Construction & Safety Acronyms

The newly revised 2010 edition of "Construction & Safety Acronyms" is now available for purchase. For details, visit www.lulu.com/product/paperback/construction-safety-acronyms/13052749

OSHA's Semiannual Regulatory Agenda is Available

OSHA's regulatory plan contains a statement of the Department's regulatory priorities and regulatory actions. It can be viewed at www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=21872

Among other things, OSHA will be continuing its review of the Bloodborne Pathogen standard. It will also be looking at exposure to Crystalline Silica, Confined Spaces in Construction, Electric Power Transmission and Distribution; Cranes and Derricks, and Methylene Chloride.

Click the hot-link above to get the details and time schedules for various actions.

OSHA Appoints New Head of the Construction Directorate

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, has appointed Jim Maddux as the new director of the agency's Directorate of Construction, effective 20 December 2010. Maddux most recently served in OSHA's Directorate of Standards adn Guidance as teh Director of the Office of Physical Hazards adn Acting Director of the Office of Engineering Safety. Maddux has held several leadership positions at OSHA, including Director of the Office of Maritime and Acting Deputy Director for the Directorate of Standards and Guidance.

He began his career with OSHA in 1990 as a statistician in the Office of Statistics, and joined the Directorate of Standards and Guidance in 1998. Maddux has been a project director, author and contributor to numerous OSHA standards and guidance projects, including the payment for personal protective equipment standard, injury and illness recordkeeping regulations, ergonomics guidelines, and several maritime standards and guidance products. He has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Maryland, University College, an associate's degree in computer information systems from Laramie County Community College, and an associate's degree in chemistry from Northern Wyoming Community College.

"Jim has been a valuable member of the OSHA team for over 20 years," said Michaels. "I congratulate him on his new position, and I am confident that he will be an effective leader in construction safety working to accomplish the agency's mission of protecting America's workers."

I will withold judgement on his appointment until I see how he performs, but I don't see any field experience listed in his credentials. Although field experience may not be necessary, it certainly gives an individual a different perspective.

Fatal Fall From Scaffold

Trying to convince workers on construction sites that scaffold platforms must be "fully planked," and to get them to understand just what that means, can be difficult. Often, they cannot understand why it is so important.

Well, you can tell them about the guy in Canada who fell 20 feet to his death because he stepped through an opening in the scaffolding on which he was working.

Canada's "Journal of Commerce" reported yesterday that a 60 year old worker was found dead after the accident - there were no witnesses to the accident.

Read the whole story at www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id41936/

Robert Bosch Tool Corp Recalls Bosch Hammer Drills Due to Electrical Shock

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is ilegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: Bosch Hammer Drills

Units: About 20,000 units

Importer: Robert Bosch Tool Corporation, of Mt. Prospect, Illinois

Hazard: The models have a grounding system and trigger switch that could cause ground wire abrasion and/or ground connector failure posing a shock hazard. In addition, the switch trigger could become stuck in the "on" position posing an injury hazard to the user.

Incidents: None

Description: Bosch 1/2 inch 2-speed Hammer Drill with model number HD19-2, HD19-2D, HD19-2L adn 1/2 inch 2-speed Hamer Drills with model number HD21-2 are included in this recall. "BOSCH" is printed in red lettering on the side of the drills.

Sold at: Home improvement, hardware and major retailers nationwide and various distributors from September 2009 through August 2010 for between $140 and $220.

Manufactured in: Switzerland

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the hammer drill and return hammer drill to Robert Bosch Tool Corporation for repair.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Bosch toll-free at (866) 244-2110 between 7 am and 7 pm CT Monday through Friday or visit the firm's website at http://www.boschtools.com/

COSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell them about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx

Ryobi Recalls Cordless Drills Due to Fire Hazard

Ryobi Recalls Cordless Drills Due to Fire Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: Ryobi Model HP 1802M Cordless Power Drills

Units: About 455,000

Importer: Ryobi Technologies Inc., of Anderson, S.C.

Hazard: The switch on the cordless drill can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Ryobi has received 47 reports of the drills overheating, smoking, melting or catching fire, including 12 reports of property damage to homes or vehicles. Two of the incidents involved minor burns from touching an overheated switch.

Description: The Ryobi Model HP 1802M cordless drill is powered by an 18 volt rechargeable NiCad battery. The drills are blue and black in color with "Ryobi" appearing in red and white on the left side. The model number can be found on a white label on the right side of the drill.

Sold at: Home Depot from January 2001 to July 2003 for about $100.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled drill, remove the rechargeable battery and contact Ryobi to receive a free replacement drill.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Ryobi Customer Service at (800) 597-9624 between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm's website at www.ryobitools.com

---

CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE)

Are you a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers? If you are a safety professional and not a member, you are doing yourself a disservice!

I just moved back to upstate New York after a 14 year absence. And, last evening, I attended a meeting of the Central New York Chapter of ASSE. I've been an ASSE member for 25 years and as I moved around I joined chapters in Orlando, Fort Myers, and Dallas - all were very rewarding experiences. But, the CNY Chapter is where I started and it was great to renew old friendships.

It's interesting that all of the Safety Professionals with whom I commiserated over the years have become great friends. I remained in contact with many from Central New York over the past 14 years, and many from Central Florida, and will continue to keep in touch with my friends in Southwest Florida and Dallas. These people enrich my life both personally and professionally and we all continue to rely on each other for support in our careers.

I cannot imagine my safety career without my fellow ASSE members and if you are a safety professional who has not yet found ASSE - find your local chapter and join today! Click here for joinder information.

After my 14 year hiatus from the CNY ASSE Chapter, it felt like I hadn't even been away! So, the "moral of the story" is - if you join, attend your local chapter meetings! The networking is one of the most valuable things offered.

NOTW for 8-31-10

This week's NOTW photo was courtesy of your safety friends in the US Navy. If you have followed NOTW for some time, you may remember several references to "Bucket Man." Well the Naval Safety Guys refer to this guy as "Gutter Perch," and suggest that the Gutter Perch should become extinct.

You might also notice the inadequate scaffold - where's the guardrail (and the lack of any other type of fall protection). Or the lack of a hard hat - remember that hard hats are required on all scaffolds. And, who knows what other hazards we might find if we could see the whole picture. I'm betting that these guys climbed the crossbraces rather than using a ladder too.

Have a safe week.

Free Crane Standard Webinar

The new OSHA crane standard for cranes being used in construction takes effect on 8 November 2010. The OTI at UTA is offering a free webinar to help you understand the new law. It's on 21 September 2010 from 9 am to 11 am (presumably in the Central Time Zone). I don’t know how detailed this will be, but it is free. Click the link below to sign-up:
https://www.uta.edu/wconnect/CourseStatus.awp1?~~oshawebcrane

NOTW

Well, I'm looking for a safety position again so I've some free time to revise the blog. A good place to restart is to visit the NOTW postings that have been so popular over the past several years.

Here's one from April of this year. Once I get my routine down, I'll post some new ones and you are all encouraged to send some "nitwit" photos for the blog.

Unfortunately, this situation is all too common on construction sites. “Hot-Punch” is a term to describe the process by which recently installed circuits are tested before the electric meters have been installed. In this case, our electrician found the nearest power source (see inset) which was the temporary electrical panel outside, opened the junction box cover and installed a temporary wire leaving the junction box open and available for accidental contact by passers-by. He then proceeded to connect his newly energized cord to an open panel inside the building. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Admittedly, the likelihood of a passer-by contacting the energized wiring at the junction box may be slight, but the open, energized panel presents a significant hazard. The really sad thing is that this operation can be accomplished safely by utilizing one of the many knock-outs on the panel while leaving the cover in place. But, that might take a couple of extra minutes.

By now you know that lack of adequate training contributes to many hazards on construction sites. This, however, is not one of those situations. Assuming that the electrician is licensed (which he should be), he was tested on his knowledge of the National Electric Code and should know better.

Training-Training-Training

I have been pontificating for years about the critical need for training of workers. In my opinion, the lack of adequate training is the single biggest cause of jobsite injuries and fatalities. Well, if you didn't "get it" before, you had better start paying attention because OSHA has finally caught up.

Last week, during a speech to the National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health and Safety, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis addressed worker training. She stressed the need for training in a form that can be understood by our Hispanic workforce - nothing new there. But she also stated that, effective on Workers Memorial Day (April 28th), "OSHA will also assure that its Compliance Officers check and verify not only that the training has been provided, but that it was provided in a format that the workers being trained can understand."

WARNING: you subcontractors that think that you are not responsible for the training of those "independent contractors" to which you "subcontract" the work (you know - piece workers), you had better rethink that idea. It is up to you to assure that every one of the workers in your workforce has adequate safety training. You might even want to review you subcontracts - you may find language in there that says you will assure that the workers for whom you are responsible, will be adequately trained in jobsite safety.

Don't know what training is required, Click here for assistance.

Construction Worker Injured in Building Collapse

New York City must be a pretty dangerous place to work if you are in the construction business. The New York Times reported on the 29th that a worker was critically injured in the collapse of a Brooklyn building being renovated.

The cause? Nobody knows for sure yet.

Cranes Again?

Well, it looks like we just don't know how to operate cranes safely in New York City. Do you remember all that flap about tower cranes a couple of years ago? If you had cranes on your construction sites back then, you probably re-visited your crane safety policies and procedures. I know that I did. We were okay, but it certainly put the spotlight on how often I checked crane records. And I also found out that the State of Florida didn't require crane operators to be licensed. I also found out that the same was true in many parts of the country. But, that's another story.

To get back to the point, a couple of days ago in NYC, another crane collapsed into a building (read about it in the New York times of 3/27 and again on 3/28. Officials don't know what happened yet, but they believe that a contributing cause was that the crane operator did not lower the boom far enough before he left the site at the end of the workday. And, although they are not sure that there isn't another contributing cause, NYC officials suspended the crane operator's license.

Conclusions? Read the articles and you decide. But if I had a crane on my site, I'd be re-visiting my crane policies again.

Little Things Make a Difference

Believe it or not, my entire life does not revolve around occupational safety - probably only about 95% of my life revolves around occupational safety. I do think of other things, and this post is simply the musings of a guy who wonders about why we do things and what a simple change can make.

Over the past few months, the construction market has taken a nose dive. Yes, it's mostly the result of the huge financial problems that we are all experiencing, but some of it has to do with the natural winter slowdown. I expect to have more projects to visit soon, but in the meantime, I'm keeping busy at work by helping out with records management. Currently, our relatively small company spends about $1200/month to store construction project records just in case... . It seems to be a large amount of money, but if a problem occurs or if there is even the perception that the general contractor was "at fault" when a problem occurs (like a leaky roof, mold, etc.), the record storage could prove to be a very tiny "drop in the bucket."

So the boss said, let's see if we can "get rid of some of that paper" and reduce the number of storage units that we rent. I suggested that we scan as many of the files as possible and discard the paper (believe it or not, there are a lot of records that must be kept for 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, or even permanently). So to facilitate this records management program, I helped out with moving the approximately 20 cardboard file storage boxes per project (not including the "blueprints") to the office for evaluation and scanning.

Okay, so this is getting to be a long story. But, keep reading, there is a point to be made.

Those boxes are heavy, and after lifting each box multiple times, I started to wonder at the weight of paper that we keep. As I prepared a box of records for scanning (making sure that there weren't a lot of duplicates (there weren't), taking out staples, paper clips, etc. I began to wonder at the weight of the seemingly inconsequential materials in each box. One box contained 267 paperclips - that's a lot of paper clips - and at least that number of staples. Normally, if you were to discard the box of papers, the paperclips, etc. would be discarded too. But, I recovered the paperclips and "recycled" them. I wonder how much we spend each year on paperclips that are simply discarded.

This reminded my of something that I read on a box of Celestial Seasonings Herb Tea. On one flap of the box of tea they posed the question, "Ever wonder why no string and tag?" The answer (although I suspect it has a lot to do with cost) was "Our unique pillow-style tea bag is the result of our commitment to doing what's best for the environment. Because these natural fiber tea bags don't need strings, tags, staples or individual wrappers, we're able to save more than 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year!" That's a huge amount of waste just from one company. I wonder how much we could save by limiting the use of staples, and recovering paper clips before discarding a file. To say nothing about saving paper by not printing, or saving storage space by saving records in electronic format.

And by the way, all of the paper that gets scanned goes to a local shredding company. They shred for free because they have a market for shredded paper - yep, it gets reused! But wouldn't it be better if it never had to be used in the first place? I try not to keep paper records. I communicate, whenever possible, only via e-mail. And to keep from storing paper for future reference, when someone sends me paperwork that I find necessary to keep, I scan it and toss the paper.

If we do things right, it will also prevent injuries at work too. Lifting all that paper certainly exposed me to potential soft tissue injury.

Tragic Death of a Safety Director

On 7 February there was a gas plant explosion in Middletown, CT. Tragically, 5 people were killed in that explosion. One of those people, Chris Walters, was the Safety Manager for Keystone Construction and Maintenance Services.

Like many of us in these difficult economic times, Chris was working a long way from home. In November of last year, Chris had been laid off after 6 years as Safety Manager for Hunt Construction. I remember how delighted Chris was to have landed his new position after only about six weeks. He hated being away from his family, but like most of us in the safety profession, he loved what he did for a living and went where the work was found.

I first met Chris about 10 years ago when he worked with Martin K. Eby Construction in Florida. He was working on the Co-Generation Power Plant in Sanford, Florida. After that, we kept in touch - usually through Facebook. Apparently, the explosion happened when one of the subcontractors purged a gas line. The incident is under investigation by several agencies, including OSHA.

Chris leaves a wife and 3 children in Missouri. It is ironic that he was killed while working to keep workers from being hurt or killed. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. He leaves a big hole in our safety family.

New Federal Safety Guidelines for V.A. Construction

New Federal safety guidelines require that all construction workers on Veteran's Administration (V.A.) construction sites have an OSHA 10-hour card. It's not hard to obtain, but it requires that your workers attend an OSHA 10-hour construction outreach program. Yep, that's 10 classroom hours! Whatever you do, don't try to circumvent the process by buying bogus cards from unscrupulous "trainers."

There is a new V.A. Hospital construction project gearing up in Southwest Florida and if you need to have your workers properly trained, I highly recommend the services of Frank Subzda at U.S. Safety. I know Frank well and know that he offers a top-of-the-line program.

Anyway, if you are going to have workers on the SW Florida site, U.S. Safety will be offering an OSHA 10-hour class on Saturday, 13 March 2010 beginning at 7 am. For more information and/or to register, send Frank an e-mail at frank@ussafety.us, or give him a call at (239) 481-3777.

NOTW? OSHA Plays Hardball

This story from OSHA could come under the heading of NOTW – without the photo. Forget the monetary penalties imposed and take a look at the sanctions. How would you like to be required to tell OSHA where you’ll be working. I don’t think that I would want this guy as a sub on my job – you know that OSHA will be showing up regularly.

You may want to pass this little tidbit along to your subs, just in case they think OSHA isn’t serious.

Contempt orders issued against St. Louis employer for ignoring OSHA citations

ST. LOUIS -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today announced issuance of contempt of court orders against Brian Andre, former owner of Andre Tuckpointing and Brickwork (AT&B), Andre Stone and Mason Work Inc. (AS&MW) and Regina Shaw, owner of AS&MW. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued the contempt orders against the St. Louis-area company and individuals for failing to comply with court orders enforcing citations of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC).

"Companies that expose employees to hazards, and then blatantly ignore citations requiring correction of those hazards, will not be overlooked," said Charles E. Adkins, OSHA regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. "Employers must fulfill their responsibility to keep employees safe, as well as satisfy any sanctions levied for failing to do so."

The cases stem from numerous citations OSHA issued to AT&B and its successor, AS&MW, for willful, repeat and serious violations related to fall hazards, scaffolding erection deficiencies, power tool guarding and other hazards in connection with multiple projects in the St. Louis area.

When the companies failed to comply with the court's order enforcing OSHRC's final order, the secretary of labor filed petitions for contempt. As a result, a special master of the Court of Appeals concluded that Brian Andre, AS&MW and Regina Shaw were in contempt of the order, and recommended various sanctions. The Eighth Circuit substantially accepted the master's recommendations, found all three parties in contempt, and imposed sanctions, including: Brian Andre, AS&MW and Regina Shaw must pay outstanding monetary penalties, which continue to accrue interest, and other miscellaneous fees, in the current amount of $258,582.08; AS&MW and Regina Shaw must pay a $100 daily penalty, calculated from the time of default, in early 2008, on the OSHRC final order; AS&MW must provide OSHA weekly notification of all current jobs, and known future jobs, at least 72 hours prior to commencement of work for a period of three years; and, AS&MW must provide "competent person" training to all people currently and subsequently designated as jobsite "competent persons," prior to beginning any work, and provide the secretary records of such training.

Arc Flash Calculation Software & Short Circuit Analysis

If you have to deal with arc flash hazards, you may want to check out the free Arc Flash Calculation Software (Beta Version) at http://arcadvisor.blogspot.com/

According to that site, this new software features:

• Estimate Incident Energy Exposures for Live Line Work on Overhead Open Air Systems 1kV to 800kV
• Determine Limited, Restricted, Prohibited Shock Protection Boundaries and Risk Category
• Calculator-style interface makes complex calculations easy to understand
• Perform analysis using metric (mm, Joules ) or imperial units (inches, calories )
• Save results in generic text format for future reference or printing

Unloading a Backhoe

Okay, so I've been away for awhile. My work life got pretty crazy beginning around Thanksgiving so I was distracted. But, I'm back now.

An old friend sent me the following video. Although my first reaction is to applaud the talent of the backhoe operator - he might want to go on "America's Got Talent" - but if he pulled a stunt like that on a jobsite, he should receive direction from Donald Trump - You're Fired!