When people say, “safety is just common sense,” I wish we could slap them. Working for a client in KY, I have identified so much that is different between their state plan and the federal OSHA requirements. Some of the differences just do not make sense and I am sure there are some political forces behind the lack of “risk sense” in these differences. For example, I celebrated when Federal OSHA published their Construction Standard on Confined Spaces; so much so that the base-program I share with clients, why by the way are all General Industry businesses, is built off the newer construction standard and not 1910.146. And as we learned from OSHA, it is not the actual classification of the business, BUT RATHER by the work being done inside the space is what establishes the applicable standard. Well, at least that is what Federal says; KY-OSHA has a different slant…
