Assigned Protection Factors (APF), a new guidance document published by OSHA provides employers with vital information for selecting respirators for employees exposed to contaminants in the air.  OSHA revised its Respiratory Protection standard in 2006 to add APFs and Maximum Use Concentration (MUC) provisions. APF means the workplace level of respiratory protection that a respirator or class...

Although this decision was really about when OSHA can cite an employer for exposure to a hazard.  The company claimed there was none or very little exposure to these unguarded lathe chucks because only one worker used these lathes only once or twice a year; however, OSHA cited for the unguarded equipment based on this level of exposure and the OSHRC affirmed the citation.  During the inspection...

An often overlooked requirement in the HCP standard (1910.95) requires each hearing protector provided by the employer be evaluated using 1910.95 Appendix B to ensure that each one will attenuate the noise level down to a prescribed exposure limit; either 90 dBA or 85 dBA if the user has suffered a standard threshold shift (STS).  This logic is similar to our analysis of our respiratory protection...

On Dec. 24, 2008, the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Fifth District, 2008 Ohio 6898, 2008 Ohio App. LEXIS 5758. affirmed (3 to 0) the decision of a trial judge in Stark County Court of Common Pleas, granting summary judgment to the employer. The employee breached the “Last Chance Agreement” entered into between the company, the employee and the labor union, Metalworkers Alliance, Inc. Worker was hired...

We have come long ways with our SOPs over the past 20 years!  But we still struggle with annual certifications of these SOPs.  If anyone is a non-believer in what I am going to share with you in this article I encourage them to just randomly grab any SOP from your system and walk it down step by step and see if the procedure is 100% accurate and is 100% correct in the way operators actually...

People do not err intentionally. Error is a human action that unintentionally departs from expected behavior. Error is behavior without malice or forethought; it is not a result. Human error is provoked by a mismatch between human limitations and environmental conditions at the job site, including inappropriate management and leadership practices and organizational weaknesses that set up the conditions...

  Below are the set of questions that will be asked during a VPP Assessment at PSM covered facilities. In my opinion, these are the same questions that should be asked at ALL PSM facilities! These questions are being provided so that we can ask these questions, whether we want to be a VPP site or not, as another source of “audit questions” to assess the quality of our PSM/RMP efforts....

I learned about the 90 day rule the hard way… from an OSHA CSHO during a VPP Inspection.  I had personally signed off on a very large “temporary project” that installed some field monitors for an environmental permitting project.  The MOC made it very clear that these devices would be in place for one (1) full year.  I was not smart enough this early in my career to ask about a power...

Neat little video for those of us who need a reminder from time to time as to why we do what we do!  Sounds like a GEICO commercial, but it is still a nice video for the safety profession. Where would we be without Safety Professionals? from InjuryFree on Vimeo.

This happens when the breach of essential safety rules is not only widely known about but also tolerated and accepted by peers and management as normal and acceptable behavior given the circumstances. Various factors can contribute to the normalization of deviance: … HomeRead More »

MANY THANKS to my NEW & RENEWING “Partners in Safety”for their support! since 2007 Since 2010 since 2006 since 2007   2012 Fatality Tracker Electrical 14 (2011 = 81) (2010 = 90) (2009 = 100) Forklift/Manlift Mobile Equipment 10 (2011 = 84) (2010 = 110) (2009 = 88) Mining 23 (2011 = 248) (2010 = 480) (2009 = 586) Explosions 35 (2011 = 218) (2010 = 246) (2009 = 302) Cranes 8 (2011...