Month: December 2019

MSHA Fatality #22

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METAL/NONMETAL MINE FATALITY – A contract maintenance mechanic was performing elevator maintenance when the car descended, crushing the mechanic against an elevator platform. The person died at the scene on December 3, 2019.

December 3, 2019 scene of the fatality accident
Best Practices:
  1. De-energize, lock out and tag out, and block machinery or equipment that can injure miners – before entering the area.
  2. Post warning signs or barricades to keep miners out of areas where health or safety hazards exist.
  3. Install an audible alarm to warn of impending equipment movement.
  4. Evaluate and correct possible hazards promptly before working.
  5. Train personnel in safely using handrails and fall protection equipment during maintenance and construction activities. Ensure their use.
Additional Information:

This is the 22nd fatality reported in 2019, and the seventh fatality classified as “Machinery.”

Statement from OSHA Regarding Occupational Fatalities in 2018

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OSHA reports Suicide at work increased 11% in 2018 and unintentional overdoses at working increased 11% according to the US Bureaus of Labor statistics. To help combat these serious issues affecting our workers, families, companies and the greater society, OSHA has a new webpage with free and confidential resources to help identify the warning signs of suicide and to help users know who and how to call for help.

OSHA is also working with National Safety Council on the release of a toolkit to help employers address opioid abuse in their workplaces and support workers in recovery. To see the full release from OSHA click here

McCraren Compliance offers Suicide Prevention in Workplace training through Working Minds. Email info@mccrarencompliance.com to find out more.

Free online course: Understanding and preventing worker opioid misuse

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Photo: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Worker Training Program

Research Triangle Park, NC — The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Worker Training Program has launched a free online training course designed to help employers and workers recognize occupational risk factors for opioid misuse and addiction, as well as develop solutions for prevention.

Along with providing background information on the opioid epidemic, the course’s 11 modules provide resources, exercises and case studies on topics such as:

  • Understanding opioid use disorder
  • Synthetic opioids (including fentanyl)
  • Occupational exposure
  • Workplace substance use prevention programs

Jonathan Rosen, a consultant for WTP – which aims to protect workers who handle hazardous materials and waste generation, removal, containment and transportation – steered the development of the endeavor, according to an article published in the November issue of Environmental Factors, NIEHS’s monthly newsletter.

Rosen outlines the following objectives for the course:

  • Address the impact of the opioid crisis on workers, workplaces and communities
  • Follow the public health model of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention
  • Define opioid use disorder as a disease that affects the brain
  • Remove stigma
  • Adopt action planning to allow participants to begin taking next steps.

The course cites recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing that 130 opioid-related overdose deaths occur daily. Overall, 399,000 such deaths occurred in the United States from 1999 to 2017. Speaking during an NIEHS seminar Oct. 10, Rosen encouraged employers to take preventive measures to limit hazards that may cause work-related injuries, noting that many cases of workplace-related opioid misuse involve prescriptions administered to treat injuries that occurred on the job.

“Prevention starts with making sure the job is not injurious,” Rosen said. “There are many potential solutions to help ensure that workers are not subject to conditions that will result in pain and injury.”

NIOSH offers free safety education for high school students

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Photo: Sidekick/iStockphoto

Washington — NIOSH, through its recently announced partnership with the nonprofit organization America Achieves, is offering a new high school curriculum that includes workplace safety and health education.

America Achieves’ career exploration course, Quest for Success, is designed to help students “learn about and prepare for jobs of the future,” NIOSH states.

The curriculum includes safety and health competencies related to identification of and control strategies for common workplace hazards. The material was adapted from Youth@Work – Talking Safety, another free curriculum from NIOSH and its partners.

“Ensuring that future jobs are also safe and healthy jobs is critical to ensuring the health and well-being of the workforce,” NIOSH Director John Howard said in a press release. “NIOSH is pleased to partner with America Achieves to work together to prepare future generations of workers with the knowledge and skills they need to stay safe at work through an innovative career readiness resource.”

Quest for Success was developed with feedback from national experts, employers and other industry partners. America Achieves launched a pilot program for the curriculum in 2018 with more than 2,400 students in Louisiana. It was later revised and adapted for a nationwide audience, according to the release.

Suicide prevention advocates release workplace guidelines, call on employers to act

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Photo: The National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention

Washington — A trio of advocacy groups is calling on employers to take a proactive role in suicide prevention in the workplace, and has published a new set of guidelines.

The National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention were developed by the American Association of Suicidology, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and United Suicide Survivors International – with input from experts in human resources, employment law and employee assistance; labor and safety leaders; and workers who have experienced a suicide crisis on the job.

In 2018, the groups conducted an online survey of 256 people from 41 states and found that 46% of the respondents said they knew at least one friend, co-worker or family member who had attempted suicide, while 43% reported having lost at least one friend to suicide. Additionally, a 2018 analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that suicides among the U.S. working age population rose 34% from 2000 to 2016.

According to the groups, the guidelines – part of an 88-page report – are applicable to small and large employers in all industries and throughout the public and private sectors. They:

  • Give employers and professional associations an opportunity to pledge to engage in the suicide prevention effort. To sign the pledge, go to WorkplaceSuicidePrevention.com.
  • Demonstrate an implementation structure for workplace best practices in a comprehensive, public health approach.
  • Provide data and resources to advance the cause of workplace suicide prevention.
  • Bring together diverse stakeholders in a collaborative public-private model.
  • Make recommendations for easily deployed tools, trainings, and resources for short-term action and comprehensive and sustained energy.

“We aim to change the culture of workplaces to reduce elements that cause job strain like sleep disruption, job insecurity and low job control – things shown to be connected to suicide risk,” AAS Executive Director Colleen Creighton said in a press release. “We know these guidelines will not only save lives, but will also alleviate intense emotional suffering by making changes to systems while helping individuals in the workplace.”

CVSA reminds truckers: No ‘soft enforcement’ for ELD transition

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Photo: vitpho/iStockphoto

Washington — Commercial motor vehicle inspectors will not observe a “soft enforcement” grace period for drivers still using automatic onboard recording devices to track their hours of service after Dec. 16, and such drivers will be placed out of service for violating Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance warns in a Dec. 2 press release.

An FMCSA final rule requiring CMV drivers to track HOS via electronic logging devices took effect Dec. 18, 2017. However, the agency exempted for two years motor carriers who installed and used AOBRDs before the rule’s compliance date, giving them until Dec. 16 to transition to ELDs.

“Motor carriers utilizing an AOBRD must have a fully operational ELD installed by Dec. 17, 2019,” the release states. “If a commercial motor vehicle driver is required to have an ELD and the vehicle is not equipped with a registered compliant ELD, the driver is considered to have no record of duty status; that also applies to a driver still using an automatic onboard recording device after the AOBRD to ELD transition deadline.”

Speaking to Transport Topics in a Dec. 5 report, CVSA Executive Director Collin Mooney expressed confidence that a majority of motor carriers will be in compliance by the deadline. Still, Mooney said, the number of motor carriers who are not operating AOBRDs or have not chosen an ELD vendor has “eluded” the organization.

Number of OSHA inspections at Trump-administration high, agency says

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Photo: OSHA

Washington — OSHA conducted 33,401 inspections in fiscal year 2019 – the largest total during the Trump administration.

A Dec. 3 press release from the agency states that a record 1,392,611 workers were trained on safety and health requirements via the various education programs, and its free On-Site Consultation Program identified nearly 138,000 workplace hazards.

“OSHA’s efforts – rulemaking, enforcement, compliance assistance and training – are tools to accomplish our mission of safety and health for every worker,” Loren Sweatt, the agency’s acting administrator, said in the release. “I am proud of the diligent, hard work of all OSHA personnel who contributed to a memorable year of protecting our nation’s workers.”

The total number of inspections is the most since FY 2015, when 35,820 were conducted. The agency conducted 31,948 inspections the next fiscal year, then 32,408 in FY 2017 and 32,023 in FY 2018.

Between FY 2010 and FY 2012, OSHA conducted more than 40,000 inspections each fiscal year and more than 38,000 annually from FY 2003 to FY 2013.

One likely reason for the fewer number of inspections since that stretch is a dwindling number of OSHA inspectors, also known as compliance safety and health officers. The agency had a record-low 875 CSHOs as of Jan. 1, according to a National Employment Law Project data brief issued in March. In an April 3 congressional appropriations hearing, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) pointed to a federal hiring freeze during the first year of President Donald Trump’s administration, as well as retirements and resignations, as factors.

To try to counteract that, the Department of Labor committed to adding 26 new full-time equivalent inspectors to the agency for FY 2019 after adding 76 CSHOs in FY 2018.

Then-Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta testified during the April hearing that he expected inspections to increase once the new CSHOs were up to speed. In his written testimony for the hearing, Acosta acknowledged that it could take one to three years to get the inspectors working in the field unsupervised.

Register Now for the Clearinghouse and Be Ready for January 6

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Purchase Query PlanThe FMCSA CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse will be fully operational on January 6, 2020. Starting on this date, employers, including owner-operators, will need to be registered to:

  • Conduct queries to access a driver’s Clearinghouse record, after obtaining the driver’s consent. Beginning January 6, you will be required to conduct a full query in the Clearinghouse before hiring any CDL driver.
  • Designate a consortium/third-party administrator (C/TPA), if you work with one, which enables your C/TPA to access the Clearinghouse on your behalf. This is a requirement of all owner-operators.
  • Purchase a query plan, which must be in place before you, or your designated C/TPA, can conduct queries.
  • Report violations of FMCSA’s drug and alcohol testing program.

You can prepare for January 6 by registering for the Clearinghouse today. (If you have an FMCSA Portal account, ensure you have the correct Portal user role in place.)

FMCSA Updates SMS Website

FMCSA has updated the CSA SMS Website with the November 29, 2019 results.

Complete SMS results are available to enforcement users and motor carriers that are logged into the SMS. Logged-in enforcement users can view all carrier safety data, while logged-in motor carriers can only view their own data. If you are a motor carrier and do not have login credentials, please click here for more information on how to obtain your PIN.