Tag: #workplacesafety

OSHA encourages stakeholders to share feedback on effectiveness of leading indicators to improve, develop resource tool

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by OSHA

Using Leading Indicators to Improve Safety and Health OutcomesWASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is asking for stakeholder input on their current use of leading indicators and their impact on managing their safety and health management systems.

Leading indicators are proactive and preventive measures that can provide insight on the effectiveness of safety and health activities and reveal potential problems. They are vital in reducing worker fatalities, injuries, illnesses, and financial impacts.

As OSHA considers developing a Leading Indicators Resource, the agency welcomes stakeholders to share their experience and expertise and provide detailed feedback on how/where they are used at their workplace. OSHA is interested in various perspectives on stakeholders’ answers to questions, such as the following:

  • What leading indicators do you use?
  • What lagging indicators do you use (OSHA incident rates, for example)?
  • What leading indicators are, or could be, commonly used in your industry?
  • What metrics do you share with top management?
  • How do you determine the effectiveness of your leading indicators?
  • Do you link your leading indicators to outcome data, such as OSHA incident rates to evaluate results?
  • How could employers be encouraged to use leading indicators in addition to lagging indicators to improve safety management systems?
  • What barriers and challenges, if any, have you encountered to using leading indicators?

Read the full list of OSHA’s questions. Submit comments through regulations.gov (Docket No. OSHA-2023-0006) by July 17, 2023.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

US Department of Labor seeking public comments on modernizing program that recognizes employers committed to best safety, health practices

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by OSHA

OSHA’s successful Voluntary Protection Program helps provide safe workplaces

Photo: OSHA

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration is inviting the public and workplace safety stakeholders to share their comments on how the agency can best honor companies who make exceptional commitments to workplace safety and health, and encourage others to follow.

Established in 1982, OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program recognizes workplaces that demonstrate best practices in safety and health management and serve as industry models. In the last 40 years, the program has attracted a wide variety of organizations in many industries. VPP’s success has stretched OSHA resources and made it more difficult to ensure the quality of program applicants’ safety and health management systems.

By opening the program to public comments, OSHA seek input from all perspectives to assist the agency as it modernizes and enhances the VPP, and continues to promote the use of workplace safety and health management systems. The Voluntary Protection Program’s modernization project is seeking stakeholder input on issues such as:

  • Aligning the program more closely with recent occupational safety and health management practices and system standards.
  • How the program can contribute to expanding the use and effectiveness of safety and health management systems.
  • Whether and how resources and tools such as “special government employees,” consensus standards, third-party auditors and other methods could serve to expand the program’s capacity without compromising effectiveness and oversight.
  • Whether particular categories of hazards need special attention in the VPP certification process.

OSHA is asking a series of questions in 10 sections to elicit useful responses to support the project’s aims. Interested members of the public should submit comments and attachments, identified by Docket No. OSHA-2022-0012, using the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. The deadline for comments is April 14, 2023.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Preventable Fatality

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by OSHA

US Department of Labor finds Texas construction company willfully exposedworkers to deadly hazards after trench collapse kills two workers

WBW Construction LLC allowed workers into 23-foot deep, unprotected trench

AUSTIN, TX – A federal investigation has determined that by failing to follow required workplace safety standards, a Georgetown construction contractor gave two workers installing sewer lines in an underground trench – more than two stories deep – little chance of survival when a large section of the excavation collapsed, crushing them under thousands of pounds of soil and rocks.

U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators responding to the residential construction site in Jarrell on June 28, 2022, found WBW Construction LLC willfully violated federal law when they failed to have a trench protective system in place and did not provide an exit point within 25 feet inside a trench. OSHA also issued four serious citations for not using ladders as designed; failing to inspect the work site as frequently as required; not removing water in the trench; and failing to provide workers with first aid training.

OSHA has proposed penalties of $250,272 and placed WBW Construction LLC in the agency’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

“WBW Construction LLC willfully sent these workers into an unprotected trench and ignored federal safety requirements. Now, two workers’ families, friends and co-workers are left to grieve their tragic, and avoidable, deaths,” said OSHA Area Director Casey Perkins in Austin, Texas. “Incidents like this can be prevented by following proven and well-known methods to protect workers from the deadly hazards in trenching and excavation work.”

By most estimates, one cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as 3,000 pounds – about the weight of a subcompact car – and trench collapses happen in seconds, which helps explain why they are among the construction industry’s most fatal hazards.

Through the end of November 2022, OSHA reports 35 workers died in trenching and excavation work, more than double the number in all of 2021. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports trench collapses claimed the lives of 166 workers between 2011 and 2018.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing a sudden increase in the number of workers dying in trench and excavation collapses,” Perkins explained. “OSHA has a National Emphasis Program in place to alert employers and workers of the dangers, and to hold violators accountable. We also encourage anyone who sees workers in an unsafe trench to help us save lives by reporting the hazardous situation.”

Federal trenching safety standards require protective systems for trenches deeper than 5 feet, and that soil and other materials be kept at least 2 feet from the trench’s edge. Trenches must also be inspected by a knowledgeable person, be free of standing water and atmospheric hazards, and have a safe means of entry and exit before a worker may enter.

Based in Georgetown, WBW Construction LLC is affiliated with the WBW Development Group, developer of more than two dozen residential and commercial projects in Texas.

The deceased workers were provided by Sedona Staffing Services, a Moline, Illinois-based company that offers temporary staffing for clerical, industrial and technical positions at 28 branches nationwide. OSHA issued one serious citation to Sedona for not inspecting the job sites. Proposed penalties total $9,324 for Sedona.

WBW Construction LLC and Sedona Staffing Services have 15 business days from receipt of citation and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA’s trenching and excavation webpage provides additional information on trenching hazards and solutions, including a safety video.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Severe Violator Enforcement Program Updated

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

Original article published by OSHA

Program focuses on employers who repeatedly disregard workers’ safety, health

WASHINGTON – To strengthen enforcement and improve compliance with workplace safety standards and reduce worker injuries and illnesses, the U.S. Department of Labor is expanding the criteria for placement in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

The new criteria include violations of all hazards and OSHA standards and will continue to focus on repeat offenders in all industries. Previously, an employer could be in the program for failing to meet a limited number of standards. The changes will broaden the program’s scope with the possibility that additional industries will fall within its parameters.

Since 2010, the Severe Violator Enforcement Program has focused on enforcement and inspection resources on employers who either willfully or repeatedly violate federal health and safety laws or demonstrate a refusal to correct previous violations. In addition to being included on a public list of the nation’s severe violators, employers are subject to follow-up inspections.

“The Severe Violator Enforcement Program empowers OSHA to sharpen its focus on employers who – even after receiving citations for exposing workers to hazardous conditions and serious dangers – fail to mitigate these hazards,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “Today’s expanded criteria reflect the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to ensuring OSHA has the tools it needs to ensure employers protect their workers or hold them accountable when they fail to provide safe and healthy workplaces.”

Specifically, the updated criteria include the following:

  • Program placement for employers with citations for at least two willful or repeated violations or who receive failure-to-abate notices based on the presence of high-gravity serious violations.
  • Follow-up or referral inspections made one year – but not longer than two years – after the final order.
  • Potential removal from the Severe Violator Enforcement Program three years after the date of receiving verification that the employer has abated all program-related hazards. In the past, removal could occur three years after the final order date.
  • Employers’ ability to reduce time spent in the program to two years, if they consent to an enhanced settlement agreement that includes use of a safety and health management system with seven basic elements in OSHA’s Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs.

The updated program instruction replaces the 2010 instruction, and remains in effect until canceled or superseded.

Read Assistant Secretary Parker’s blog on the Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Preventing Workplace Violence

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

NSC releases report and playbook

Original article published by Safety + Health

wp-violence.jpg

Itasca — New guidance from the National Safety Council is aimed at providing organizations with information and solutions to effectively mitigate and address workplace violence.

Nearly half of U.S. employers report they’re unprepared to prevent and respond to incidents on the job – even as workplace violence becomes more frequent, according to NSC. Recognizing this critical gap in safety preparedness, the nonprofit organization – through its Work to Zero initiative – recently released a report and playbook: Workplace Violence: Using Technology to Reduce Risk.

“Research shows that overt acts of workplace violence rarely occur out of the blue, but too often the catalyst for implementing effective means of prevention comes in the wake of tragedy,” said Paul Vincent, executive vice president of workplace practice at NSC. “This report provides business leaders and safety managers alike with a foundation for understanding the top workplace violence trends and industry-specific risk factors, while offering a playbook to prevent on-the-job assaults and fatalities before they occur.”

In addition to calling for more legislative action to address this national issue, the report details key steps employers can take to reduce workplace violence risk, including:
Creating a workplace violence prevention task force. In addition to bringing a multidisciplinary understanding of risk assessment, this group is likely to have a rapport with employees, making it ideally equipped to perform trainings on sensitive safety topics.
Conducting regular tabletop exercises or simulations to engage key stakeholders, identify gaps in existing prevention plans, and clarify worker responsibilities in emergency situations.
Using technology to help prevent workplace hazards. Notably, the report outlines the benefits and applications of 10 key technologies, such as digital floor plan mapping, virtual reality training and weapon detection systems.
Fostering a workplace culture in which psychological safety is prioritized, and where all workers feel empowered to voice concerns and initiate broader safety conversations.

“Employees serve as the eyes and ears of their organization, and their role in preventing workplace violence cannot be overstated,” said Emily Whitcomb, director of the Work to Zero initiative. “This report not only details how employers can implement the latest safety technology into their workplace, but identifies specific steps leaders can take to enhance employee engagement enterprise wide. Together, these safety solutions can make the difference between a high- and low-risk workplace.”

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Protecting Temporary Workers

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

First published by OSHA

WASHINGTON – An eight-year alliance between the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the American Staffing Association (ASA), established to improve the workplace safety and health of temporary workers, continues to be valuable and productive. OSHA and ASA signed an Ambassador document on August 9, 2022, in recognition of ASA’s demonstrated commitment to collaborating with the agency to improve safety and health practices and programs in American workplaces.

The goal of an Ambassador is to continue the longstanding relationships between OSHA and Alliance participants through ongoing outreach and information-sharing, and training.

Brittany Sakata, ASA general counsel (left) and Doug Parker, OSHA assistant secretary
Brittany Sakata, ASA general counsel (left) and Doug Parker, OSHA assistant secretary

OSHA and ASA first signed an alliance in 2014 and it was renewed in 2016. Their collaboration has resulted in several successful initiatives and activities, including:

“Temporary workers are, by law, afforded the same workplace protections as permanent employees,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “We are grateful for ASA’s continued dedication to helping OSHA educate temporary workers about their rights and train host employers and staffing agencies on their responsibilities to protect the safety and health of this vital part of the workforce.”

ASA, founded in 1966, is the voice of the U.S. staffing, recruiting and workforce solutions industry. ASA and its state affiliates advance the interests of the industry across all sectors through advocacy, research, education, and the promotion of high standards of legal, ethical, and professional practices.

Through the Alliance Program, OSHA works with organizations such as trade and professional associations, labor unions, educational institutions, community and faith-based groups, and government agencies to share information about OSHA’s initiatives and compliance assistance resources with workers and employers, and educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities.

McCraren Compliance assists employers in protecting their workers, starting with a comprehensive Work-site Analysis, Hazard Prevention, Controls, and Safety & Health Training.

Please contact us today at 888-758-4757 to learn how we can provide mine safety training and consulting for your business.

US Department of Labor announces $3.2M in Susan Harwood grants

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

First published by OSHA

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced the availability of $3.2 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for Susan Harwood Workplace Safety and Health Training on Infectious Diseases, Including COVID-19 grants.

The grants will fund training and education to help workers and employers identify and prevent work-related infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Training topics must focus either on COVID-19 specifically or infectious diseases broadly. The maximum awarded for each grant is $160,000 for a 12-month performance period.

This funding opportunity is separate from the fiscal year 2022 Susan Harwood training grants for Targeted Topic, Training and Educational Materials Development, and Capacity Building. Successful applicants may receive an FY 2021 and/or FY 2022 Harwood training grant (i.e., a Targeted Topic Training, Training and Educational Materials Development, or one of the Capacity Building grants) and a Workplace Safety and Health Training on Infectious Diseases, Including COVID-19 grant in the same year.

The Harwood Training Grant program supports remote and in-person hands-on training for workers and employers in small businesses; industries with high injury, illness, and fatality rates; and vulnerable workers, who are underserved, have limited English proficiency, or are temporary workers.

Learn more about the funding opportunity and applying for grants.

Submit applications for Harwood grants online no later than 11:59 p.m. EDT on May 6, 2022.

Starting April 4, 2022, the Data Universal Numbering System number will be replaced by a new, non-proprietary identifier requested in, and assigned by, the System for Award Management. This new identifier is called the Unique Entity Identifier. If you have any questions on the UEI, please visit SAM.gov for assistance.

OSHA awards grants to nonprofit organizations, including community and faith-based organizations, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor/management associations, Native American tribes, and local and state-sponsored colleges and universities to provide infectious disease workplace safety and health training.

Learn more about the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

OSHA alliance provides important workplace safety updates for technical guide assessing robot systems

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

First published by OSHA

WASHINGTON – Increasingly, U.S. industries are using robotic technologies to perform dangerous or repetitive tasks, and these systems are becoming more collaborative and mobile in nature. While these advances add new capabilities to work and the workplace, they also introduce new workplace hazards for those who work with, and alongside them.

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Association for Advancing Automation (formerly the Robotic Industries Association) formed an alliance to share technical knowledge, improve awareness about workplace hazards and appropriate safeguards, and identify needed research on the use of traditional industrial and emerging collaborative robotic technologies.

Recently, the alliance updated and expanded a chapter in the OSHA Technical Manual on Industrial Robot Systems and Industrial Robot System Safety. The collective effort has made significant updates to the manual, including up-to-date technical information on the hazards associated with industrial and emergent robot applications, safety considerations for employers and workers, and risk assessments and risk reduction measures.

The manual serves to guide OSHA compliance officers as they perform inspections at facilities with robotic systems, and provides a technical resource for safety and health professionals overseeing the use of robotic systems in workplaces.

“We value the efforts and expertise of the engineers at the Association for Advancing Automation and the researchers at NIOSH to enhance this important resource,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas Parker. “Robot use will continue to expand, and employers have a responsibility to assess the hazards these new applications may introduce, and implement appropriate safety controls to protect the workers who operate and service them.”

The World Robotics 2021 Industrial Robots report estimates currently that more than 310,000 industrial robots now operate in U.S. factories. The continuing rise of robotics increases the risks associated with robotic systems’ hazards such as struck-by/caught-between, crushing and trapping, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic and environmental.

“Our trade association has made the safety of people working around robots our top priority for nearly four decades,” said Association for Advancing Automation President Jeff Burnstein. “That’s why we developed R15.06 – the first industrial robot safety standard – in the early 1980s, and have regularly updated the standard as technology has improved. We are honored to be a part of the alliance with OSHA and NIOSH, to work together to get this vital information on safety into the hands of robot system users.”

“NIOSH’s partnership with OSHA and the Association for Advancing Automation is vital to addressing the rapid advances in robotics technologies in the workplace,” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. “This updated resource developed with the combined expertise of NIOSH, OSHA and A3, addresses a critical need for the most current information for health and safety professionals about working safely with robots in various workplaces—both those that have traditionally used robotic systems and those introducing new robotic applications.”

Learn more about robotics.

The Association for Advancing Automation is North America’s largest automation trade association representing more than 1,100 organizations involved in robotics, artificial intelligence, machine vision and imaging, motion control and motors, and related automation technologies.

NIOSH is the federal institute that conducts research and makes recommendations for preventing work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths. Learn more about NIOSH.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

OSHA: The First 50 Years

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

First published by OSHA

US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration releases video
highlighting 50 years of protecting America’s workers, ensuring safer workplaces

WASHINGTON – Fifty years ago, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration began to fulfill the mission that led to its creation – to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for every worker in America.

To help OSHA mark its first 50 years of transforming the safety and health of workplaces nationwide, the agency has released a video that commemorates major accomplishments and important events throughout its history. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas Parker and past agency assistant secretaries provide commentary, and reflect on the agency’s past and continued mission.

“At the core of our work is the fundamental right for all workers to be protected on the job and empowered to speak up about unsafe conditions,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas Parker. “As we look ahead to the next 50 years, we must continue working hard to ensure that every worker – no matter what job they do or what language they speak – has the protections they need and deserve.”

OSHA invites the public to visit the OSHA at 50 webpage to learn more about the agency’s 50 years of progress in workplace safety and health.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Holiday Workplace Safety

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

First published by OSHA

Photographs of workers | Credit: iStock-1282455397, LeoPatrizi | iStock-1247965353, adamkaz | USDA

Photo property of OSHA

As the nation enters the holiday shopping season, employers must ensure that all workers are trained to recognize and prevent job hazards, and incorporate safe work practices to prevent coronavirus spread. OSHA has resources to help keep workers safe at every step along the way whether you’re shopping at retail stores or getting gifts delivered from the warehouse to your home.

Retail Sales

Delivery

Order Fulfillment

All Workplaces

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.