Electricity is all around us. It is in our homes and offices and places of work. Electricity is a great tool for making our personal and working lives more convenient, improve work efficiency and more comfortable. But, like anything that can help us it can hurt us as well. So, a few basic safety practices [...]
A repeat OSHA violation exists where an employer has been previously cited for a substantially similar unsafe condition. Plus, the citation has become a final order of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission or the final abatement date of the previous citation, whichever is later. (OSHA Letter of Interpretation. March 18, 1998.) Have more [...]
Employer Beware: OSHA Repeat Violations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can look back 3 years of a business’s citation history to determine whether a “repeat” violation condition exists. (The OSHA statute does not, in fact, state a time limitation, rather, OSHA has settled on a policy to look back only three years. Letter [...]
Dealing with OSHA Citations The Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal agency designed to provide safety information, safety training suggestions, and safety programs. The focus of OSHA is assisting employers to provide a safe workplace free of hazards to employees. OSHA also has an enforcement function. If an employer is allowing a noncomplying [...]
The big top 10 OSHA violations for 2018. Or being informed is being armed. The top 10 OSHA violations have been fall protection, scaffolding, respiratory protection, LOTO, ladders, forklifts, fall protection, machine guarding, eye/face protection, hazardous communication. So, knowing what OSHA commonly finds during investigations or site audits can be helpful to the employer and [...]
Fall injuries. This blog is a little different from many of my earlier blogs. It relies solely upon my experience as a safety manager for companies over the years. It is a laymen’s comment. The discussion is about fall injuries and why they are so problematic. First, a fall injury may arise from a simple [...]
Health and safety plans. Intimidating? Serious? It sounds like too much? Well, actually not so. First, you want a safety plan. It helps you, your employees, and other companies you work with to understand your safety requirements. Second, if you use the safety plan as a safety training tool you can educate and keep your [...]
It is simple to avoid OSHA fines. Personal protective equipment commonly referred to as PPE. PPE refers to safety glasses, hard/steel toe shoes, hearing protection, face protection, gloves, respirators, etc. You no doubt know PPE is used to provide safety protection of employees from a variety of common workplace hazards. Hazards such as eye hazards [...]
Noise. Hearing levels in people declines when exposed to certain levels of noise over a period of time. The extent of hearing decline depends on the level of noise and duration of exposure. OSHA says 85 decibels (dBA) or higher over an 8-hour work shift is excessive. If you have a smartphone you can download [...]
Driving. Everyone does it. Many businesses rely on vehicles (commercial and personal vehicles) to carry out their business. For many of the first years I worked as a safety professional I heard other safety people talk about lock out tag out, fall protection, slips-trips and falls, and confined space as the big work place hazards. [...]