The SST program is OSHA’s main programmed inspection plan for non-construction workplaces that have 20 or more workers. Establishments are randomly selected for inspection from a primary list of 3,700 manufacturing, non-manufacturing, and nursing and personal care facilities.
“By focusing our inspection resources on employers in high hazard industries who endanger their employees, we can prevent injuries and illnesses and save lives,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels. “Through the SST program we examine all major aspects of these operations to determine the effectiveness of their safety and health efforts.”
Two changes have been made to this year’s SST program. In 2010, only those establishments in the selected industries with 40 or more employees were subject to inspections under the SST plan; this year, that number has been reduced to 20 or more. An evaluation study measuring the program’s impact on future compliance with OSHA standards has also been introduced for the 2011 program.
OSHA also has approximately 140 Regional and Local Emphasis Programs (REPs and LEPs).
Safety Consultant/Trainer
Environmental Resource Center has a new opening for a safety consultant and auditor. We are looking for a former OSHA CSHO, OSHA trainer, or state inspector for this position in our Cary, North Carolina, office. Applicants should have excellent writing and speaking skills and be willing to travel 7–14 days per month. We are looking for an expert in all of the General Industry and Construction standards who is capable of performing audits of industrial facilities as well as conducting on-site training.
Strong consideration will be given to applicants who also have experience providing Hazwoper, Hazcom, lockout/tagout, confined spaces, and machine guarding training.
The position includes maintenance of training materials (books and presentations), working on consulting projects, development of classes and computer-based training programs, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
How to Prepare for OSHA Adoption of the GHS for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals
This means that virtually every product label, material safety data sheet (soon to be called “safety data sheet”), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard. Worker training must be updated so that workers can recognize and understand the symbols and pictograms on the new labels as well as the new hazard statements and precautions on MSDSs.
Environmental Resource Center is offering webcast training courses where you will learn how the new rule differs from current requirements, how to implement the changes, and when the changes must be implemented. Dates for the upcoming webcasts include:
- September 16
- September 27
Advertising Opportunities Available
OSHA Issues Compliance Directive to Address Workplace Violence
The directive establishes uniform procedures for OSHA field staff for responding to incidents and complaints of workplace violence and conducting inspections in industries considered vulnerable to workplace violence, such as healthcare and social service settings, and late-night retail establishments.
Workplace violence is a serious recognized occupational hazard, ranking among the top four causes of death in workplaces during the past 15 years. More than 3,000 people died from workplace homicide between 2006 and 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Additional BLS data indicate that an average of more than 15,000 nonfatal workplace injury cases was reported annually during this time.
The hospital was cited for not providing its workers with adequate safeguards against workplace violence and a fine of more than $6,000 was proposed.
“These incidents and others like them can be avoided or decreased if employers take appropriate precautions to protect their workers,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “We have accompanied this directive with a new Web page on Preventing Workplace Violence to help employers address workplace violence issues.”
Studies by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and other organizations show that employers who implement effective safety measures can reduce the incidence of workplace violence. These measures include training employees on workplace violence, encouraging employees to report assaults or threats, and conducting workplace violence hazard analyses. Other methods such as using entrance door detectors or buzzer systems in retail establishments, and providing adequately trained staff, alarms, and employee “safe rooms” for use during emergencies in healthcare settings can help minimize risk.
Fourth Edition of GHS Purple Book Now Available Online
When OSHA’s rule is finalized, it will most likely be based on the third edition, although implementation of the fourth edition could occur eventually.
Adoption of GHS means that over the next three years, virtually every chemical label, MSDS (soon to be called “safety data sheet”), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard. Within two years, worker training must be updated so that workers can recognize and understand the symbols and pictograms on the new labels as well as the new hazard statements and precautions on SDSs.
You can download copies of the UN GHS standards at the following links:
OSHA Proposes $176,000 in Fines against Stowe Woodward LLC
OSHA cited Stowe Woodward LLC, for 16 violations of workplace safety standards following an inspection at its Concord, New Hampshire plant.
Inspectors found several instances where operating machinery—including grinders, extruders, and lathes—lacked proper guarding to prevent workers from coming in contact with moving parts. The machines also lacked adequate procedures to lock out their power sources to prevent unintended startup during maintenance. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
“The sizable fines proposed here reflect both the severity of these hazards and the fact that the company was well aware of the machine guarding and lockout hazards,” said Rosemarie Ohar, OSHA’s New Hampshire area director. “Stowe Woodward has been cited in the past for similar or equivalent hazards, including citations issued in 2005 and 1999 for machinery-related fatalities at its facilities in Louisiana and Georgia. For the safety and health of its workers, this employer must take effective steps to correct and prevent these hazards not only in Concord but at its other locations.”
Eleven serious violations with $49,000 in fines involve a lack of frequent crane inspections, ungrounded fans, inadequately guarded grinders, propane cylinders stored near an exit door, blocked access to an electrical disconnect panel, respiratory protection deficiencies, and the company’s failure to inspect forklifts. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Three other-than-serious violations with $2,000 in fines were cited for inadequate record keeping. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
Manufacturers and Distributors of Formaldehyde Hair Products Fined for Hazard Communication Violations
OSHA cited two Florida manufacturers and two Florida-based distributors of hair products containing formaldehyde for 16 health violations involving alleged failures to protect their employees from possible formaldehyde exposure and to communicate with the products’ users, such as salons and stylists, about the hazards of formaldehyde exposure. Proposed penalties for the companies total $49,200.
“Employers are responsible for identifying the risks associated with producing and using these hair products, as well as for taking appropriate measures to ensure that they protect their own employees and other workers who may be using their products, such as stylists, from any potential hazards,” said Cindy Coe, OSHA’s regional administrator in Atlanta.
OSHA’s inspections were initiated based on a referral by Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Division, which tested more than 100 product samples at 50 salons using hair smoothing or straightening products. Some products causing formaldehyde exposure were traced back to the Florida manufacturers and distributors. Formaldehyde can irritate the eyes and nose, and cause coughing and wheezing. It is a sensitizer, which means that it can cause allergic reactions of the lungs, skin, and eyes, such as asthma, rashes, and itching. It also has been linked to cancer.
Both M&M International Inc., in Delray Beach, a distributor of the straightening hair product “Marcia Teixeira,” and Copomon Enterprises in Boca Raton, a distributor of the keratin-based hair product “Keratin Complex Smoothing Therapy,” have been cited for three serious violations and fined $12,600 each for failing to ensure that material safety data sheets (MSDS) reflected the content of formaldehyde in the products or the hazards associated with formaldehyde exposure, as well as for failing to develop a written hazard communication program for their own employees.
Pro Skin Solutions Inc., in Orlando, a manufacturer of keratin-based products used for hair straightening, has been cited for five serious violations with penalties of $15,000. Violations include failing to establish a written respiratory protection plan, provide an emergency eyewash station, develop appropriate procedures to protect employees in the event of an emergency, and develop or implement a written hazard communication program. The company also failed to address formaldehyde exposure and inhalation hazards, including possible cancer-causing effects, on MSDSs for the formaldehyde-containing products.
Additionally, Pro Skin Solutions has been cited for two other-than-serious violations with no monetary penalties for failing to maintain air sampling records and provide written procedures for evaluating chemical hazards.
Keratronics Inc., in Coral Springs, a manufacturer of keratin-based products used for hair straightening, has been cited for three serious violations with penalties of $9,000 for failing to provide an eyewash station for employees using corrosive products, evaluate the hazards of keratin-based products for development of the MSDSs, and develop or maintain a written hazard communication program on handling chemicals such as timonacic acid, formalin, acetic acid, and hydrolyzed keratin.
All manufacturers, importers, and distributers are required by OSHA standards to identify formaldehyde on any product that contains more than 0.1% formaldehyde, either as a gas or in a solution that can release formaldehyde at concentrations greater than 0.1 part per million. The MSDS that comes with the product also must include this information, as well as explain why the chemical is hazardous, what harm it can cause, what protective measures should be taken, and what to do in an emergency. The sheets are used by employers to determine products’ potential health hazards and methods to prevent worker exposure.
Event and Party Rental Company Fined $154,000 for 19 Safety Violations
OSHA has cited ILAPA Inc., doing business as Lasting Impressions Event and Party Rentals in Bedford Heights, Ohio, for 19 safety violations.
“Failing to provide workers with protection against possible electrical shocks and other workplace hazards is unacceptable,” said Howard Eberts, OSHA’s area director in Cleveland. “Employers have a responsibility to ensure that work environments are safe, which includes providing appropriate equipment and training to all employees.”
Two willful violations with $98,000 in fines involve failing to train employees in the use of powered industrial trucks and causing a potential electrocution hazard by providing damaged extension cord sets to be used in wet locations without ground fault circuit interruption protection.
Sixteen serious safety violations with $56,000 in penalties involve fall hazards, unguarded wall openings and stairs, failing to evaluate the workplace for hazards that necessitate the use of personal protective equipment, failing to provide equipment for fall protection as well as eye and face protection, failing to develop and implement a hazard communication plan, failing to develop a written emergency action plan, and failing to keep aisles clear for powered industrial trucks and as emergency exit routes.
Additionally, other-than-serious violations were cited with no penalties issued for failing to have fire extinguishers readily available, inspect the extinguishers monthly, and conduct fire extinguisher training, as well as failure to mark load ratings for the floor and space if used for storage purposes.
OSHA Fines Rite Aid of New York $121,000 for Repeat and Serious Violations
OSHA cited Rite Aid of New York Inc., for 10 alleged repeat and serious violations of safety standards following an inspection of the retail chain’s store at 6900 Fourth Ave. in Brooklyn. Rite Aid faces a total of $121,100 in proposed fines.
The inspection identified several hazardous conditions similar to those cited by OSHA during inspections of Rite Aid stores in the Bronx and Rome, New York, in 2007 and 2008. These conditions include an emergency exit blocked by garbage and debris, merchandise stacked in an unsafe manner, electrical panels blocked by cardboard and totes containing merchandise, an ungrounded electric power strip, and employees exposed to an electrical hazard while stacking stock. As a result, OSHA cited the company for five repeat violations with $93,500 in proposed fines. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule, or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.
Additional violations include a stairway to the basement storage room that was too steep, too narrow, and lacked slip resistant treads; an 8-foot fall hazard for employees standing on the top of a ladder to store stock; boxes of merchandise used to prop open an emergency exit door; the absence of portable fire extinguishers in a basement storage room; and the lack of a working interlock to prevent a box crusher from operating while its door was open. These conditions resulted in citations for five serious violations with $27,600 in fines.
“One might not think of a store as a hazardous workplace, but the fact is that these conditions expose workers to potentially deadly falls, crushing injuries, burns and electrocution, as well as the inability of workers and customers to exit swiftly in the event of a fire or other emergency,” said Kay Gee, OSHA’s Manhattan area director. “The sizable fines proposed here reflect both the severity of these hazards and the reality that this employer previously has been cited for similar conditions.”
“For the safety and health of all its employees, the company should seek to identify such hazards at all of its locations and correct them if they exist,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York. “One means of addressing and eliminating new and recurring hazards is through an illness and injury prevention program in which management and workers proactively identify and eliminate hazardous conditions on a continual basis.”
Tree Care Company Fined Over $153,000 Following Worker Injury
Gainesville Tree Service Co., of Alachua, Florida, has been cited for six safety violations carrying proposed OSHA penalties of $153,600. OSHA began an inspection after a worker suffered a serious cut to his thigh by a chain saw at a Gainesville job site in March.
Three willful violations with penalties of $147,000 involve not providing protective leg coverings and eye or face shields to employees who operated chain saws, and not providing hard hats to employees working on the ground under trees.
Two serious violations carrying $6,600 in penalties involve failing to have a person adequately trained to provide first aid, make adequate first-aid supplies readily available in the workplace, and have a written plan designed to eliminate or minimize employee exposure to bloodborne pathogens. The company had not developed an emergency response or rescue plan for employees injured in trees, aerial lifts, or other situations.
One other-than-serious citation with no monetary penalty was cited for failing to develop a hazard communication program that included MSDSs as well as training for employees using flammable liquids and petroleum lubricants.
“OSHA expects employers to be proactive by providing the protective equipment needed to prevent injuries, rather than wait for an incident with severe consequences, such as this one, to occur,” said Brian Sturtecky, OSHA’s area director in Jacksonville.
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