Work Comp – Page 4 – Risk Management 365

Work Zone Traffic Safety

Summary of Work Zone Traffic Safety

The Hazard: death or serious injury from being struck by vehicles or equipment in work zones.
Who is at risk: streets/highways, utilities and other public works department workers who maintain roadways, bridges, sewers, catch basins, etc.
Prevention: reducing the speed of vehicles, traffic control plans warning motorists of work zones, guiding traffic safely through the work zone, and returning passing vehicles to normal traffic flow.
Laws: The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforced the MUTCD (29 CFR 1926.200-203).

Four Functional Categories of Fall Protection Products

All fall protection products fit into four functional categories.

1. Fall Arrest; 2. Positioning; 3. Suspension; 4. Retrieval.

Fall Arrest

A fall arrest system is required if any risk exists that a worker may fall from an elevated position, as a general rule, the fall arrest system should be used anytime a working height of six feet or more is reached. Working height is the distance from the walking/working surface to a grade or lower level. A fall arrest system will only come into service should a fall occur. A full-body harness with a shock-absorbing lanyard or a retractable lifeline is the only product recommended. A full-body harness distributes the forces throughout the body, and the shock-absorbing lanyard decreases the total fall arresting forces.

Positioning

This system holds the worker in place while keeping his/her hands free to work. Whenever the worker leans back, the system is activated. However, the personal positioning system is not specifically designed for fall arrest purposes.

Suspension

This equipment lowers and supports the worker while allowing a hands-free work environment, and is widely used in window washing and painting industries. This suspension system components are not designed to arrest a free fall, a backup fall arrest system should be used in conjunction with the suspension system.

Retrieval

Preplanning for retrieval in the event of a fall should be taken into consideration when developing a proactive fall management program.

via Fall Protection.

What is Crystalline Silica?

Respirable crystalline silica – very small particles at least 100 times smaller than ordinary sand you might encounter on beaches and playgrounds – is created during work operations involving stone, rock, concrete, brick, block, mortar, and industrial sand. Exposures to respirable crystalline silica can occur when cutting, sawing, grinding, drilling, and crushing these materials. These exposures are common in brick, concrete, and pottery manufacturing operations, as well as during operations using industrial sand products, such as in foundries, sand blasting, and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations in the oil and gas industry.

via OSHA’s Rulemaking on Crystalline Silica Rulemaking.

Workplace Health – Ergonomics

Ergonomics is the science of fitting workplace conditions and job demands to the capability of the working population. The goal of ergonomics is to reduce stress and eliminate injuries and disorders associated with the overuse of muscles, bad posture, and repeated tasks. A workplace ergonomics program can aim to prevent or control injuries and illnesses by eliminating or reducing worker exposure to WMSD risk factors using engineering and administrative controls. PPE is also used in some instances but it is the least effective workplace control to address ergonomic hazards. Risk factors include awkward postures, repetition, material handling, force, mechanical compression, vibration, temperature extremes, glare, inadequate lighting, and duration of exposure. For example, employees who spend many hours at a workstation may develop ergonomic-related problems resulting in musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

via CDC – Workplace Health – Implementation – Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSD) Prevention.

OSHA’s 2013 Top Ten Most Cited Violations

The following is a list of the top 10 most frequently cited standards following inspections of worksites by federal OSHA. OSHA publishes this list to alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take steps to find and fix recognized hazards addressed in these and other standards before OSHA shows up. Far too many preventable injuries and illnesses occur in the workplace.

1926.501 – Fall Protection
1910.1200 – Hazard Communication
1926.451 – Scaffolding
1910.134 – Respiratory Protection
1910.305 – Electrical, Wiring Methods
1910.178 – Powered Industrial Trucks
1926.1053 – Ladders
1910.147 – Lockout/Tagout
1910.303 – Electrical, General Requirements
1910.212 – Machine Guarding

via Top Ten Standards.

No Lockout/Tagout Can Be Fatal

Worker killed at Michigan molding plant

A worker was crushed to death March 5, 2014 in an industrial accident at a plastics molding plant in Shelby Township, Mich.

The victim was attempting to clear an obstruction from a press machine at about 6 a.m. when he was fatally injured, according to a news release from the Shelby Township Police Department.

“The machine cycled to stamp a part and crushed the victim,” the release says.

The victim died at the scene before police and fire personnel arrived.

via Worker killed at Michigan molding plant – News – Plastics News.

“While this is still under investigation by MIOSHA it’s obvious this machine was being worked on with out following Lockout-tagout procedures. Unfortunately this time it was fatal.”

Safe Patient Handling

Rates of musculoskeletal injuries from overexertion in healthcare occupations are among the highest of all U.S. industries. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that in 2011, the rate of overexertion injuries averaged across all industries was 38 per 10,000 full time workers. By comparison, the overexertion injury rate for hospital workers was twice the average (76 per 10,000), the rate for nursing home workers was over three times the average (132 per 10,000), and the rate for ambulance workers was over six times the average (238 per 10,000). The single greatest risk factor for overexertion injuries in healthcare workers is the manual lifting, moving and repositioning of patients, residents or clients, i.e., manual patient handling.

via CDC – Safe Patient Handling – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.

Operator Error Kills Two Men in Crane Accident

Fatal Boom Overturn

Two men in Arizona died when the lift they were using to paint the outside of a prison building overturned.

The boom was almost fully telescoped and had been raised to its maximum elevation when it tipped over backwards indicating that reports of it being on a slope of more than five degrees have some substance.

Incidents like this should never happen, one of the most basic aspects of any training stress the importance of setting up aerial lifts on firm level ground, yet this is the second incident this week involving people operating on a slope.

via Fatal Boom Overturn – Crane Accidents.

OSHA proposed new rule to post workplace injuries and illnesses on-line

The proposed rule was developed to help OSHA gather information about electronic submission of establishment-specific injury and illness data. OSHA is proposing to amend its current recordkeeping regulations to add requirements for the electronic submission of injury and illness information employers are already required to keep under existing standards, Part 1904. The first proposed new requirement is for establishments with more than 250 employees (and who are already required to keep records) to electronically submit the records on a quarterly basis to OSHA.

OSHA is also proposing that establishments with 20 or more employees, in certain industries with high injury and illness rates, be required to submit electronically only their summary of work-related injuries and illnesses to OSHA once a year. Currently, many such firms report this information to OSHA under OSHA’s Data Initiative.

OSHA plans to eventually post the data online, as encouraged by President Obama’s Open Government Initiative. Timely, establishment-specific injury and illness data will help OSHA target its compliance assistance and enforcement resources more effectively by identifying workplaces where workers are at greater risk, and enable employers to compare their injury rates with others in the same industry.

via 2013 – 11/07/2013 – OSHA announces proposed new rule to improve tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses.

Worksite Safety – Incident Prevention

If you’ve been a safety professional or an operational manager for any significant amount of time, you’ve probably had your share of safety-related incidents. The most significant incidents are usually measured by their consequences. These may result in death, serious injuries, lost or restricted workday cases, OSHA recordable cases, first aid treatment, and/or equipment or property damage. Other incidents are commonly referred to as near misses, where serious consequences like the ones previously listed could potentially have occurred, but, through luck or circumstance, did not. Regardless of the type of incident, there is always one question that is asked afterward: Why did this happen?

via Worksite Safety Articles from Incident Prevention.