Do You Have the Right Fire Extinguishers?

The National Fire Protection Association notes that portable fire extinguishers can “save lives and property by putting out a small fire or containing it until the fire department arrives, but portable extinguishers have limitations.”
The three most commonly used fire extinguishers are air-pressurized water (APW), carbon dioxide and multi- purpose/dry chemical. According to OSHA:

• Air-pressurized water extinguishers are designed to be used only on Class A fires (wood, paper, cloth, rubber and certain plastics). Never use an APW extinguisher on flammable liquid fires, as it may make the situation worse, or electrical fires, as it may cause electrocution.
• Carbon dioxide extinguishers put out fires by displacing oxygen. Be aware that pieces of dry ice will shoot from the device. Carbon dioxide extinguishers are meant for use only on Class B fires (oils, gasoline, some paints, lacquers, grease, solvents and other flammable liquids) and Class C fires (electrical fires, including fires in wires, fuse boxes and energized electrical equipment).
• Multi-purpose/dry chemical extinguishers coat the fuel element with a thin layer of fire-retardant powder, OSHA notes. Although generally rated for Class B and C fires, they may be marked as multi-purpose for use in Class A, B and C fires. All fire extinguishers will be marked with labeling that identifies what class of fire it can be used on.

To use a fire extinguisher; NFPA recommends remembering to PASS:

• Pull the pin and hold the extinguisher with the nozzle pointed away from you, then release the locking mechanism.
• Aim low – point at the base of the fire.
• Squeeze the lever slowly.
• Sweep the nozzle in a side-to-side motion.

Nashville Hazardous Waste and DOT Training 
Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Nashville, TN, on February 20-22 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Kansas City Hazardous Waste and DOT Training 
Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Kansas City, MO, on February 20-22 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

California Hazardous Waste and DOT Training 
Register for California Hazardous Waste Management and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in San Jose, CA, on February 27 – March 1 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

CDC’s New WISQARS Data Visualization
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) is an interactive, online database that provides fatal and nonfatal injury, violent death, and cost of injury data from a variety of trusted sources. You can use WISQARS data to learn more about the public health and economic burden associated with unintentional and violence-related injury in the United States.

Occupational Health Internship Program (OHIP) Offers Paid Summer Internships
The Occupational Health Internship Program (OHIP) online application is now open for summer 2018. OHIP is a national summer program dedicated to help students learn about the field of occupational safety and health  from those most at stake: working people. Please help spread the word about this nine-week, paid summer internship opportunity open to undergraduate and graduate students interested in occupational safety and health, and in working with worker organizations like unions and worker centers. The application deadline is February 16, at 11:59 pm PST.

The post Do You Have the Right Fire Extinguishers? appeared first on Environmental Resource Center.

Highest Rated RCRA Hazardous Waste Management Training

Environmental Resource Center has provided the highest quality Hazardous Waste Management Training for over 25 years. Our instructors bring a wide range of practical experience to the classroom, conducting seminars and live webcasts with expert knowledge, interactive exercises and a fun, relaxed atmosphere. RCRA Hazardous Waste Management classes are available as seminars, instructor-led webcasts, self-paced online courses or customized for your company’s individual needs.

Courses:

1. Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course (RCRA)
2. RCRA and DOT Annual Update and Refresher
3. Advanced Hazardous Waste Management
4. California Hazardous Waste Management
5. Texas Hazardous Waste Management
6. Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule

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•  Comprehensive and user-friendly course handbooks with options for preloaded tablets containing your course materials
•  Handbook updates are available to you online for one year
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Post originally published on RCRA Training

Falls Top Construction Death Incidents

Falls Top Construction Death Incidents

A recently created database allowed researchers to determine that, in a 33-year period, falls accounted for nearly half of all construction worker deaths - and more than half of the workers killed lacked access to fall protection - according to the Center for Construction Research and Training (also known as CPWR).

Using data from the NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program, the researchers found fatality reports for 768 construction industry fatalities and created a searchable database, the Construction FACE Database, of those reports.

After analyzing the incidents in the new database, researchers concluded that, between 1982 and 2015:
* 42% (325) of the fatalities involved falls
* 54% of the workers killed had no access to a personal fall arrest system, and 23% had access to a PFAS but did not use it
* Most of the workers with no access to PFAS worked for residential building contractors and contractors in the roofing, siding and sheet metal sectors
* 107 of the 325 falls were from 30 feet or higher
* 20% of the 768 deaths occurred in the victims’ first two months on the job.
"Even though this study was unable to assess effectiveness of the OSHA fall protection standard established in 1995, the considerable number of fall fatalities from lower heights provides strong evidence of the need for the OSHA requirement that fall protection be provided at elevations of 6 feet or more in the construction industry," researchers said.
In the study abstract, the researchers say the database allowed them to analyze FACE reports "quantitatively and efficiently," adding "comprehensive research using FACE reports may improve understanding of work-related fatalities and provide much-needed information on injury prevention."

Nashville Hazardous Waste and DOT Training
Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Nashville, TN, on February 20-22 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Kansas City Hazardous Waste and DOT Training
Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Kansas City, MO, on February 20-22 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

California Hazardous Waste and DOT Training
Register for California Hazardous Waste Management and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in San Jose, CA, on February 27 - March 1 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Continued Dangers for Construction Workers Revealed in New Report
A new report released by a state workplace safety watchdog highlights the deadly risks construction workers face in New York.

The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) released its latest construction fatality report, "Deadly Skyline: An Annual Report on Construction Fatalities in New York State." The report found increases in New York State construction fatalities stating that "employers routinely violate legal regulations with impunity."
The organization’s members include workers, unions, community-based organizations, workers’ rights activists, and health and safety professionals.
The report’s key findings:
* In 2016, New York State had a 60% higher construction fatality rate than New York City. Over the past five years, the New York City fatal occupational injury rate in construction decreased by 21.3%, while the New York State rate increased by 29.5% over the same period of time.
* Non-union job sites are especially dangerous for workers. NYCOSH analyzed OSHA’s 36 investigated construction fatality citations in 2016 and found that in New York State, 94.7% of workers who died on private work sites were non-union. In New York City, 93.8% of construction workers who died on private work sites in 2016 were non-union.
* Falls continue to be the top cause of construction fatalities in New York State and New York City. In all of New York State in the past ten years, 218 workers died in falls, which accounted for 48% of all construction fatalities. In New York City alone, over the past ten years, 101 workers died due to falls, which on average accounted for 46% of all construction deaths.
* Enforcement agencies are drastically underfunded. NYCOSH conducted an in-depth analyses of OSHA inspections in New York State since OSHA’s founding and found a staggering decrease in inspections over the past twenty years.
* OSHA construction fines for fatality cases remain low. Average OSHA fines in construction fatality cases decreased by 7%, to $20,217.

The report, published in part by a grant provided by the New York State Department of Labor, offered a number of recommendations to improve worker safety in the state:
* Require construction training and certification for New York State’s construction workers. Municipalities and New York State need to create rigorous training requirements for construction workers.
* Establish funding streams for construction safety training programs in New York City. As the requirements for construction safety training increase, so should the funding to provide such training, especially to ensure that low-wage immigrant workers have the opportunity to access them.
* Preserve the Scaffold Safety Law. Given that fall-fatalities are the top cause of death on construction sites, this legislation must be defended in order to prevent such deaths.
* Pass Carlos’ Law to ensure corporate responsibility for worker fatalities.
* Expand criminal prosecutions statewide.
* Use existing city power to suspend or revoke licenses and construction permits for criminal contractors.

The post Falls Top Construction Death Incidents appeared first on Environmental Resource Center.

Metal Working Fluid to be Listed as a Carcinogen

California’s Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is planning to list TRIM® VX as known to the state to cause cancer under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. This action is being proposed under the Proposition 65 authoritative bodies listing mechanism.

TRIM® VX is a metalworking fluid used as a lubricant and coolant liquid for cleaning tools and parts during cutting, drilling, milling, and grinding.

TRIM® VX meets the criteria for listing as known to the state to cause cancer under Proposition 65, based on a study performed by the US National Toxicology Program NTP. In 2016, NTP published a report on TRIM® VX, entitled Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of TRIM® VX in Wistar Han Rats and B6C3F1/N Mice (Inhalation Studies), that concluded that the chemical causes cancer. This report satisfies the formal identification and sufficiency of evidence criteria in the Proposition 65 regulations.

OEHHA relied on the NTP’s discussion of data and conclusions in the report that TRIM® VX causes cancer. NTP stated in the Conclusion section of the report’s Summary, "we conclude that exposure to aerosols of TRIM VX caused tumors of the lung in male and female mice..." The NTP report stated in the Conclusion section of the report’s Abstract and main body of the report (pages 9 and 71, respectively), "under the conditions of these 2-year inhalation studies... There was clear evidence of carcinogenic activity of TRIM VX in male B6C3F1/N mice based on the increased combined incidences of alveolar/bronchiolar adenoma or carcinoma of the lung." "There was clear evidence of carcinogenic activity of TRIM VX in female B6C3F1/N mice based on the increased combined incidences of alveolar/bronchiolar adenoma or carcinoma (primarily carcinoma) of the lung."

NTP found that TRIM® VX causes increased incidences of malignant and benign alveolar/bronchiolar tumors in male and female mice.

OEHHA has requested comments as to whether TRIM® VX meets the criteria set forth in the Proposition 65 regulations for authoritative bodies listings. In order to be considered, OEHHA must receive comments by 5:00 p.m. on February 26, 2018. Comments may be submitted electronically through OEHHA’s website at https://oehha.ca.gov/comments. Comments submitted in paper form can be mailed, faxed, or delivered in person to the address below.

Michelle Ramirez

Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment

P.O. Box 4010, MS-12B

Sacramento, California 95812-4010

Street Address:

1001 I Street

Sacramento, California 95814

Fax: 916-323-2265

Comments received during the public comment period will be posted on the OEHHA website after the close of the comment period. By sending your comments, you are waiving any right to privacy you may have in the information you provide. Commenters should advise OEHHA when submitting documents to request redaction of home address or personal telephone numbers. Electronic files submitted should not have any form of encryption.

For questions, contact Ms. Ramirez at Michelle.Ramirez@oehha.ca.gov or at 916-445-6900.

TSCA Reset Webcast

If your company manufactured or imported chemicals between June 21, 2006 and June 21, 2016, the EPA’s TSCA Inventory reset rule requires you to identify those substances as active on EPA central data exchange (CDX) by February 8, 2018.

If you process or use chemicals, you may identify them as active on the TSCA Inventory October 6, 2018. After October 6, 2018, chemicals which have not been identified as active on the TSCA Inventory may not, unless exempted, be imported, manufactured, processed, or used in commerce, in the United States.

The post Metal Working Fluid to be Listed as a Carcinogen appeared first on Environmental Resource Center.

EPA to Allow Major Sources of Air Pollution to Reclassify as Area Sources

EPA issued a guidance memorandum withdrawing the "once in always in" policy for the classification of major sources of hazardous air pollutants under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. With the new guidance, sources of hazardous air pollutants previously classified as "major sources" may be reclassified as area sources when the facility limits its potential to emit below major source thresholds.

EPA issued a guidance memorandum withdrawing the "once in always in" policy for the classification of major sources of hazardous air pollutants under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. With the new guidance, sources of hazardous air pollutants previously classified as "major sources" may be reclassified as area sources when the facility limits its potential to emit below major source thresholds.

"This guidance is based on a plain language reading of the statute that is in line with EPA’s guidance for other provisions of the Clean Air Act," said Bill Wehrum, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. "It will reduce regulatory burden for industries and the states, while continuing to ensure stringent and effective controls on hazardous air pollutants."

The Clean Air Act defines a "major source" as a one that emits, or has the potential to emit, 10 tons per year of any hazardous air pollutant, or 25 tons per year or more of any combination of hazardous air pollutants. Sources with emissions below this threshold are classified as "area sources." Different control standards apply to the source depending on whether or not it is classified as a "major source" or an "area source."

In a 1995 memo, EPA established a "once in always in" policy that determined that any facility subject to major source standards would always remain subject to those standards, even if production processes changed or controls were implemented that eliminated or permanently reduced that facility’s potential to emit hazardous air pollutants.

The recent memo states that the EPA had no statutory authority under the Clean Air Act to place a time limit on when a facility may be determined to be an area source, and that a plain language reading of the Act must allow facilities to be reclassified as area sources once their potential to emit hazardous air pollutants falls below the levels that define major sources.

EPA said that it will soon publish a Federal Register notice to take comment on adding regulatory text that will reflect EPA’s reading of the statute as discussed in this memorandum.

John Walke, clean air director at the Natural Resources Defense Council said, "this is among the most dangerous actions that the Trump EPA has taken yet against public health. Rolling back longstanding protections to allow the greatest increase in hazardous air pollutants in our nation’s history is unconscionable. This move drastically weakens protective limits on air pollutants like arsenic, lead, mercury and other toxins that cause cancer, brain damage, infertility, developmental problems and even death. And those harmed most would be nearby communities already suffering a legacy of pollution. NRDC will fight this terrible decision to unleash toxic pollutants with every available tool."

TSCA Reset Webcast

If your company manufactured or imported chemicals between June 21, 2006 and June 21, 2016, the EPA’s TSCA Inventory reset rule requires you to identify those substances as active on EPA central data exchange (CDX) by February 8, 2018.

If you process or use chemicals, you may identify them as active on the TSCA Inventory October 6, 2018. After October 6, 2018, chemicals which have not been identified as active on the TSCA Inventory may not, unless exempted, be imported, manufactured, processed, or used in commerce, in the United States.

In this webcast, you will learn:

How the TSCA Inventory applies to the chemicals you use, manufacture, or import

How the TSCA Reset rule applies to your operations

Which chemicals are regulated, and which are exempt

How to check the status of your chemicals

How to use EPA’s CDX to report your chemical as active

How to report your chemicals if you miss the deadline

Impact on Safety Data Sheets

Two sessions of this interactive, instructor-led webcast will be offered on January 30, 2018 and February 1, 2018 from 1:00-4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Tampa Hazardous Waste and DOT Training

Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Tampa, FL, on February 5-8 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Nashville Hazardous Waste and DOT Training

Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Nashville, TN, on February 20-22 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Kansas City Hazardous Waste and DOT Training

Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Kansas City, MO, on February 20-22 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

The post EPA to Allow Major Sources of Air Pollution to Reclassify as Area Sources appeared first on Environmental Resource Center.

Are You Ready for the February 7th TSCA CDX Reporting Deadline?

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory—which is a list of chemical substances in commerce in the US, is being updated.

If your company manufactured or imported chemicals from June 21, 2006 through June 21, 2016, the EPA’s TSCA Inventory Reset rule may require you to identify those substances as active on the EPA’s central data exchange (CDX) before February 8, 2018.

If you process or use chemicals, you may identify them as active on the TSCA Inventory through October 5, 2018. After October 5, 2018, EPA will compile a list of inactive substances, and 90 days after that list is published, the inactive substances may not, unless exempted, be manufactured, imported, processed, or used in commerce, in the U.S.

The 2016 amendments to TSCA require EPA to designate chemical substances on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory as either active or inactive in US commerce. To accomplish that, EPA established a retrospective electronic notification of chemical substances on the TSCA Inventory that were manufactured (including imported) for nonexempt commercial purposes during the 10-year time period ending on June 21, 2016, with a provision to also allow notification by processors. EPA uses these notifications to distinguish active substances from inactive substances. EPA includes the active and inactive designations on the TSCA Inventory and as part of its regular publications of the Inventory. EPA also established procedures for forward-looking electronic notification of chemical substances on the TSCA Inventory that are designated as inactive, if and when the manufacturing or processing of such chemical substances for nonexempt commercial purposes is expected to resume. On receiving forward-looking notification, EPA will change the designation of the pertinent chemical substance on the TSCA Inventory from inactive to active. EPA established the procedures regarding the manner in which such retrospective and forward-looking activity notifications must be submitted, the details of the notification requirements, exemptions from such requirements, and procedures for handling claims of confidentiality.

TSCA Reset Webcast 

Register for the TSCA Reset Webcast before the February 7, 2018, deadline. This interactive, instructor-led webcast will be offered on January 30, 2018 and February 1, 2018 from 1:00-4:00 pm. 

Atlanta Hazardous Waste and DOT Training

Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Atlanta, on January 23-25 and save $100, or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Indianapolis Hazardous Waste and DOT Training

Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Indianapolis on January 30-February 1 and save $100, or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Tampa Hazardous Waste and DOT Training 

Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Tampa, FL, on February 5-8 and save $100, or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Reporting Requirements Update Expected for Animal Waste Emissions 

Due to a recent court action, many U.S. farms with animal operations will be required to report emissions from animal waste as early as January 22. CERCLA and EPCRA require facilities to report releases of hazardous substances that are equal to or greater than their reportable quantities (RQ) within any 24-hour period. Following a hazardous substance reportable release, a facility owner or operator must notify federal authorities under CERCLA and state and local authorities under EPCRA. Review the CERCLA and EPCRA Reporting Requirements for Air Releases of Hazardous Substances from Animal Waste at Farms Fact Sheet for frequently asked questions and how the updates may affect your operations.

On December 18, 2008, EPA published a final rule that exempted most farms from certain release reporting requirements in CERCLA and EPCRA. Specifically, the rule exempted farms releasing hazardous substances from animal waste to the air above threshold levels from reporting under CERCLA. For EPCRA reporting, the rule exempted reporting of such releases if the farm had fewer animals than a large concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO).

In short, all farms were relieved from reporting hazardous substance air releases from animal waste under CERCLA, and only large CAFOs were subject to EPCRA reporting.   

A number of citizen groups challenged the validity of the final rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On April 11, 2017, the Court struck down the final rule, eliminating the reporting exemptions for farms. EPA sought additional time from the Court to delay the effective date so that EPA could develop guidance materials to help farmers understand their reporting obligations.

No reporting is required until the Court issues its order, or mandate, enforcing the April 11, 2017, decision. EPA will update this guidance to provide farmers with notice of when the mandate issues and reporting requirements begin. The court is expected to issue the mandate on January 22, 2018. Check EPA’s website frequently for updates. Once the mandate is issued, farms should submit an initial continuous release notification to the National Response Center for qualifying releases that occur within a 24-hour period.

The post Are You Ready for the February 7th TSCA CDX Reporting Deadline? appeared first on Environmental Resource Center.

OSHA Alliance on Hazards Facing Female Construction Workers Continues

OSHA has renewed its alliance with the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), "to continue promoting safe and healthful working conditions for female construction workers."

OSHA has renewed its alliance with the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), "to continue promoting safe and healthful working conditions for female construction workers."

In a press release, as part of the OSHA Alliance Program, the five-year pact will target hazards specific to women in construction, including the selection of personal protective equipment (PPE), sanitation, and workplace intimidation and violence. The alliance began in 2013.

According to OSHA’s website, the alliance intends to collaborate on raising awareness of OSHA’s rulemaking and enforcement tactics by:

* Sharing information on OSHA’s National Emphasis Programs, Regulatory Agenda, and opportunities to participate in the rulemaking process

* Sharing information on occupational safety and health laws, standards and guidance resources, including the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers

* Convening or participating in forums, roundtable discussions or stakeholder meetings on construction to create innovative workplace solutions or to give input on safety and health issues

The agreement also calls for encouraging NAWIC chapters to foster relationships with federal OSHA regional and area offices, as well as State Plans and OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program, to address construction health and safety issues.

NAWIC was formed in 1955 and provides educational and professional development opportunities to more than 4,000 women.

Women in Construction (WIC) Week will be celebrated March 4-10, 2018, highlighting women as "a visible component of the construction industry". WIC Week also provides an occasion for NAWIC’s thousands of members across the country to raise awareness of the opportunities available for women in the construction industry and to emphasize the growing role of women in the industry.

Atlanta Hazardous Waste and DOT Training

Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Atlanta, on January 23-25 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Indianapolis Hazardous Waste and DOT Training

Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Indianapolis on January 30-February 1 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Tampa Hazardous Waste and DOT Training

Register for Hazardous Waste Management: The Complete Course and DOT Hazardous Materials Training: The Complete Course in Tampa, FL, on February 5-8 and save $100 or receive an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet with electronic versions of both handbooks. To take advantage of this offer, click here or call 800-537-2372.

Aruvil International Inc. Fined $200,000 for Safety Violations

OSHA has cited Aruvil International, Inc., for multiple safety violations at its Pennsauken, New Jersey, facility. The chain-link fencing manufacturer faces $199,996 in proposed penalties.

Agency inspectors identified violations, including inadequate lighting; lack of machine guards; failing to keep the workroom clean and dry; failing to inspect and ensure proper use of fall protection; and failing to provide effective training on hazardous chemicals in a June 2017 inspection. A prior investigation in August 2015 found similar violations.

"Aruvil International has failed to correct similar violations cited two years ago," said OSHA Marlton Area Office Director Paula Dixon-Roderick. "To protect its workers, the employer should abate these repeatedly identified hazards."

Report Indicates NIOSH, BLS, and OSHA Could Effectively Collaborate on Surveillance Systems

NIOSH should lead a collaborative effort with the BLS, OSHA, and the states to establish and strengthen regional occupational safety and health surveillance programs, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The nation needs a robust occupational safety and health surveillance system to provide critical information about the relationships between work and injuries and illnesses in order to inform policy development, guide educational and regulatory activities, develop safer technologies, and enable research and prevention strategies that serve and protect all workers. A smarter surveillance system will minimize the undercounting of occupational injuries and illnesses by making strategic use of different datasets and surveys, and will maximize appropriate use of technologies.

"Ensuring and improving worker safety and health is a serious commitment, and federal and state agencies along with other stakeholders should diligently act upon it," said Edward Shortliffe, professor of biomedical informatics at Arizona State University and chair of the committee that conducted the study and wrote the report. "We are experiencing rapid changes in the nature of work, and with new risks developing; the nation is in dire need of a smarter surveillance system that tracks occupational injuries, illnesses, and exposures."

The estimated annual cost of occupation-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths in the U.S. is $250 billion, according to the latest data available from 2007. Occupational health and safety surveillance can provide ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data, essential to planning and evaluating public health practices. Currently there is no single, comprehensive surveillance system in the U.S., but rather a continuously evolving set of systems using a variety of data sources that meet different objectives, the report says. So far, the principal focus has been on collecting data on health outcomes, and less attention has been given to collecting information on hazards and exposures.

The report emphasizes the importance and value of sources and quality of inputs to creating a stronger surveillance system. Surveys and assessments designed to count occupational injuries do not capture data on some segments of the working population. For example, the BLS’ Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) does not include injuries to workers who are self-employed, like independent contractors, or who work on small farms. The report recommends BLS and OSHA work together to collect more complete, accurate, and robust information on the extent, distribution, and characteristics of work-related injuries and illnesses.

A federal-state partnership can facilitate and serve as a national effort to identify and monitor emerging problems, and to foster prevention programs that can address them, the report says. The committee called attention to enhancing the quality and capacity of informatics, particularly in NIOSH, using advanced computational and analytical tools, and monitoring advances in information technology. NIOSH, OSHA, and BLS should also work together to encourage education and training of the surveillance workforce in disciplines necessary for developing and using surveillance systems, including epidemiology, biomedical informatics, and biostatistics.

Implementing a household survey to record occupational injuries and illnesses will also help fill gaps in the data for populations of workers who are missing from employer-based injury reporting, by obtaining input directly from the worker, the report says. Additionally, OSHA’s electronic employer-based reporting initiative needs to be accompanied by a solid plan for analyzing, interpreting, and disseminating the information, the committee said. Specifically, OSHA should collaborate with BLS, NIOSH, state agencies, and other stakeholders to maximize the effectiveness and utility of the reporting initiative for surveillance.

The report also notes that work-related disease (versus injury) information has been lacking in the surveillance system. NIOSH should work with state occupational safety and health surveillance programs to develop a methodology and coordinated system for surveillance of both fatal and nonfatal occupational disease using multiple data sources. Furthermore, the committee called for an immediate collaborative effort of federal agencies to initiate the development of a comprehensive approach for exposure surveillance that builds and updates a database of risks and exposures to predict and locate work-related acute and chronic health conditions for prevention.

The study was funded by the NIOSH, BLS, and OSHA. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. The National Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org.

The post OSHA Alliance on Hazards Facing Female Construction Workers Continues appeared first on Environmental Resource Center.