Sensible Safety Newsletter
January 2014
In This Issue
Featured Article
Safety Q&A
Injury Prevention
Outreach Training
OSHA news
OSHA Citations
Sensible Safety Tip
Effective safety training is a key step towards reducing incidents in the workplace.
Do you routinely observe employees doing a task unsafely or not following procedure?  Time to look at your training program.
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Featured Article
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Greetings!
Greetings!

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Sensible Safety Source would like to wish you a Happy New Year.  Now is the perfect time to develop a safety improvement plan.

 
 
Ask a Safety Professional

 

Schedule and complete the training as soon as possible. Be sure to keep training materials and training documentation should include: date, location, trainer name/title, employee name, and the topics covered.

 

What should I do if I missed the December 1, 2013 deadline to train my employees on the new GHS Hazard Communication labels and SDSs?

 
Email your safety question to: [email protected]
Injury Prevention

OSHA Resources to Identify Chemical Exposure Hazards

 

According to OSHA, each year, tens of thousands of American workers are made sick or die from occupational exposures to hazardous chemicals. While many chemicals are suspected of being harmful, OSHA's exposure standards are out-of-date and inadequately protective for the small number of chemicals that are regulated in the workplace. "Employers are responsible for knowing the hazards that exist in their facilities and working with the surrounding community to ensure the safety of first responders." Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. To help employers keep workers safe, OSHA has launched two new Web resources.

 

1.Transitioning to Safer Chemicals toolkit provides employers and workers with information, methods, tools, and guidance on using informed substitution in the workplace.

 

2. Annotated Permissible Exposure Limits, or annotated PELs tables, which will enable employers to voluntarily adopt newer, more protective workplace exposure limits.

OSHA Recordkeeping

Annual OSHA 300A I&I Summary Posting

 

 

OSHA is reminding

covered employers to post OSHA's Form 300A, which summarizes the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred during 2013 and were logged on OSHA's Form 300, the log of work-related injuries and illnesses. The summary must be posted between Feb. 1 and April 30, 2014, and should be displayed in a common area where notices to employees are usually posted.

 

Employers with 10 or fewer employees and employers in certain industries are normally exempt from federal OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping and posting requirements. A complete list of exempt industries in the retail, services, finance, insurance and real estate sectors can be found at http://s.dol.gov/YP. Visit OSHA's Recordkeeping Web page for more information on recordkeeping requirements.

OSHA Outreach Training

The OSHA Outreach Training Program for General Industry provides training for workers and employers on the recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of safety and health hazards in general industry workplaces.  

 

This class is intended for entry to mid-level workers to help ensure that workers are more knowledgeable about workplace hazards and their rights, and contribute to your businesses overall productivity.

 

Next schedules sessions will be offered in February of 2014 at the NIU Campus in Hoffman Estates, IL. 

 

OSHA 10-Hour February 17-18, 2014

 

Register now 

  

OSHA 30-Hour February 17-20, 2014

 

Register  now  
 
OSHA News

OSHA to Use EPA TRI Data to Target Hazardous Chemical Inspections

 

OSHA is launching a local emphasis program in Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri for programmed health inspections of industries known to use hazardous chemicals and who have reported release of such chemicals to the EPA. The goal is to reduce occupational illnesses and deaths.

 

"This local emphasis program will make efficient use of OSHA's industrial hygiene resources by focusing on industrial sites that are known to have released EPA-monitored hazardous chemicals," said Marcia Drumm, acting regional administrator for OSHA in Kansas City. "Through this program, OSHA will improve education for company management and strengthen protections for workers exposed to these chemicals."

 

Chemicals reported to the EPA that have been released into the environment include ammonia; barium, chromium and copper compounds; hydrochloric acid; hydrogen fluoride; lead and manganese compounds; N-hexane; styrene; sulfuric acid; and nitrate, vanadium, and zinc compounds.

 

Industries will be selected for inspection based on site-specific chemical release data from the EPA's TRI Explorer database, which lists industry establishments that have released chemical quantities equal to or exceeding 100,000 lbs.

OSHA has created a toolkit to identify safer chemicals that can be used in place of more hazardous ones.

 

 

OSHA Citations
Fertilizer Company, West Texas
Following deadly ammonium nitrate explosionOSHA has cited 24 serious safety violations at its West facility for exposing workers to fire/explosion hazards of ammonium nitrate and liquid burns and inhalation hazards from anhydrous ammonia storage and servicing. Proposed penalties total $118,300. For additional information about the violations and penalties, read the citations (*PDF).

OSHA Citations
Clearwater Paper, Idaho

The DOL alleges that a Clearwater Paper employee was fired in 2010 in retaliation for filing a safety complaint with OSHA's Boise Area Office. The employee was first suspended and then fired soon after OSHA conducted an inspection to assess excessive exposure to red cedar dust at Clearwater Paper's sawmill in Lewiston. The department is seeking reinstatement of the employee as well as payment of more than $300,000 in damages and fees, including back pay, compensatory damages, emotional distress damages and punitive damages. To learn more about this case, read the news release

Safety Program Solutions
Sensible Safety Source supports your health and safety program development.  We offer a variety of safety programs, training tools, checklists, and webinars designed for U.S. DOL OSHAs general industry regulations 29CFR 1910. 

 

Injury prevention takes commitment, planning, and preparedness.  SSS can help you with the planning preparedness.

Sensible solutions for small and mid-sized businesses.

  
Sincerely,
  

Brenda Allard 
MBA, CSP
Owner 
Sensible Safety Source LLC

Sensible Safety Source OSHA program management tools can be downloaded through a link that is provided once the checkout process is completed.   Sensible Safety Source LLC terms and conditions apply.

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