It has been said many times that children are our most precious resource. While parents throughout time have loved their children enormously, today’s parents have taken this saying to heart in more visible ways than previous generations. From the “Caution - Baby on Board” window decals of the early 1980s to the ubiquitous “My child is an honor student at…” bumper stickers of today, modern parents use the family car as a billboard to showcase their parental pride and their children’s accomplishments.

But the same motor vehicle that goes from school to soccer practice to piano lessons ­- in which Mom, Dad and the kids seem to live ­- may also be the vehicle in which our teenagers die. (more…)

The truth of the matter is that the average small or medium-sized employer will never see an OSHA Compliance Officer in the life of the business. On the other hand, if you have a serious accident or fatality, or if you are in the news for some safety-related problem, or an employee files a complaint against you, you might see a Compliance Officer tomorrow. Your IWLAIC Safety Manual has a chapter on how you should prepare for an OSHA inspection, and what you should do if you receive a complaint notice by fax from OSHA, or if an OSHA Compliance Officer shows up at your door. It is important to read this section in advance, so you will be ready when the time comes… (more…)

In recognition of the increasing importance of giving safety training to Hispanic workers in today’s workplace, OSHA’s Directorate of Training and Education collaborated with the University of South Florida, an OSHA Training Institute Education Center, to author a series of safety and health PowerPoint presentations in Spanish. You can find these presentations on-line here:

http://www.consultationconnection.org/oti/

These new resources are designed to assist OSHA construction and general industry outreach trainers and others in conducting Spanish-language training for employees. There are also links on this page to other Spanish-language safety training materials.

Employers who use forklifts in their workplaces have a new resource to help keep their employees safe on the job. OSHA’s Powered Industrial Trucks (Forklift) eTool…

http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/products/etools/pit/index.html

…is the latest Web-based training tool unveiled by OSHA. This eTool, which identifies forklifts commonly used in general industry, provides a review of potential hazards and a summary of key OSHA requirements and industry-recommended practices for forklift operations. It includes four modules examining the types of forklifts, safe operating practices, workplace conditions affecting operation, and operator training. OSHA offers other eTools on occupational safety and health topics on its eTools web site at:

http://www.osha..gov/dts/osta/oshasoft/index.html

If you are a safety director who has to justify the cost of safety-related activities or expenditures to management, or if you are a manager who wants to understand why you should make those expenditures, the bottom line reason is that it is in your company’s own selfish best interests to do so. 

Many employers tend to think of safety and accidents as things that exists ALONGSIDE their regular business activities, rather than being a PART OF those business activities. Instead, we should “bring it home” by expressing the cost of accidents in terms of our regular business operations. (more…)

The other thing that government agencies pay attention to is stories in the news media, especially stories of major catastrophes that point the finger of blame on the government agency. Last year saw one such major catastrophe involving combustible dust, and so it is no surprise that OSHA has announced that combustible dust will be one of their emphasis points for 2009.

Most often, when safety professionals think of combustible dust explosions, we think of grain dust. Years ago, it was common for grain elevators in the farming regions to explode due to combustible dust. How does this happen? (more…)

If your company is not exempt from the OSHA Recordkeeping standard, you are required to post your 2008 Summary of Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA Form 300-A) no later than February 1, 2009 and leave it posted through April 30, 2009.  (more…)

The US Navy’s Safety Center maintains an archive of interesting and humorous safety-related pictures. Although safety is a serious matter, we can often make the audience pay better attention if we spice up the presentation with some humor. See the first additions to the 2009 photo archive here, and be sure to click the link for the “Archive 2007/08″ to see last year’s photos.

http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/archive/default.htm

 

Other interesting information is also linked from their photo archive page. Check it out.

Despite the above fatalities number, the rate of workplace injuries and illnesses in private industry declined in 2006 (the most recent year for which full data is available) for the fourth consecutive year, according to a recent report by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Full details here:

 

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/osh.pdf

 

We must be doing something right!

If there is one thing that government agencies pay attention to, it is actions by the legislative bodies that provide their operational funding. Therefore, after we saw the US House of Representatives holding hearings in 2008 which claimed that employers were substantially underreporting accidents (see story here)…

http://ehstoday.com/standards/osha/ehs_imp_80989

 …it is no surprise that OSHA is taking a hard look at recordkeeping in 2009. Remember that OSHA places the full burden on investigating accidents and determining recordability of accidents on the EMPLOYER, and that this responsibility cannot be delegated to others. (more…)

Any time you are “playing a game,” it is always helpful to know the rules of the game. The same is true when dealing with government regulatory agencies like the FMCSA.

Several months ago, one of our staff members suggested that we try to obtain a copy of, or access to, the electronic version of the “Field Operations Training Manual” used by FMCSA’s field staff. Risk Consultants filed a request for this document under the Freedom of Information Act.

I am happy to report that the government complied with this request and made this document available on the FMCSA website. (more…)

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has answered the Court and its critics, crafting an hours-of-service regulation that leaves all of the current requirements intact.

The final rule, published in the November 19, 2008, Federal Register, continues to allow property-carrying commercial motor vehicle drivers to drive up to 11 hours within a 14 hour, non-extendable window, following at least 10 consecutive hours off duty. The rule also allows motor carriers and drivers to continue to restart calculations of the weekly on-duty limits after the driver has at least 34 consecutive hours off duty. (more…)