The Saskatchewan government is proposing increases to the amounts workplace owners are fined for violations workplace safety and health regulation.

The old range was $2,000 to $300,000. The proposed new range is $4,000 to $1.5 million, the highest fine ceiling in Canada.

The proposal also calls for:

• establishment of procedures related to the effectiveness of occupational health committees and programs;
• enhanced duties required of employers and other parties on training and supervision of employees and maintenance of equipment; and
• increased investigative authority for OHS officers.

The amendments to The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 are in response to consultations and review by the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety’s Occupational Health and Safety Council. The Council consists of both labour and employer representatives.

“These changes will support everyone’s goal of Mission Zero – eliminating all workplace injuries and fatalities,” Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Minister Don Morgan said. “I want to thank all those who participated in the consultations, especially the Occupational Health and Safety Council for its important work.”

Michigan, Vermont, Florida, Arizona, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, California, Rhode Island, Kansas, Montana, New York, Illinois, Maine and several other states are rolling out changes to required labor law postings in January.

The changes included increases to minimum wage, updates to youth employment standards and more.

Employers are required by law to post the latest up-to-date rules and regulations from multiple government organizations. Failure to comply is punishable by fine.

To ensure your company maintains compliance with these constantly changing posting requirements we offer a federal and state poster service.

Through this program you receive two posters containing all you federal and state requirements, plus a year of our update service. Through the update service we send you any changes to the posters needed to maintain compliance.

For more information call 877-397-9450.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) will conduct an enforcement blitz on Musculoskeletal disorders in February.

This MSD blitz will concentrate on manual material handling, especially in the industrial, construction, mining, and health care sectors.

MSDs are injuries of the muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage, or spinal discs. They are caused by forceful exertion, awkward body positions, hand-arm and whole-body vibration, contact stress, and repetitive tasks. MSDs often take time to develop and can lead to chronic back pain, shoulder problems, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

To prepare for the upcoming blitz take the following steps:

• Familiarize yourself with MSD hazards in your workplace.
• Perform your own workplace audit.
• Have a well-documented MSD program visibly in place, and implement MSD-specific strategies, tools and training.
• Call the MOL to review hazards before an inspector comes knocking.

If you need help developing and MSD program call 877-397-9450.

To facilitate the resolution of legal challenges filled against its new posting requirement, the National Labor Relations Board is postponing the effective date until April, 30 2012.

The delay is the second in the past three months to a posting approved in Sept. 2011 that would require more than six million private-sector employers by the National Labor Relations Act (“Act” or “NLRA”) to display employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

At the heart of the delays are three federal lawsuits filed against the National Labor Relations Board, saying the group overstepped its bounds when it set new regulations requiring employers to hang the poster.

“When everyone is worried about jobs, when everyone is worried about their economic future, why do we want to pick a fight with employers,” Kevin Shivers, president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, one of the three groups that have filed separate suits, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), also known as the Wagner Act, was enacted in 1935 to encourage the practice of collective bargaining by employees through a representative to negotiate the terms and conditions of employment.

In specific the new notice contains:

1. A summary of employee rights under the NLRA, including: the rights to organize, form or join a union; the right to discuss wages and working conditions with co-workers; the right to take collective action to improve working conditions; and the right to engage in other protected activities.

2. Examples of employer or union illegal conduct under the NLRA;

3. A statement about the employer’s obligation to bargain in good faith if a union has been selected by employees;

4. Information concerning basic enforcement procedures; and

5. NLRB contact information.

As part of a new emphasis program the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will begin inspecting Wisconsin dairy farms this winter.

The emphasis program originated out of OSHA’s Eau Claire office this past November and plans are to take it statewide, according to Mary Bauer, OSHA compliance assistance specialist.

Inspectors from each of the state’s four OSHA offices in Eau Claire, Madison, Milwaukee and Appleton will visit dairies in 2012, she said.

“It could start at any time, but I know the list hasn’t been developed,” she said.

Staff from each OSHA office will inspect three area farms. Two sites will be picked from the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection’s database of more than 12,500 licensed dairies.

One more farm per area will be chosen from the Department of Natural Resources’ listing of concentrated animal feeding operations.

“We want to make sure that we’re getting to some sites that are large and where we have enough employees,” Bauer said, “but also, because of the feedback we’ve gotten, we want to hit some smaller farms.”

Although inspectors can enter farms without advance notice, she said, “they will not be just driving up and opening doors.”

Bauer said the dairy emphasis will remain in effect for about a year, and then be evaluated to determine if it should be continued.

“My guess is this would be renewed,” she said.

Last year OSHA inspected about 70 dairy farms nationwide.

Potential hazards identified in the dairy LEP include manure storage and collection structures; worker positioning around cattle; electricity; tractor operation; power takeoffs; machine guarding; communication; confined spaces; horizontal bunker silos; and noise.

“Employers have a responsibility to ensure all employees have safe working environments, which includes taking all necessary precautions to protect them from exposure to hazardous substances,” says Kimberly Stille, OSHA’s area director in Madison, Wis. “Employers are responsible for knowing what hazards exist in their workplaces and ensuring that workers are not exposed to unnecessary risks.”

OSHA penalties range from $1,500 to $7,000, based on violation frequency and severity.

Offshore oil and gas drillers need to have a greater more systematic approach to safety in all aspects of their operations to prevent another massive oil spill according to scientist from the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council.

The scientists stated, in a report on last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, it was a lack of comprehensive safety management that led to the loss of 11 lives on the 2010 explosion of Deepwater Horizon rig.

In addition to costing worker lives, the explosion also ruptured BP’s underwater Macondo well allowing more than 4 million barrels of oil to spoil into the ocean.

“The need to maintain domestic sources of oil is great, but so is the need to protect the lives of those who work in the offshore drilling industry as well as protect the viability of the Gulf of Mexico region,” said Donald Winter, a former secretary of the Navy who chaired the panel that authored the report.

The report, commissioned by the Interior Department, reaffirms an assessment released by the panel last year that called the Gulf spill the result of a series of mistakes by BP and its contractors.

Going forward, the panel recommended that the government consolidate safety oversight of offshore drilling in one agency and move toward a more goal-oriented safety regime.

In addition to these new recommendations the panel applauded the recent safety requirements put in place to help prevent future catastrophes.

These new steps include a drilling safety rule details the proper cementing, casing and drilling fluid procedures that drillers should use in order to maintain wellbore integrity while drilling, workplace safety rule requires operators to have a comprehensive safety and environmental impact program in place to reduce organizational errors that could cause accidents or spills and more.

If your company needs help meeting oil and gas safety regulations call 877-201-8923.

As the winter season progresses falling temperatures leave many workers across North America exposed to cold stress related injuries.

These potential injuries include Hypothermia, frostbite, Trench Foot and Chilblains.

To help your company prevent these injuries follow these simple tips.

• Ensure your employees wear loose-layered clothing to insulate the body and promote circulation.
• Make sure employees keep extremities adequately protected with warm outerwear and waterproof boots.
• Limit prolonged time in cold weather conditions and take breaks to warm up.
• Keep a first aid kit that includes extra warm dry gear and hot packs.
• Monitor your co-workers and be on the lookout for exposure symptoms.
• Schedule maintenance and repair jobs in cold areas for warmer months.
• Schedule cold jobs for the warmer part of the day.
• Reduce the physical demands of workers.
• Use relief workers or assign extra workers for long, demanding jobs.
• Provide warm liquids to workers.
• Provide warm areas for use during break periods.
• Monitor workers who are at risk of cold stress.
• Provide cold stress training that includes information about:
• Worker risk
• Prevention
• Symptoms
• The importance of monitoring yourself and coworkers for symptoms
• Treatment
• Personal protective equipment

To help ensure workers are protected from cold stress, Safety Services Company offers a complete cold stress prevention training program.

For more info call 877-201-8923.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced it will continue to cite salon owners use products containing formaldehyde without protecting workers.

“The best way to control exposure to formaldehyde is to use products that do not contain formaldehyde. Salons should check the label or product information to make sure it does not list formaldehyde, formalin, methylene glycol or any of the other names for formaldehyde,” ,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “If salon owners decide to use products that contain or release formaldehyde, then they must follow a number of protective practices — including air monitoring, worker training and, if levels are over OSHA limits, good ventilation or respirators.”

Since November OSHA has issued citations to 23 salon owners and beauty schools in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Ohio, with fines ranging up to $17,500 for failing to protect workers from overexposure and potential exposure to formaldehyde.

According to OSHA in three of these salons workers were exposed to formaldehyde levels above the agency’s 15-minute short-term exposure limit, which is 2.0 parts of formaldehyde per million parts of air. In one case, OSHA said a hair stylist was exposed to more than five times the allowable amount.

“We want to make sure that salon owners are aware that if they use these products, they have to implement protective measures such as air monitoring and training,” said Michaels. “What is very troubling to the agency is that some of these products clearly expose workers to formaldehyde even when the label states they are ‘formaldehyde free.’”

To crack down on the mislabeling of products and failure to disclose actual ingredients to employers, OSHA is also focusing enforcement efforts on manufacturers and distributors of salon products.

As an example of this commitment the federal workplace safety organization recently cited two Florida manufacturers and distributors for failing to protect their own workers from possible formaldehyde exposure as well as to communicate the hazards of formaldehyde exposure to salons, stylists and consumers.

Formaldehyde can irritate the eyes and nose; can cause allergic reactions of the skin, eyes and lungs; and is a cancer hazard. Salon owners who decide to use products that may contain or release formaldehyde must follow the requirements of OSHA’s formaldehyde and hazard communication standards to keep workers safe.

Investment in workplace safety and health has a direct and measurable cost-benefit potential, according to a recently released study by the International Social Security Association (ISSA).

The study on the economic costs and benefits of prevention investments, coordinated by the ISSA, compared data on interventions and analysed practices in 300 companies in 15 countries.

The results of the study indicate companies witness more than a two and a half time return on the implementation of safety training.

“Promoting safety and health at work not only saves lives, but also makes sound economic sense,” stated Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, ISSA Secretary General. “The study demonstrates that prevention measures are a key contribution not only to the health and well-being of the workforce, but also to the economic performance of the enterprise and the sustainability of social security schemes.”

Vehicular accidents are the most common cause of workplace injury and death. Follow the bellow safety tips when navigating vehicles on company premises to help minimize accidents .

Before Entering Vehicle

• Check tires to make sure properly inflated
• Check to make sure any attachments of the vehicle are properly secure
• Check top ensure all lights work properly
• Check to ensure any vehicle equipment is in proper order
• Operate the forklift only if you’ve been trained

After Entering Vehicle

• Buckle you seat belt
• Adjust your mirrors
• Check the gas level
• Check to make sure all gauges are operating properly
• Check to ensure breaks are functional

While Driving

• Keeps your eyes focused on the workspace around you, be mindful of other vehicles and pedestrians.
• Avoid sharp turns.
• Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle
• Follow our speed limit and other regulations
• Maintain a safe following distance from other vehicles – about three vehicle lengths.
• Raise and lower your load only when you are stopped
• Stop and sound the horn at intersections
• Use signals
• Note any road maintenance issues and report them to a supervisor