OSHA Quick Takes – July 15, 2010

In This Issue

• DOL officials visit Gulf as OSHA continues monitoring conditions for cleanup workers
• Michaels asks Congress to strengthen OSHA’s ability to protect workers’ lives
• Imperial Sugar agrees to pay more than $6 million and overhaul worker protections after fatal 2008 explosion
• DOL files first enterprise-wide complaint to eliminate electrical hazards throughout U.S. Postal Service
• Whistleblowers.gov offers quick worker access to whistleblower protection information
• Organizations can apply online for $2.75 million in new targeted topic safety and health training grants
• OSHA review project eliminates outdated, duplicative standards
• Third stakeholder meeting on injury and illness prevention program filled to capacity
• OSHA promotes good science at occupational safety and health symposium
• Spanish translations of respiratory protection documents now easier to find online
• OSHA holds New Jersey summit for Latino Worker Safety and Health
• Job openings

DOL officials visit Gulf as OSHA continues monitoring conditions for cleanup workers

At the direction of Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, three Department of Labor leaders visited the Gulf states July 7-9 to meet with workers impacted by BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The delegation included Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Jane Oates, Wage and Hour Division Deputy Administrator Nancy Leppink and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Director Patricia Shiu. OSHA staff accompanied these DOL officials as they met with local fishermen, community-based organizations, and state and local government officials in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. See the news release for their visit itinerary.

The OSHA personnel who participated in this visit are part of a group of more than 146 professionals monitoring BP’s actions to protect workers throughout the Gulf region. In the nearly three months since cleanup operations began, OSHA has made more than 1,800 site visits, covering the vessels of opportunity, beach cleanup, staging areas, decontamination, distribution, and deployment sites. OSHA has also made more than 1,000 exposure assessments in these areas. To date, no air sampling by OSHA has detected hazardous chemicals at levels of concern. Heat stress continues to be the number one health concern, with more than 450 incidents, many serious.

As a result of its continuous reassessment of changing conditions in the Gulf, OSHA recently increased training requirements for crews in BP’s vessels of opportunity program. Now, these workers must receive eight hours of training, provided free by BP and its contractors, to ensure they are familiar with safety and health hazards of all cleanup operations they may be asked to perform.

Workers hired to be supervisors of the onshore and marine cleanups are required to receive a rigorous 40-hour training program under OSHA’s Hazardous Waste Operation and Emergency Response Standard. OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels issued a July 7 statement expressing concern that some providers of the 40-hour HAZWOPER course for supervisors may not be meeting OSHA requirements.

For more about training, as well as other safety and health issues related to cleanup operations in the Gulf, visit OSHA’s recently redesigned oil spill response Web page. The new layout makes it easier to find information on topics including chemical exposure, hazards, and workers’ rights, as well as worker safety and health publications in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Michaels asks Congress to strengthen OSHA’s ability to protect workers’ lives

Assistant Secretary David Michaels told the House Committee on Education and Labor that OSHA needs greater enforcement power to provide workers with the safety and health protection they deserve. Michaels testified at a July 13 hearing on the Miner Safety and Health Act (H.R. 5663). This legislation provides critical amendments to the OSH Act that would increase OSHA’s civil and criminal penalties, enhance whistleblower protections and victims’ rights, and give OSHA the authority to require abatement of serious hazards even if and while the employer contests citations issued for them. This legislation would also expand the rights of workers and victims’ families. Michaels told the committee what he learned from his experiences talking to children, spouses and parents of workers killed on the job. “The only thing they want; the only thing they ask you to do is pass laws that contain the best possible protections, that prevent any other workers — whether mine workers, refinery workers, construction workers, or hospital workers — from losing their lives, from leaving their loved ones behind.”

Imperial Sugar agrees to pay more than $6 million and overhaul worker protections after fatal 2008 explosion

OSHA announced July 7 that it resolved litigation with Imperial Sugar Co. stemming from the February 2008 explosion at its Port Wentworth, Ga., plant and safety and health violations the agency subsequently discovered at the company’s Gramercy, La., facility. The February 2008 explosion killed 14 workers and seriously injured dozens of others. In the agreement, Imperial Sugar will pay $4,050,000 in penalties for the 124 violations found at its Port Wentworth plant after the explosion, plus an additional $2 million for 97 violations found at its Gramercy plant. This agreement requires Imperial Sugar to make extensive changes to its safety practices, and it underscores the importance of rigorously addressing workplace safety and health hazards. See the news release for more information.

DOL files first enterprise-wide complaint to eliminate electrical hazards throughout U.S. Postal Service

In a July 6 complaint, the Department of Labor asked the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to order the U.S. Postal Service to correct electrical violations at 350 facilities nationwide. This is the first time DOL has sought enterprise-wide relief to protect workers. The department took this step after OSHA inspectors discovered numerous, similar electrical work safety violations at USPS mail processing and distribution facilities across the country. These violations exposed workers to risk of injury from shock, including electrocution. See the news release for more information on DOL’s effort to provide enterprise-wide protection from injury and death to the nation’s postal workers.

Whistleblowers.gov offers quick worker access to whistleblower protection information

OSHA’s new dedicated Web address for its whistleblower protection program — www.whistleblowers.gov — provides workers with easily accessible information about how to “blow the whistle” on unlawful practices in the workplace. The Web page provides information about worker rights and provisions under each of the whistleblower statutes and regulations OSHA enforces, program fact sheets and information on how to file a retaliation complaint with OSHA. “OSHA doesn’t work unless workers feel secure in exercising their rights,” said Assistant Secretary David Michaels. “This Web page is part of OSHA’s promise to stand by those workers who have the courage to come forward when they know their employer is cutting corners on safety and health.” See the news release for more information.

Organizations can apply online for $2.75 million in new targeted topic safety and health training grants

OSHA is soliciting applications for $2.75 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants. These grants will help organizations provide training and education programs related to 28 targeted areas, including crane safety, combustible dust, maritime, oil and gas, fall hazards and health and safety hazards in construction. Applications must be completed by the Aug. 6 deadline. As announced in the last issue of QuickTakes, applicants must register online before beginning the application process. See the news release for further information about applying, and OSHA’s Susan Harwood Training Grant Web page to learn more about the program and download training materials created by past recipients.

OSHA review project eliminates outdated, duplicative standards

OSHA’s proposed Standards Improvement Project-III will revise and remove requirements within several OSHA standards that are outdated, duplicative or inconsistent. This rulemaking will help keep OSHA standards up-to-date and will help employers better understand their legal obligations to protect worker safety and health. These recommendations follow two previously successful SIP phases in 1998 and 2005 and evolved through the agency’s review of its standards, public comments and recommendations from the Office of Management and Budget. The public may submit comments on the SIP-III proposed rule online, by mail or by fax. See the news release for more information.

Third stakeholder meeting on injury and illness prevention program filled to capacity
Additional meetings scheduled to give public more opportunities to comment

OSHA’s third meeting seeking public input on its proposed Injury and Illness Prevention Program rule was attended by approximately 85 participants. A broad range of interests, including unions, trade associations, professional organizations, large and small businesses, and other governmental agencies were represented. Attendees at the June 29 meeting in Washington, D.C., offered suggestions on how to develop a rule that will help employers reduce workplace injuries and illnesses through a systematic process addressing workplace hazards. As reported in the last QuickTakes, not everyone asking to participate in the June 29 meeting could be accommodated. Two more meetings have been scheduled, another in Washington, D.C., July 20 and one in Sacramento, Calif., Aug. 3. Registration is still open for the Sacramento meeting, and anyone wishing to attend should register online, by mail or by fax by July 20. See the news release for more information.

OSHA promotes good science at occupational safety and health symposium

Dr. Rosemary Sokas, director of OSHA’s Office of Occupational Medicine, addressed a July 1 symposium of occupational safety and health researchers to emphasize the importance of gathering sound scientific data to help develop effective and efficient standards that will protect workers’ lives. The symposium was organized by Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention, the research arm of Washington state’s Department of Labor and Industries.

Spanish translations of respiratory protection documents now easier to find online

Direct links to Spanish translations of two documents on respirator use are now on OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Safety and Health Topics page. The “Medical Evaluation Questionnaire” and “Information for Employees Using Respirators When Not Required Under Standard” are included in Appendices C and D of OSHA’s respiratory protection standard. The new links make it easier to find the Spanish-language versions of these documents, “Cuestionario de Evaluacion Medico obligado por la OSHA” and “Informacion Para los Empleados Que Usan los Respiradores Cuando No lo Exige el Reglamento o Norma,” enhancing their usefulness in protecting the health of workers.

OSHA holds New Jersey summit for Latino Worker Safety and Health

OSHA will hold a Northern New Jersey Action Summit for Latino/Immigrant Worker Safety and Health July 26. The summit, at the Morris County Library in Whippany, N.J., is part of OSHA’s ongoing effort to seek input from the public on actions the agency can take to enhance the voice of vulnerable, at-risk workers. For more information, download the agenda/registration form or contact Christopher Cheng at 212-337-2352 or Cheng.Christopher@dol.gov. Attendees must register by July 22.