Hello and thank you for reading.

We are very excited to say our OSHA Outreach Classes are getting closer and closer to being released. We are working feverishly with OSHA to get them approved. I have to tell you that these courses will be some of our best training yet.

We are also getting ready to release our Hazmat DOT General Awareness and our Paramedic Refresher training. We will make an announcement when that happens.

And thanks to all of you who replied about training providers offering non-Department of Labor (DOL) authorized 10 and 30 hour OSHA Outreach Courses. Again, let the buyer beware, as there was a reason that these training providers were not authorized to issue DOL cards.

If you are not sure what I am talking about, please click here.

Again, we always appreciate your feedback and would love to hear what is on your mind.

Sincerely,

Julius P. Griggs
President and CEO
Safety Unlimited, Inc.

A Message from the CEO OSHA Outreach Courses, Hazmat DOT General Awareness, Paramedic Refresher, Unauthorized Training Providers

We've just released the May issue of The Monthly SUN.

Topics covered in this issue:

• Support Sanctuary - Resetting Student Passwords
• Safety Tip of the Month - Materials Handling
• Safety Matters - OSHA's Fall Prevention Campaign
• Who's Who in Safety - Alice Hamilton: Industrial Hygiene Pioneer

Manual materials handling is the main source of injury in the American work force. Four out of five of these injuries affect the lower back. Back injuries are one of the leading causes of disability for people in their working years and afflict over 600,000 workers each year.

Injuries can result from improper manual lifting, carrying loads that are too large or too heavy, being struck by materials or being caught in pinch points, incorrectly cutting securing devices, and moving sharp, caustic, or otherwise dangerous materials without protection.

When moving materials, lift with your legs, keep your back straight and do not twist. Attach handles to loads to reduce the chances of smashing fingers. If you’re lifting a load that is too large or too heavy, break the load into parts, if possible. If the load can’t be broken into parts, get help with heavy or bulky items.

It is your employer’s responsibility to ensure that your workplace is free of recognizable hazards and that you are provided training that allows you to recognize, avoid, and even correct hazards. Your employer should provide you with safe lifting training that allows you to avoid unnecessary physical strain and to recognize, prevent, and correct lifting hazards.

In addition, your employer must provide you with safety equipment that is appropriate to the hazards you face when moving materials. These include gloves and other hand and forearm protection for sharp or caustic materials.

For more on moving materials safely by hand, go to OSHA's website and search "safe lifting."

Safety Tip of the Month Materials handling, Safe lifting, Carrying heavy loads, Back injuries, Moving objects by hand

Forgetting, misplacing, or losing passwords is a common occurrence. This can be aggravating when it is just you, but what happens when you have a corporate account with multiple students, each with their own username and password? Never fear. Did you know that corporate administrators have the ability to reset their students' passwords?

When a corporate student logs in to their account for the first time, they are asked to change their password to whatever they want it to be. Sometimes, however, when they do this, they forget the new password they created. If this happens, the corporate administrator has the ability to reset the password of the student through their admin area.

To do this is simple and easy. When a corporate administrator first logs in to their admin page, there is a link – under the "Student Management" area – that says, "Reset Student Password." By clicking on this link, the student's password will be reset and they can resume their training, avoiding expended time and frustration. For a further explanation of this process, or for further insight into managing your corporate students, feel free to contact us with any questions.

Support Sanctuary Resetting student passwords, Corporate accounts, Corporate administrators, Corporate students

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were a total of 774 construction fatalities in 2010. Of those fatalities, 264 were a result of falls, making falls the leading cause of death in construction.

Because fall-related construction deaths have remained the leading cause of work-related death for construction workers for so long, OSHA has implemented a Fall Prevention Campaign that involves 3 important steps: Plan, Provide, and Train.

Essentially, these 3 steps encourage construction workers and employers to:

• Plan for the job at hand, including determining what kind of safety equipment will be necessary;
• Provide the safety equipment determined necessary in the planning process; and
• Train workers to use the safety equipment provided correctly.

As part of the campaign, OSHA has created a variety of educational materials and safety resources, including handouts, fact sheets and posters, safety etools, and press releases.

One of the largest components of a safe work environment is hazard awareness. But knowing of hazards may not be enough--preventing injuries and fatalities on the worksite requires an effort to eliminate those hazards through safety precautions and training. Never put yourself, or others, in a position of unnecessary danger, be they fall hazards or otherwise, by not using fall protection, using equipment without training, or attempting to work in an unsafe work environment without protection or training.

Safety Matters OSHA, Construction, fall, fall hazards, fatalities, fall prevention

In the early 1900s, long before the existence of MSHA, OSHA, or NIOSH, Dr. Alice Hamilton (Feb. 27, 1869 - September 22, 1970) led efforts to improve industrial hygiene by observing industrial conditions firsthand.

In the early 1900s, Hamilton became interested in the occupational injuries and illness workers faced on the heels of the Industrial Revolution, which had created new dangers in the workplace. During her exploration of medical literature from outside the US, she noted that industrial medicine did not receive much attention in the US.

In 1908 Hamilton was appointed to the Occupational Disease Commission of Illinois, the first such investigative body in the US. She focused her efforts on occupational toxic disorders and was able to provide evidence of a correlation between worker illness and exposure to toxins at the workplace. Her findings helped influence reforms in industrial hygiene, both voluntary and regulatory, to improve the health of workers.

On February 27, 1987, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) dedicated its research facility as the Alice Hamilton Laboratory for Occupational Safety and Health.

Who's Who in Safety Alice Hamilton, Industrial hygiene, OSHA, MSHA, NIOSH

We've just released the March issue of The Monthly SUN.

Topics covered in this issue:

• Safety Tip of the Month - Spring Cleaning
• Regulatory Review - Whistleblower Rights
• HAZ Matters - Implementing the Globally Harmonized System
• Did You Know? - Walking or Running at Night

The Monthly SUN

Spring is here and many are getting ready to clean inside their homes. Yet spring cleaning is not without its risks, especially when it comes to home cleaning products, which may contain harsh or toxic chemicals.

To remain safe while cleaning your home, you should obey the following guidelines:

When working with any hazardous chemicals, in the home or outside it, you should wear the proper personal protective equipment (PPE). This means when you use home cleaning products you should wear the appropriate clothing, gloves, and, when necessary, eye protection.

Always read the labels and instructions on cleaning products before using them, and make sure to keep them in their original containers with their original labels. Furthermore, never mix cleaning products together, since certain combinations of chemicals can create harmful gases.

When you are done using them, store household cleaners in closed containers out of the reach of children and pets.

Finally, consider using non-toxic cleaners as an alternative. For example, vinegar and water is an effective window cleaner, toothpaste works well for polishing silver, lemon juice is a natural bleach, and baking soda works well on tiles and sinks. Consumer Reports has a good list of less toxic cleaners to consider. You can go to their website and search "spring cleaning."

Safety Tip of the Month Spring cleaning, Cleaning products, Household cleaners, Non-toxic cleaners

It should be your employer’s goal to protect you and other workers from workplace hazards. As a safe and productive worker, you have a right to bring hazards to the attention of your employer in good faith without fear of retaliation.

OSHA’s Whistleblower Rights protect you from punishment by your employer, such as reduced wages, demotion, firing, intimidation, or other forms of personnel action, for identifying hazards that require correction.

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently sued a privately-run charter school for terminating a worker who voiced safety concerns regarding electrical hazards and absent sprinklers. The worker contacted OSHA when these concerns were

ignored and was fired shortly after reporting the hazards. OSHA conducted an inspection and cited the school for violations related to the worker’s concerns. The DOL has requested the worker be reinstated with full back wages and benefits.

Should your employer retaliate against you for taking any protected action, such as participating in safety meetings, indicating hazards, bringing violations such as fraud to the attention of a regulatory authority, you must contact your local OSHA office as soon as possible.

For more information on Whistleblower Laws enforced by OSHA, your rights as a worker, and more, download this OSHA Fact Sheet or visit OSHA’s Whistleblower web page.

Regulatory Review Whistleblower rights, DOL, whistleblower, Department of labor, OSHA

Between June 1, 2015 and June 1, 2016, as part of a global effort to provide standardized hazard communication, US chemical manufacturers, shippers, and receivers must comply with the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classifying and labeling chemicals. As part of this process, OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard will be modified to adopt the GHS. In a world where business knows no borders, the GHS will provide a consistent means of hazard identification, regardless of the country or language where the hazard material is present.

This initiative is part of a multi-year process by hazard communication experts from around the world, and is based upon major existing hazard communication systems, including OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard and the chemical classification and labeling systems of other US agencies, such as the Department of Transportation (DOT).

What changes will take place to the Hazcom Standard? For one, manufacturers will have to produce a material safety data sheet (MSDS) in a standardized format, allowing faster access to required information. Previously, the format was left to the manufacturer, so long as all pertinent information was present. Adopting the GHS will also create standardized labeling, so all pertinent hazard information is present, easy to recognize, and consistent from country to country—since the US is a major exporter and importer of chemicals, this will improve US workers’ ability to identify hazards from foreign chemical producers.

In the end, adoption of GHS will improve the safety of all workers, both in the US and abroad.

HAZ Matters GHS, Globally harmonized system, Hazard communication standard, Hazcom standard