No Bull Business Blog

Don’t give in to OSHA nitpickers

Excepted from the Executive Report: Surviving an OSHA Inspection – Key Steps Before, During and After

OSHA inspectors have a well-deserved reputation for being the ultimate nitpickers. Once they show up at your door, they’re going to try to find something wrong and nail you for a violation. In recent years, OSHA has worked a little on its nitpicking image. They now say they won’t fine you for picayune violations like failing to display the required OSHA poster – they’ll just go to the car and get one for you – but there’s little else that will escape their attention and their sharp pencils.

OSHA regulations can be incredibly complicated and specific, and it’s not that hard to run afoul of one of the agency’s regulations, for example on the exact distance a machine guard has to be separated from a nip point by a matter of a fraction of an inch.

Companies are often tempted to agree to a minor, non-serious violation, pay a small fine of a few hundred dollars, and write it off as the cost of doing business. You promise not to do it again or fix any deficiency, and hopefully you can get on with life. However, most attorneys will advise their corporate clients not to “plead guilty” too fast and explore all opportunities for contesting even minor violations.

The problem with agreeing to and accepting a citation and a fine is that it’s often not the end of something bad, but merely the beginning. Once OSHA has inspected you at least one time and found something wrong, the agency may well be your pen pal for life. It’ll surely check up on you to see if you’re corrected what it found wrong. And if it’s still not satisfied, it can level repeat or failure-to-abate violations against you with significantly higher fines that will sting a lot more.

Moreover, if an employee ever gets hurt on your premises and finds a lawyer to sue your company for gross negligence or willful disregard for safety, seeking a big payout over and above workers’ compensation insurance benefits, the plaintiff’s lawyer will surely use the fact of your previous safety violation as evidence of your supposed blatant disregard for worker safety. You don’t want to give them a record to build their case on.

DIGGING DEEPER
Even the best companies get inspected by OSHA. The key is to be prepared. Find out what you need to do by reading the Executive Report: Surviving an OSHA Inspection – Key Steps Before, During and Afte

Workplace fatalities down – but far from extinct

The annual census of fatal occupational injuries offers a reminder that workplace deaths aren’t a thing of the past yet, by far.

 

The rate of fatal injury for

U.S.

workers last year was 3.7 per 100,000.

 

In 2007, 5,488 employees died from workplace injuries according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That’s down from 5,840 in 2006, a 6% drop.

 

While the total number of fatalities dropped, there are several areas in which they increased:

• The number of fatal falls in 2007 rose to an all-time high of 835. The increase was driven by rises in falls on the same level and falls from nonmoving vehicles.

• Construction continues as the industry with the most fatalities.

• Transportation and warehousing had the second largest number of fatalities.

• Fatal injuries by African American workers were at the highest level since 1999.

• Workplace homicides rose 13% to 610. Homicides involving police officers and supervisors of retail workers both saw substantial increases.

• The overall number of fatalities among police and firefighters rose.

 

More info: www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfoi1.htm

 

 

DIGGING DEEPER
A safe workplace requires that frontline managers lead the way. How do you do that? Check out the Executive Report: Turn Good Supervisors into Great Safety Leaders.

 

New PPE reg gets enforced May 15: What you have to pay for

Heads up: OSHA starts enforcing its new rule that requires employers to pay for employees' PPE on May 15.

In a nutshell, if OSHA requires PPE for compliance, employers have to pay for it.

Exceptions and clarifications

After eight years of study, the rule does include some very limited exceptions from employer payment:

• non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear (including steel-toe shoes or steel-toe boots) and
• shoes or boots with built-in metatarsal protection that the employee has requested to use instead of employer-provided detachable metatarsal guards
• logging boots required by OSHA rule 1910.266(d)(1)(v), and
• everyday work or ordinary clothing, skin creams or other items used solely for protection from the weather.

If various components are needed for PPE to provide adequate protection, then a company has to pay for those components.

Employers are responsible for paying for replacement PPE when it wears out from regular use. However, companies aren’t required to pay when workers intentionally damage or negligently lost PPE.

All part-time or short-term workers are covered the same as full-time employees,

DIGGING DEEPER
Following the new PPE rules are mandatory, but there's also no need to pay for PPE that you don't to. To get a full understanding of the regs, you're invited to check out the Executive Report: OSHA's New PPE Reg - What You Do and Don't Have to Pay For.

A little help from the Navy to promote safety

Excerpted from Turn Good Supervisors into Great Safety Leaders.

If you’re ever hunting for just the right thing to say to an employee who’s not buying into your safety efforts, you’re not alone.

The U.S. Navy has a long list of safety quotes and slogans it uses to drive home its message. Here are a few:

• A safer you is a safer me.
• A worker who doesn’t follow safety rules is a fugitive from the law of averages.
• Working safely is like breathing, you never want it to stop.
• Electricity can turn you off
• If you think safety is a pain, try a leg fracture.
• Alert today, alive tomorrow.

DIGGING DEEPER
Every business has someone in charge of safety, but to have a safe workplace requires that frontline managers take the lead in ensuring safety. How do you do that? Check out the Executive Report: Turn Good Supervisors into Great Safety Leaders.

Confirmed: Part-timers at higher injury risk

Got part-time employees? It may be worth spending a little extra time and attention to their safety needs.

New research confirms what many have already noted or suspected: Part-time, temporary or contract workers are at higher risk for occupational injuries than workers in full-time positions.

The evidence that shows a higher risk for part-timers is out there:

• The rate of occupational injuries among self-employed workers is twice the national average for all workers.
• Temporary nurses caring for AIDS patients in 11 U.S. hospitals were 1.65 times more likely to suffer needlesticks than the rate for staff nurses working in the same units.
• A survey of day laborers found 19% reported work-related injuries that required medical attention during the course of a year, compared to 6% of all construction workers.
• Contract coal mine workers with at least 15 years tenure had a higher rate of evidence for black lung disease than non-contract workers.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study calls for more research. The study also notes these workers’ unpredictable schedules contribute to safety and health problems.
For more detail go to the CDC web site.

DIGGING DEEPER
How can you prevent unsafe behavior or terminate continually unsafe employees without lost productivity and legal backlash? To get the details, check out the Executive Report: Terminating Unsafe Employees: What Supervisors Need to Know.

Only 4 months before new OSHA PPE rule kicks in

Employers have about four months to figure out how they will comply with OSHA’s new personal protective equipment payment rule. It requires employers to provide most PPE at no cost to their employees. The rule spells out exceptions for certain types of PPE.

National employment and labor law firm Lilttler Mendelson has this advice for employers:

• Determine what PPE is required in your workplace by OSHA regulations and if any of these items are exempt from the rule.
• Establish who plays for and provides PPE and assess the viability of various PPE inventory control systems within your workplace.
• If your company has a collective bargaining agreement in place, determine if there are any provisions that may.
• Consider creating a policy that provides for employer ownership of protective equipment.
  Determine what your company’s rule will be regarding lost of intentionally damaged PPE.

DIGGING DEEPER:
Following the new PPE rules are mandatory, but there's also no need to pay for PPE that you don't to. To get a full understanding of the regs, you're invited to check out the Executive Report: OSHA's New PPE Reg - What You Do and Don't Have to Pay For.