OSHA Raises Caution as 4th of July Approaches, Safety Stand-Down in Effect in Oklahoma

As the 4th of July quickly approaches, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reminds employers in the fireworks/pyrotechnics industry of their duty to always protect their workers from the dangers of handling fireworks for public events—a reminder often repeated in online OSHAcampus.com training, such as OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30.

For those in the industry, OSHA recommends a visit to its Safety and Health Topics page before Independence Day. Two sections are particularly important to the pyrotechnics industry: retail sales of fireworks and fireworks display. The page describes common hazards and offers solutions to issues found in both areas of the industry. A video, as well as a downloadable poster, on best industry practices for retail sales and manufacturers is also available.

In addition, the OSHA site references such federal standards on consumer use of fireworks as those of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

"As we look forward to celebrating July 4 with fireworks and festivities, we must also consider the safety of workers who handle pyrotechnics," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "It's the employer's responsibility to keep everyone safe on the job and take appropriate measures to protect workers making, selling, displaying, or otherwise handling dangerous pyrotechnic materials."

Meanwhile, Oklahoma is on safety stand-down now, but not because the 4th of July is coming up. OSHA announced that it, together with the Mid-Continent Exploration & Production Safety (MCEPS) Network, is sponsoring a safety stand-down from June 22 to July 20 to encourage safety and health practices at all oil-and-gas exploration and production sites in Oklahoma.

"This alliance will demonstrate initiative and leadership industrywide throughout the state of Oklahoma in emphasizing the importance of oil and gas work-site safety," declared John Hermanson, the OSHA regional administrator in Dallas. "It is hoped that the stand-down will not only heighten awareness for workers in the oil and gas industry, but also identify and eliminate work-related hazards."

According to the work-safety watchdog, MCEPS is a cooperative alliance of OSHA's Oklahoma City Area Office and oil-and-gas industry representatives. Within the stand-down period, the alliance members are expected to encourage employers to voluntarily stop work to carry out site inspections and safety-and-health training for employees. The training centers on the major causes of work-related incidents and deaths in the industry.

OSHA Oklahoma City area director David Bates emphasized that members should participate in the stand-down event, as well as encourage subcontractors to do the same. OSHA has provided training materials to members to be used during the job-site inspections.