{"id":6922,"date":"2013-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/committee-days-2012-safety-recap\/"},"modified":"2013-01-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-01T00:00:00","slug":"committee-days-2012-safety-recap","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/committee-days-2012-safety-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Committee Days 2012 Safety Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

The
\nSafety and Health Committee of the National Insulation Association (NIA) met
\nduring Committee Days for a combined committee meeting and roundtable.
\nFollowing the 2011 Committee Days, the committee voted to dispense with a
\nseparate roundtable (with separate registration) and expand the regular
\ncommittee meeting to include a roundtable discussion. This article summarizes
\nthe information shared among the attendees at the committee meeting on topics
\nincluding new procedures in Occupational Safety and Health Administration
\n(OSHA) whistleblower cases; the importance of establishing a program to address
\nheat stress issues for employees working in hot environments; scaffold safety
\nand scaffold erection issues; cranes, derricks, and safety issues concerning
\nthis area of regulation; OSHA enforcement initiatives; and the possible OSHA
\nregulatory agenda following the election.<\/span><\/p>\n

New
\nOSHA Whistleblower Program<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

OSHA has instituted a new program to address
\nwhistleblower complaints, possibly as the result of an increase in the number
\nof such complaints being filed by employees. In March 2012, OSHA expanded the
\nissues it will address under whistleblower complaints to include actions taken
\nagainst employees who report an on-the-job injury and those who fail to follow
\nthe employer’s procedures for reporting on-the-job injuries. Addressing the
\ntypical whistleblower complaint has followed a fairly set pattern. After a
\ncomplaint is received by a local area office, it is assigned to an investigator
\nfor OSHA who typically does not report directly to the area director, but to
\nthe OSHA regional office. After speaking to the complainant, the investigator
\nbegins the investigation by contacting the employer and typically proceeds by
\ninterviewing witnesses for both sides of the complaint. Following the initial
\ninterviews, the OSHA investigator usually makes an effort to get the matter
\nresolved through settlement before proceeding to the next level of
\ninvestigation and the possible filing of a complaint, which can result in a
\ncase moving into Federal District Court.<\/span><\/p>\n

NIA members attending learned that, under new procedures,
\nOSHA now employs a process of alternative dispute resolution to resolve these
\nissues. After OSHA receives a complaint?and usually before any investigation is
\nperformed?the employer is contacted by someone from the OSHA area office
\ncharged with trying to mediate and resolve the complaint without the necessity
\nof a formal investigation. Initial attempts are made informally; and the
\nemployer is advised that if the matter can be resolved within a short period of
\ntime, the need to file a position statement as to its response to the
\nwhistleblower’s allegations may be obviated. This can save the employer a fair
\namount of money because it can avoid the necessity of retaining counsel to
\noversee preparation of documents to be supplied to the OSHA investigator. If
\nthis informal procedure is not successful, but the parties truly seem to want
\nto resolve differences without going into formal investigation, a formal
\nmediation may be conducted?even though the employer has already filed its
\nposition with OSHA. While no employer wants to admit liability or
\nresponsibility for something it honestly did not do, from a purely economic
\nstandpoint, being able to resolve a whistleblower complaint for a relatively
\nsmall amount of money without any admission of liability and without the
\nnecessity of bringing in legal counsel can be an attractive proposition. Of
\ncourse, even an inexpensive settlement may not be desirable if other terms of
\nthe settlement are not acceptable. As with any settlement in any litigation, be
\nsure you are knowledgeable of all the terms before signing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heat
\nStress Issues<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Heat
\nstress is an area that has moved from a general regulatory situation to one in
\nwhich “informal” guidelines have been recommended and will, in all likelihood,
\nform the basis for judging general duty clause violations in the future. In a
\nrecent decision, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) seemed
\nto take discretion out of the hands of the employer as to when a heat stress
\nhazard exists, providing the employer with much more rigid guidelines to
\nprotect its employees and avoid a citation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the new guidelines, the OSHRC referenced a National
\nInstitute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) document recommending a
\nprogram to address heat stress. Some of the steps in the program include
\nre-acclimating employees who have been absent from a hot environment for more
\nthan 3 days, and for the employer to develop a work\/rest regimen. In the OSHRC
\ndecision affirming a serious citation against an employer, the judge concluded
\nthat the employer’s program was deficient because it did not have an
\nestablished work\/rest regimen. Rather, it depended on employees asking for
\nbreaks, which is considered insufficient. Employers must gauge the level of
\nheat exposure and the related stress on employees, and establish an appropriate
\nwork\/rest regimen. <\/span><\/p>\n

A third part of the decision was the conclusion that merely making
\nwater available for employees to drink is not sufficient. The OSHRC
\nrecommendations include that the employer provide cool water and encourage
\nemployees to drink 5 to 7 ounces of cool water every 15 or 20 minutes. A
\ngeneral instruction to employees to “drink lots of water” was deemed to be
\ndeficient because it does not encourage employees to drink a set amount of
\nwater in a set period. <\/span><\/p>\n

The decision additionally requires that
\nemployers not only provide regular breaks, but cool rest areas where employees
\ntake those breaks. Rest areas should be maintained at approximately 75<\/span>\u00b0<\/span>F and should be
\nclose to the work site. In the judge’s decision, the actions of the employer in
\npermitting employees to walk about 15 minutes to a break area to sit in an
\nair-conditioned vehicle was not adequate. The judge questioned whether an
\nemployee suffering from heat stress would be able to walk 15 minutes to get to
\na cool area. <\/span><\/p>\n

These are just some of the points discussed during the
\nroundtable. All NIA members need to take a look at their heat stress program
\nand remember that this issue can be a problem at overheated worksites as well
\nas in hot climates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scaffold
\nSafety<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Following
\nthe discussion on heat stress, the conversation moved to scaffolding. Scaffold
\nsafety is a high-visibility issue that is emphasized by OSHA. The committee
\ngroup discussed the need to have every scaffold green-tagged (approved) to show
\nthat it has been inspected by a competent person. The status of the scaffold
\nneeds to be checked at the start of each shift. Even if you use a
\nscaffold-erection company, you should have your own competent person place
\nhis\/her green tag on the scaffold after checking it. Do not forget that this
\ncompetent person needs to be “competent” in scaffold safety specifically. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another area of great concern?which OSHA is emphasizing?deals
\nwith the need to have toe boards on the working areas of scaffolds, especially
\nif employees will be working or passing below the scaffold. Even though you
\nhave compliant guardrails to provide fall protection, do not lose sight of the
\nfact that you also must protect employees working below from the possibility of
\nsomething being kicked off one of the scaffold planks and striking the employee
\nworking below.<\/span><\/p>\n

Attendees discussed the need to have a scaffold
\nsafety-competent person on site when a scaffold is in use, remembering that
\nscaffolds can only be erected, dismantled, or moved under the supervision of
\nsuch a competent person. A competent person for scaffold safety may not be the
\nsame as the job site competent person, who may be more of a generalist as
\nopposed to someone focused in the scaffold area. Dovetailing with this
\nrequirement is the fact that the design of scaffolding must be done by a
\nqualified person. While a qualified individual also can be a competent person,
\nthese are distinct roles and can be filled by different people. While erecting
\na scaffold, the employer shall have a competent person determine the
\nfeasibility and safety of providing fall protection for employees who are
\nerecting or dismantling the supportive scaffolds. Employers are required to
\nprovide fall protection for employees erecting or dismantling supported
\nscaffolds where the installation and use of such protection is feasible and
\ndoes not create a greater hazard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, the attendees discussed the need for barricading
\nareas under scaffolding when it is not possible to completely protect employees
\nbelow the work area on scaffolds from exposure of falling objects with toe
\nboards.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cranes
\nand Derricks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The
\nfinal topic discussed concerned cranes and derricks. The date for full
\ncompliance with the cranes and derricks standard is fast approaching. During
\nthis portion of the roundtable, attendees were reminded of the need for
\nemployee training in the area of rigging and hand signals. For example, a
\nperson in charge of signaling must know and understand signals; be competent in
\nusing signals; have a basic understanding of crane operation; and be able to
\npass a verbal or written test, plus a practical test, concerning the use of
\nsignals. If a signal person is evaluated by a third-party qualified evaluator,
\nthe employee’s qualifications and certain documentation is portable from one
\nemployer to the next. However, if the evaluation is performed by the employer’s
\nown qualified evaluator, the certification is not portable when the signal
\nperson leaves to go to another employer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Attendees also were reminded that
\ninspections of cranes?for example, post-assembly inspection of a crane?must be
\nperformed by qualified and\/or competent persons.\u00a0 The daily or per shift
\ninspection and the monthly inspection of the crane may be performed by a
\ncompetent person, but the annual inspection again must be performed by a
\nqualified individual. Crane requirements met in state-plan states must be at
\nleast as effective as comparable federal standards. Members who operate in
\nstates where there is a state-approved OSHA program still must comply with all
\nfederal requirements. It is essential that all employers comply at least to the
\nlevel of federal OSHA requirements because most employers in our industry will
\nfind themselves moving from state to state.<\/span><\/p>\n

Committee Meeting Wrap-up<\/span><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Participants
\nin the committee meeting felt that their time was well spent. NIA wishes to
\nencourage all members to participate in the various safety and health
\nactivities, including the safety awards and the Health and Safety Committee
\nmeetings at Committee Days and the Annual Convention. Your employees are your
\nmost important resource. It is imperative that you take whatever steps are
\nnecessary to provide a safe workplace for them and ensure as much as possible
\nthat they are not needlessly exposed to hazards that can result in injuries or
\ndeath.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Safety and Health Committee of the National Insulation Association (NIA) met during Committee Days for a combined committee meeting and roundtable. Following the 2011 Committee Days, the committee voted to dispense with a separate roundtable (with separate registration) and expand the regular committee meeting to include a roundtable discussion. This article summarizes the information<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[44],"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[24,21,291,32],"class_list":["post-6922","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","category-contracting","category-business-managment","category-association-news","category-health-and-safety","author-gary-auman"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCommittee Days 2012 Safety Recap - Insulation Outlook Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/committee-days-2012-safety-recap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Committee Days 2012 Safety Recap\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Safety and Health Committee of the National Insulation Association (NIA) met during Committee Days for a combined committee meeting and roundtable. 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