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 This health, safety and environment electronic update comes from Chip Dawson and the Rochester Business Alliance as a service to member organizations. |
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 Noise Levels? Light Levels? There's an App for That! Reader Mick Snyder has alerted us to a couple of amazing apps for the iPhone and iPad. Back in the day, getting noise and light levels was a big deal, requiring expensive meters and an industrial hygienist. No longer. I've just loaded LuxMeter Pro and Decibel 10 on my iPad and had a ball checking light and sound levels around my house. Just go to the iTunes Store and search by name for "light meter" and "sound meter." One is free, the other $1.99. However, an important caution! The iPhone microphone is only accurate up to 100 db and these are app, not professional meters. They are probably okay for comparisons and rough indications, but I would not advise determining compliance with the noise standard on your readings. Both apps have operating instructions and you can find typical lux readings in the material for the LuxMeter Pro or by clicking here. |
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 HazCom Training Hits High Gear
The RBA/Chip Dawson course "Chemical Hazard Communication with GHS" had its first successful offering last week and returns to the RBA schedule on the mornings of June 6 and 12. Running three and a half hours, the program prepares key people for the implementation of the new GHS requirements in the workplace. While employers have until Dec. 1, 2013 to train all employees, current wisdom suggests doing training now since GHS-based labels and safety data sheets are already arriving in many workplaces. Without adequate training, employees will find themselves confused by material that is not familiar.
An offering associated with the new course is on-going telephone and e-mail support for implementation questions. Also provided is a complimentary copy of the fully revised and updated Chemical Hazard Communication procedure from the RBA Safety Solutions Guide. To register for the program, email RBA registrar Michele Hefferon or by phone at 256-4614.
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Study Confirms OSHA Saves Lives and Jobs
A study published in the journal Science has found that government-conducted safety inspections reduce on-job injuries and associated costs and do not harm company performance or profit. The study, conducted by faculty at the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard business schools, found that workplace injury claims in high-hazard industries dropped 9.4 percent at randomly chosen businesses in the four years following an inspection by the California OSHA program compared with employers not inspected. Those same employers also saved an average of 26 percent on workers' compensation costs.
Michael Toffel, associate professor of business administration at Harvard, estimates OSHA inspections nationwide could be saving employers $6 billion. "The findings should finally put an end to the criticisms that OSHA inspections make running a business more expensive without adding value," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. To see the press release on the study, click here.
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 NIOSH Researchers Find Silica Risk for Workers Engaged Oil Shale Fracturing
ANIOSH researchers have presented preliminary data that suggests that gas and oil workers may be exposed to dangerously high levels of respirable crystalline silica while performing hydraulic fracturing operations. The study found that nearly half (47 percent) of the workers sampled were exposed to levels of silica above OSHA's permissible exposure limits with almost 80 percent of those sampled exposed above NIOSH's recommended exposure limits.
The findings were reported at a meeting of the Institute of Medicine and can be viewed by clicking here.
As a rule of thumb, if silica dust can be seen in the air, the levels are likely too high (see the accompanying Chip Dawson photo as an example of hazardous levels). Inhalation of respirable crystalline silica particles has long been known to cause silicosis. For more information, click here to see the OSHA Safety and Health Topics Page on Crystalline Silica.
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 New York Tops List of Safe States
A recent wire services report told of New York's outstanding ranking based on ten key aspects of injury prevention. The report on which the ranking is based is interesting reading. Produced by the Trust for America's Health and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the scores were compiled from state efforts to prevent injuries by vehicle, falls, drowning and sports, poisoning and violence against persons. Of the ten key factors, only New York and California were effective on nine. At the bottom were Montana and Ohio with scores of two out of ten.
Within the report is information that employers can use to make the nation safer. For example, one suggestion is to rescind work-related driving privileges for employees who have been arrested for a business-related DUI. Many other elements in the report can serve as discussion points at safety meetings and action items by company management. To read the full report, download it by clicking here. |
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Workplace Safety Mandates Employment of Good People
Workplace violence is an OSHA hot button. Concern for the well-being of everyone in the workplace calls for hiring-and employing-people of good character with clean records and the ability to do the job without adverse outcomes. Sure, you need to pay attention to your employees and their concerns and behavior, but making sure you don't bring folks onboard with a problematic background and ongoing issues takes outside help.
This is where Rochester Business Alliance Staffing's Background, Employment and Reference Screening Service fits in. The group has a 25-year history of conducting criminal records checks against a wide number of data bases, examining sex offender registries, examining public records associated with social security number, employment verification and reference checking, academic and professional license checks and checks against a number of watch lists and other security data bases. If you've tried doing on-line searches on your own, you know how many times you hit a dead end or face a fee for every piece of data. RBA Staffing gets the job done quickly, efficiently and effectively. |
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Sleep Deprivation Report Highlighted
A report on short sleep duration among workers by NIOSH researcher Sara Luckhaupt, published in the April 27 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control's (CDC) Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, gained widespread attention in late April.
Both US News and World Report and WebMD gave coverage to this new report, which identifies consequences of sleep deprivation, especially on workers. For example, drowsy drivers play a role in up to 20 percent of car crashes. Lack of sleep also increases the risk of obesity, depression, heart disease and diabetes.
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