Now that summer has finally reached us we have to prepare ourselves and our employees for the heat and hazards that come along with it. Now don't get me wrong, I am happy the nice weather is here to stay for a few months, we just need to take a few steps to prepare ourselves for heat related hazards. I have put together a TOP 5 list of steps to protecting your employees.

1. Practice prehydration. Before work starts, your employees should drink up to 16 ounces of fluid. After work begins, they should drink 8 ounces every 20 minutes during the day.

2. Drink the right stuff. Studies have shown that flavored water is more effective than plain water at providing hydration. This is simply because plain water is much better at quenching thirst and, therefore, people drink less of it. People will drink a larger volume of flavored water because they will continue to feel thirsty. Also, remind employees that they should never drink alcoholic beverages when working in the heat. Of course, that's prohibited on the job, but they should be careful off the job as well. Another thing to consider is not to drink caffeinated products only (coffee, tea, energy drinks, etc). Our bodies have trouble processing these products and do not offer much hydration.

3. Become acclimated to the heat slowly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a heat acclimation schedule can be induced within 5 to 7 days of exposure. Our weather here in New England changes constantly, as a result we have to prep our bodies. Check the weather a couple weeks in advance and plan accordingly.

4. Take off that hat. The body loses a lot of heat out of the top of the head. In winter, you want to wear a hat to keep the heat in. But in summer, you want to release body heat. So if your workers are in hot shade, advise them against wearing a hat. If they are in direct sun and need shading, recommend that they wear a visor rather than a cap.

5. Wear the right fabric. Cotton is great at absorbing moisture from the skin while sweating, but it can create a problem if the fabric becomes soaked. If possible, recommend that your workers wear a loose, thin, white, synthetic t-shirt while working in the heat. Synthetic material does not absorb sweat, but instead, sends it off the skin to be quickly evaporated. Synthetic fabrics will keep your workers cooler and safer from dangers of heat illness.

Do you have a question about Safety at your workplace, reach out to one of our experts.

Safety is important but always seems to be the first thing cut out of the budget. For some large companies they ignore safety and just pay the fines associated with violations, if they get caught. Attention Employees! Imagine if OSHA was NOT there to protect YOU. Imagine if no one cared if you lived or died at work. Check out this video below if you want to witness what it would be like to go to work where NOONE cares about you.

OSHA SAVES LIVES! Are you doing your part to help? Contact Safety Trainers if you have any Compliance Questions.

Part of the new OSHA Campaign to become more resourceful and user friendly has been leading them to make changes to their website. One of the most recent changes has been to the Small Business Web Page. On this page, you will find links to FAQ. You Are Not Alone. You can search many questions that other small business owner have already asked.Their is also a section labeled OSHA Compliance Assistance Quick Start. Just click on your industry and you will find a 7 Step Guide To Starting Your Compliance Program. There is also information about the OSHA Consultation Services. OSHA is known for its enforcement but also has a nonregulating division dedicated to help small business with compliance. OSHA will evaluate your business, give you a report with recommendations on abatement and help you develop policy & procedures. This is a great cost effective way for small businesses to comply with OSHA Standards all while promoting worker safety. I would also recommend that you download the Small Business Handbook that OSHA has published. The handbook should help small business employers meet the legal requirements imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act), and achieve in-compliance status before an OSHA inspection.

Often times when I start to have conversations with small business owners about safety concerns and compliance, they often ask where they should start. I recommend starting with this free information from OSHA on Small Business Compliance. This guide will help set the building blocks for implamenting a Health & Safety Program. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Safety Trainers.

The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced a new program for "severe violators" and an increase in it's penalty amounts. The changes to be phased in over the next several months are the result of a year-long OSHA study that found current assessed penalties "are too low to have an adequate deterrent effect," according to the OSHA Announcement.

Under the new policy, the average penalty for a serious violation will increase from about $1,000 to an average of $3,000 to $4,000.

The current maximum penalty for a serious violation, one capable of causing death or serious physical harm, is $7,000 and the maximum penalty for a willful violation is $70,000. These will change to $12,000 and $250,000, respectively.

Other changes to the penalty calculation system include: expanding the time frame for considering an employer's history of violations from three years to five years; increasing penalties by 10% for employers who have been cited for any high-gravity, serious, willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations within the previous five years; increasing the minimum penalty for a serious violation to $500; and limiting the ability of an OSHA area director to reduce fines to 30%.  

The new Severe Violator Enforcement Program is intended to focus on "recalcitrant employers who endanger workers by demonstrating indifference to their responsibilities under the law," according to OSHA. These employers will be subject to mandatory follow-up inspections and other forms of enhanced scrutiny.

"OSHA inspections and penalties must be large enough to discourage employers from cutting corners or underfunding safety programs to save a few dollars," said the OSHA announcement. "These penalty changes will increase the overall dollar amount of all penalties, while maintaining OSHA's policy of reducing penalties for small employers and those acting in good faith."

 OSHA has hired and will be hiring several more enforcement agent to begin aggressive auditing on targeted industries. You need to know if you are on the targeted industires list. Recently, Safety Trainers was contacted by a sign manufacturing company who has expanded and grown over the last 10 years and did not realize that they have fallen out of compliance in several Health & Safety areas in thier business. They are also a targeted business for the next two years. By doing an onsite audit and evaluation, a business owner can easily see what fines they would have been sited if OSHA walked through the door. Also, an audit shows you how much it would have cost you in fines. Make any change in the workplace is cost effective and it saves lives. What are your OSHA Compliance Needs?

Are you still stalling on addressing your ergonomics-related issues in the workplace because there are no regulations prompting you to act? Or maybe you want to save your budget dollars for when the fines make a real dent in your bottom line?

Well, it's time to take your ergonomic injuries seriously - OSHA certainly is.

Acting Administrator Jordan Barab revealed in a recent interview that OSHA wants companies to address work-related musculoskeletal disorders with more targeted and frequent safety training. The agency has also signaled that it plans to use the General Duty Clauseto issue citations when ergonomic issues are discovered in the workplace. To avoid these citations, you must accurately identify any work-related musculoskeletal disorders and document them on your 300 Log.

Contact Safety Trainers Today to discuss your Ergonomic Training and Evaluation.

The Obama Administration's initial budget proposal for FY2010 includes a funding increase of $27 million for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The recently passed economic stimulus bill contains $80 million for the enforcement of worker protection laws and regulations, oversight and coordination activities.

This increase in funding along with recent comments made by US Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis suggests more emphasis will be placed on the enforcement of workplace safety regulations. The following changes are likely under the new administration:

• Increased number of inspections to enforce OSHA standards
• Less focus on cooperative programs, such as the Voluntary Protection Program
• Development of new OSHA standards, possibly including ergonomics
• Increase in average penalty amounts for serious violations
• Increased funding for state-run OSHA programs
• Less opportunity for employers to negotiate penalty amounts

An OSHA inspection typically includes a review of your company's injury and illness records, written safety program documentation, safety training records and a site inspection to identify physical hazards or unsafe work practices.

Employers that are also Safety Trainers clients rest easy knowing that they have access to a team of Risk and Safety experts to help them comply with OSHA requirements and prepare for inspections. Safety Trainers also provides guidance, training and other resources for developing proactive workplace safety programs.

When You team up with Safety Trainers you can focus on your core business in this challenging economic and regulatory environment while we take on the compliance burden. We deliver the expertise, tools and resources you need to handle all safety management issues - and realize significant strategic benefits.

For a free consultation with Safety Trainers, including an evaluation of your existing safety programs and compliance needs, please call me Darcy Cook at 508-799-2857or email me at darcy@safetytrainers.com.

Sincerely,

Darcy Cook, President/CEO

If you are an Insurance Agent you are required to acquire so many Continuing Education Credits through trainings every year for your licensing. Looking for something new? We have a great new program for the Insurance Industry. Prometric has approved the only First Aid, CPR and AED course for the Insurance Industry that you can obtain 5.0 CEUs.

In addition to the 5.0 CEUs for this training course, you will also receive a two year certification in First Aid, CPR and AED. How's that for value? We are working to keep you safe at home, work and at play. 

For more information on this training please check out the Continuing Education Credit for the Insurance Industry Page or Contact Safety Trainers.

Beginning on January 1, 2009, all excavators must obtain a permit prior to the creation of a trench made for a construction-related purpose on public or private land or rights-of-way in accordance with Chapter 82A of the Massachusetts General Laws. All municipalities must also establish a local permitting authority for the purpose of issuing these permits, with the designation of the local permitting authority left to the discretion of the individual municipalities. Chapter 82A further directs the Department of Public Safety and the Division of Occupational Safety to jointly draft regulations relative to trench safety.  These regulations are codified in section 14.00 of title 520 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations.

If you follow the link above, it will bring you to the full detailed regulation. However, I wanted to highlight a few things that jumped out at me in the regulation. The new trench permit requires information such as the name of the Competent Person, Excavator, Hoisting License Number and Expiration Date, the location of the Trench, a Certificate of Insurance and the Dig Safe Number.

This new regulation applies to all construction-related trenches on public ways, public property or private property. This means that anyone who is going to dig a trench has to pull a permit. They have also not modified the OSHA Excavation Standard, 29 CFR 1926, Subpart P, they have added this in as a City Regulation in addition to the OSHA Standard.

Permitting Authorities are not required to conduct inspections of trenches for which they have issued permits. However, a permitting authority notified of a potential violation is authorized to take action, including immediate shutdown, if violations of new regulations are identified.

So, if you know anyone who does trench work, please make sure they are aware of these new regulations. Please feel free to contact us about any of the OSHA Regulations if you have any questions.

With all the changes in the Regulatory Compliance World, it is quite easy to feel smothered by the burden of keeping up with it all. One of the changes is the promulgation of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS). In 1992, the United Nations (UN) issued an international mandate to implement a harmonized system for classifications and labeling of chemicals on a global level - this gave rise to the GHS. In 2003, the first edition of the GHS was approved and published by the UN and a second revision was published in 2007.

Japan, Korea, and New Zealand have already adopted GHS and are transitioning to the new classification and labeling methods now. The European Union (EU) adopted the proposed act that aligns the EU system with GHS in June of 2007. Once finalized, companies will be given 3 years to transition to the new system for pure substances, and another 5 years for mixtures.

In preparation for this domestically, OSHA has reviewed their current Hazard Communications Standard (HAZCOM) and as planning to adopt the New GHS Standard into it. The tentative time for the final rule will most likely come in 2009.

One of the major changes United States companies can anticipate has to do with Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).  The MSDSs will under go an extensive change once the GHS is adopted.  There will also be modifications on labels, signal words, pictograms and hazard statements all designed to enhance communication for all that handle chemicals.

Finally, training must be modified - educating employees on the label and MSDS changes due to the updated product classifications, pictograms, signal words, and hazard and precautionary statements will represent the greatest training challenge. Delivering a consistent and timely training message to your employees that can be easily tracked will be critically important to the success of your GHS rollout.

This is a story from Wayne Burgess, a self-employed Electrician.

"A maintenance man was working on a 480 volt roof top air conditioning unit at an industrial complex. The maintenance man decided that this job was more than he could handle. So, he called the company that I worked for and requested a technician. We sent an electrician with over 15 years of experience to the job site. The electrician after reaching the roof, realized he had left his tester in the truck.  Rather than go back to the truck to get the tester, he yelled to the maintenance man to ask if the breaker for the unit had been shut off. He replied "yea it's off, you're all set." The electrician put his hand behind the electrical attachment point to check connections, the 480 volts from the unit that was still on burnt his hand severely. He was taken to the hospital where he underwent surgery to try to repair his hand. The Electrical Company had a very strict safety policy in place, the electrician not only was injured that day, but he also lost his job!

 Remember this story the next time you don't want to take 20 minutes to walk down and get your tester.

Here is a classic example of why people need to use Lockout/ Tagout. This situation could have been avoided a few different ways. First, test it for power...wait, it was downstairs.  Second, check the breaker yourself. Then you would know for sure that the correct breaker had been turned off. Third, use the OSHA Lockout/ Tagout procedures. Create a safer working environment.

Thanks to Wayne for sharing this story with us. I think everyone can apply these same practices to many different situations. Remember, it's your life. Safety Matters. Take the time. It could save your life.