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Change safety behavior: focus on the heart as well as the head
A year later: CSA on the road to success
The past, present and future of occupational safety
OSHA inconsistent on lockout interpretations
How to “get to zero” accidents in the workplace
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by Brad Hammock of Jackson Lewis
Associated General Contractors
Steel Manufacturers Association
Association for Iron and Steel Technology
Ironworker Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust
Safety & Health for Industrial Education and Labor Development, LLC
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.
My colleague Fred Rine, founder and CEO of FDRsafety, spent nearly 20 years running the safety departments at Roadway Express and FedEx and is an expert on fleet safety programs.
In an article in the upcoming issue of Occupational Health and Safety magazine, Fred lays out the five key elements of an excellent safety program, including one that is frequently overlooked – motivating drivers to operate their rigs safely.
One of the leading causes of deaths and serious injuries in American industry is falls from heights. OSHA’s regulations for general industry employers haven’t changed since OSHA started enforcing its standards in 1971.
The general industry fall protection rules I have reviewed below are inconsistent, confusing and do not address alternative protective measures that have been addressed in the construction standards (fall arrest, fall restraint, nets, etc.).
Every safety professional realizes that these regulations need to be updated and changed. Maybe the “New OSHA” will address the issue.
Here is information on the current general industry standards:
Definitions
Floor opening: An opening measuring 12 inches or more in its least dimension in any floor, platform, pavement or yard through which persons may fall. (Floor openings occupied by elevators, dumb waiters, conveyors, machinery or conveyors are excluded.)
Platform: A working space for persons elevated above the surrounding floor or ground, such as a balcony or platform for the operation of machinery or equipment.
Runway: A passageway for persons, elevated above the surrounding floor or ground such as a foot walk or a walkway.
Wall opening: An opening at least 30 inches high and 18 inches wide in any wall or partition through which persons may fall.
Stair platform: An extended step or landing breaking a continuous run of stairs.
Platform ladder: A self-supporting ladder of fixed size with a platform provided at the working level. (Also known as an A-frame ladder.)
Scaffold: Any temporary elevated platform and its supporting structure used for supporting workers.
Mobile work platform: Generally a fixed platform one frame high on casters or wheels, with bracing diagonally from platform to vertical frame.
Work level (Ladder stand or temporary elevated work platform): The elevated platform used for supporting workers.
Specific requirements for general industry
1) 1910.22(c) requires guarding to protect workers from the hazards (falls) of open pits, tanks, vats, ditches, etc.
2. 1910.23 (a) and (b) require stairway floor openings, ladderway floor openings, hatchway floor openings, chute floor openings, skylight floor openings, infrequently used pits, trapdoor floor openings, manhole floor openings and temporary floor openings, regardless of depth, to be guarded.
3. 1910.23 (b) requires every wall opening from which there Is a drop of more than four feet to be guarded.
4. 1910.23 (c) requires every open sided floor, platform or runway 4 feet or more above the adjacent floor or ground level to be guarded.
5. 1910.23 (c)(3) requires open sided floors, platforms or runways, regardless of height, that are above or adjacent to dangerous equipment to be guarded.
6. 1910.23 (d) requires guarding on open sides of every flight of stairs having four or more risers.
7. 1910.24 requires guarding on the open sides of exposed fixed industrial stairways and stair platforms (4 or more feet above adjacent floor).
8. 1910.25 and 26 do not have a guarding requirement for work conducted on portable wood or portable metal ladders. (Wood stepladders are permitted up to 20 feet, wood single ladders up to 30 feet and wood two-section ladders up to 60 feet.) (Metal single ladders may not exceed 30 feet, metal two-section ladders may not exceed 48 feet and over two-section metal ladders may not exceed 60 feet.) (Metal platform ladders may not exceed 20 feet.)
9. 1910.27 requires all landing platforms for fixed ladders to be guarded.
10. 1910.27 allows workers to climb fixed ladders (to any height) without fall protection when guarded landing platforms are provided for each 20 feet of height or fraction thereof.
11. 1910.28 requires all scaffold platforms to be guarded when they are 10 feet or more above the ground or floor.
12. 1910.29 requires that manually propelled mobile ladder stand platforms and mobile work platforms with work levels 10 feet or more above the ground be guarded.
Fall protection on vehicles
1. OSHA does not have any specific regulations covering fall protection on vehicles in General Industry.
2. OSHA issued a proposed fall protection standard, Fed. Reg. 13366, which explicitly excluded vehicles from coverage. (This standard has not been promulgated.)
3. The enforcement policy of OSHA has been that falls from rolling stock will not be cited under Subpart D of 1910.
4. OSHA’s policy has been that it would not be appropriate to use the personal protection equipment standard, 1910.132 (d) to cite exposure to fall hazards from the top of vehicles unless employees are working atop vehicles that are positioned inside of or contiguous to a building or other structure where the installation of fall protection is feasible.
In my opinion, OSHA does not presently, nor has it in its history, defined a walking/working surface to include vehicles on which employees must be located in order to perform their job duties. As an example, OSHA’s Construction Fall Protection Regulation, 1926.500, specifically excludes vehicles from its definition of a walking/working surface.
Bob Sands posted a question that may be on other readers’ minds about my earlier blog entry on OSHA’s new emphasis on recordkeeping.
Is the collection of real-time accident evidence/documentation (photos, video, audio etc.) a detriment or benefit to a company trying to comply with OSHA’s record keeping regulations? If we document our accidents heavily are we setting ourselves up for more scrutiny? Are there any existing or upcoming regulations that require us to gather such evidence documentation like photos/video etc.?
Here’s the answer:
A comprehensive accident investigation that includes extensive documentation and root cause analysis is never a detriment and is always a benefit to a company. In fact, a comprehensive accident investigation is an essential component of a “world-class safety program.” There is no current OSHA regulation that requires companies to investigate accidents in a prescribed manner. There is some talk in the “new OSHA” regarding another attempt at issuing a federal safety and health program standard that could require companies to document accidents in a certain way. In my opinion, a safety and health program standard will not be issued in the near future if OSHA tries to mandate all the elements of a safety and health program for all covered companies.
Companies are presently required to complete and make available the OSHA 300, 301 and 300A. Other accident investigation records requests should not be released to OSHA until you have had a chance to look at the documents and/or review them with upper management and/or legal counsel. Objections to this type of records request may be made on the grounds that the internal accident investigation is legally protected from disclosure.
As detailed in other entries on this blog, a bill introduced by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) would have a huge impact on occupational safety law, broadening the scope of those covered and increasing penalties, among other things.
The law firm of McDermott Will & Emery has published an excellent analysis of the bill, which may be viewed by clicking here.
Proposed changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which I wrote about in an earlier post, are quite far-reaching. Besides expanding coverage of the act to all federal and state government employees and some local government workers, it would allow those injured in work-related accidents to participate in OSHA inspections of the employer. It would also, among other things, allow employees and unions to contest settlements between OSHA and employers that withdraw or modify citations and increase the penalties for “repeat and willful” violations.
Rod Smith and Pat Miller of the Sherman & Howard law firm have prepared an excellent summary of the provisions of the bill, which was introduced by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.).
If luck doesn’t go your way and your company receives a recordkeeping inspection as part of OSHA’s new one-year National Emphasis Program (NEP) that has just started, the inspection will have three main components.
1) Records review of:
2) Interviews of:
3) Limited inspection walk-around:
For further information on what to expect, refer to the post: Getting ready for an OSHA inspection.
If you need recordkeeping advice:
Employers may call me free of charge for a limited consultation about recordkeeping issues. Call me at (513) 317-5644.
