Occhealth Bulletin
10 August 2009
What's new at OSHA - August 2009
Category: OSHA Updates
The OSHA website has a “What’s new” feature that is highly recommended. Items from the last 30 days can be found here: www.osha.gov/whatsnew.html. In addition, “OSHA Quick Takes” is a “twice-monthly e-news memo with information, updates, and results from OSHA about safety and health in America's workplaces.” To see the latest Quick Takes release, click here: www.osha.gov/as/opa/quicktakes/qt07152009.html.
OSHA turns up the heat on construction safety
During the summer months, the construction industry is at its peak. To highlight health and safety issues within the industry, OSHA has made preventing hazards in construction the subject of their QuickTips issue this month. The first place you should visit is the Construction Industry page of the OSHA website. This page lists all the resources that OSHA provides for employers and employees in the industry. For example, there are links to the relevant standards, interactive e-learning tools on subjects such as scaffolding and construction and publications including the Construction Industry Digest. There are many fact sheets on specific areas in construction such as Demolition and clean up and Protecting Workers from Lead Hazards.
OSHA-Air Force partnership reduces illness and injury rates at hazardous worksites
In its mission to support safety and health at work, OSHA has developed the OSHA Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP) to form voluntary partnerships with labor organizations, trade associations, professional associations, employers and employees. The aim of each unique partnership is to improve health and safety issues and to “encourage, assist, and recognize efforts to eliminate serious hazards and achieve model workplace safety and health practices”. One such partnership, with the US Air Force, has proved very successful since its inception in 2007. The partnership encompasses nearly 20 Air Force bases including Altus Air Base in Oklahoma, listed as one of the Department of Defense’s top 10 hazardous worksites. The partnership was set up to “provide an infrastructure for DoD’s Air Force installations to earn future VPP [voluntary protection program] recognition” so that managers and employees could work together to improve health and safety. A recent evaluation has shown that the partnership has been successful in reducing injury and illness rates and the numbers of work days lost.
OSHA announces Chemical National Emphasis Program pilot
OSHA recently publicized, in a national news release, a National Emphasis Program (NEP) targeting facilities that could potentially release highly hazardous chemicals. Such chemical releases are known to cause toxic fire or explosion hazards. The Chemical NEP is to be piloted over one year in several regions across the country and outlines “a new approach for compliance officers who conduct site inspections”. OSHA’s program “establishes policies and procedures for inspecting workplaces that are covered by process safety management (PSM) standard”.
New publication aims to minimize the potential for combustible dust explosions
OSHA has published hundreds of publications on health and safety topics that are available for download or print from their website. The latest publication to be released is the Hazard Communication Guidance for Combustible Dust targeting chemical manufacturers and importers.