The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s adoption of the Globally Harmonized System into its existing Hazard Communication standard is being pushed back until February, according to OSHA spokeswoman Kimberly Darby.

OSHA originally submitted the text for the final rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on Oct. 25.

Typically the office has 90 days to approve or deny submitted rules, but both OSHA and the OMB mutually agreed to extend the deadline until February to wrap up the remaining details, according to Darby.

OSHA began the process of adopting the GHS in September 2006 and originally planned on having the program in place by August 2011.

The adoption of the GHS is expected to impact millions of employers in nearly every industry across the United States.

The program will replace existing Material Safety Data Sheets with Safety Data Sheets and introduce new labels pictograms and universal system of hazard identification.

Once adopted OSHA will grant employers up to two years to train employees on the concepts of the new system. This training is expected to cost American employers more than $44 million.

In addition to the adoption of the GHS in the United States, both Mexico and Canada are working on putting in place the GHS system.

In Mexico there is already a system for voluntary compliance and in Canada work is being done to implement GHS as part of its WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) regulations, but draft of the rule is yet to be published.

To help ease the transition Safety Services Company has created ww.GHSguide.com and is already offering a HCS training kit featuring the principles of the GHS.

For more info call 877-201-8923

According to a recent statement by Ontario Chief Prevention Officer, George Gritziotis, the province is moving forward with a number of initiatives to improve occupational health and safety.

“We are participating in the biggest revitalization of Ontario’s workplace health and safety in more than three decades since the [Occupational Health and Safety Act] came into effect in 1979,” Gritziotis said.

Revisions to the act and new requirements being considered include:

• Enabling the Office of the Worker Advisor and the Office of the Employer Advisor to provide support for workers and small businesses involved in reprisal complaints in an attempt to expedite claims.
• A new poster explaining workplace parties’ basic rights and responsibilities in various languages
• OH&S guides for both workers and employers
• Appointment of two new minister’s advisory committees in 2012, one for small businesses and one for vulnerable worker.

The changes Gritziotis and his team are developing will be laid out in a formal plan in the coming months. The Expert Advisory Panel on Occupational Health and Safety, chaired by Tony Dean, “will play a significant role in the foundation of that strategy,” Gritziotis said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $318,000 in fines against Jenny-O Turkey Store, concluding the company was not doing enough to protect the safety and health of its employees after one worker severed his arm at the company’s Barron, Wis., turkey processing facility.

The fines against Jenny-O, a Hormel subsidiary, come as a result of an investigation into a July 20 accident that sent a veteran employee to the hospital to have an arm reattached. Shawn Redman, 35, lost the arm below the elbow when it got trapped in a moving production line as he performed cleaning duties in a confined space.

“Failing to ensure protection through appropriate training and adherence to OSHA regulations led to a worker losing an arm,” said Mark Hysell, director of OSHA’s Eau Claire Area Office.

The OSHA citation includes four willful violations involving confined space regulations. It also cites seven serious violations for failing to provide safety provisions such as rescue and emergency services.

Redman had to walk down 25 stairs and 200 feet across the production floor to get a coworker’s attention after the injury.

A confined space by definition has limited or restricted means for entry or exit, and it is not designed for continuous employee occupancy. The room where the incident occurred, according to OSHA, posed both electro-mechanical and atmospheric hazards, neither of which were properly abated before allowing a worker to enter the space.

OSHA requires employers address confined space hazards with a written permit space program that reduces risks and ensures the availability of rescue and emergency services if needed.

We hear a ton of safety myths everyday that have no basis on research or facts. These consist of things that sound great that people say to get our attention. In many instance the people spewing these fantasies may even believe them themselves. However, as safety professionals we can’t live in a fantasy world, we must use cold hard data to back our claims.

To help you from falling victim to fake claim here are 10 quick Tweetable workplace safety facts. To share these facts simply click on the link you wish to share and it will post on your Twitter account.

10. Average OSHA fine is $1,000

In 2010 the average OSHA fine was $1,028 and the average company received more than two fines per inspection.

9. Overexertion accounts for 25 percent of all workplace injuries

According to Liberty Mutual Safety Index overexertion, or injuries caused by lifting, pushing, pulling, holding and carrying, costs businesses $12.75 billion in direct annual expenses and accounts for more than 25% of the national burden. Furthermore “Fall on same level” ranks as the No. 2 cause of disabling injury that drives direct costs of $7.94 billion, or 15.8% of the total injury burden.

8. Scaffolding, Fall Protection violations number 1 OSHA citations

According to OSHA the most violated standard the past year was a dead heat between fall protection and scaffolding requirements.

7. Nearly 75 percent of illicit Drug users employed

According to OSHA of the 7.2 million illicit drug users aged 18 or older in 2005, 12.9 million (74.8 percent) were employed either full or part time. Furthermore, research indicates that between 10 and 20 percent of the nation’s workers who die on the job test positive for alcohol or other drugs.

6. Hazardous Substances cause 10 percent of skin cancers
According to the International Labour Organization Hazardous substances kill about 438,000 workers annually, and 10% of all skin cancers are estimated to be attributable to workplace exposure to hazardous substances.

 5. Workplace safety programs decrease injuries by 50 percent

According the American Society of Safety Engineers a comprehensive workplace safety program can decrease the likely hood of a workplace injury by up to 50 percent.

 4. 6,000 people die a day of workplace injury

According to the International Labour Organization each day, an average of 6,000 people die as a result of work-related accidents or diseases, totaling more than 2.2 million work-related deaths a year. Of these, about 350,000 deaths are from workplace accidents and more than 1.7 million are from work related diseases. In addition, commuting accidents increase the burden with another 158,000 fatal accidents.

 3. code> Workplaces see $3 to $1 return on workplace safety

Ninety-five percent of business executives report that workplace safety has a positive impact on a company’s financial performance, according to the findings of The Executive Survey of Workplace Safety by the Liberty Mutual Group, the nation’s leading provider of workers compensation insurance. Of these executives, 61 percent believe their companies receive a return on investment of $3 or more for each $1 they invest in improving workplace safety.

The survey also reveals executives realize the benefits of workplace safety go beyond the company’s bottom line, with 70 percent reporting that protecting employees is a leading benefit of workplace safety.

 2. Workplace injury and illness more costly than all cancers combined

In a study funded by the National Institute of Safety and Health, public health sciences professor J. Paul Leigh of the University of California, Davis, pegs the cost of work-related injury and illness in 2007 at about $250 billion. That puts the price to of workplace health and safety problems above the economic burden posed by all cancers combined.

1. Workplace fatalities down 62% and injuries down 42 %

Since OSHA was created in 1971, the workplace fatality rate among employees has decreased by 62%⁽¹⁾ and occupational injury and illness rates have declined by 42%⁽²⁾. At the same time, US employment in the private sector and the number of workplaces has doubled, increasing from 56 million workers at 3.5 million establishments to 114 million workers at 7 million establishments.⁽³⁾

In a study funded by the National Institute of Safety and Health, public health sciences professor J. Paul Leigh of the University of California, Davis, pegs the cost of work-related injury and illness in 2007 at about $250 billion. That puts the price to of workplace health and safety problems above the economic burden posed by all cancers combined.

Workplace injuries alone accounted for an economic burden of around $192 billion in 2007 according to the study. Earlier estimates using the same methods put the cost of cancer that same year at around $219 billion.

The study, released in the December 2011 issue of the Milbank Quarterly, drew estimates based on data from dozens of sources including government agencies and insurance companies to find “the contributions of job-related injuries and illnesses to the overall cost of medical care and ill health are greater than generally assumed.”

Of the approximately 8.5 million occupational injuries, 5,657 resulted in death. Among the 516,149 reported incidents of workplace illness, 53,445 resulted in death.

In an interview with EHS Today, Leigh says his study suggests that workplace illness and injury prevention, despite improvement over the four decades since the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Mine Safety and Health Act were signed.

“The costs are enormous and continue to grow. And the potential for health risks are high, given that most people between the ages 22 to 65 spend 40 percent of their waking hours at work,” the professor is quoted.

The study comes on the heels of a released OSHA whitepaper supporting a requirement that all employers maintain an Injury Illness Prevention Program (I2P2) to decrease the same types of occupational injuries and illnesses cited in Leigh’s study.

This study points to an even steeper price for not investing in safety and health than most would assume — for businesses, workers and the broader economy. Safety Services Company can help owners and safety professionals close the gaps in their injury and illness prevention program or build one from scratch.

Call 877-201-8923 for more info.

A study of workers compensation claims across 38 states shows the average cost of a fall for roofers and carpenters is more than double the average cost of all other occupational classifications.

The OSHA study, which looked at data from 2005-2007, found the average cost of falls from elevation at $106,000 for roofers, $97,000 for carpenters and less than $50,000 for all other industries.

A fall from elevation is considered any fall from a height greater than 6-feet not involving scaffold or ladder.

In addition to looking at cost of falls from height the study reviled the average cost of falls from ladders and scaffolding was $68,000 for roofers and $62,000 for carpenters.

To limit these types of incidents OSHA requires companies to have in place comprehensive training programs on fall protection and ladder usage.

Here at Safety Services we offer affordable training solutions to meeting these government requirements.

Call 877-201-8923 for more info.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials are looking into an explosion at an Edmond, Okla., piping company that injured four on Thursday.

The morning explosion sent three of the injured workers to two nearby hospitals. One victim suffered third-degree burns and was sent to an intensive care unit. The other three, one of whom was sent home without hospitalization, suffered first-degree burns. No significant property damage was reported.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigates any workplace incident that results in the hospitalization of two or more workers or that results in fatality. They have six months to complete their investigation. NOV Tuboscope’s parent company, National Oilwell Varco, says they will cooperate with the investigation.

Edmond Fire Maj. Kelly Lewis told the  Edmond Sun that no secondary fire resulted from the explosion at the facility. A kerosene space heater  ignited a cloud of  polymer dust that was released while workers were working on machinery resulting in the explosion.

OSHA regulations demand temporary space heaters in the workplace be approved for commercial use by a recognized safety testing laboratory. Further, they should be placed away from combustible materials, and have a tip-over switch to ensure it will turn off automatically if knocked over.

As the year begins, it is a good time to review the safety precautions and procedures of your business. A thorough risk assessment of a work site involves the identification of hazards like space heaters around flammable material or where flammable material may. Safety Services Company manuals walk thorough hazard identification and risk assessment to help ensure any work site is safer than the standards.

Ever since man picked up a rock more than 2 million years ago and used it break apart wood, bone and other objects the hammer was destined to become an integral tool in the construction of human society.

Yet despite more than 2 million years of experience using hammering devices, mankind still suffers from hammer related injuries at a rate as high as any other hand tool.

Why?

Improper use, selection and maintenance

However, by following the advice in this article you and your employees can help prevent hammer related injuries in the workplace.

Hammer Selection

There is no such thing as a “universal” hammer. Each hammer is designed for a specific job and using the improper hammer can increase the probability of an injury.

The following is a look at a few of the more popular hammers and their intended usage.

Ball Pein Hammer-For riveting, center punching and bending or shaping soft metal. Choose a size to match the task.

Hand Drilling Hammer-The only hammer to use with star drills, masonry nails, steel chisels and nail pullers. Easy to handle; packs plenty of punch.

Rawhide Mallet-For use in furniture assembly, shaping soft sheet metals or any task that requires non-marring blows.

Brick Hammer-Designed for cutting and setting bricks or blocks, and for chipping mortar.

Shingling Hatchet- Used  for installing shakes and shingles. Handy gauge pin sets exposed length of shingle. Milled and crowned face sets nails cleanly.

Wallboard Tool-Multi-purpose tool scores wallboard, makes cutouts and sets nails with a perfect dimple.

Curved Claw or Nail Hammer-For use with finishing nails only. Choose 16 or 20 oz. weights for general carpentry; lighter weights for model work or fine cabinetry.

Straight Claw or Rip Hammer-For use with non-hardened, common or finishing nails only. Choose weights from 20 to 32 oz. for framing and ripping.

Remember when selecting a hammer to always use the appropriate weight so that only a natural swing is required. Let the weight of the hammer do the work.

Hammer Safety

Hammers injuries can be caused by trying to strike too heavy a blow with a lightweight hammer, by using a damaged hammer and by using the wrong style of hammer for the task.

These injuries can range from minors cuts and scrapes to possible broken bones of even damaged eyes.

Follow these tips to prevent hammer injuries.

• When using a hammer ensure proper clearance from fellow workers.
• Keep your work area clean and free from debris.
• Use hammers or mallets with insulated handles for work on or around exposed energized parts. The hammer should feel balanced and under control as you grip the handle.
• Wear proper eye protection.
• When pulling nails or prying material apart, make sure the claw of the hammer is in the proper position and the right leverage is applied.
• Never use anything other than a hammer to drive nails into material (i.e.… rock, brick, back of a tool).
• Avoid handles with sharp edges which can cut off circulation to your finger during long periods of use. Handles should be shaped to fit your hand comfortably.
• Use hammers with cushioned handles to  help absorb vibration, impacts, or squeezing pressure.
• Keep floors clean and dry to prevent accidental slips with or around dangerous tools.
• When hammering make sure you can easily reach your work without straining muscles.
• Make sure that you have secure footing and good balance while using a hammer. Use a vise, clamps, or other means to secure the piece you are striking.

Hammer Maintenance

One of the greatest hazards of hammer use is improper maintenance. As an employer it is your responsibility toensure the safe condition of the tools your employees use.

To ensure this safety you should train employees on how to properly maintain their hammers. To further enhance this training you should have employees sign off at least once a week that their equipment is in proper working condition.

Consider the following when crafting a hammer maintenance program.

• Hammers with loose, splintered or cracked handles are susceptible to having the head fly off during use.
• Use tool boxes or tool chests to keep hammers and tools organized.
• Hang larger tools on pegboards and never leave hammers or tools strewn about your work area.
• Replace broken equipment immediately. Make repairs only if you are qualified.
• Make sure you examine each hammer and tool before using.

Workers’ compensation costs per claim for Louisiana grew at a double-digit rate in recent years, the fastest growth among all states in a new study by Cambridge, Mass.-based Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).

The 16-state study, CompScope™ Benchmarks for Louisiana, 12th Edition, reported that costs per claim rose 11 percent per year from 2007 to 2009 with increases involved in all key cost components – medical, indemnity (payments for lost wages), and expenses per claim.

WCRI speculated that this rapid growth may reflect some impact from the recession, although it noted that the recession’s effects appear to have been less severe in Louisiana than in other states in part due to the post-Hurricane Katrina recovery.
The study said that indemnity benefits per claim rose nearly 11 percent per year in Louisiana during the period, a faster growth rate than in other study states during these observable recession years.

The main driver in the growth of indemnity benefits per claim was an increase in the average duration of temporary disability of nearly two weeks.

Medical payments per claim also grew faster in Louisiana during the period than in other study states — 26 percent compared to about 16 percent in the typical study state. These costs were among the highest of the 16 study states, 14 percent higher than typical.

The study noted that state officials and system stakeholders view medical treatment guidelines enacted in 2009 as a step toward possibly improving medical care for workers and reducing costs to employers and insurers.

Another factor in the higher medical payments per claim is that Louisiana has the highest prescription payments per claim.

Among other key findings, benefit delivery expenses per claim in the state were among the highest of the states studied, especially defenses attorney payments. Louisiana also had higher-than-typical average medical cost containment expenses and medical-legal expenses.

Along with its final report on three accidents that left five dead and three injured in a Tennessee metals plant, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board called on the Occupational Health and Safety Administration to develop and publish a combustible dust standard that includes coverage for metal dusts.

The Hoeganaes powdered metal plant in Gallatin, Tennessee was the site of one elevator accident and two flash fires during 2011. Following the accidents, regulators undertook a series of investigations into workplace safety at the facility. In the report, the regulatory body cites the explosive quality of fine metal powders as a significant factor in all three accidents.

Along with the report, the regulatory body issued a number of safety recommendations including one to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that encouraged OSHA to “Ensure that the forthcoming OSHA Combustible Dust Standard includes coverage for combustible metal dusts including iron and steel powders.”

While no OSHA standard exists that specifically covers the type of dust responsible for the accidents at the plant, CSB points to a number of National Fire Protection Association standards that could have prevented the fires if they were followed. “The three accidents at the Hoeganaes facility were entirely preventable,” CSB Chairperson Rafael Moure Eraso said, pointing out that while plant officials were aware of the hazards posed, “the company did not institute adequate dust control or housekeeping measures.”

Eraso added that while the explosion hazards of combustible dusts are widely known, they are often not included on material safety data sheets. The CSB last month joined OSHA’s support to aligning the existing hazard communication standard with the United Nation’s Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. Both regulatory agencies support adding an “unclassified hazards” category to the system, which would include hazards like those posed by combustible dust.

Hazard communication standards and material safety data sheets change as hazards are recognized and regulations change, and it is up to businesses to respond promptly to remain in compliance with these changes. Safety Services Company helps businesses of all sizes with their hazard communication documentation and training to support workplace safety and be 100% compliant with all applicable regulations.

For more information call 877-397-9450.