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First and foremost, employees always have to be trained on how to safely do their job and about the hazards they may face. Second, other training needed depends on what people are doing. Here is how the HAZWOPER regulation applies: A spill such as this has two phases, and the people who work in each phase fall under different training requirements. The first phase is the emergency response phase. These are the people who are attempting to stop the leak. They fall under section (q) of the HAZWOPER regulation (29 CFR 1910.120). The second phase is the post emergency response phase (or cleanup phase). These people are not part of the response but are are involved with cleaning it up. They fall under section (e) of the HAZWOPER regulation (29 CFR 1910.120). Ultimately, there will be far more people that will be involved with the second phase (the cleanup), even after the leak is stopped and oil works its way onto more shorelines. For more specifics, please refer to this OSHA document. Take care for now. Sincerely, [ back to top ] Back Safety in the Workplace If you’ve ever suffered a back strain or sprain at work, or felt a tweak of pain when you’ve lifted equipment or materials, you understand how painful and crippling a back injury can be. Back injuries are our nation’s biggest workplace safety issue and the second-most frequent cause for missed days of work, behind only the common cold. If your job requires you to bend and lift, you may be straining your back and risking injury without knowing it. The best way to avoid injuring your back is to educate yourself on how to lift without injuring yourself. The Online Back Safety in the Workplace course can help you keep your back healthy by educating you about back injuries, discussing how to prevent them, and offering safe lifting techniques and guidelines. Don’t wait until after you’ve injured your back to educate yourself on back safety. Back injuries have a habit of lingering, and injuring yourself in this area makes you more susceptible to a similar injury in the future. [ back to top ] Safety Savings at Work Improvements in safety training can make a huge difference in the bottom line for companies big and small, and, as you’ll see below, local governments as well. For example, in an article posted on February 3, 2009, Bradley County in Tennessee reported a savings of $125,334 in 2008 compared to 2007 as a result of an emphasis on safety training and regular inspections of county buildings and worksites. These savings represented a drop of 47% in compensation-related expenses. Because money was saved by safety training and inspections, local officials were able to use the funds elsewhere, including increased wages for county employees. On the other side of the coin, not providing safety training can be more costly than providing it. A family-run construction company in Denver learned this the hard way when they decided to forego safety training to maximize the profit of a $10,000 project. An OSHA inspection of the project’s employees’ skills and practices resulted in fines of almost $5,000. While this may seem harsh, had OSHA not fined the company and brought their training shortcomings to light, there may have been a serious injury or death, which in turn may have cost thousands of dollars more in compensatory claims in addition to bad publicity. [ back to top ] National Safety Month The National Safety Council (NSC) has designated June as National Safety Month. The NSC is an organization which partners with businesses, elected officials, and the public to make an impact on safety in the home, workplace, and community. During this month the NSC encourages businesses to get involved and participate in any way they can to make their workplaces safer. To further this enterprise, the National Safety Council has created a theme for each week of the month that brings attention to a critical safety issue. This year’s themes include the following: Week 1 (June 1-6): Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention For more information on National Safety Month, go to: [ back to top ] |
In This Issue
ToxRefDB Did you know that the EPA has released a database that allows the public to search and download thousands of toxicity testing results on hundreds of chemicals? This database, known as ToxRefDB, will allow anyone access to 30 years’ worth of toxicity testing results. So if you have ever wondered about the data related to a certain chemical, this database will allow you to easily find that information, along with other information related to public hazards, exposures, and risk-assessment. The ToxRefDB is part of a larger online system called ACToR (Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource), an online data warehouse that collects data from about 500 public sources on tens of thousands of environmentally relevant chemicals. This ToxRefDB can be accessed by going to http://actor.epa.gov/toxrefdb. [ back to top ] Outdoor Safety With Summer upon us, workers need to be careful to avoid the hazards that go along with working in warm, sunny weather, especially those who work outside. Summertime presents its own hazards including glare, sunburns, heat-related illnesses, and animal bites. There are several steps you should take to protect yourself from summertime hazards. You should wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from glare, and sunscreen if your skin is exposed to sunlight for long periods of time. If you will be working outdoors in hot weather, it would be advisable to have a Heat Stress Prevention Program: this includes breaks, shade, as well as hydration. If your job requires you to wear equipment, such as an air tank or a HAZMAT suit, be sure to take regular breaks and drink plenty of water to avoid heat exhaustion or stroke. If you work in wooded or brushy areas, be sure to use body sprays and protective equipment to guard against insects, snakes, and other animal bites. Taking steps to protect yourself will help you avoid these seasonal hazards and allow you to enjoy your summer. [ back to top ] Logging out vs. Being timed out You are sitting at a computer taking online training when the phone rings. You get up to answer the call, but return 30 minutes later to find your session has timed out. Session time outs are standard features of many websites that require a login. However, did you know that it is better to log out than to be timed out? This is for several reasons, the first being your own safety. Many students have to take their training at work, where it is not uncommon for multiple workers to share the same computer. By not logging out, another worker can come along and access your training and your account. Another reason to logout as opposed to letting your session time out is that a time out due to inactivity kills everything in your session. This is critically important in online training where a time out due to inactivity can require you to have to retake an entire section if your progress had not been properly saved. The last reason to logout of your training concerns the online training provider. By logging out of your session this will help to free up resources for your training provider—resources that would normally be used to keep your session open. These freed up resources, in turn, help things to run more smoothly for yourself and your trainer. As you can see, there are many reasons to logout instead of just letting your session expire on its own. So next time, for yourself and your training provider, take the extra time and log out of your account.
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Over the past month or so, I have fielded hundreds of calls from people asking about what training they need to participate in the Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup effort.
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