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Safety & Health
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Don’t wait until an OSHA compliance officer is in your lobby
to address health and safety issues in your workplace. Employee safety
is a priority for all employers. Find out what laws apply to you.
$16 M in fines for power plant explosion
OSHA has cited three construction companies and 14 site contractors for 371 alleged workplace safety violations and proposed $16.6 million in penalties following February's natural gas explosion in Middletown. The explosion at the power plant construction site took the lives of six workers and injured 50 others.
On February 7, a gas blow operation was being performed in which flammable natural gas was pumped under high pressure through new fuel gas lines to remove debris. During the operation, a large amount of natural gas was vented into areas where it could not be easily dispersed. Welding and other work was taking place nearby, creating an extremely dangerous situation. The explosion occurred when the gas contacted an ignition source.
These employers blatantly disregarded well-known and accepted industry procedures and their own safety guidelines in conducting the gas blow operation in a manner that exposed workers to fire and explosion hazards, says OSHA.
As the result of the deadly incident, OSHA will be issuing a warning letter to natural gas power operators regarding the dangerous practice of cleaning fuel gas piping using natural gas and the need to ensure that safety procedures and practices are implemented to prevent disasters. Such practices and procedures include the venting of gas vertically and above all structures, the elimination of all ignition sources if a flammable gas is being used, the removal of all nonessential workers from the site, and the monitoring of air quality during and after completion of the blows. The letter also advises on alternatives, such as the use of nonflammable, nonexplosive media to clean the pipes.
To view the citations: www.osha.gov/doc/kleen_energy/kleen.html
‘Fat' report: Only DC leaner
Adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year and declined only in the District of Columbia (D.C.), according to a report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. More than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25%. In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20%.
F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future highlights racial, ethnic, regional and income disparities in the nation's obesity epidemic. For instance:
- Adult obesity rates for blacks and Latinos were higher than for whites in at least 40 states and D.C.
- Ten out of the 11 states with the highest rates were in the south, with Mississippi weighing in with the highest adult rate (33.8%) for the sixth year in a row.
- Thirty-five percent of adults earning less than $15,000 per year were obese compared with 24.5% of adults earning $50,000 or more per year.
Connecticut had the second lowest obesity rate at 21.4%; Colorado remained the lowest at 19.1%.
The report shows that the country has taken bold steps to address the obesity crisis in recent years, says Dr. Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust, but the nation's response has yet to fully match the magnitude of the problem. He noted that many Americans still face barriers to healthy choices, such as the high cost of healthy food and no access to safe places to be physically active.
For details on the report: www.healthyamericans.org
Final rule on cranes and derricks
OSHA has issued a new final rule—replacing a decades old standard—on the use of cranes and derricks in construction. Approximately 267,000 construction, crane rental, and crane certification establishments employing about 4.8 million workers will be affected.
Stakeholders from the construction industry had recognized the need to update the safety requirements, methods, and practices for cranes and derricks, says OSHA, and to incorporate technological advances in order to provide improved protection for those who work on and around cranes and derricks.
The new provisions are intended to prevent the leading causes of fatalities, including electrocution, crushed-by/struck-by hazards during assembly/disassembly, collapse, and overturn. The rule also sets requirements for ground conditions and crane operator assessment. In addition, it addresses tower crane hazards, covers the use of synthetic slings for assembly/disassembly work, and clarifies the scope of the regulation by providing both a functional description and a list of examples for the equipment that is covered.
To access the rule: www.osha.gov/FedReg_osha_pdf/FED20100809.pdf
Safe at home
Planning a vacation? Invest some time to review your home's security and to make improvements that will keep it from being vulnerable to break-ins. Walk around the perimeter of your home and objectively evaluate its vulnerability. Try to look at it the way a burglar would and make changes well before you leave town. Here are some suggestions.
Lock it up:
- Put bright lights over porches and walkways in the front and back.
- All doors to the outside should have working locks.
- Garage and shed doors need working locks, too.
- All windows should have working locks.
Don't help intruders:
- Keep bushes and shrubs trimmed under windows so burglars can't hide.
- Keep shades or curtains closed over garage and shed windows.
- Keep shades or curtains closed over your home windows after dark.
- Don't leave toys, tools and equipment in the yard.
When you're gone a few days:
- Make your home look like someone is there.
- Do yard work before you leave.
- Have a family member or friend bring in your mail and newspaper while you are gone.
- Keep all doors to the outside, sliding doors, and windows locked
Other home safety tips:
- Be able to get out of your home in an emergency.
- Make sure everyone can open all locks from inside your home.
- Don't have deadbolt locks that lock with an inside key. You need to get out fast if a fire starts. A missing key could trap you inside.
- Replace inside-key locks with deadbolt locks that have a “thumb turn” instead of an indoor key.
- Make sure everyone in your family can reach the “thumb turn” latch.
- Have window locks that open from inside. Do not nail windows shut. Make sure they open easily.
- If you have security bars on doors and windows, have a “quick-release” latch. This makes it easy to get outside in an emergency.
- Make sure everyone in your family knows how to use the latch.
BP to pay $50 M for Texas explosion
OSHA has announced that BP Products North America will pay a full penalty of $50.6 million stemming from the 2005 explosion at its Texas refinery that killed 15 workers and injured 170 others. The agreement resolves failure-to-abate citations issued after a 2009 follow-up investigation. In addition to paying the record fine, BP has agreed to take immediate steps to protect those now working at the refinery, allocating a minimum of $500 million to that effort.
The agreement identifies many items in need of immediate attention; the company has agreed to address those concerns quickly and to hire independent experts to monitor its efforts. The agreement also provides an unprecedented level of oversight of BP's safety program, including regular meetings with OSHA, frequent site inspections, and the submission of quarterly reports for the agency's review. Finally, BP has agreed to establish a liaison between its North American and London boards of directors and OSHA, which will allow the agency to raise compliance problems at the highest level.
During the 2009 follow-up investigation, OSHA also identified 439 new willful violations and assessed more than $30 million in penalties. Litigation before the OSH Review Commission regarding those violations and penalties is not impacted by the $50.6 million settlement.
For more information: www.osha.gov/dep/bp/bpagreement.html
Drinking rate edges up
A recent Gallup poll finds that 67% of U.S. adults drink alcohol, a slight increase over last year and the highest reading recorded since 1985 by 1 percentage point.
Despite some yearly fluctuations, the percentage of Americans who say they drink alcohol has been remarkably stable over Gallup's 71 years of tracking it. The high point for drinking came in 1976-1978, when 71% said they drank alcohol. The low of 55% was recorded in 1958.
A majority of Americans in most demographic subgroups of the population drink, though in some groups drinking is more prevalent than in others. Older Americans (59%) are less likely to drink than those who are younger (72%); those with the lowest education levels and lowest incomes are less likely to drink than others.
The poll also found that beer is the beverage of choice among Americans who drink alcohol, as it has been every year since 1992—with the exception of 2005, when wine edged into the top spot.
For complete poll results: www.gallup.com/poll/141656/Drinking-Rate-Edges-Slightly-Year-High.aspx
Free training …The number of solar installation companies in Connecticut has doubled in the last two years, and the need for solar photovoltaic (PV) professionals is expected to grow as more businesses and homeowners choose clean, renewable energy. CBIA has teamed up with the state's community colleges to offer free training for jobs in this fast growing industry. Classes in Solar PV Installation Assisting and Solar PV Technical Sales start in September; registration deadline for qualified students is August 23. For more information, go to www.cbia.com/edf/documents/TANFWEB_001.pdf.
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