June 2, 2011

In This Update
Ladder Safety PowerPoint Available
What's Your Feeling About I2P2?
OSHA National Survey on Employer Safety and Health Practices
The Myths and Realities of Fatigue
Congressional Safety and Health Legislation Has "Snowball's Chance"
New elaws Web Tool for OSHA Record-keeping Rules
STIHL Recalls Yard Power Products Due to Burn and Fire Hazards
HP Expands Recall of Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard
Quick Links
Chip DawsonThis health, safety and environment electronic update comes from Chip Dawson and the Rochester Business Alliance as a service to member organizations.
ladder imageLadder Safety PowerPoint Available
John Newquist, the OSHA assistant regional administrator in Chicago, is currently pushing ladder safety and has prepared a presentation to accompany an hour-long training program for anyone who is interested.  Newquist says "Ladder accidents cause 100 work related deaths a year and 1000 deaths in the last ten years." To access the program, click here.

What's Your Feeling About I2P2?

Do you like it? Does it go too far? Not far enough? It seems that lots of folks are lining up to oppose or support the OSHA Injury and Illness Prevention Program. There's a problem, however - the rule has not yet been written. There's no question that such a rule is high priority for OSHA and it's also true that several states have an injury and illness prevention program requirement; but no one at the federal level has put pen to paper.


We do know that the 1989 OSHA Safety and Health Program Management guidelines are expected to form the basis of the new I2P2 regulation, just as they form the basis of the OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) criteria-all good stuff, from my experience, but a long way from having the force of law. In the meantime, here's my suggestion. Get a copy of the 1989 Guidelines (click here for a copy) and, once you've read them, get in touch with me and we can talk about easy ways to implement them (I spent nearly eight years teaching them to OSHA staff back in the 1990s).

OSHA National Survey on Employer Safety and Health Practices 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched a survey of private sector employers as a tool toward better designing future rules, compliance assistance and outreach efforts. More than 19,000 employers of all sizes and across all industries are receiving the Baseline Survey of Safety and Health Practices. Questions include whether respondents already have a safety management system, whether they perform annual inspections, who manages safety at their establishments and what kinds of hazards they encounter at their facilities. Participation in the survey is voluntary, but only those organizations receiving the official survey from OSHA may participate. The agency expects data collection to be completed by August. To see a copy of the survey, click here.

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The Myths and Realities of Fatigue

The folks at Circadian are back with another white paper, this on fatigue. Fatigue seems fairly straightforward: We all get tired, do what we need to get through it, and then catch up on our sleep when we can. Simple-right? Not so fast-research reveals that fatigue strongly impacts virtually every 24-hour operation leading to increased error and accident rates and increased costs. The white paper is written as an aid to managing the cost of fatigue and covers:

  • Review business practices which increase fatigue risk
  • Examine the consequences of fatigue in the pulp and paper and other 24-hour operations
  • Calculate the bottom-line costs of fatigue
  • Provide solutions for mitigating the costs, risks and liabilities of fatigue

Click here to download the paper. You'll have to register, but the paper is free.

Congressional Safety and Health Legislation Has "Snowball's Chance"    
A federal legislative roundup by Aaron Trippler, Director of Government Affairs for AIHA, published in ISHN Magazine, looks at the fifteen bills (of 3,000) introduced in the current congressional session that relate to safety and health and finds their chance of passage "low" to "very low", with one exception. A bill to codify the Voluntary Protection Program and make it a permanent part of the OSHA mission, gets a "50-50" since it has good bi-partisan support. Bills having slim chance of passage in this session of Congress include the Safe Chemicals Act, the Protecting America's Workers Act, The Combustible Dust Act, the Ensuring Worker Safety Act and the Restoring Economics Certainty Act. To see a summary of all the safety and health-related acts under consideration on both sides of the aisle, click here.
New elaws Web Tool for OSHA Record-keeping Rules    
A new Web tool - the OSHA Record-keeping Adviser - helps employers understand their responsibilities to report and record work-related injuries and illnesses under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's regulations. A set of questions assists in determining quickly whether an injury or illness is work-related, whether it needs to be recorded and which provisions of the regulations apply. To access the tool, click here.
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STIHL Recalls Yard Power Products Due to Burn and Fire Hazards
    
The CPSC and STIHL Incorporated has issued a recall for a wide variety of gas powered STIHL trimmers, brush cutters, KombiMotors, hedge trimmers, edgers, clearing saws, pole pruners, and backpack blowers that utilize a toolless fuel cap. About 2.3 million of the units have been sold by authorized STIHL dealers nationwide from July 2002 through May 2011 for between $190 and $650. The level of ethanol and other fuel additives can distort the toolless fuel cap, allowing fuel to spill, posing a fire and burn hazard. STIHL has received 81 reports of difficulty installing and/or removing the fuel caps and fuel spillage. No injuries have been reported.  For a full list of all affected products, photos and details of the cap, click here.
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HP Expands Recall of Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard
 

Consumers urged to recheck notebook models and batteries

This is the second recall order from the CPSC and HP and both are urging consumers to recheck notebook models and batteries. They are Lithium-ion batteries used in HP and Compaq notebook computers. About 162,600 additional batteries were recalled in May 2009 and May 2010. The recalled lithium-ion batteries can overheat and rupture, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers. Since the May 2010 recall expansion, HP has received 40 additional reports of batteries that overheated and ruptured, resulting in seven burn injuries, one smoke inhalation injury, and 36 instances of property damage. For additional information, visit the HP Battery Replacement Program website.

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Lawrence H. "Chip" DawsonView my profile on LinkedIn
Dawson Associates
Rochester Business Alliance Coordinating Consultant for HSE
1434 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14610-1619
(585) 461-1549