Landscaping, construction, and agriculture are all labor-intensive activities that can raise the body temperature of workers in hot weather. This could lead to heat illness or even death, if precautions are not taken.
"Workers in Oregon aren't acclimated to working in this type of heat," said Penny Wolf-McCormick, health enforcement manager for Oregon OSHA. "Employers should provide drinking water, offer a shaded place for workers to take breaks, and watch for signs of trouble."
Oregon OSHA, a division of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, encourages employers and workers to learn the signs of heat illness and focus on prevention. Exposure to heat can lead to headaches, cramps, dizziness, fatigue, nausea or vomiting, and even seizures or death.
From 2010 through 2014, 28 people received benefits through Oregon's workers' compensation system for heat-related illnesses (at least three days away from work).
"Heat illness can be deadly, but it's preventable," Wolf-McCormick said.
To help those suffering from heat exhaustion:
- Move them to a cool, shaded area. Do not leave them alone.
- Loosen and remove heavy clothing.
- Provide cool water to drink (a small cup every 15 minutes) if they are not feeling sick to their stomach.
- Try to cool them by fanning them. Cool the skin with a spray mist of cold water or a wet cloth.
- If they do not feel better in a few minutes, call 911 for emergency help.
Heat stroke is a more severe condition than heat exhaustion and can result in death. Immediately call for emergency help if you think the person is suffering from heat stroke.
Here are some tips for preventing a heat-related illness:
- Perform the heaviest, most labor-intensive work during the coolest part of the day
- Use the buddy system (work in pairs) to monitor the heat
- Drink plenty of cool water (one small cup every 15 to 20 minutes)
- Wear light, loose-fitting, breathable clothing (such as cotton)
- Take frequent short breaks in cool, shaded areas to allow your body to cool down
- Avoid eating large meals before working in hot environments
- Avoid caffeine and alcoholic beverages (these make the body lose water and increase the risk of heat illnesses)
Oregon OSHA also has a pocket-sized booklet available, in both English and Spanish, with tips for working in the heat: Water. Rest. Shade.
New Exclusions for Solvent Recycling and Hazardous Secondary Materials
EPA’s new definition of solid waste rule will present new opportunities for waste recycling outside the scope of hazardous waste regulation. Environmental Resource Center will be presenting a webcast on the new Definition of Solid Waste rule on Monday, June 29th at 2:00 pm Eastern Time. This rule, which goes into effect on July 13, 2015, will maintain critical environmental protections while streamlining the regulatory burden for wastes that are legitimately recycled.
The first of the two exclusions is an exclusion from the definition of solid waste for high-value solvents transferred from one manufacturer to another for the purpose of extending the useful life of the original solvent product by keeping the materials in commerce to reproduce a commercial grade of the original solvent product.
The second, and more wide reaching of the two exclusions, is a revision of the existing hazardous secondary material recycling exclusion. This exclusion allows you to recycle, or send off-site for recycling, virtually any hazardous secondary material, and it will not meet the definition of solid waste. Provided you meet the terms of the exclusion, the material will no longer be hazardous waste.
Learn how to take advantage of these exclusions at Environmental Resource Center’s live one-hour webcast. You will learn:
- Which of your materials qualify for the exclusion?
- What is a secondary material?
- Which solvents can be remanufactured, and which cannot?
- What is a tolling agreement?
- What is legitimate recycling?
- What are the generator storage requirements?
- What documentation must be maintained?
- What are the off-site shipping requirements?
- What are the training and emergency planning requirements?
- Can the recycler be outside the US?
Bring your questions to this live webcast.
How to Implement OSHA’s Globally Harmonized Hazard Communication Standard (GHS)
OSHA has issued a final rule revising its Hazard Communication Standard, aligning it with the United Nations’ globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals. This means that virtually every product label, safety data sheet (formerly called “material safety data sheet” or MSDS), 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 safety data sheets.
Dayton RCRA and DOT Training
Raleigh RCRA, DOT, and EHS Regulations Training
Macon RCRA and DOT Training
Proposed MADL for Atrazine, Propazine, Simazine, DACT, DEA, and DIA
The proposed oral MADLs are 100 micrograms per day for each of the six chemicals. The MADLs are based on data for atrazine, which is representative of all six of the identified chemicals.
These six chemicals have been listed under Proposition 65 as known to the State to cause reproductive toxicity under Proposition 65 effective October 1, 2015.
Investigation Report into 2009 Explosion and Fire at Caribbean Petroleum Terminal Facility in Puerto Rico
The draft report was discussed at a CSB public meeting this afternoon at the CSB’s offices at 2175 K Street, NW, Washington, DC. The meeting was webcast and public comments were accepted.
The 2009 incident occurred when gasoline overflowed and sprayed out from a large aboveground storage tank, forming a 107-acre vapor cloud that ignited. While there were no fatalities, the explosion damaged approximately 300 nearby homes and businesses, and petroleum leaked into the surrounding soil, waterways, and wetlands. Flames from the explosion could be seen from as far as eight miles away.
CSB Board Member Mark Griffon said, “The CSB’s investigation states that there are a number of shortcomings in regulations that cover petroleum storage facilities. Facilities such as CAPECO, which store large quantities of gasoline and other flammables, are not required to conduct a risk assessment of potential dangers to the nearby community from their operations.”
On Wednesday, October 21, 2009, Caribbean Petroleum Corporation began a routine transfer of more than ten million gallons of unleaded gasoline from a tanker vessel docked two and a half miles from the facility. The only storage tank that was large enough to hold a full shipment of gasoline was already in use. As a result, CAPECO planned to distribute the gasoline among four smaller storage tanks. This operation would take more than 24 hours to complete. During transfer operations, one CAPECO operator was stationed at the dock, while another monitored valves controlling gasoline delivery at the terminal.
By noon the next day, October 22, two of the tanks were filled with gasoline. The operators then diverted the gasoline into two other tanks—tanks 409 and 411. At 10 pm the night of the 22nd, as tank 411 reached maximum capacity, operators fully opened the valve to tank 409. According to witness interviews, the supervisor on duty estimated that tank 409 would be full at 1 am. But shortly before midnight, tank 409 started to overflow. Gasoline sprayed from the vents forming a vapor cloud and a pool of liquid in the tank’s containment dike.
The CSB’s investigation found that the measuring devices used to determine the liquid levels in the tanks at CAPECO were poorly maintained and frequently were not working. The facility primarily measured tank levels using simple mechanical devices consisting of a float and automatic measuring tape. An electronic transmitter card was supposed to send the liquid level measurements to the control room. But the transmitter card on tank 409 was out of service, so operators were required to manually record the hourly tank level readings.
Investigator Vidisha Parasram said, “We found that the ‘float and tape’ measuring system was the only control system CAPECO used to avoid overfilling a tank. When that system failed, the facility did not have additional layers of protection in place to prevent an incident. The investigation concluded that if multiple layers of protection such as an independent high level alarm or an automatic overfill prevention system had been present this massive release most likely would have been prevented.”
The CSB report further explains that an independent high level alarm could have detected and alerted operators to the danger of an overfill, even if the primary system for measuring the tank level fails, as it did at CAPECO. An automatic overfill prevention system goes even further, and can shut off or divert the flow into a tank when the tank level is critically high. These additional layers of protection, however, were not used at CAPECO.
The CSB found that existing process safety regulations exempt atmospheric storage tanks of gasoline and similar flammable liquids. Additionally the report concludes current regulations only require a single layer of protection against a catastrophic tank overfill—thereby putting workers and nearby communities at potential risk.
The draft report would recommend that EPA adopt new regulations for facilities like CAPECO to require that flammable storage tanks are equipped with automatic overfill protection systems, and to require regular testing and inspection as well as risk assessments. The Board is also recommending similar recommendations to OSHA, the American Petroleum Institute, and two key fire code organizations. The proposed regulatory changes would affect the EPA’s Risk Management Program; Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rules; and/or OSHA’s Flammable and Combustible Liquids standard.
The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.
The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.
Tip Top Roofing Fined $145,000 for Repeatedly Exposing Workers to Falls
On December 10, 2014, OSHA’s Aurora Area Office initiated an inspection of roofing contractor Tip Top Roofing & Construction, Inc., after receiving a complaint alleging workers were exposed to fall hazards at a residential jobsite in Naperville, Illinois.
The company performs roofing operations throughout the Chicagoland and Northwestern Illinois area and has a substantial history of OSHA violations related to fall protection and ladder use.The company has contested those citations.
OSHA issued two willful and three serious violations for exposing workers to falls and other hazards while re-roofing an existing residence. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health. An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.
Two willful violations cite the company for:
- Failing to extend a ladder at least three feet above the landing to provide safe roof access. The company was cited for both of these hazards in April 2015
Three serious violations involve failing to protect roof workers from falling through unguarded skylights, using fall protection anchors that were not capable of supporting 5,000 lb and failing to train workers on fall hazards and prevention.
“Tip Top Roofing and Construction continues to endanger the safety of its workers by refusing to ensure that fall protection is used on the job sites. A worker can be severely injured or killed in a fall in mere seconds. Failing to protect them from harm is unacceptable,” said Jacob Scott, OSHA’s Area Director in Aurora. “Roofing contractors have a responsibility to train and protect their workers on job sites.”
Proposed penalties total $145,900.
Contender Boats Continues to Expose Workers to Fall, Amputations, and Electrical Hazards, Fined $106,000
OSHA issued the employer 10 repeat, 11 serious, and four other-than-serious safety and health violations. 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.
"Contender Boats must ensure worker safety is not an afterthought. There is no excuse for exposing employees to the serious hazards which could result in burns, hearing loss, amputation or even death," said Condell Eastmond, OSHA's area director in Ft. Lauderdale. "The company must take all the necessary steps to immediately correct the hazards and foster a safer work environment for all employees."
Proposed penalties total $106,000.
Venture Chemicals Inc. Exposes Workers to Physical Injury, Amputation Risks
OSHA opened the inspection of Venture Chemicals, Inc., in Seagraves, Texas, in December 2014 after an employee was fatally caught in a mixer/auger bin.
The investigation by OSHA’s Lubbock Area Office resulted in citations for build-up of combustible dust; multiple electrical violations that could have started a fire; failing to implement a respiratory program by fit testing, conducting medical evaluations and training workers required to wear respirators; and for not using required protective equipment on two augers—creating the possibility of amputation or other serious injury.
Proposed penalties total $63,000.
“Venture Chemicals allowed workers to operate dangerous equipment without appropriate protective measures, and a worker died because of it. This death could have been prevented,” said Elizabeth Linda Routh, OSHA’s area director in Lubbock.
OSHA and the American Society of Safety Engineers Renew Alliance to Protect Worker Safety and Health
During the new five-year agreement, OSHA and ASSE will address construction safety, temporary workers, and hazards within general industry.
“Since our alliance began more than a decade ago, the ASSE has been a champion partner of the agency, communicating OSHA information to its members and supporting our national initiatives like the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “We look forward to building on this collaboration and will continue to work closely to help ensure the safety and health of all workers, including those who are most vulnerable.”
Through the alliance OSHA and ASSE will work to provide members and others with guidance and training resources on protecting worker safety and health, and understanding workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities under the OSH Act.
ASSE works to create safer workplaces and advance the profession for occupational safety and health professionals. Founded in 1911, it is considered the oldest occupational safety professional society and has a global membership of more than 36,000.
The purpose of each alliance is to develop compliance assistance tools and resources, and to educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities. Alliance Program participants do not receive exemptions from OSHA inspections or any other enforcement benefits.
Safety News Links