ASSE Saddened by Loss of Committed St. Louis Safety Professional in Plant Explosion
Des Plaines, IL (February 10, 2010) — The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) President C. Christopher Patton, CSP, said today that ASSE is saddened by the sudden loss of Chris Walters, an ASSE member since 1981 who worked as a safety professional for more than 20 years. He was not only dedicated to protecting people, property and the environment, but to his wife, Fran, and their three children.
A resident of Florissant, MO, Walters died Sunday in a power plant explosion in Middletown, CT, where he was working as a contract safety manager.
“Chris was a very active member of ASSE, a fellow St Louis Chapter member, and respected safety professional,” Patton said. “He was a great volunteer in the chapter, well liked by everyone, and will be sorely missed.”
Walters had master degrees in Safety Management and Occupational Safety and Health. He had served as a volunteer in the ASSE St. Louis Chapter for several years, and, to continue his commitment to the profession he transferred his ASSE membership to the local Nutmeg chapter when he took the job in Connecticut, where he continued to be very active.
“As occupational safety and health professionals we work every day to make sure that workers, our co-workers, leave work injury and illness free,” Patton continued. “That’s what Chris has been doing for more than 20 years. It goes far beyond compliance, as safety professionals must inspire commitment from their leadership and integrate safety into business’ strategic and sustainability plans.”
A recent Central Missouri State University (CMSU) alumni magazine featured Walters in a story for his work in the construction of the new Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis stating, ‘Hunt Construction credits CMSU graduates Chris Walters, safety manager, and his assistant Joe Enright, for helping establish one of the best safety programs in the industry. The company’s lost-time injury rate building Busch Stadium was 82 percent below the national average. Their dedication to safety helped the $344 million-plus project stay on schedule and on budget with barely any loss due to incidents.’
For that project Walters estimated that it took about 2.5 million hours of labor to build the stadium, which was built from October 2005 until April 10, 2006.
“We are all deeply saddened by Chris’ death,” Patton said. “Because of people like Chris millions of workers in the U.S. go to work and leave work injury and illness free every day. We salute Chris for all he has done the past 20 years as a dedicated safety and health professional and will honor his memory, especially in St. Louis where he touched so many lives.”
Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE has more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members who lead, manage, supervise, research and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues in all industries, government, labor, health care and education. For more information please go to www.asse.org.
ASSE President Patton to Share Member Views at ‘OSHA Listens’ Meeting in D.C.
Des Plaines, IL (February 4, 2010) — American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) President C. Christopher Patton, CSP, will testify at an “OSHA Listens” meeting Wednesday, February 10, at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) auditorium in Washington, D.C., on ASSE members’ concerns on key issues facing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). ASSE represents more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental practitioner members.
The “OSHA Listens” meeting organized by OSHA aims to hear from key stakeholders invited to share their thoughts on issues facing OSHA. To prepare for its presentation, ASSE government affairs sent out a call to members for their input on what to include in Patton’s statement. ASSE received a strong response from members which will be reflected in Patton’s comments during his testimony. OSHA invited public input on several questions including:
A) What can the agency do to enhance and encourage the efforts of employers, workers and unions to identify and address workplace hazards?
B) What are the most important emerging or unaddressed health and safety issues in the workplace, and what can OSHA do to address these?
C) How can the agency improve its efforts to engage stakeholders in programs and initiatives?
D) Are there additional measures to improve the effectiveness of the agency’s current compliance assistance efforts and the onsite consultation program to ensure small businesses have the information needed to provide safe workplaces?
E) What specific actions can the agency take to enhance the voice of workers in the workplace, particularly workers who are hard to reach, who do not have ready access to information about hazards or their rights, or who are afraid to exercise their rights?
The “OSHA Listens” meeting will be held from 9 a.m. through 6 p.m. at the Frances Perkins Building Auditorium, DOL, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20210. Each presenter has five minutes for their prepared remarks, followed by a short question and answer session. Patton is slated to speak at 11:30 a.m. ASSE will also submit a longer written statement to be included in the record of the meeting. To hear the presentations one can go to http://www.dol.gov/dol/media/webcast/live/ for access to the live webcast.
Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the largest and oldest professional safety society and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. Its more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members lead, manage, supervise, research and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues in all industries, government, labor, health care and education. For more information please go to www.asse.org.
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The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) the largest and oldest professional safety society released its legislative and regulatory agenda for 2010. The ASSE states in its press release that this agenda is aimed at ensuring that advances in occupational safety and health legislation and regulation reflect the experience, expertise and best practices of ASSE’s member safety, health and environmental (SH&E) professionals. Professionals committed to protecting people, property and the environment. Twelve key issues dominate the agenda.
“As ASSE turns the corner to celebrate its next 100 years in safety, we will continue to work to ensure that any decision by federal or state government impacting the safety, health and environment of the workplace is based on good science and sound technology,” ASSE President C. Christopher Patton, CSP, said today. “ASSE works with legislators and regulators to enhance SH&E professional qualifications, safety and health program criteria, technical standards and other areas of hazard recognition and control that impact the SH&E profession.”
ASSE states that it will work this year to advance the following legislative and regulatory priorities:
1 — Reflect ASSE Member Experience and Expertise in OSHA Reform – Reform of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, including strengthening Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) criminal and civil penalties ending in fatalities, is a key issue. ASSE intends to support a bipartisan approach to increased penalties that target truly bad ‘actors’ and encourage corporate responsibility for setting a culture of safety at the highest level of management.
2 — Provide OSHA Coverage for State and Municipal Employees – In states that do not have their own state OSHA plans and, thus, are covered by federal OSHA, state and municipal workers are not guaranteed protection under OSHA’s standards leaving more than eight million public sector workers without the same workplace protections other workers have. ASSE members have worked hard to achieve such coverage in Florida know the difficulties of achieving coverage state by state. ASSE believes a federal solution is necessary, and that OSH Act reform cannot be complete without federal protections for all U.S. workers.
3- Advance a Safety and Health Program Rule – OSH regulation must better encompass risk-based approaches that encourage employers to take overall responsibility for safety and health throughout their organizations and not simply to react to minimal regulatory mandates. Adoption of a rule would help ensure that all employers follow their lead. The promulgation by OSHA of a safety and health program rule is the key to advancing this approach by requiring employers to assess the risks in their workplaces and take a proactive approach in addressing those risks.
4 - Develop Cooperative Ways to Address Regulatory Change – Mechanisms are needed to help the OSH community overcome polarizing viewpoints that limit OSHA’s and Mining and Safety Health Administration’s (MSHA) ability to update standards appropriately, including permissible exposure limits (PELs). ASSE has long called for negotiated rulemaking to set exposure limits and legal protections for standard development organizations to pursue exposure limits through the voluntary consensus standard process. OSHA should establish a national stakeholder dialogue to build common ground in support of regulatory reform.
5 - Advance Global Harmonization – OSHA’s rulemaking on global harmonization of U.S. hazard communications (GHS) must be completed as quickly as reasonably possible. GHS is a positive opportunity for OSHA both to advance workplace safety and health and to help ensure competitiveness for U.S. employers.
6 - Support National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Effectiveness in Advancing Safety –NIOSH is the source for federal resources to support OSH research as well as OSH professional training and education. The NIOSH partnership with ASSE, its ‘Research to Practice (R2P)’ initiative, the establishment of NORA research councils, ‘Prevention through Design’ and other initiatives, has done much to advance safety involvement in NIOSH. More is needed, however, such as finding ways through R2P to bring NIOSH research to the job floor. The ASSE Foundation now funds two PhD candidates, but NIOSH support is needed to increase the number of safety PhD programs as many safety PhDs approach retirement. NIOSH support for safety training must reflect the importance that frontline safety professionals play in employers’ commitment to safety and health. And, NIOSH must work towards an appropriate balance between safety and health research funding.
7 - Ensure Safety Agency Commitments – In a difficult economic climate, ASSE will work to ensure that federal commitment to OSHA, MSHA, NIOSH, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) and other agencies that impact workplace safety and health is not compromised and that those who are appointed to agency leadership positions can build consensus among all stakeholders.
8 - Build Consensus on Ergonomics – ASSE will continue to work toward achieving a consensus position on ergonomics that can overcome the long-standing polarization on this issue. An approach that is risk-based, encourages cooperation, and avoids prescriptive, one-size-fits-all solutions that our expert members know will not work can serve as a consensus position. ASSE can also support industry-specific approaches that reflect the demonstrated best practices of our members in the industry, as current legislation to protect direct care nurses and health care workers from the risks posed by lifting in health care facilities achieves.
9 - Include SH&E in Trade Policy – ASSE encourages OSHA to take a role in ensuring that safety and health is part of U.S. trade policy so that U.S. corporate investments in SH&E are not undermined by international competitors who compete without investing in these global responsibilities.
10 - Engage in Chemical Management Reform Efforts – The current Administration has signaled the intent to reform the nation’s management of chemicals through reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA). ASSE members, with experience and expertise in managing chemicals across every industry, will participate in the debate as this effort moves forward.
11 - Encourage Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards – ASSE will work to encourage federal agencies to comply with the Technology Transfer Act’s mandate to consider national consensus standards where feasible when engaged in rulemaking. Use of such standards, like ANSI/ASSE Z15 for safe motor vehicle operation, ANSI/ASSE Z117 for confined spaces, and ANSI/ASSE Z490.1 for safety training will improve protections of workers and expedite rulemaking activities while reflecting the current technology and industry best practices.
12 - Support Third Party Consultation – ASSE supports legislation or regulatory approaches that allow third party safety audits of employers under strict requirements that ensure professionalism and maximize effectiveness, thereby expanding OSHA’s reach beyond the limits of its current enforcement and cooperative programs.
Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the largest and oldest professional safety society and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. Its more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members lead, manage, supervise, research and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues in all industries, government, labor, health care and education. Please go to www.asse.org and to the Government/Professional Affairs tab for more information.
For Immediate Release Contact: Diane Hurns, 847-768-3413, dhurns@asse.org
ASSE Urges US Senate Leader to Support Public Sector Work Coverage in OSHA Reform Legislation
Des Plaines, IL (January 22, 2010) — In a letter to U.S. Senator Johnny H. Isakson (R-GA), a leader in occupational safety and health issues, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) urged support for provisions in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reform legislation that would provide federal-level safety and health protections for the more than eight million state and municipal workers now without coverage, noting that the only practical solution is a federal solution.In his letter to Isakson, the ranking minority member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions’ Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety, ASSE President C. Christopher Patton, CSP, noted that under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), states without their own state OSH plans are not required to provide such protections. Achieving OSH coverage for public sector workers is important to ASSE members, occupational safety, health and environmental professionals who work in all industries worldwide.“Millions of workers are not provided federal occupational safety and health protections due to the fact that the OSH Act only requires such coverage in states with their own occupational safety and health plans,” Patton wrote. “ASSE supports providing all public sector employees with federal OSH protections and urge you to keep the provision that would provide this coverage in the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAW Act, S. 1580) bill now under consideration.
“If this provision is dropped from reform legislation, it would be a significant lost opportunity to correct the failure of the OSH Act to treat all workers equally,” Patton said. “Giving all workers the minimal protections afforded by federal OSHA standards would be argument enough to support this provision.”ASSE urges Isakson to consider the unmeasured burden that taxpayers are bearing because the states in which they live do not adequately protect workers.“This nation’s best employers are committed to workplace safety and health at levels far above the minimal levels of OSHA,” Patton said. “They do so not only because it is the right thing to do for their employees but also because it is a prudent, cost-effective business practice. Most employers in this nation understand that a relatively small investment in workplace safety and health pays off with reduced costs for liability insurance, workers compensation, worker lost-time and overall productivity.”
Patton also noted that efforts to achieve this coverage at the state level are difficult.
“As much as we would like to think that states are moving in this direction on their own as private sector employers have, they are not,” Patton wrote. “Only one state in recent years, Illinois, has taken steps to establish a federally-approved state plan for public sector workers. Efforts to achieve such coverage at the state level are extremely difficult, as ASSE’s members in Florida know first-hand. Introduction of ASSE-championed bills in Florida that would simply require the state’s public sector employers to meet federal standards without an enforcement mechanism took three years to be introduced.”
An investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Board (CSB) into the 2006 Daytona Beach municipal water treatment facility that took the lives of two workers found Florida’s lack of OSH coverage for its public sector workers contributed to those deaths. In response, ASSE Florida members led ASSE to provide the resources needed to help pass legislation in 2008 establishing a task force charged with determining how to best protect Florida’s workers that reinforced the need to provide the state’s public sector employers to meet federal OSH Act standards – without any enforcement provisions or resources to support the requirement. A bill requiring these protections failed to pass in 2009. The bill passed the House, but not the Senate.
“The only practical solution to this problem is a federal solution. Whether that is Section 101 of the PAW Act, or another approach that incentivizes states to protect their workers, ASSE urges you to use your leadership to help find a way to achieve universal worker occupational safety and health protections,” Patton said.
Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the largest and oldest professional safety organization and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. ASSE’s more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members lead, manage, supervise, research and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues in all industries, government, labor, health care and education. Go to www.asse.org for more information and to (http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/products/topics/businesscase/benefits.html) and (http://www.asse.org/practicespecialties/bosc/bosc_formal.php) for OSHA and ASSE information on the business community’s positive return on SH&E investment.
Des Plaines, IL (January 7, 2010) — In 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), workplace suicides were up 28 percent over 2007, and workplace homicides continued to be one of the top three causes of on-the-job fatalities, noted the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE).
ASSE member urge employers to take action now to reduce the incidence of homicides in their workplace, especially in light of recent incidents including today’s tragic shooting at a St. Louis factory.
ASSE member and co-author of the “Workplace Violence Survey & White Paper” JoAnn M. Sullivan, CSP, noted that employers must realize that under federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations they have a general duty to furnish to each employee, a place of employment that is free from recognized hazards that are causing, or likely to cause, death or serious harm to the employee. She also noted that employers, under the theory of respondent superior, are vicariously liable for any actions committed by its employees within the scope of their employment. The employer is liable for actions of the employee when the employee is working, even if the employee is not acting within company policy.
According to the report, workplace violence includes homicides, physical attacks, rapes, and other assaults — all forms of harassment and any other act that creates a hostile work environment.
Transportation incidents continue to be the number one cause of on-the-job deaths followed by workplace assault and violent acts and contact with an object or equipment. In 2008 in the U.S., according to the BLS statistics, 251 people committed suicide at work, 517 were shot and 32 were stabbed.
Noting that one size does not fit all, the ASSE Risk Management and Insurance (RM/I) Practice Specialty members suggest employers consider doing the following to help prevent workplace violence:
Officers and directors – establish a workplace violence prevention policy, upper management must promote a clear antiviolence corporate policy; and, establish and maintain security policies.
Human resource managers – examine and improve hiring practices; implement prescreening techniques; utilize background checks; encourage employees to report threats or violent behavior; establish termination policies; and, provide post-termination counseling.
Safety, health and environmental departments – train all employees in the warning signs of aggressive or violent behavior; train management in threat assessment and de-escalation techniques; conduct a formal workplace violence risk assessment; increase security as needed; develop and communicate a contingency plan to all employees which includes crisis management and media relations; review insurance coverage and verify coverage and exclusions; and, identify a defensive strategy.
Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the oldest and largest professional safety organization with more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. ASSE has 13 practice specialties members can join that serve as a forum for discussion of best practice strategies, research and professional development. For more information go to www.asse.org to the search element and enter ‘workplace violence’ and to www.bls.gov for the fatal occupational injuries report.
For Immediate Release Contact: Diane Hurns, 847-768-3413, dhurns@asse.org
Des Plaines, IL (December 18, 2008) — “Workplace safety processes must be in place at all times,” American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) President Warren K. Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHMM, of Fairborn, Ohio, said today. “They are even more critical during business downturns.”
Brown is referring to recent reports of some companies cutting safety processes hoping to reduce costs.
“If companies believe they will save money by reducing or ignoring safety for their workers, customers and communities they do business in, they are mistaken,” Brown said. “The ongoing positive results are in and have been for companies that have a strong safety culture and continually invest in and implement effective safety processes. Not only does their bottom line benefit positively, but their company reputation stays intact, employees stay safe and healthy reducing health care, workers comp, training and turnover costs not to mention keeping customers, the communities they do business in, vendors and employees happy. Safety is good business.”
Members of the 97-year-old ASSE — occupational safety, health and environmental professionals located worldwide — caution employers against cutting back on workplace safety in time of economic difficulty.President-Elect of the ASSE South Carolina Chapter Laura Comstock said, “Some safety related purchases and testing can be deferred, but other purchases, such as those for employee personal protective equipment (PPE) like hardhats, safety glasses and respirators, are critical to operations.”It is especially important for companies to show support for their employee safety during challenging economic times, she notes. “Employee morale may be low and employees may be carrying additional workloads, such as working additional hours or doing unfamiliar tasks due to cutbacks,” she notes. Comstock added, “In order to remain viable long-term, a company must maintain a solid safety process even through difficult times. The most successful companies in the long term also have the strongest safety performance.”“We realize these are tough times, but during economic down-turns, employers seeking to cut expenses may target variable operating costs such as travel, training and safety,” Brown said. “Money cut from safety processes now could have an enormous cost later; this can be from injury and health care costs, fines, lost production time, employee morale, or worst of all, employee injury or even death. There are better and smarter ways to protect the bottom line.”The South Carolina ASSE chapter suggests employees can also take measures to help companies save money such as by: following safe working procedures and practices to prevent injuries, related downtime and expenses such as costly fines; by properly using, cleaning and caring for protective equipment such as hardhats and respirators; reusing gloves whenever possible for as long as possible; and by keeping track of safety glasses and reusable hearing protection.
Investing in safety pays and contributes positively to a company’s bottom line. Businesses spend about $170 billion a year on costs associated with workplace injuries and illnesses and pay almost $1 billion every week to injured employees and their medical providers. In addition, a recent investment firm study in Australia showed valuation links between workplace safety and health factors and investment performance. It found that companies who did not adequately manage workplace safety issues underperformed those that did.
Comstock also reminds employers, “When considering training reductions, some safety related training is driven by regulation, is time sensitive and cannot be delayed. Safety training related savings can be generated by streamlining and implementing simple solutions including using online or electronic safety training services, rather than face-to-face classroom safety training.”
“We need to work together during these difficult times, but reducing or ignoring workplace safety should not be a strategic or budget option,” Brown said. “The costs – both tangible and intangible – are far too high and hard to recoup.”
Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the largest and oldest professional safety organization and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. Its more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members lead, manage, supervise, research and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues in all industries, government, labor, health care and education. For more information please go to www.asse.org.
