OSHA and the Airline Ground Safety Panel Renew Alliance

For those who think that worksite safety applies only to construction and other inherently dangerous industries need to think again. Safeguarding the health and physical welfare of workers in their workplaces cuts across all industries—whether they are hazardous by nature or not.

One outwardly safe work community, the ground support at airports, in fact, sought recently to strengthen its work safety partnership with the federal worksite-safety watchdog. The community, through the Airline Ground Safety Panel, renewed its alliance with OSHA to enable it to deal better with the dangers that can arise from the operation of aviation ground-support equipment such as aircraft tugs and tow tractors, and the injuries that might result from these hazards.

The Airline Ground Safety Panel, a labor-and-industry partnership, represents some 350,000 workers from 11 airline companies and three labor unions. The membership total makes up about 85 percent of the whole industry.

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David Michaels said the alliance with the Airline Ground Safety Panel will continue to concentrate on preventing mishaps such as slips, falls, and being struck by moving objects that can result in worker injuries. The alliance with OSHA will further the outreach training program for both employers and employees on preventing worksite injuries.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 mandates that employers are responsible for safeguarding the safety and health of their workers at the worksite. For its part, OSHA is tasked with ensuring that these conditions are met by developing and enforcing standards, and by providing education, training, and assistance to all stakeholders.

The alliance between OSHA and the panel is formally under OSHA’s Alliance Program, an initiative where OSHA partners with business and educational organizations, trade and professional groups, community- and faith-based entities to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths. Each alliance, according to OSHA, develops tools to help the organization comply with OSHA safety protocols and resources to orient employers and employees on their responsibilities as well as their rights. OSHA emphasized that Alliance Program participants are neither exempted from OSHA inspections nor entitled to any enforcement considerations.

In particular, the alliance with the Airline Ground Safety Panel aims to produce fact sheets on ways to prevent mishaps associated with the operation of airport ground-safety equipment. In addition, the alliance will carry out studies on how to enhance ground-personnel safety, tackle hazard communications, and address issues related to the United Nations-sponsored Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals.

The renewal of the alliance, which will run for another two years, was welcomed by the three labor unions in the panel, the Transportation Trades Department (AFL-CIO), the Transport Workers Union of America (AFL-CIO), and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Besides the labor unions, Airlines for America, a panel participant representing the airline industry, also praised the alliance, saying that the airlines are enthusiastic about being a part of the voluntary program with OSHA and the labor unions to boost safety awareness among airline employees.

Read More»

OSHA Issues New Fact Sheet for Hurricane Cleanup Crews

One of the consequences of a hurricane like Sandy, which brought widespread destruction (estimated at $65.6 billion, behind only Hurricane Katrina in economic impact) and misery in the northeastern United States in late October 2012, is an update of readiness and response protocols, including those that keep response personnel healthy and safe while performing their duties. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal watchdog for workplace safety, has done just that with a new fact sheet that emphasizes the employer’s responsibility to provide its employees with proper personal protective equipment and the necessary training to use that equipment correctly and safely.

In Sandy’s wake, OSHA has carried out over 7,000 briefings with an estimated 45,000 workers and employers involved in recovery and clean-up work in areas affected by the hurricane. The briefings complement the OSHA training required to protect American workers’ safety and health, while on the job.

According to Robert Kulick, the OSHA regional administrator in New York, one of the two states that suffered a hammer blow from the storm, workers called in response to a storm and its aftermath are exposed to hazards to their health and safety and, therefore, should be adequately protected from them. The updated fact sheet, he explained, presents the different personal protective equipment (PPE) and the work situations where this equipment is not only appropriate, but also required. The fact sheet is available for download at www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA-FS-3612.pdf.

Removing or mitigating hazards require employers to do the following: evaluate the site and operation to determine existing and potential dangers based on site conditions; implement the correct controls to shield their employees from those dangers; and educate their workers to identify work hazards and take appropriate precautions.

OSHA noted that engineering measures are the preferred controls against hazards, but pointed out that PPE, the control of last resort, may be the only practical control method in certain cases. For this reason,  the agency is advocating better OSHA safety training in and awareness of the use of PPE. OSHA said that because all PPE has limitations, workers must be trained to recognize them so they can use PPE correctly and effectively. Among the things that workers must know when using PPE are: how to put it on, how to remove it, how to store it, how to take care of it, and when to replace it.

A basic safety assemblage for cleanup duties typically includes safety goggles, hard hat, steel-toed work boots, reflective vest, and gloves. Additional equipment may be added, depending on the work situation. For instance: when the cleanup activity is in a wet environment, impervious gloves and boots are used; when the environment holds a threat of harmful gases, appropriate respiratory protection becomes necessary; when in a noisy environment, hearing protection is added; when working over six feet above ground, fall protection is needed.

In addition, OSHA emphasized the importance of proper hygiene and sanitation in lessening the impact of contaminants and the spread of disease. Critical to hygiene is hand washing or, in the absence of water, hand sanitizing.

Additional fact sheets, resources and guidance can be accessed at OSHA’s Hurricane Sandy website (www.osha.gov/sandy). OSHA also is directing interested parties to the National Institute for Environmental Safety and Health website (http://tools.niehs.nih.gov/wetp/index.cfm?id=2472) for complementary information on safety and health protection in extreme weather.

Read More»

Why Medical Coders and Transcriptionists Are Working from Home

The healthcare industry is again in front and center of the American public’s attention, thanks in no small measure to the presidential elections this year. Less in the news are the careers and healthcare training, other than those of doctors and nurses that are increasing in popularity according to statistics from the Department of Labor. These careers such as medical coding and medical transcription have been embraced by those who prefer to work from home or from another place other than home or the office.

Working from home or working from an alternative convenient location (often called telecommuting) is not new—it’s been around for years—but its popularity among employees and employers has surged in recent years because of the convenience, speed, and cost effectiveness that the Internet has introduced into the work paradigm. 

If you haven’t tried this work arrangement yet, here are a few reasons why many people are switching from office desk to living-room easy chair as their primary workstation.

You own your work hours. When you work from home or when you telecommute, you’re your own boss most of the time. That means in most cases you can choose when you start your workday, when you can have a break, and when you will press the shut-down key and say, “That’s all folks!” Working from home means you can craft your schedule (and deadlines) around your duties at home, making for less stress and more time for yourself and your loved ones.

You have more time for your family. Because you’re home when your loved ones are home (and not toiling at your office desk trying to beat a deadline) you get to take care of their needs more fully and effectively. Many a working parent would give an arm and a leg to have more time and a closer relationship with his or her family, but unfortunately can’t because they have to be in the office from 8 to 5—and even beyond.

Fewer expenses. It’s as simple as pie. Working in an office spells extra expenses: for the commute, for the food (overpriced and a health liability, if you’re not careful) you’ll eat for the day. If you work from home, you not only won’t have to spend for the gas or the bus, you’ll likely eat healthier food too!

No more commuting. Working from home or telecommuting means saying goodbye finally to time-wasting, stress-inducing commute in rush-hour traffic. It also means more productive (and healthier) hours at home for both work and your personal projects. Now isn’t that fun?

Read More»

OSHA Partners with Black & Veatch for Retrofit Work on Columbia Energy Center

One of the ways the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the U.S. Labor Department’s work site - safety watchdog, helps protect the safety of workers across America is by directly partnering with companies themselves. It’s an initiative that not only has increased the workers’ and their employers’ awareness of workplace hazards but also of their responsibilities to ensure a safe working environment at all times.

One such initiative is the OSHA Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP), in which OSHA establishes partnerships with American labor’s most important stakeholders (employees, employers, labor organizations, and professional and trade groups) to put up doable goals, and develop strategies and  performance measures to monitor and safeguard worker safety and health.

The OSPP has several models, all of which focus on enhancing safety and health at work. Among these models are those for big construction projects, major corporations or government agencies, and even entire industries. The OSPP is also available to private-sector industries. Since its introduction in 1998, the OSPP has forged some 690 partnerships in all, through the years involving 27,000 employers and 1.9 million workers. Today, the program has 78 active partnerships involving nearly 2,000 employers and 216,000 workers.

Recently, OSHA established a partnership with Black & Veatch Construction Inc., which is currently engaged in the Columbia Energy Center Air Quality Control Systems Project in Pardeeville, Wisconsin. The partnership, according to OSHA, aims to identify and control hazards to workers in order to lessen the likelihood of injuries and ill effects to health. OSHA also said that the partnership includes the Wisconsin On-Site Occupational Safety and Health Consultation Program, which is funded by the agency but run by the state.

In a media release, OSHA Madison area director Kim Stille explained that the partnership’s goals can be achieved through best-work practices, compliance with OSHA standards and regulations, and occupational safety training. Stille added that although the partnership is voluntary it nevertheless emphasizes employee participation to realize a safe and healthy place of work.

The Kansas-based Black & Veatch Construction has been contracted to engineer and construct the air-quality control-system retrofits of existing coal-fired units at the Columbia Energy Center.

Coal-burning units are a major source of air pollution in the United States, says ecohearth.com, contributing over 30 percent of the carbon dioxide (a major global-warming gas), 40 percent of mercury (a poisonous and cancer-causing substance), 25 percent of nitrogen (one of the major ingredients of smog), and over 65 percent of sulfur dioxide (one of the main ingredients of acid rain) dumped into the air annually. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that nitrogen oxides corrode the lungs and sulfur dioxide instigates asthma and can cause heart disease.

Read More»