Compressed Gas Association Issues Safety Alert

Due to recent incidents caused by incorrectly installed or poorly maintained carbonated beverage systems, the Compressed Gas Association, Inc. has issued a safety alert.  Faulty systems can cause carbon dioxide to leak and hazardous levels of the gas to build up in enclosed areas leading to illnesses or even deaths to restaurant customers and workers and to emergency responders.  Carbon dioxide is used in numerous workplaces and has been recognized for many years as a workplace hazard.

The principle issue with carbon dioxide gas is that it can quickly accumulate without the knowledge of the individuals present in the area.  It is colorless and doesn’t smell.  Since carbon dioxide is heavier than air, it gathers at floor level in improperly ventilated areas, including basements, pits, tanks, and sumps and outside areas like trenches or depressions where it displaces oxygen.

Carbon dioxide is naturally present in the air at low levels and normally does not cause any harmful effects.  At higher levels, however, the physical effects include feeling an inability to breathe, increased pulse, headache, sweating, disorientation. With exposure to very high concentrations and/or over longer periods of time, damage to the retina, difficulty breathing, impaired hearing, nausea and vomiting, convulsions, and loss of consciousness can result.  Deaths due to asphyxiation have occurred.

According to the Compressed Gas Association, some sources of hazardous concentrations of carbon dioxide are:

“-Carbon dioxide storage containers that are not properly vented to a well-ventilated area outside of the building not just into walls or ceilings;
-Leaking fittings, connections, piping/tubing/hoses, or storage container plumbing;
-Leaking carbonators, syrup pumps, bag in box (BIB) racks (i.e., any equipment using carbon dioxide); and
-Leaking beer keg connections and equipment.”

To avoid harm from carbon dioxide, detectors with alarm systems should be installed in areas where equipment is used.  All systems using carbon dioxide should be installed and maintained according to the manufacturer’s directions.  Proper ventilation is essential.  Employees and any others using the equipment should be trained on how to use the systems and on the dangers and characteristics of carbon dioxide.

For more information, please visit www.cganet.com.

Repeated Violations Lead to Proposed Fines of $169K

OSHA proposed a total of $169,000 in fines against contractor Penney Construction Co. LLC in Hartford, CT chiefly for exposing its workers to cave-in hazards while repairing a sewer line in a 10-foot-deep trench on Park Street.

An inspection by OSHA’s Hartford Area Office found that not only did the trench lack any protection to prevent the walls from collapsing onto workers; the cave-in hazard was intensified by the presence of an unsupported sidewalk and catch basin overhanging the trench. OSHA standards require that trenches or excavations 5 feet or deeper be protected against collapse through shoring, sloping of the soil or use of a protective trench box. Even after being informed that the conditions posed an imminent danger, the employer continued to send workers into the trench. These hazards resulted in citations for two willful violations with $140,000 in fines. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

Five serious violations with $29,000 in fines involve rocks and soil falling into the trench, not testing the sewer line for hazardous atmospheres, a lack of personal protective equipment and not adequately training the workers to recognize the hazards associated with their work. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

“This employer repeatedly sent its workers into harm’s way even after being told that the unguarded trench posed a clear, immediate and potentially deadly threat,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s area director in Hartford. “These workers could have been crushed or buried alive in seconds.”

Detailed information on trenching and excavation hazards as well as safe working procedures is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/trenchingexcavation/index.html.

OSHA has placed Penney Construction in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. Initiated in June 2010, the program focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. For more information on SVEP, visit http://s.dol.gov/J3.

The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/penneys-construction-314406406-01202012.pdf*.

$318,000 in Proposed Fines

Jennie-O Turkey Store Inc. was cited by OSHA for 11 safety violations after a worker’s arm was amputated below the shoulder while the individual was conducting cleaning activities in a confined space. Jennie-O Turkey Store, based in Willmar, MN is a division of Austin, MN headquartered Hormel Foods Corp.

“Jennie-O Turkey Store has a legal responsibility to follow established permit-required confined space regulations to ensure that its employees are properly protected from known workplace hazards,” said Mark Hysell, director of OSHA’s Eau Claire Area Office. “Failing to ensure protection through appropriate training and adherence to OSHA regulations led to a worker losing an arm.”

OSHA initiated an inspection after the July 20, 2011, incident, in which the employee’s arm allegedly became caught in an energized turkey shackle line while the employee was working alone in a confined space. Afterward, the employee had to walk down a flight of 25 stairs and 200 feet across the production floor to get the attention of a co-worker for assistance.

Four willful violations involve not following OSHA’s permit-required confined space regulations in the carbon dioxide tunnel room, including failing to ensure that workers isolated the carbon dioxide gas supply line and locked out power to the shackle line prior to entering the room to conduct cleaning activities, verify that electro-mechanical and atmospheric hazards within the room were eliminated prior to workers entering the space, test atmospheric conditions prior to allowing entry and provide an attendant during entries to the room. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Seven serious violations involve failing to provide fall protection, provide rescue and emergency services equipment, develop procedures to summon rescue and emergency services, provide confined space entry procedures, prepare entry permits for the confined space, train employees and supervisors in entry permit procedures, and ensure that the entry supervisor performed required duties. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

In many instances, employees who work in confined spaces face risk of exposure to serious physical injury from hazards such as entrapment, engulfment and hazardous atmospheric conditions. Confinement may also pose entrapment hazards and require employees to work in closer proximity to hazardous machinery components than they would otherwise. Additional information on confined space hazards is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/confinedspaces/index.html.

Based on the violations cited during this latest inspection, OSHA has proposed $318,000 in fines. Jennie–O Turkey Store operates turkey growing and processing facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as national and international distribution systems. The company employs 1,200 workers at the Barron facility and 5,000 corporatewide. Prior to this inspection, OSHA had inspected the Barron facility four times since 2004, resulting in citations for 12 violations.

The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/JennieOTurkeyStoreIncCitationInspection92562.pdf*.

More than $1 Million in Back Wages and Damages to be Paid

OSHA has ordered AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of Dallas, Texas-based Southwest Airlines Co., to reinstate a former pilot who was fired after reporting numerous mechanical concerns. The agency also has ordered that the pilot be paid more than $1 million in back wages plus interest and compensatory damages. An investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program found reasonable cause to believe that the termination was an act of retaliation in violation of the whistleblower provision of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, known as AIR21.

“Airline workers must be free to raise safety and security concerns, and companies that diminish those rights through intimidation or retaliation must be held accountable,” said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. “Airline safety is of vital importance, not only to the workers, but to the millions of Americans who use our airways.”

The pilot’s complaint alleged that the airline removed him from flight status on Aug. 23, 2007, pending an investigative hearing regarding a sudden spike in the pilot’s mechanical malfunction reports, or PIREPS. The airline held an internal investigative hearing on Sept. 6, 2007, that lasted 17 minutes. Seven days later, the airline terminated the pilot’s employment, claiming that he did not satisfactorily answer a question regarding the spike in reports. OSHA found that the pilot did not refuse to answer any questions during the hearing, answers to questions were appropriate, and the action taken by the airline was retaliatory.

“Retaliating against a pilot for reporting mechanical malfunctions is not consistent with a company that values the safety of its workers and customers,” added Michaels. “Whistleblower laws are designed to protect workers’ rights to speak out when they have safety concerns, and the Labor Department will vigilantly protect and defend those fundamental rights.”

Either party to the case can file an appeal with the Labor Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges, but such an appeal does not stay the preliminary reinstatement order.

AirTran Airways is a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings Inc. with headquarters in Orlando. On May 2, 2011, Southwest Airlines completed the acquisition of AirTran Holdings Inc. and now operates AirTran Airways as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provision of AIR21, as well as 20 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various securities, trucking, workplace health and safety, nuclear, pipeline, environmental, rail, maritime, health care, consumer product and food safety laws.

Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor for an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program.

Detailed information on employee whistleblower rights is available online at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.  The U.S. Department of Labor does not release names of employees involved in whistleblower complaints.

OSHA to Order Company to Comply with Safety Standards

The U.S. Department of Labor’s regional solicitor’s office in Boston has filed a complaint against DeMoulas Super Markets Inc., doing business as Market Basket, with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The complaint asks the commission to order the Tewksbury, Mass.-based chain to comply with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s safety standards designed to protect employees from fall and laceration hazards at the employer’s more than 60 stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

This request for enterprisewide relief is based upon hazards OSHA found during inspections of various DeMoulas stores, including the agency’s most recent inspections at Market Basket stores in Rindge and Concord, N.H. Those inspections resulted in citations and proposed OSHA fines totaling $589,200, which DeMoulas has contested to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

“Hazardous conditions at multiple locations that expose employees to serious injuries demand a swift and comprehensive corrective response at the corporate level,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “OSHA insists that this employer completely and effectively eliminate the hazards it never should have allowed to exist in the first place.”

The department’s complaint alleges that employees at multiple Market Basket stores were exposed or likely to be exposed to fall hazards from unguarded, open-sided work and storage areas, including storage lofts and atop produce coolers and freezers. An employee of the Market Basket store in Rindge was seriously injured in April 2011 when he fell 11 feet onto a concrete floor from an inadequately guarded storage mezzanine, and an employee at a Billerica, Mass., store was seriously injured under similar conditions in 2007.

The company also allegedly failed to protect employees in produce, deli and bakery departments against laceration hazards from knives and cutting instruments by not conducting job hazard analyses that would have identified the need for hand protection, and by not providing such hand protection to workers exposed to the hazards. In 2006, after being cited by OSHA, the company agreed to complete job hazard analyses in all stores but failed to do so. Between 2008 and 2011, employees at the Rindge and Concord stores sustained at least 40 recorded hand lacerations.

“Worker safety is not optional, and it cannot be addressed in a piecemeal fashion. It must be addressed across the board,” said Michaels. “This employer has the responsibility to safeguard all its employees at all its locations, something it has failed to do.”

DeMoulas Super Markets has 20 days from receipt of the complaint to file an answer. Details of OSHA’s inspections of the Rindge and Concord stores and copies of the citations can be found at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/DemoulasSuperMarketsIncdbaMarketBasket_63192_1007_11.pdf.

This complaint filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission marks the second such time that the department has expressly sought enterprisewide relief from an employer. The first time was against the U.S. Postal Service in July 2010 for correction of electrical work safety violations at 350 postal facilities throughout the nation. That matter is pending.

Workers Exposed to Excessive Noise, Lack of Machine Guarding, and Other Hazards

OSHA cited American Marazzi Tile Inc. with 25 safety and health violations for exposing workers to excessive noise levels, machine guarding hazards, and other dangerous conditions at its facility in Sunnyvale, TX. Proposed penalties total $318,000.

OSHA’s Dallas Area Office initiated an investigation on July 13 at the company’s Clay Road facility as part of the agency’s Site-Specific Targeting Program, which directs enforcement resources to workplaces with higher-than-average injury and illness rates.

“This company knowingly failed to implement necessary safety and health programs to protect employees from coming into contact with moving parts of machinery and prevent hearing loss,” said John Hermanson, OSHA’s regional administrator in Dallas. “It’s the employer’s responsibility to know the hazards and safeguard workers from these hazards in order to provide a working environment free of injuries and illnesses.”

Three willful violations involve failing to establish and maintain a hearing conservation program for workers exposed to noise levels exceeding 85 decibels; provide the required machine guards for exposed belts, pulleys, chains and sprockets; and establish a lockout/tagout program for energy sources to protect workers from the unexpected start up of machinery. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Twenty-one serious violations involve failing to provide personal protective equipment, provide confined space training, provide machine guarding to prevent workers from coming into contact with rotating parts, develop energy control procedures for machines with more than one energy source, provide fire extinguisher training, properly store oxygen and acetylene cylinders, develop a bloodborne pathogens program, and train employees on hazardous chemicals used in the facility. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

One other-than-serious violation is for failing to post a copy of the hearing conservation standard in the workplace. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

American Marazzi Tile employs about 254 workers who produce ceramic wall and floor tile products at the Sunnyvale location. OSHA has placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. Initiated in June 2010, the program focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. For more information on SVEP, visit http://s.dol.gov/J3.

The citations can be viewed at:

http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/AmericanMarazziTile_314183450_0112_12.pdf*

http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/AmericanMarazziTile_314183492_0112_12.pdf*.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced its selection of 10 OSHA authorized training providers to deliver 25 online courses as part of its Outreach Training Program. The OSHA Outreach Training Program teaches workers how to identify, prevent, and eliminate workplace hazards. The program also informs workers of their rights, employer responsibilities, and how to file a complaint.

“We are pleased to announce the selection of these online training providers,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “These high-quality online courses will allow a greater number of workers to receive valuable interactive training supported by safety professionals — especially in remote areas with limited access to standard classrooms.”

The online courses are voluntary and are not required by OSHA, but they provide training that can help protect workers’ safety and health and help employers reduce the high costs of worker injuries and illnesses. Workers must also receive additional training on hazards specific to their job.

The organizations selected by OSHA to offer the online courses will provide a variety of 10 and 30 hour classes designed for Construction, General Industry, and Maritime. Since OSHA began authorizing training providers to offer Web-based distance learning in 2001, the online Outreach Training Program has grown significantly. More than 135,000 workers were trained online in 2011 - a five-fold increase from the number of online students trained in 2007. Access to courses and other information about the program are available at http://s.dol.gov/L6.

Today’s selections are the culmination of a national competition announced last March. The newly selected OSHA-authorized Outreach Training Program online training providers are:

Construction 10-Hour: AdvanceOnline Solutions, CareerSafe, ClickSafety, Compliance Solutions, PureSafety, Safety Unlimited, Texas Engineering Extension Service
Construction 10-Hour Spanish: ClickSafety and PureSafety
Construction 30-Hour: AdvanceOnline Solutions, ClickSafety, PureSafety, Texas Engineering Extension Service, Turner Knowledge Network
General Industry 10-Hour: AdvanceOnline Solutions, CareerSafe, ClickSafety, North Carolina State University, PureSafety, Safety Unlimited, Texas Engineering Extension Service
General Industry 30-Hour: AdvanceOnline Solutions, ClickSafety, PureSafety
Maritime 10-Hour: Moxie Media

More than $146,000 in Proposed Penalties

OSHA cited American Felt & Filter Co. for 35 alleged violations of workplace safety and health standards at its New Windsor plant. The company, which manufactures woolen felt for a variety of products, faces a total of $146,300 in proposed fines following an inspection by OSHA’s Albany Area Office.

“Our inspections identified numerous safety and health hazards, including several similar to those cited during earlier OSHA inspections of this facility,” said Arthur Dube, the agency’s acting area director in Albany.” Left uncorrected, these hazards expose employees to possible electrocution, crushing and struck-by injuries, being caught in moving machine parts, hearing loss, falls, eye and hand injuries, asbestos and lead.”

In addition to identifying machine guarding and electrical hazards, OSHA found that the plant failed to inspect cranes and lifting devices; remove an unsafe powered industrial truck from service; properly stack materials; monitor noise levels, and test and train employees exposed to excessive noise levels; provide first-aid supplies, eye and hand protection, and an emergency eyewash; ensure appropriate respiratory protection and other safeguards for employees exposed to lead; perform asbestos exposure monitoring; identify and label asbestos-containing materials; and provide training for employees on asbestos hazards. These conditions resulted in citations for 32 serious violations carrying $118,580 in penalties. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Three repeat violations carrying $27,720 in fines involve unguarded lathes and failure to implement an effective respiratory protection program. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. OSHA cited the plant for similar hazards in 2007.

“One means of preventing new and recurring hazards is to implement and maintain an effective illness and injury prevention program in which management and employees work together to proactively identify and eliminate hazardous conditions,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.

The citations can be viewed at

http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/AmericanFeltandFilterCo-315750224-12282011.pdf  http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/AmericanFeltandFilterCo-313764250-12282011.pdf

Why Keep Two OSHA Logs When One Will Do?

Scenario: You just took a job as the new Safety Manger for a medium sized manufacturing company.  You learn that you are responsible for maintaining the OSHA 300 log for the operation.  Prior to your arrival, these logs were maintained by the Human Resources Director who was very excited to hand that responsibility off to you.  She stopped by your office the very first week you were on the job with several large file folders and told you where the logs were being kept electronically on the company server.  Her parting words were “good luck”.  You went through the logs and discovered that for whatever reason, the HR director was keeping two separate 300 logs, one for your company employees and a second log for temporary workers.  You took a look at 29 CFR Section 1904.31 that states employers who supervise temporary or leased employees at their facility are required to maintain the OSHA 300 Logs for those employees.
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Question: You wonder if keeping two separate logs is necessary and if it is acceptable to put them all on one log? Or, are you required to maintain two logs?

Answer:  The log is to be kept for an establishment. Under Section 1904.46 Definitions, an establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed. The controlling employer (using firm) may subdivide the OSHA 300 Log to provide separate listings of temporary workers, but must consider the separate listings to be one record for all recordkeeping purposes, including access by government representatives, employees, former employees and employee representatives as required by Section 1904.35 and 1904.40 in the Recordkeeping regulation.

OSHA’s view is that a given establishment should have one OSHA Log. Injuries and illnesses for all the covered employees at the establishment are then entered into that record to create a single OSHA 300A Summary form at the end of the year.

Protect Your Children from Fire-Related Injuries

According to the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), the most common causes of home fires in the winter are:  portable generators causing carbon monoxide poisoning, electrical shock, and fire hazards; candles, especially during the Christmas and New Year holidays; and heating (fireplaces, faulty furnaces) with the peak months being December, January, and February.

Safe Kids reports that since 1999, an average of 496 children up to age 14 died each year due to fire and burn-related injuries; in 2009 alone, almost 90,000 in this age group suffered nonfatal fire and burn-related injuries.  Among young children, the leading cause of burn-related hospitalizations and ER visits was due to scalds caused by hot foods and liquids spilled usually in the kitchen and also from too hot tap water.  Older children were injured most often by direct contact burns.  $22,700 was the average cost per admission to burn centers for children.

There are many more alarming statistics, and we can’t mention them all.  But, numerous steps can be taken to prevent home fires and injuries and deaths to our children.  For instance to lessen scalds, the setting on water heater thermostats should be set at no more than 120 degrees; the stove area should be made a “Kid-Free Zone” by keeping the little ones at least three feet away from the dangerous stove and never leaving the kitchen unattended; and the water temperature of bathing water should be checked before placing a child in the tub.  By taking these simple steps and following through, adults could significantly lessen the risk of scald burns to their children.

Here are several more safety tips to follow:

• Install smoke alarms on every level of your home and check their batteries once a year.
• Develop a fire escape plan and practice it several times a year.  There should be at least two ways out of every rom.
• Store matches and lighters out of sight in a hard to reach spot or in locked cabinets or drawers.�
• Put space heaters at least three feet from anything that could catch fire.  Be sure to turn them off when leaving the room or house and before going to bed.
• Never use the oven as a heat source.
• Check electrical cords to be sure they are not frayed or damaged.
• Keep the clothes dryer vent and filter cleaned of built up lint.
• Use extension cords properly by not running them under carpets or across walking areas.
• Have your furnace inspected by a professional once a year.
• Inspect and clean all chimneys annually.
• Don’t leave candles unattended or let children near them.  Blow them out when leaving a room.

Sparky.org is a great source of fun fire prevention information for children.  It is a cool tool to use with your children to help them learn about the dangers of fire and how to prevent hurting themselves and others.  And, believe it or not, Sparky the Fire Dog just celebrated his 60th birthday!

The links below will give you interesting articles on preventing burns and burn-related injuries and general fire information:

http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=1491&URL=Safety%20Information

http://www.cdc.gov/safechild/Burns/index.html

http://www.safekids.org/