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Occupational Safety Blog

By Fred Rine, CEO of FDRsafety and former long-time Managing Director of Safety and Health at FedEx, Jim Stanley, President of FDRsafety and former No. 2 at OSHA headquarters and Mike Taubitz, Senior Advisor to FDRsafety and former Global Safety Director for General Motors.


Archive for August, 2009

Combustible dust standard should be top priority for OSHA

August 25th, 2009 posted by Jim Stanley

Jim Stanley

On April 29, 2009, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said OSHA would pursue a dedicated, comprehensive rule-making on combustible dust.

Under the previous administration, OSHA pursued targeted enforcement of employers through a National Emphasis Program (mostly in federal enforcement states), outreach, training and cooperative programs on combustible dust rather that issuing a dedicated standard. OSHA claimed that rules such as the housekeeping standard and the general duty clause (Section 5A1) already existed to regulate the combustible dust hazard in general industry.

Any employer with potential combustible dust hazards should review the Chemical Safety Board video (29 minutes) posted on this blog.

A dedicated standard is absolutely needed and must be a top priority of OSHA so that affected employers and employees can comment and participate in the process.

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Posted in Accident Prevention, Enforcement | No Comments »





OSHA likely to tighten fall protection rules for residential construction

August 25th, 2009 posted by Jim Stanley

Jim Stanley

In September 2008, OSHA’s Advisory Committee on Construction, Safety and Health recommended that OSHA rescind the interim fall protection standard for residential construction. I believe OSHA has/will accept this recommendation and will rescind the interim standard before the end of 2009.

The interim residential fall protection standard was published in December 1995 during the Clinton administration. This standard says that residential construction employers can deem certain types of fall protection systems (guardrails, safety nets and personal fall arrest/restraint systems) “infeasible.” Instead they can employ alternative fall protection procedures which usually include administrative controls such as safety monitors and/or warning lines.

Most safety professionals believe residential construction firms should be required to follow the same fall protection rules as the rest of the construction industry. In any event, interim rules that have been in place for over 13 years should either be rescinded or made permanent by issuing additional fall protection rules.

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Posted in Accident Prevention, Enforcement | 3 Comments »





Getting ready for an OSHA inspection

August 17th, 2009 posted by Jim Stanley

Jim Stanley

The key to a successful OSHA inspection is careful advance preparation that includes a thorough understanding of what will happen and the rights that an employer and an inspector have during the process. The law firm of Sherman & Howard LLC has prepared an excellent guide.

How to Prepare for an OSHA Inspection

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Posted in Enforcement, Training | 1 Comment »





Kennedy bill would put more workers under OSHA

August 12th, 2009 posted by Jim Stanley

Jim Stanley

Sen. Ted Kennedy has introduced a bill to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act that would, among other things, expand OSHA coverage to 8.5 million public sector workers who are employed by state, county and local governments, but are not covered by an OSHA state plan.

The bill’s purpose is to “expand coverage under the Act, to increase protections for whistleblowers, to increase penalties for certain violators, and for other purposes,” according to the text of the bill. The bill has 19 co-sponsors.

For more information: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1580

Several OSHA-related bills had already been introduced on the House side, some with provisions similar to the Senate bill.

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Posted in Legislation | No Comments »





U.S. OSHA begins unusual review of state agency

August 9th, 2009 posted by Jim Stanley

Jim Stanley

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has begun an unusual review into the practices of a state occupational safety and health agency.

The Las Vegas Sun reported that a task force comprised of federal OSHA officials and two officials from other state workplace safety agencies have been at the offices of Nevada OSHA to review how the state investigates workplace accidents.

Nevada OSHA came into the spotlight last year after 12 construction worker deaths on the Strip in Las Vegas during an 18 month period. The accidents received widespread attention due to a Pulitzer Prize winning series of articles in the Sun.

Nevada, along with about half of the states, has its own agency to enforce laws governing workplace safety. In the remaining states, the federal OSHA governs workplace safety. The federal version of OSHA is also charged with reviewing the state plans to make sure they’re at least as effective as the federal approach, but it is unusual for the feds to undertake a review like the one now underway in Nevada.

The task force is expected to report on its findings in a month.

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OSHA resumes practice of answering highly specific questions

August 9th, 2009 posted by Jim Stanley

Jim Stanley

OSHA has resumed its practice of answering very specific questions about how its regulations should be interpreted.

The answers, known as letters of interpretation, appear on the agency’s web site and most of the posted answers deal with construction safety issues. Because they are narrow questions posed by individual employers, they may not have a broader application, but do give insight into the agency’s thinking.

For example, a letter from Richard E. Fairfax, director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, tells a Milwaukee employer that it must provide static dissipative safety toe footwear at no cost to employees working with flammable liquids and products because the footwear provides additional protection and is designed for special use on the job.

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Posted in Enforcement | No Comments »