OSHA Compliance Posts

Both 1910.178 and 1910.147 have requirements that we periodically evaluate employees’ performance in their ability to perform LOTO and drive PITs in the manner in which they were trained.  As I have discussed many times, just doing annual LOTO training without some type of “field verification” that the authorized employees are functioning within the program’s…...

So in my previous post, we covered the SIZE of the EXIT signs and in this post, I want to cover the “illumination” requirements of these EXIT signs. Simply stated, OSHA and the IBC require the face of the sign to be illuminated to at least 5-foot candles or 54 Lux at ALL TIMES.  Which…...

In the latest craze with “lean manufacturing”, a lot of businesses are rearranging their production lines and in a lot of cases, safety was not a serious consideration.  We see a lot of emergency egress issues, serious electrical power constraints leading to improper power cord usage, fire extinguisher types and placement issues, etc.  But the…...

Scenario:  You have a hazardous material that has a really low PEL and STEL and the process where it is going to be used is an “open process”.  Management ask you to perform a hazard assessment and it is determined that the room where this material will be used will need ventilation to ensure exposures…...

I have to first point out that OR-OSHA is a “state plan” ( and my personal favorite!) and is specific to employers in the state of Oregon (OR), but their 2020 LOI on maintaining SDSs electronically points out something that many (including me) have not considered.  I have been telling all my clients for decades…...

OSHA has updated their COVID Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) with the addition of three (3) new Q and A’s regarding COVID vaccinations and recordability related to adverse reactions to the vaccine:… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm in that employees who performed hydrostatic testing were exposed to struck-by hazards due to the lack of specific testing procedures…...

Most safety professionals attribute “safe work permitting” to process safety, Line Breaks/Process Openings, LOTO, Hotwork, and PRCS.  But my first exposure to work permits was because of OSHA’s Hazardous Communications standard… 1910.1200(e)(1)(ii) The methods the employer will use to inform employees of the hazards of non-routine tasks (for example, the cleaning of reactor vessels), and…...

Before you go off saying their standards are different than ours, these EXCEL Spreadsheets can be modified using OSHA numbers/factors.  These are just EXCELLENT TOOLS for those of you trying to establish if workers are exceeding the Action Level or PEL for noise exposures AND these tools will perform the “Hearing Protection Attenuation” evaluation for…...