Washington — Employers who make “good faith efforts” to document their evaluations of crane operators have an additional 60 days to comply with OSHA’s Cranes and Derricks in Construction: Operator Certification Extension, according to a Feb. 7 enforcement memorandum from the agency. The rule, published in the Nov. 9 Federal Register, required employers to evaluate …
Category: Miscellaneous
New Standard Aims to Protect Young People’s Hearing
A new international standard developed by the World Health Organization and the International Telecommunication Union aims to prevent hearing loss among 1.1 billion young people. They announced it Feb. 12 and made available online a “Toolkit for safe listening devices and systems.” The goal of the toolkit is to make it easy for partners to …
‘Deadly Skyline’: Construction deaths keep climbing in New York state, but fall in New York City
New York — Construction worker fatalities remain on the rise in New York state while continuing to decline in New York City, according to an annual report released by the advocacy group New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. Deadly Skyline: An Annual Report on Construction Fatalities in New York State, released Jan. 30, …
Are You Sick and Tired of Working Too Hard?
Although some boastful types might suggest they give 110% on the job all day every day, we all know that’s just not possible. Nobody is capable of performing at peak efficiency at all hours of the day, and yet too often the expectations of senior management are that every employee—and especially those whose performance is …
Michigan lowers acceptable blood lead levels for workers
Lansing, MI — Michigan has become the first state to lower permissible blood lead levels – by as much as half – to protect workers, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced. MIOSHA’s new rules, which took effect Dec. 11, require workers to be removed from lead exposure when their blood lead level …
Accident Prevention Begins with a Conversation
Have you ever asked the question, “What else can I do to improve our safety culture?” The answer may be in your next conversation. One of the most common safety weaknesses I see in organizations is a lack of management engagement with employees. As a general rule, leaders support safety wholeheartedly from behind a computer …
Fell asleep at wheel, crashed in company vehicle: Will he get workers’ comp?
An employee fell asleep at the wheel of a company vehicle on his way home from work. Was there enough connection between his trip and his work duties to get workers’ comp benefits? George Norris Jr. was driving home in a company vehicle from a job site in Powhatan County, VA, to his home when …
Can You Keep Guns Out of Your Workplace?
One of the hottest controversies polarizing the public debate in recent years is gun control, and the topic of guns in the workplace and public businesses continues to be a front-burner issue. The most prevalent of these are the “parking lot” laws that allow employees to keep guns in their vehicles parked at the plant …
OSHA memo: Area offices must use four-part test when citing respiratory hazards without PELs
Washington — OSHA area offices must apply a four-part test before issuing General Duty Clause citations for respiratory hazards that do not have a permissible exposure limit, the agency states in a memorandum sent to regional administrators. In the memo, issued Nov. 2, Kim Stille, acting director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, writes that …