Dr. Michaels Emphasizes Priorities at NSC Summit in San Diego

Industrial Safety and Hygiene News sent out an article summarizing the summit session where Dr. Michaels spoke about OSHA's priority for the I2P2 Standard, or the Injury and Illness Prevention Program rule. In his discussion, Dr. Michaels indicates that changes required will address industries finding and fixing hazards before they can cause accidents. He emphasized that changes will require a close collaboration between mangers, team leaders, and employees. Many companies have already taken steps to train employees in accident prevention, where managers and employees watch out for others and report potential problems so they can be fixed before a major incident occurs. But there is the increased problem of sick or injured workers coming to work too soon because they don't have enough time off or are afraid of losing their jobs. Depending on the circumstances, they could be placing themselves and others at a higher risk. What changes has your company done to prevent injuries and illnesses?

For the proposed ruling, go to: osha.gov/FedReg_osha_pdf/FED20100504.pdf

Elements of the rule consist of:

1. Management duties such as establishing a policy, goal setting, planning and allocating resources, and assigning and communicating roles and responsibilities,
2. Employee participation such as involving employees in the establishment and implementation of the policies, providing access to employees for health and safety information, involving the employee in the incident investigation,
3. Hazard identification and assessment such as identifying hazards, gathering information, workplace inspections and incident investigations, hazard associations with workplace changes, determining priorities and identification tools,
4. Hazard prevention and control such as determining and priorizing what hazards must be controlled, and evaluating the effectiveness of controls,
5. Education and training, including content, effectivenss, relationship for training,
6. Program evaluation and improvement, with monitoring, evaluating performance, and determining deficiencies.

The rules require a continual plan to review and improve, after all, the workplace is continually changing. Communication will be essential in this plan. People are different in how they train, how they work with others, yet everyone can bring something of value into the program. Getting people to communicate requires team collaboration skills that have often been challenging. What challenges does your company face in meeting this proposed plan?

Career Day Important Opportunities for Students

What a wonderful group of rising 9th graders I met today during Career Day at the Conyers Middle School! Yes, I had the opportunity to go class to class talking about what I do as an environmental consultant. I prepared by linking what I do to some of what these kids might be seeing in the future and got a great response. Of course, most questions seemed to be more about the BP disaster since that is what is in the news. But, whatever the questions, it is great to see the interest and potential of some future environmental consultants.

SCDHEC UST Contractor's Forum

SCDHEC announced a re-scheduled forum on June 4, 2010 to discuss the requirements of a Programmatic Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP). The QAPP will be replacing all UST Program guidance documents. The QAPP is available on the UST webpage at www.scdhec.gov/environmental and all work on or after July 1, 2010 is subject to the requirement of the QAPP, revised October 2009.

Injury Rates Higher with Young Workers

During 4QR's upcoming seminar on May 13, 2010, there will be a discussion about the safety obligations of companies that hire youth workers. Youth workers are minors from the ages of 14 to 17. During the school year, minors can work minimized hours around school hours. These hours are extended during the summer schedule when school is out. There are specific regulations on the type of work youths can do in an industrial company. And all counties in Georgia this summer are organizing Teen Work Programs that use Stimulus Money to help youths find work.

Some companies may also have young workers under the age of 25, which are estimated to make up about 14 % of the labor force. A recent article from EHS Today discusses some of the statistics and indicates that injuries are greatest among 18 and 19 year old workers. The article goes on to indicate "fatalities of younger workers occur most frequently in services, construction, retail trade, and agricultural." In all age categories, fatalities are mostly reported in transportation accidents.

Youths have inexperience in dealing with equipment and vehicles. The mentality of invincibility may be strong. And unfortunately, youths do not often understand the importance of personal protective equipment, sometimes placing comfort first. Then there is the added stress factor of trying to be a great employee - the temptation of taking short cuts to make timely deliveries.

Training for the supervisors and team leaders who manage youths can help minimize injuries and raise awareness to the regulations. If your company has or is planning to hire youths in the near future, how would you rank your knowledge on understanding the safety obligations regarding youths in the workplace? Are you comfortable that the positions companies are placing youths in are suitable for their safety and the safety of others?

Top Worst Ozone Cities announced for 2010

With summer approaching, many cities across the U.S. will have smog alerts. Click to see the cities with the worst pollution at www.forbes.com/2010/04/28/polluted-cities-smog-lifestyle-health-american-lung-association-ozone_slide.html Smog alerts are usually consistent with the hottest days of the year, when air pollution is at its height. But the good news is that some cities, such as Atlanta and Pittsburg, have been reducing their smog. Atlanta has one of the lowest air pollution levels reported since 1994. EPA controls on industry emissions have played a role in reducing air pollution. And while traffic has increased in cities such as Atlanta, new vehicle emission standards over the past few decades, along with carpooling campaigns to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, have helped to reduce air pollution.

4QR employees work from home, with some exceptions such as when doing field work. And we try to combine field work into minimal trips. Fewer trips result in less emission of vehicle fumes that will get into the air. And combining trips help to reduce fuel and save time. We also try not to have employees work outside at job sites during the hottest days. Although this cannot always be done, staying indoors when air quality is at its worst can help you breath easier. Another way to reduce ozone is to avoid fueling during the hottest parts of the day.

What are some of the things you and your company are doing to minimize air pollution?

Hidden Brownfields

At what point will the truth about the commercial real estate market blossom? By this, I refer to the "hidden Brownfields" that lenders and property owners of closed industrial facilities are sitting on. With so many vacancies in shopping centers, corner gas stations, and manufacturing buildings, certainly there is only so much time that can go by before it becomes public knowledge the extensive number of contaminated properties that are out there. There has been some talk on changing environmental brownfields regulations for handling these many sites. And just who will be responsible for those properties that have been foreclosed? What are your thoughts about the brownfield talks? What are your thoughts of how banks are handling the environmental (or lack of it) on commercial properties?

Hazwoper Training

Although Hazwoper refresher is a requirement for training by OSHA, many companies seem to delay sending their employers at the yearly interval. Are you getting refreshers every 12 months or are the intervals exceeding 12 months? If exceeding, how long does your company wait to give refreshers and why do you think there is the delay?