This bill is considered one of the most sweeping changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.  Business groups are lobbying against this bill.

Under this bill, deaths or serious injuries in the workplace become felonies rather than misdemeanors.   These felonies carry a 10 year prison sentence for a first offense and 20 years for a second.  But it is not clear who would be charged since the language states, “any officer or director”. 

The bill also removes the word “willfully” and replaces it with “knowing” when it comes to these criminal penalties.  Since “knowing” is a new term in safety, this creates confusion.  How does a director defend against “knowing”?

Another bone of contention is the requirement to immediately abate hazards that OSHA finds and cites.  These hazards have to be fixed even before OSHA proves that a standard has been violated.  If OSHA says it, it is now gospel.  Business groups says this violates the concept of “due process”.

 
Again this bill does more than just improve miner safety. It continues to reinforce the adversarial stance that OSHA has taken. 

OSHA is proposing legislation could put a business owner in prison up to 10 years with a felony conviction  if a worker dies on the job.  This sounds like a good idea on paper, but I think it will be a disaster if implemented.

The climate between OSHA and business is now adversarial.  There is no more working together.  If you have a good safety record, you are under reporting and if you have a bad safety record, then you are…well…bad.  An inordinate amount of new laws have been enacted and changed during this president’s administration.  Some of them are good, while some are draconian or ludicrous.

Whether you believe illegal aliens should be given immunity or not.  The botton line is they did do something wrong if they entered the country illegally.  Our government turns a blind eye to that, but business owners that are providing employment and a tax base for our communities are now the “bad guys” and have to be punished.

The world has gone mad

This isn’t the first time that BP has made headlines with disasterous safety news.

In March 2005, a fire and explosion occurred at BP’s Texas City Refinery killing 15 and injuring 170 workers.

According to the Center for Public Integrity an analysis of OSHA data shows that BP recieved 97% of all serious violations written against refineries  or a total of 872 violations since 2007.  Most of the violations are due to BP’s cavalier disregard to safety and their failure to fix the problems uncovered after the 2005 blast.

This is what BP had to say about their safety program in their 2008 Annual Review, “We continue to work to establish a strong safety culture, developing deep knowledge within every employee and sharing learning. This approach has been successful in building a world-class safety culture.”

 Their actions over the last few years contradict their words.  My dad gave me this advice, “Watch how a man walks, not how he talks”.  You can put fancy words in an annual review, but that doesn’t make it true.

I agree with the deputy assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, Jordan Barab when he said,  “The only thing you can conclude is that BP has a serious, systemic safety problem in their company.”

Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration was the guest speaker on a webinar hosted by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) yesterday.  It was recorded and you can hear the entire talk.  There is no charge for this webinar.

Conversation with Dr. Michaels’ Link.

After listening to the recording, it became apparent that OSHA does not know what makes up a good incentive program.  Dr. Michaels did state that companies with incentive programs should reward employees for working safe, not punish employees or supervisors for injuries.  Taking something away (attendance at pizza party, bonus, raffle ticket, firing, etc.) for having an accident, actually discourages accident reporting and may get you into trouble with OSHA.   Programs where employees get penalized for having injuries are illegal (under Section 11c of the Act¹).  This would include programs that remove incentives from employees or supervisors for merely having or reporting injuries.

Be aware that OSHA frowns on terminating injured employees if the company appears to only discipline and/or punish employees when tied to unsafe acts leading to an injury.  A consistent disciplinary program is recommended.  Unsafe acts should documented and tied to an effective disciplinary program.  Don’t just act when there is an injury.

Companies with a long history of working accident free may also be discouraging accident reporting and OSHA may look at these companies to ensure that every incident is reported.

There was much discussion regarding OSHA 300 Log reporting.  OSHA uses the 300 Log to determine which companies are working unsafely and companies with lots of accidents may be targeted for an OSHA inspection.

Even though, OSHA uses the OSHA 300 Log to evaluate a company, it frowned on companie using the 300 log as part of their prequalification program.  For the record, my dad used to say, Do as I say, not as I do…I think this is what we are hearing here.  I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now.

Companies with safety incentive policies may want to review their policies to ensure that they start moving in the same direction as OSHA.

¹(c) (1) No person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this Act or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding or because of the exercise by such employee on behalf of himself or others of any right afforded by this Act.

There are 220,000 victims of sudden cardiac arrest per year in the United States; about 10,000 sudden cardiac arrests occur at work.

Waiting for the arrival of emergency medical system personnel results in only 5-7% survival.

Studies with immediate defibrillation have shown up to 60% survival one year after sudden cardiac arrest.

Automated external defibrillators

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a medical device designed to analyze the heart rhythm and deliver an electric shock to victims of ventricular fibrillation to restore the heart rhythm to normal.  Ventricular fibrillation is the uncoordinated heart rhythm most often responsible for sudden cardiac arrest.

Sudden cardiac arrest

Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when ventricular fibrillation takes place or when the heart stops beating altogether. Without medical attention, the victim collapses, loses consciousness, becomes

unresponsive, and dies. Many victims have no prior history of heart disease and are stricken without warning.

Causes of sudden cardiac arrest

·       Heart attack

·       Electrocution

·       Asphyxiation (loss of consciousness and death caused by inadequate oxygen in the work environment, such as in a confined space).

Reasons for AEDs in the workplace

·       Workers may suffer sudden cardiac arrest while on the job.

·       Onsite AEDs save precious treatment time, and can improve survival odds because they can be used before emergency medical service (EMS) personnel arrive.

·       A heart rhythm in ventricular fibrillation may only be restored to normal by an electric shock.

·       The AED is compact, lightweight, portable, battery operated, safe, and easy to use.

AEDS SAVE LIVES!

These devices have a proven track record of saving lives in public places as well as in the workplace.  Please consider installing AEDs in your workplace.

State Plan States are required to have standards, policies and procedures at least as effective as those of Federal OSHA and to respond to significant new changes to the Federal program.  So when OSHA issues a new standard or directive, a state has 6 months to implement.  A state can choose to adopt the exact federal standard or implement its own version as long as the new standard is as effective as the underlying federal regulation.

A wise safety professional pays attention to the federal activity in addition to proposed and enacted state safety laws.

There is an interesting page on OSHA’s website that shows what each state is doing in response to Federal standards and directives.

Where the State has adopted a standard or policy that is different than the Federal, the table provides either a direct link to the State’s standard, policy or procedure posted on a State website, or information on how to obtain a copy from the State.

In addition, each new Federal standard or directive posted on OSHA’s website will link back to the appropriate table on this page - 6 months after issuance.   Shown below is link to OSHA’s Interlinked State Plan Standards/Policies/Directives. http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/osp/std_fpc.html 

Currently 25 states are governed by a state OSHA plan. They are:  Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut*, Hawaii, Illinois*, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey*, New Mexico, New York*, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. *Plan covers public sector employees only.         

This is an innovative way for OSHA to intervene and monitor Nevada’s state plan performance without revoking the state plan.

OSHA’ goal for the IIPP is to help employers identify hazards and provide workers with an opportunity to participate in the safety process while reducing injuries.

Key provisions of the program may include:

A requirement that employers systematically identify and remediate risks to workers, develop procedures for inspecting their workplaces for safety and health hazards and investigate accidents.

Methods to provide workers with opportunities to participate in the program.

Provisions requiring that the program be made available to workers so they can understand it and help monitor its implementation.

A requirement that employers implement the program so the program actually protects workers.

Many states currently have requirments for a written safety program.  These programs have been shown to be effective in many workplaces in the United States.  OSHA believes that all workplaces could benefit from an effective injury and illness prevention program.

1/7/10 IN - Worker climbed the roof of the furnace to shut off all water when an explosion happened. The worker fell 12 feet to the floor from the furnace roof. Four (4) other workers were injured.

1/11/10 WI - Worker was working on a roof/deck and fell into an elevator shaft, 30-feet

1/11/10 KS Worker was erecting a scaffold and fell 30-feet to the ground.

1/16/10 FL - Worker tripped and fell during a visit to a patient's home.

1/19/10 CA -Worker was crushed by a lift truck.

1/28/10 KY - Worker was working at 2:47 a.m. in a convenience store, when he was shot during a robbery attempt. He was taken off life support on 1/27/2010.

2/4/10 AL - Worker was lowered into a 30- to 35-foot deep shaft to perform hand cleaning and to drill a sample test of a rock.  He was being lifted out of the shaft by the use of a pneumatic winch system.  The winch system collapsed into the shaft, striking the worker.

2/5/10 NY - Worker fell from scaffold into a window opening and 20 feet down an elevator shaft.

2/9/10 IA - Worker was trying to grab a large piece of cardboard out of the back of the garbage truck when the driver began to close the tailgate. The driver heard the worker and opened it. The worker who had been caught by the tailgate was transported to the hospital where he later died.

2/12/10 WV - Worker was exposed to a chemical stripping agent and suffered respiratory pain / illness due to poor ventilation.

3/3/2010 OK – Worker was drilling a water well. The boom of the drilling rig contacted a high voltage power line of a cell phone tower. Worker was electrocuted.

3/4/2010 WY - A material handler was walking in a parking lot when he slipped on some ice causing him to fall, striking his head on parking lot surface.

3/12/2010 LA – Worker had climbed down a ladder into a railcar, which had been identified as a confined space, wearing an acid gas respirator with an organic vapor cartridge. As he began to exit the railcar, climbing up the ladder, he collapsed and fell back into the railcar. It is believed there was a nitrogen atmosphere in the railcar.

3/12/2010 TX – The company was applying a coat of stain and two coats of sealant. Two workers were observed outside the building getting air, as the fumes were getting to be too much. One worker fatality and one worker hospitalization.

3/17/2010 TN – Worker was standing on a flatbed trailer while a crane operator was loading three coils of steel onto the truck. The coils fell off the truck striking the worker who had jumped off the truck to get out of the way.

3/23/2010 MT – Worker was trampled by a bull.