total of $222,500 in proposed fines following two OSHA inspections, a programmed inspection conducted as part of OSHA’s National Emphasis Program on Petroleum Refinery Process Safety Management, and an inspection opened in response to a June 4 accident in which three workers suffered serious burns after being sprayed with hot boiler feed water while they were performing maintenance.
“OSHA’s process safety management regulations are designed to reduce or eliminate workplace hazards associated with the catastrophic release of highly hazardous chemicals,” said Jos? A. Carpena , OSHA’s area director for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “These requirements are stringent and detailed because failure to comply can seriously compromise the safety and health of workers.”
The citations issued as a result of the programmed inspection address the company’s failure to properly document process safety information, conduct proper process hazard analysis, comply with recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices, obtain contractor safety and health programs, properly train employees, conduct maintenance on critical instruments and equipment, update operating procedures, and resolve incident investigation findings in a timely manner. Additionally, OSHA has issued citations for not properly installing metal stairs, maintaining ladders in a safe condition, supporting piping systems and protecting them against physical damage and excessive stress, and for equipment deficiencies, a lack of machine guarding, and electrical and fire hazards.
The accident investigation resulted in citations for exposing workers to the hazards of hot water and steam condensate, not developing and documenting procedures to prevent the unintended release of hot water and steam, and not training workers on the safe application, usage and removal of energy control devices. OSHA issues a serious citation when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.
“One means of helping ensure worker safety is for employers to establish an effective safety and health management system through which they and their employees work together to proactively evaluate, identify and eliminate hazards before they result in injury or illness,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.
The oil refinery employs about 2,500 workers. The investigation was conducted by OSHA’s Puerto Rico Area Office.
OSHA Proposes Penalty of $130,200 Against Atlas Excavating Inc. for Trenching Violations
OSHA has cited Atlas Excavating Inc., in West Lafayette, Indiana, with two alleged willful violations for failing to follow federal workplace safety standards at a trenching operation in Danville, Illinois. Proposed penalties total $130,200.
OSHA opened an inspection in May 2009 at excavation jobsites in Danville after receiving information that employees were working in excavations as deep as 8 feet without cave-in protection. As a result of the inspection, OSHA has issued two willful violations to the company for failing to protect workers from cave-in hazards and one serious violation for failing to provide workers in a trench a means of exit.
“It has long been known that cave-in fatalities are entirely preventable,” said OSHA Area Director Nick Walters in Peoria, Illinois. “Any employer involved in trenching and excavation can protect its workers by following OSHA’s clear regulations. Those who ignore safe practices and OSHA regulations are inviting tragedy into the lives of workers and their families.”
Atlas Excavating has been inspected in Indiana by OSHA seven times since 2000 with numerous serious violations issued.
OSHA Assesses $128,000 in Penalties Against Georgia Fiber Cement Manufacturer, Nichiha USA Inc.
OSHA has proposed $128,560 in penalties against Nichiha USA Inc.’s Macon plant for 27 safety and health violations. After inspecting the plant in May and June, OSHA issued citations against the fiber cement manufacturer for 11 repeat safety and health, 11 serious, and five other-than-serious violations.
“Following a fatality in 2008, OSHA inspected this plant and identified several deficiencies,” said Gei-Thae Breezley, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office. “Despite management’s agreement at the time, our return inspection in 2009 has found that the company continues to endanger its workers’ safety and health. The size of these penalties reflects management’s failure to address its problems.”
Alleged repeat violations from the 2008 inspection include the employer’s failure to cover or install guardrails around slurry pits, lack of guards around an exposed chain, and no specific energy control procedures for equipment that had more than one energy source. Employees did not receive adequate training when using corrosive and hazardous chemicals and the company did not identify, evaluate or provide adequate training for employees working in confined spaces. Emergency eyewashes were not available to employees who worked around corrosive chemicals. The proposed repeat penalty totals $97,760.
Alleged serious violations with proposed penalties of $29,200 include hazards associated with falls, lockout/tagout of energy source, improper storage of compressed gas cylinders, electrical dangers, hazards related to confined spaces, and the lack of a bloodborne pathogens program for workers responding to emergencies.
Management allegedly committed recordkeeping violations and failed to ensure that workers inspect their full-face respirator for damage, resulting in five other-than-serious violations with penalties totaling $1,600.
OSHA issues a repeat violation when it finds a substantially similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order issued to the same employer within the previous three years. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office.
OSHA Fines World of Wheels & Hubcaps $69,550 for Failure-to-abate and Repeat Safety and Health Violations
OSHA is proposing $69,550 in penalties against Wheel Repair Solutions, doing business as World of Wheels & Hubcaps, for safety and health violations at its Decatur, Georgia, location.
OSHA observed seven failure-to-abate violations while conducting a follow-up inspection at World of Wheels & Hubcaps. The employer failed to develop a written hazard communication program, failed to provide a hazard communication training, failed to certify that a hazard assessment for personal protection had been conducted, failed to develop or implement a written respiratory protection program, and did not train workers who wear tight-fitting respirators. In addition, the employer allowed workers to use compressed air greater than 30 pounds square inch (PSI) for cleaning and did not provide employees with hazard communications training. The proposed penalty for the failure-to-abate violations is $66,750.
The citations also include three repeat violations with a proposed penalty of $2,800 for employees wearing tight-fitting respirators without a medical evaluation and not being fit-tested for the equipment, and for the employer storing compressed cylinders of oxygen and acetylene together.
The company has received one other-than-serious violation with no monetary penalty for not having a visible exit sign.
“All workers deserve a safe workplace. This company is fully aware of what needs to be corrected with its safety and health program. It is time that World of Wheels & Hubcaps takes responsibility for its employees’ safety and health,” said Gei-Thae Breezley, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office.
OSHA Proposes Fine of $61,200 Against Tri-State Sprinkler Corp. Following Worker Fall Accident
OSHA has cited Tri-State Sprinkler Corp. for alleged willful and serious violations of safety standards after a worker fell ten feet at a Medford, Massachusetts, worksite. The Derry, New Hampshire-based contractor faces a total of $61,200 in proposed fines.
OSHA began its inspection on September 29, 2009, after learning of an August accident in which an employee fell and was seriously injured while installing a sprinkler system above the ceiling of a building. OSHA’s inspection found that no form of fall protection—required when employees work six feet or higher—had been provided.
“The need for fall protection was clear and recognized, yet this employer did not provide this basic, commonsense and legally required safeguard,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties. “This hazard was exacerbated by a lack of fall protection training, through which the worker could have recognized and prevented this hazard, and the employer’s failure to ensure prompt and timely medical attention for the injured worker.”
OSHA issued Tri-State Sprinkler one willful citation, with a $42,000 proposed fine, for the lack of fall protection and six serious citations, with $19,200 in fines, for the lack of training and prompt medical attention, not providing a ladder that extended three feet beyond the elevated work surface, not ensuring that the work surface could sustain the employee’s weight, exposed live electrical wires and an unguarded pipe threading machine.
OSHA Proposes $58,100 in Fines Against Dale Medical Products Inc. After Worker Loses Tip of Finger
OSHA has cited Dale Medical Products Inc., for alleged willful and serious violations of workplace safety standards after an employee lost the tip of a finger while operating a packaging machine in March. The Plainville, Massachusetts, manufacturer and packager of medical equipment faces $58,100 in proposed fines.
The injury occurred when the worker’s finger was pinched by a heat seal bar used to seal plastic bags. OSHA’s inspection identified three such packaging machines in the plant that lacked required safeguards to keep employees from becoming caught in their points of operation. This condition exposed workers to laceration and amputation injuries.
“It’s imperative that machines be adequately guarded and the guarding continually maintained to prevent the possibility of accidents such as this one,” said Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for southeastern Massachusetts. “In this case, three other similar machines were allowed to operate with missing or inadequate safeguards after the accident.”
As a result of this condition, OSHA issued the company one willful citation, with a proposed fine of $56,000, for the lack of machine guarding.
The company was also issued two serious citations, with $2,100 in fines, for not providing a hazard communication program and training for employees working with hazardous chemicals in the workplace.
OSHA Issues More than $50,000 in Fines Against Utility Pole Painting Company
OSHA has cited utility equipment maintenance contractor Midsun Group Inc., Southington, Conn., with alleged serious and willful violations of federal workplace safety standards at worksites in Naperville, Illinois, with proposed fines totaling $50,250.
OSHA began its inspection in July after receiving information that workers were exposed to potential electrocution while painting transmission poles in the Naperville area. The resulting inspection revealed nine alleged serious and two alleged willful violations of OSHA standards.
One of the willful violations addressed potential electrocution based on energized transmission lines that were not grounded. The second willful violation addressed employees working within the minimum approach distance in a bucket truck that was improperly rated for the work being conducted.
The serious violations included improper or untested PPE, training deficiencies, and lack of fall protection.
“Over the years, we’ve worked hard to combat the problem of electrocution among utility line workers,” said OSHA Area Director Kathy Webb in North Aurora, Ill. “We will continue to vigorously enforce OSHA’s workplace safety requirements, as they have proven effective in saving lives.”
OSHA Proposes $32,000 In Penalties for Sunoco Inc.’s Marcus Hook Refinery
OSHA has cited Sunoco Inc., in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania for workplace safety and health violations. Proposed penalties total $32,000.
OSHA initiated the investigation following an ethylene complex explosion at the Marcus Hook refinery in May 2009. As a result of the investigation, the company was issued one repeat violation, with a penalty of $25,000, and two serious violations, with a penalty of $7,000.
“It is imperative that Sunoco correct all the identified hazards to ensure a safe and healthy workplace for its workers,” said Al D’Imperio, OSHA’s area director in Philadelphia.
The repeat violation includes the company’s failure to establish and implement written procedures to maintain the on-going mechanical integrity of process equipment.
Excelligence Learning Corp. to Pay $25,000 Penalty for Violating Lead Paint Ban
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced that Excelligence Learning Corp, of Monterey, California has agreed to pay a $25,000 civil penalty for allegedly violating the federal lead paint ban by importing products that were then distributed by Discount School Supply. The penalty settlement has been provisionally accepted by the CPSC.
The settlement resolves CPSC staff allegations that Excelligence imported more than 33,000 units of children’s products that contained lead paint above the 0.06%legal limit at different intervals between August 2000 and August 2007. In 1978, a federal ban was put in place which prohibited toys and other children’s articles from having more than 0.06% lead (by weight) in paints or surface coatings. As a result of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, the regulatory limit was reduced to 0.009% on August 14, 2009.
In agreeing to the settlement, Excelligence denies that it knowingly violated federal law, as alleged by CPSC staff.
NIOSH Releases Statement in Conjunction with MSHA’s Initiative: End Black Lung–Act Now!
NIOSH is continuing in their role to prevent coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, also known as black lung. Research and health surveillance to help achieve this goal are among NIOSH’s core responsibilities under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act.
Once a miner’s lungs are damaged as a result of exposure to coal mine dust, the condition cannot be reversed. In advanced stages, disability and death can result. Therefore, it is critically important to 1) identify cases early enough to guide treatment and to prevent the individual’s condition from worsening, 2) chart trends in cases to design early interventions for protecting groups or communities of coal miners who may be at risk, and 3) curtail new cases by preventing hazardous coal mine dust exposures in the first place.
NIOSH has worked closely with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), coal miners and their representatives, the mining industry, and others to address this terrible work-related disease. For nearly three decades after the passage of the mine health and safety act, those efforts were met with success. Between the early 1970s and the late 1990s, the prevalence of black lung disease in among U.S. coal miners with more than 20 years’ tenure who participated in the NIOSH Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program decreased by about 90%.
However, in a dismaying trend, from the late 1990s to the time of the most recent data in 2005-2006, the prevalence of this work-related disease more than doubled among coal miners with greater than 20 years’ tenure. Increased risk has been reported in several geographic areas, in those working at the coal face, in smaller mines, and among contract miners. Severe cases have recently been identified in miners as young as 39. Vigorous partnerships are essential for understanding the reasons for persistence of this preventable disease, and for guiding effective preventive measures.
NIOSH is committed to meeting those needs. For example, in collaboration with MSHA, NIOSH has developed, staffed, and implemented the Enhanced Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program, which is designed to encourage and facilitate coal miners’ participation in health screening to detect black lung. NIOSH’s mobile health unit makes confidential x-ray screening and related medical evaluations available to coal miners at times and locations designed to be as convenient for them as possible.
Also in partnership with MSHA, NIOSH has made promising strides in developing state-of-the-art technologies for better measuring and controlling coal mine dust exposures. One such advancement, the personal dust monitor or PDM, which measures exposures in near real-time, exemplifies NIOSH’s commitment to working with their partners in moving the products of research from the laboratory to practical application in workplaces.
NIOSH intends to continue, strengthen, and expand such partnerships as they, and their stakeholders, strive to eliminate black lung.
OSHA’s Omaha Area Office Focuses on Noise and Respiratory Hazards
OSHA’ Omaha Area Office has launched a local emphasis program in Nebraska aimed at reducing employee exposure to health hazards in general industry establishments that commonly have noise and respiratory hazards. The program is designed to help ensure general industry employers are proactively addressing noise and air quality issues in the workplace. OSHA uses the term “general industry” to refer to all industries not included in agriculture, construction, or maritime.
Under the program, OSHA will develop a list of potential companies for inspection based on the type of work conducted. Some industries to be covered will include those involving fabricated structural metal products; miscellaneous fabricated metal products; cut stone, and other stone products; concrete, gypsum and plaster products; coating, engraving and related services; millwork, veneer, plywood and structural wood; motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment; nonferrous foundries (castings); and iron and steel foundries.
Labor Compliance Monitoring Changes for Public Works Projects in California
California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has announced the development of the new Compliance Monitoring Unit which is being created following changes in California’s labor compliance monitoring for public works projects. The changes have been established in accordance with Senate Bill X2-9 that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law earlier this year with regulations expected to be finalized in May.
“The new Compliance Monitoring Unit will conduct the required monitoring and enforcement through the Labor Commissioner’s Office”, said DIR Director John C. Duncan. “The monitoring will be required for projects funded by any state-issued public works construction bonds and investigators will monitor requirements for workers’ compensation, recordkeeping and correct payment of prevailing wages.”
The fee-based compliance monitoring will also be available for other awarding agencies that meet certain criteria and agree to enhanced monitoring and enforcement in order to qualify for higher prevailing wage exemption levels.
Formal rulemaking to establish the regulatory standards to govern the fee-based monitoring are now underway. The proposed regulatory package was published by the Office of Administrative Law on November 20 with a public comment period ending with a public meeting on January 6, 2010. The public meeting will be held in the Monterey Room of the San Francisco state building at 455 Golden Gate Ave.
The proposal regulation was developed in consultation with public agencies, contractors, representatives of unions, labor compliance programs and other stakeholders in prevailing wage enforcement matters. Public input is welcomed as a part of the formal rulemaking process refined the proposed language for final approval from the Office of Administrative Law.
International Paper’s Sturgis, Michigan Facility Awarded for Outstanding Safety & Health Record
International Paper’s Sturgis, Michigan, Converting & Distribution Center has received the CET Gold Award from MIOSHA for an outstanding safety and health record. The MIOSHA program is part of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth (DELEG).
The MIOSHA Consultation Education and Training (CET) Division recognizes the safety and health achievements of Michigan employers and employees through CET Awards, which are based on excellent safety and health performance. The CET Gold Award recognizes an outstanding safety record of two years or more without a lost time accident.
The facility is also a Michigan Voluntary Protection Program (MVPP) Star site. They received MVPP Star approval on February 10, 2005, and renewal certification on August 25, 2008. The MVPP is Michigan’s most prestigious safety and health award.
The facility has worked with the MIOSHA CET Division over several years, with a CET Safety Consultant performing a hazard survey on site, which is a part of the award process. This survey allowed them an opportunity to walk through the facility with a MIOSHA representative and correct any problem areas that were noted.
The Sturgis facility has an exemplary safety and health record, and has exhibited outstanding leadership in recognizing that a comprehensive safety and health program is critical to successful businesses today. Their safety policy was developed to support the corporate safety policy which states, “Products can be made in a safe and healthful workplace.” Their company goal is zero accidents. The Sturgis facility is available to mentor other businesses in the area of safety.
Besides going more than three years without a lost-time accident, the Sturgis facility has completed the following criteria to receive the Gold Award:
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive safety and health management system;
- Established a safety and health committee, with both employee and management participation;
- Developed an employee training system, with an emphasis on how to do the work in a safe and healthful manner; and
- Worked diligently to change their workplace culture to reflect the importance of worker safety.
The Sturgis facility employs 69 workers and is a manufacturing plant which converts rolls of paper into sheet form for primary use in commercial printing operations such as greeting cards, magazines, book covers, vehicle manuals, lottery tickets, and other printed material. There are 50,000 tons of paper converted annually in the facility.
OSHA, Harold O’Shea Builders, and State of Illinois form Partnership in Hospital Construction Safety
Some 200 workers expected to be employed during the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital construction addition in Lincoln, Illinois, will benefit from a special safety and health partnership. Harold O’Shea Builders, the prime contractor at the site; OSHA; and the Illinois Onsite Safety and Health Consultation Program have agreed to the formal partnership.
The partnership’s primary goals will be to increase training, implement best work practices, enhance safety and health programs, and ensure compliance with OSHA regulations. Ultimately, this partnership aims to provide a safe and healthful work environment during the construction of the addition.
“This partnership will help us combat all kinds of hazards through the development and presentation of programs designed to keep working men and women safe on the job,” said OSHA Area Director Nick Walters in Peoria, Illinois. “Joining with these organizations to combat job injury and illness issues ultimately will make this site a safer place to work.”
Safety News Links
Hazmat Incidents and Workplace Accidents
Meetings and Conferences
Workplace Safety Awards
Worker Health and Safety
News of Note