March 2013

Transcription

March 2013

BREAKTHROUGH STRATEGIES: NINE ‘SECRET’ KEYS
MARCH 2013
VOL. 82 NO. 3 | www.ohsonline.com
HEAT STRESS:
The Path to Effective
Controls 24
HEARING PROTECTION:
28
Four Steps to Protection 28
HUMAN RESOURCES:
Is Your Organization
36
Bullying-Proof? 36
TRANSPORTATION SAFETY:
Technology Making
a Difference 41
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FROM THE EDITOR
Wellness Pays, Especially
for Older Workers
A
study published in the Janu- and alcohol abuse.
“The results suggested that — if all
ary 2013 issue of the Journal of
Occupational and Environmen- heightened risk factors could be reduced to
tal Medicine showed workplace their ‘theoretical minimums’ — total medical
health promotion programs can reduce care expenses per person for all working age
average worker health costs by 18 percent. adults would be reduced by about $650, or
Savings are even larger for programs involv- approximately 18 percent. The possible savings increased with age: up to
ing older workers, the Ameri28 percent for older working
can College of Occupational
adults and retirees,” according
and Environmental Medicine
to the ACOEM news release.
(ACOEM) reported.
Dugas and his co-authors
The number of Americans
wrote, “The potential savings
ages 65 and older who are still
from workplace wellness proworking topped 7 million durgrams are still quite large and
ing 2012, according to BLS;
supportive of widespread inthis study should encourage
terest by employers. Medical
their employers and their HR Workplace health
care savings from workplace
managers to roll out wellness
wellness programs will ininitiatives, if they haven’t al- promotion proready taken the leap.
grams cut average crease with time, given that
eligible wellness proJonathan P. Dugas, Ph.D.,
worker health costs more
gram members participate,
and colleagues at The Vitaleffective control of heightity Group, Chicago, combined by 18 percent,
ened risk factors improves,
data from two major studies to and even more for
greater risk reversal can
estimate savings from reducprograms involving and
be achieved.”
tions in seven risk factors or
Visit www.joem.org or
medical conditions typically older workers.
www.thevitalitygroup.com for
addressed by workplace wellness programs: physical inactivity, low fruit more information.
and vegetable intake, smoking, overweight/ JERRY LAWS
obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, [email protected]
www.ohsonline.com
VOLUME 82 NUMBER 3
EDITORIAL STAFF
EDITOR Jerry Laws
PRINT MANAGING EDITOR Rebecca Overton
WEB MANAGER Scott Newhouse
E-NEWS EDITOR Brent Dirks
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT TEAM Cindy Horbrook
Jessica Acklen
Lindsay Page
ART STAFF
ART DIRECTOR Dale Chinn
PRODUCTION STAFF
DIRECTOR, PRINT AND
ONLINE PRODUCTION Jenny Hernandez-Asandas
PRODUCTION MANAGER Teresa Antonio
SALES STAFF
WEST DISTRICT SALES MANAGER Barbara Blake
972-687-6718
EAST DISTRICT SALES MANAGER Jenna Conwell
610-436-4372
SECURITY, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION GROUP
PRESIDENT & GROUP PUBLISHER Kevin O’Grady
PUBLISHER Karen Cavallo
GROUP CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Margaret Perry
GROUP MARKETING MANAGER Susan May
PRESIDENT & Neal Vitale
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & Richard Vitale
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Michael J. Valenti
VICE PRESIDENT, Christopher M. Coates
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
VICE PRESIDENT, Erik A. Lindgren
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY &
APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
Occupational Health & Safety (ISSN 0362-4064)
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Occupational Health & Safety | MARCH 2013
0313ohs_004_EdNote_v3.indd 4
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2/8/13 9:06 AM
455,600
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF RECORDABLE CASES
OF WORKPLACE INJURY AND ILLNESS IN THE
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY*
How does this impact your bottom line?
Workplace injury and illness can result in days away from work reducing productivity
and efficiency. With UL’s comprehensive workplace safety courses and safety
management system, you can stop workplace injury and illness before it happens.
Your company will thank you!
To learn more, call 1.888.202.3016 or visit www.ulworkplace.com.
*Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2011
UL and the UL logo are trademarks of UL LLC © 2013
CIRCLE 8 ON CARD
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
MARCH 2013 | Volume 82, Number 3 | www.ohsonline.com
HEAD & FACE PROTECTION
Staying on Top of
the Problem
Occupational injuries are
very costly, and not just
to the affected party. They
can drain the company’s
coffers, its employees’
morale, and its standing
in the community.
by Jerry Laws
J. J. KELLER & ASSOCIATES, INC.
32
32
HUMAN RESOURCES
36
Is Your Organization Bullying-Proof?
Bullying is a serious psychological assault. It is
relentless. The target is put into a no-win situation.
by Pamela Wells
COMBUSTIBLE DUST
38
NFPA 654 2013 Edition Revised
Requirements for Housekeeping
Although the strategies offered in the new revision can provide a benchmark for triggering housekeeping efforts, plant
management should strive for zero dust accumulations.
by Steven J. Luzik
TRANSPORTATION SAFETY
41
38
features
NANOFILM
24
Hot Weather and
Safety Eyewear
Even a worker in bone-dry
Phoenix perspires more in
the heat, increasing the
moisture behind safety
glasses and also the
prospect of fogging.
by Jodi Groh and John Olesky
16
Walking the Path to Effective Controls
Milliken applies the DMAIC model to tackle heat
stress in its operations. by Cati Spencer
4
10
43
46
47
48
48
49
50
From the Editor
Newsline
New Products
Practical Excellence
by Shawn Galloway
Product Spotlights
Product Literature
Classifieds
Advertiser Index
Breakthrough Strategies
by Robert Pater
HEARING PROTECTION
Find OHS on:
28
Twitter http://twitter.com/OccHealthSafety
6
Four Steps to Protection
We have Frank run the machine during the morning hours
and Jim run it in the afternoon. We have not cut down the
noise of the machine, but we’ve cut their noise exposures
in half. by Barry R. Weissman
0313ohs_006_008_TOC_v3.indd 6
41
departments
HEAT STRESS & SUMMER HAZARDS
16
Integrated Safety
System Technology
is Here
Heavy-duty technology advancements are
improving driver and
highway safety.
by Alan Korn
Facebook http://facebook.com/OHSMagazine
Safety Community http://www.safetycommunity.com/profile/OHSMagazine
www.ohsonline.com
2/11/13 10:31 AM
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
MARCH 2013 | Volume 82, Number 3 | www.ohsonline.com
www.ohsonline.com
Awards Season Arrives . . .
Emancipation, civil war, recovery, addiction, and global
warming are just a few of the heavy themes explored in this
year’s Academy Awards Best Picture nominees and the acting
performances nominated for the top awards. Whose performance in 2012 on the EH&S stage deserved top honors?
And whose performance merited the Worst Actor award for
the year?
. . . and Conference Season Begins
AIHce 2013 in Montreal (http://aihce2013.org/) and ASSE’s
Safety 2013 in Las Vegas (www.safety2013.org) highlight the
safety and health calendar during the first half of the year.
Another worthwhile event is the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society’s 2013 International Symposium on Human
Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care: Advancing the Cause.
(www.hfes.org/Web/HFESMeetings/2013healthcaresympos
ium.html)
Taking place March 10-13 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel, it will address many hot-button patient safety
issues in the fast-moving health care industry, and it starts
with a March 10 tour of the MedStar Central Intravenous
Admixture Center, where a trio of experts will lead a small tour
to demonstrate processes and equipment failures that contributed to the NECC fungal contamination outbreak of 2012.
Battling Over the Postal Service
With 551,570 career
employees as of 2011,
the U.S. Postal Service
remains one of the largest federal employers.
For all of the dire headlines, the USPS Feb. 6
announcement that it
plans to cease Saturday
mail delivery later this
year wasn’t surprising
because it has posted
enormous losses in recent years. The question
is, will Congress finally
remove the retiree health
prefunding requirement that has brought about these deficits or
even allow it to cut services and sell facilities?
VERSATILITY
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Circle 4 on card.
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2/11/13 10:31 AM
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medieval armour. But now, with the new 7000 half mask and
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CIRCLE 20 ON CARD.
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NEWSLINE
New OH&S
Publisher
Settling In
Blue Giant Equipment Corporation recently launched its U.S. operation, Blue
Giant Equipment LLC, by opening a new
manufacturing facility in Greensboro, N.C.
— just in time for the company to celebrate
its 50th anniversary. The company’s headquarters are in Ontario, Canada. “We are
excited to expand our presence into the
United States to better serve our customers,” said Jeff Miller, president of Blue
Giant Equipment LLC. “The Greensboro
location affords us the opportunity to manufacture in the U.S. while taking advance of
the abundant resources that North Carolina has to offer. Demand for Blue Giant
dock products is growing globally; opening
in Greensboro, which is within 650 miles
of half of the U.S. population and close to
major logistics hubs, will let us effectively
respond to increasing order volume and
strengthen our overall position.” . . . Spartan Motors, Inc. has sold most of its Wa-
0313ohs_010_015_Newsline_v4.indd 10
www.ohsonline.com
ADVISORY BOARD
Joe E. Beck
Professor, Environmental Health Science
Eastern Kentucky University
Richmond, Ky.
Leo J. DeBobes, MA (OH&S), CSP, CHCM,
CPEA, CSC, EMT
Stony Brook University Medical Center
Stony Brook, NY
Scott Lawson
The Scott Lawson Companies
Concord, N.H.
Angelo Pinheiro, CSP, CRSP, CPEA
Senior HES Professional
Marathon Oil Company
Houston, Texas
William H. Weems, DrPH, CIH
Director, Environmental & Industrial Programs
University of Alabama College of Continuing Studies
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Barry R. Weissman, MBA, REM, CSP,
CHMM, CHS-V, CIPS
Corporate Manager — Health & Safety
Benjamin Moore Paint Co.
Flanders, N.J.
Henry Wright
Vice President & Manager - Risk Control
BB&T Insurance Services Inc.
Charlotte, N.C.
karusa, Ind. facility to Forest River, Inc., a
Berkshire Hathaway Company, following
Spartan’s announcement in February 2012
that it will relocate the company’s Utilimaster operations to Bristol, Ind. from Wakarusa. “The sale of the Wakarusa facility
represents an important step in the transition of Utilimaster’s operations to Bristol,”
said John Sztykiel, president and CEO of
Spartan. “As we finalize the move and ramp
up production, we expect the new, modern
plant to support Utilimaster’s long-term
growth and enable us to achieve our potential in delivery and service vehicles.” The
1,800 employees of Spartan (www.spartanmotors.com) manufacture specialty chassis,
specialty vehicles, truck bodies, and aftermarket parts for the recreational vehicle,
emergency response, government services,
defense, and delivery and service markets
at facilities in Michigan,
Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Indiana, Florida,
and Texas. . . . General
Equipment
Company
(Owatonna, Mich.) appointed Pieter Jansen as
European sales manager. PIETER JANSEN
The company makes earth
GENERAL EQUIPMENT COMPANY
10
On the Move
BLUE GIANT EQUIPMENT CORPORATION
Karen Cavallo, the new
publisher of OH&S magazine, brings to the job 28
years of business-to-business publishing experience, including 12 years
when she worked in New
York City. “I just don’t KAREN CAVALLO
think there’s any better education because it’s very fast-paced in New
York. Just cutting my teeth in B2B in New
York — and I worked in the commercial
real estate industry — it was just a really
great place to learn because you really saw
everything there,” she said.
Cavallo wears two hats at 1105 Media Inc. She is also group publisher of the
Home Medical Equipment Group (http://
www.hmemediagroup.com/Home.aspx),
which includes HME Business and Mobility
Management magazines and The Mobility
Project, a new website for users of wheelchairs and other assistive technologies
for mobility. Like occupational safety and
health, HME is a large and highly regulated
industry. She said this makes the two markets quite similar.
“Having the governmental body be a
part of the regulations, it really affects not
only what goes on, but also how the products are made and distributed. I think that’s
the common thread between them,” Cavallo
said. “There’s an element of patience that you
have to have on both sides of this; you have
to think years ahead because things may
take that long.” In addition, she said, end users’ very lives depend on many of the products in both of these industries — products
such as fall harnesses, respirators, oxygengenerating equipment, and wheelchairs.
Cavallo’s introduction to the EH&S
industry was attending the 2012 National
Safety Congress & Expo in Orlando, Fla.
Her travels this year will take her to ISEA’s
Executive Summit next month in Dana
Point, Calif.; AIHce 2013 (May 20-22,
Montreal); ASSE’s Safety 2013 (June 24-26,
Las Vegas); and the 2013 NSC (Sept. 30Oct. 2, Chicago), plus a full slate of HME
industry events. She said these conferences
are great networking opportunities for the
people in both industries — manufacturers,
distributors, professionals, end users, and
regulators alike.
Asked what she hopes to accomplish
during her initial year as OH&S publisher,
Cavallo replied, “I think the one word I
would say is education: to just make sure
that our offerings, whether in print or online, are very forward-thinking and very
education-intensive. In fact, I do have a mission to expand our online offerings to meet
those educational needs in the marketplace.
I would offer up the two Supercasts that
we’re devoting to how to comply with these
OSHA standards, particularly the ones that
have the most violations,” she said. “That’s
what I would cite as an example.”
The Supercasts — three webinars in
a single day devoted to topics on OSHA’s
FY2012 list of most-cited standards —
will take place April 10 and Sept. 12, 2013.
Visit www.ohsonline.com to register free for
the April 10 webinars on fall protection,
machine guarding/lockout, and Hazard
Communication.
www.ohsonline.com
2/8/13 9:07 AM
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CIRCLE 16 ON CARD
9/6/12 12:43 PM
NEWSLINE
augurs, ventilation blowers, asphalt cutters, and surface preparation equipment;
its news release said Jansen has some 32
years’ experience in the construction and
equipment rental markets. . . . Employees
of the Louisiana-Pacific oriented strand
board mill in Jasper, Texas, celebrated
working more than 1 million total hours
without an OSHA recordable injury — a
milestone reached in December 2012 — on
Jan. 17 along with LP executives including
CEO Curt Stevens and OSB Executive Vice
President Jeff Wagner. “Reaching this safety milestone shows the dedication and focus our employees have on getting the job
done the safe way,” Plant Manager Ricky
Franklin said. The mill employs more than
150 people and produces LP OBS sheathing, LP TechShield® radiant barrier, and LP
TopNotch® subflooring. APA — The Engineered Wood Association recently named
LP the safest company in the industry for
the second straight year. . . . The Council
for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC) announced it
will introduce a new logo this year and has
converted its Update newsletter to a digital
format. CAOHC, based in Milwaukee, said
three times per year, the newsletter’s readers will receive an email alerting them to
find the latest issue at the redesigned and
reorganized www.caohc.org that will debut
in May 2013. . . . Arbill recently opened
a new distribution center in Dallas, with
the Philadelphia-based company reporting it now maintains inventory in 22 states,
with all sites fully integrated with its enterprise resources planning (ERP) system
to give them immediately access to inventory stocked at any of its locations. . . . The
Safety Equipment Institute recently issued its first certifications to the new criteria in NFPA 1801, Standard on Thermal
Imagers for the Fire Service, 2013 Edition.
This edition had an effective date of June
18, 2012. The three companies receiving
the certifications are Bullard, Draeger, and
ISG Infrasys. The 2013 edition includes
design and performance requirements for
operating modes and image quality. The required testing includes image recognition,
vibration, impact acceleration resistance,
corrosion, viewing surface abrasion, heat
resistance, heat and flame, product label
durability, cable pullout, effective temperature range, field of view measurement, thermal sensitivity, and durability. Independent
testing was conducted by Intertek Testing
12
Services of Cortland, N.Y., and SEI’s release indicated additional certifications are
expected to be issued later this year. “As a
non-profit organization, we are committed
to making sure emergency responders have
confidence in the safety products they rely
on for protection,” said SEI President Patricia A. Gleason. . . . C. Patrick Smith is the
new CEO of Career Systems International, a Scranton, Pa.-based company specializing in helping clients maximize strategic
engagement, development, and retention
of talent. Smith has more than 25 years’ experience in human resources. He had been
serving as co-CEO with Dr. Beverly Kaye,
the company’s founder, who continues as
chair of the company’s board. . . . Incentive company USMotivation (Atlanta, Ga.)
promoted Scott Lowery, CRP, to divisional
vice president, Major Accounts and Product Development, and Mark Prine, CRP, to
divisional vice president, Major Accounts.
USMotivation President Tina Weede announced the promotions Jan. 28, saying
they “reflect the individual strengths, skills,
and talents Scott and Mark bring to USM.
This will enable us to continue to provide
exceptional and innovative service to our
clients and the entire incentive and recognition industry.”
Deals &
Acquisitions
ASSA ABLOY, a leader in door opening
solutions and associated products, has acquired 4Front Engineered Solutions of
Carrollton, Texas. 4Front has more than
750 employees at operations in the United
States, Canada, Mexico, and India, with
annual revenues exceeding $165 million,
based on loading dock and door product
lines provided to warehousing, manufacturing, and distribution center customers. “4Front has a strong market position,
excellent products. and a very talented
team of professionals. This acquisition is a
great addition to our growing portfolio of
warehouse solutions, and together we look
forward to further developing the U.S. and
global markets,” said Juan Vargues, executive vice president of ASSA ABLOY and
president/CEO of the Entrance Systems
Division. . . . Desco Capital of Columbus, Ohio, has acquired Crown Mats and
Matting, a division of Ludlow Composites
Corporation that makes anti-fatigue and
entrance matting products. Privately held
Desco Capital has been acquiring and operating industrial businesses in the United
States, Europe, and Asia since 1966 with
revenues of as much as $150 million each.
“Technological innovation and superior
service have always been key strengths of
Crown Mats and Matting,” said its president and COO, Randy Dobbs. “With the
financial, strategic, and other support of
Desco, Crown Mats looks forward to becoming an even more important manufacturer in the matting and professional cleaning industries, growing and enhancing our
business. We’re very enthusiastic about our
future with Desco.” . . . Bradley Corporation has announced it has purchased the
assets of Keltech Inc. and will operate it as
a wholly owned subsidiary. Bryan Mullett,
president of Bradley, said the acquisition
“continues to grow our leadership position in the commercial plumbing category
and provides new, innovative products
for our customers.” Keltech is based in
Delton, Mich., while Bradley is based in
Menomonee Falls, Wis. . . . R-O-M Corporation acquired Fire Research Corporation, which will become a subsidiary
and will maintain its presence in Nesconset, N.Y. FRC founder Jack McLoughlin
and his partners Toh Meng and Neocles
Athanasiades will continue in their roles
at FRC, with Meng serving as president of
R-O-M’s Electrical Component Division.
“The reputation of the FRC brand is unparalleled,” said Jeff Hupke, CEO of R-O-M.
“With this acquisition, R-O-M becomes the
largest supplier of emergency scene lighting, pressure governors, and flow meters.
When combined with R-O-M’s strengths in
roll-up doors and safety grating, we continue proving true to our mission to improve
firefighter safety and productivity.” . . . UL
acquired Everclean Services, a food safety
audit provider, and added it to the Food &
Water segment of its Life & Health business
unit. According to UL’s announcement,
Everclean performs more than 40,000
food safety and sanitation audits annually
on more than 10,000 facilities operated by
North American food service brands. Jack
McShane and Bill Flynn manage UL’s food
safety auditing operations, which are headquartered in Agoura Hills, Calif. . . . Lincoln
Electric Holdings, Inc. recently acquired
privately held Tennessee Rand, Inc., which
designs and manufactures tooling and robotic systems for welding applications in
www.ohsonline.com
2/8/13 9:07 AM
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12/7/12 3:57 PM
NEWSLINE
the automotive and metal fabrication industries. “Tennessee Rand strengthens our
already strong position as a market leader
in welding automation in North America,”
said CEO Christopher L. Mapes. “Tennessee Rand brings extensive tool design, system building, and machining capabilities
that will enable Lincoln to further expand
its welding automation business. It is a nice
complement to our recent acquisition of
Wayne Trail Technologies.” Lincoln Electric’s news release said Tennessee Rand,
with headquarters and manufacturing operations in Chattanooga, Tenn., has annual
sales of approximately $35 million, and
terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
. . . Safety Supply Corporation, parent
company of Memphis, Tenn.-based PPE
manufacturer Radians Inc., announced it
has acquired substantially all of the assets
of Crossfire Safety Eyewear and Pelican
Bay Trading Company, Inc. “Crossfire
represents another major step in our acquisition strategy to accelerate growth in our
core lines of business. Radians’ financial
resources and infrastructure will provide
Crossfire the opportunity to significantly
broaden its product offerings in the future,” said Mike Tutor, CEO of Radians.
“All Crossfire employees have been offered
positions with the new company that will
continue operating from its current facility
in Acworth, Georgia.” . . . Syracuse, N.Y.based Galson Laboratories Inc. recently
expanded its presence in Ontario, Canada,
by acquiring Occupational and Environmental Health Laboratory in Hamilton.
Galson’s office in Mississauga, Ontario will
serve the OEHL clients. “We have seen exceptional growth in Canada over the past
five years, and this opportunity to acquire
a well-respected laboratory such as OEHL
will accelerate that growth even more,” said
Galson President and CEO Joe Unangst.
“We felt it was necessary to expand, and
OEHL seemed to be a perfect fit for us.”
Galson Laboratories Canada Inc. will provide occupational and industrial hygiene
monitoring solutions and supplies, including rental of field instruments.
Demolition Conference to
Feature Christchurch Report
The National Demolition Association’s
40th Anniversary Convention (March 2326, Hilton Bayfront San Diego) will include
a presentation by three contractors who
will explain how their companies participated in the cleanup after a 6.3-magnitude
earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. L. Mark Loizeaux, president of Controlled Demolition Inc. (Phoenix, Md.);
Peter Ward, president of Ward Demolition
Ltd. (Auckland, New Zealand); and John
Weber, former president of Iconco/LVI
Demolition Services (Oakland, Calif.), are
scheduled to deliver their “Christchurch:
The Disaster and Its Cleanup” presentation
March 25.
“The U.S. Geological Survey, the science organization of the U.S. government,
has predicted with a 99 percent certainty
that there will be a similar magnitude
earthquake in California in the next 30
years,” said Michael R. Taylor, CAE, executive director of the association. “Our
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2/8/13 9:07 AM
ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH
ling presentation at our convention.”
He said the aim of the presentation is to
enable government disaster response agencies, seismic experts, and the public to learn
how California can deal in a similar and
productive way after such a disaster.
For more information, visit www.
demolitionassociation.com.
Union Pacific Railroad
Sets New Safety Record
This photograph taken March 26, 2012, shows
some of the damage at Christchurch Cathedral
caused by the Feb. 22, 2011, earthquake. A final
decision on whether the building can be saved
has yet to be made.
panel of experts, who have been working
there for the last two years dealing with
everything from downed utilities; lack of
food, housing, and power; hazardous materials disposal; and the safe demolition of
damaged structures, will give a compel-
Union Pacific Railroad announced Jan. 29
that its 2012 employee safety performance
was the best in the company’s 150-year history: Employees achieved a 1.01 reportable
injury rate, surpassing the previous lowest
rate of 1.15 in 2011. The announcement
said from 2002 to 2012, the reportable injury rate fell by 58 percent.
The Omaha, Neb.-based railroad’s announcement singled out the Twin Cities
Service Unit for achieving a 70 percent
improvement from 2001 to 2012, with an
employee reportable injury rate of 0.56 in
the latter year. This unit has about 900 em-
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Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
“Our injury-rate improvement is evidence of our employees’ personal commitment to actively caring for their fellow
employees, practicing behaviors such as
peer-to-peer observation and feedback,”
said Bob Grimaila, Union Pacific vice president-Safety, Security and Environment.
“Our safety leadership development and
continuous process improvement team efforts, including those driving down operational variability to provide a more predictable work environment, also play key roles
in safety results.”
The reportable injury rate is the total
number of injuries reportable to the Federal Railroad Administration per 200,000
worker hours. UP said many employees
receive comprehensive on-the-job training through computer software that teaches them how to maneuver locomotives in
rail yards, operate switches, and sort rail
cars onto different tracks based on the
cars’ destination.
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Occupational Health & Safety
15
2/11/13 3:27 PM
HEAT STRESS/SUMMER HAZARDS
Hot Weather and Safety Eyewear:
A Closer Look at the Hazards
Even a worker in dry-as-a-bone Phoenix perspires more in
the heat, which increases the moisture right behind
the safety glasses and increases the prospect of fogging.
BY JODI GROH AND JOHN OLESKY
DEFOG IT BY NANOFILM
T
he calendar says summer’s on the way. Temperatures already are beginning to spike in
many parts of the country — if they ever
stopped. For safety professionals, that means
it’s the time of year to begin preparing plans to protect
outdoor workers from heat stress.
The most common risks associated with high heat
are well known: heat rash and cramps, to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. There’s one more that needs to
be on the radar: Both OSHA’s and CDC’s educational
materials advise that “Exposure to heat can also increase the risk of injuries because of … fogged-up
safety glasses.”
Two specific injury risks come to mind. First, when
safety eyewear fogs up on a hot and steamy afternoon,
workers may simply take it off, exposing themselves to
a variety of hazards. Independent research confirms
this instinct. A study reported in the scientific journal
Accident Analysis and Prevention found that fogging
16
0313ohs_016_022_Groh_v3.indd 16
is the number one vision-related barrier to wearing
safety eyewear.
The second risk of fogged eyewear is impaired vision that can leave the outdoor worker open to injury
while handling everyday tasks, a fact well understood
by safety professionals who deal with high-heat indoor environments, such as utilities, metal fabrication, and paper mills. In fact, a survey among safety
professionals found that 28 percent of them believed
fogged eyewear had contributed to injuries in their
own workplaces.
John Fischer, CSP, is vice president of SVS Safety,
which assists companies with the development or
enhancement of safety programs. He often sees the
problem of heat-induced eyewear fogging. “I know of
workplaces dealing with triple-digit temperatures and
high humidity, but conditions don’t have to be that
extreme for fogging to raise a red flag for safety,” he
warned. “It’s important to address it as a root cause
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Untitled-2 1
2/8/13 11:11 AM
to eyewear non-compliance and, more importantly, as a threat to
worker safety.”
Lost productivity is also a consideration when employees struggle with fogging. A conscientious person who removes, wipes, and
re-dons safety eyewear multiple times during a shift can’t be working up to potential.
Construction Workers See Problems
Construction workers suffer among the highest rate of eye injuries,
according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
More and more organizations are addressing the issue of fogging as a possible root cause of safety eyewear non-compliance.
San Juan Construction, Inc. is a general contractor with projects
throughout the United States and around the globe. The company’s
motto is “Safety first, people always.”
Josh Hollingshead, project cost controller on a company job in
North Carolina, said he is well aware of the fogging issue. “Heat
and humidity are usually the problem. In the summer, it’ll get up to
100 percent humidity sometimes,” he said. Hollingshead’s San Juan
team found that providing an anti-fog coating that workers could
apply when needed helped to prevent the problem.
Why Safety Eyewear Fogs More in Summer
Why does San Juan’s construction team —or any worker, for that
matter — encounter more fogging in summer? There are three
reasons. Two of them are environmental issues — heat and hu-
midity. The third is a biological one — human exertion. Here’s
how it works.
We’re all familiar with the layer of water droplets that forms
on the outside of a cold glass of lemonade sitting in muggy July
heat. Because there’s a temperature difference between the inner
and outer surface, moisture in the air condenses onto the warmer
surface — the outside of the glass. The same process is at work with
eyewear, except the droplets are tiny, creating fog.
In hot weather, the ambient temperature is already high, and
the air between the wearer’s face and the eyeglass lens can be even
hotter, the way the air inside a closed car is hotter than the outside
temperature. Then add the biological factor: The person laboring
under the sun is likely to be generating increased body heat, so
that temperature difference gets even higher. The conditions are
ripe for fogging.
Next, add increased summer humidity. There’s more water in
the air waiting to be converted to fog, plus there’s the human component of perspiration. Even a worker in dry-as-a-bone Phoenix
perspires more in the heat, which increases the moisture on the
face, right behind the safety glasses, and increases the prospect
of fogging.
The tighter the eyewear fits, the higher the risk.
Movement of air around the face and safety eyewear can help to
lower the temperature and evaporate humidity, reducing the fogging risk. However, some of today’s wraparound eyewear designs
hug the face and reduce air flow. Workers who never experienced
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CIRCLE 22 ON CARD
Untitled-2 1
2/8/13 11:29 AM
a fogging problem in spring and fall weather may see one develop.
Goggles can present an even greater concern because their snug fit,
a key to safety, may reduce ventilation.
That was the issue faced by Idaho Department of Transportation crews that paint the stripes on highways. Their closed goggles
are crucial vision protection because right behind the work truck’s
paint jet is another jet spraying tiny glass beads that embed themselves in the wet paint to create a reflective surface. These miniature beads are so small they can infiltrate even the smallest vents
in goggles. Dale Moore, electrician lead in the Lewiston office, had
heard workers in safety meetings say their unvented goggles had a
fogging problem. The cause? “Most of the time our weather is hot
and dry, but with the closed goggles, the humidity inside the goggle
is very high,” said Moore. He said a worker-applied anti-fog treatment provided by the department solved the problem for his crew.
The Particular Challenge of Faceshields
Tactical officers often need to wear full-face and full-body gear.
They are an extreme example of the problems of closed safety eyewear systems. In a pilot field test conducted with U.S. Coast Guard
personnel working outdoors in south Florida heat and humidity,
77 percent of respondents affirmed a problem with fogging, with
87 percent of those affected reporting they had to remove their
faceshields to clear them.
Workers donning two sets of eyewear can experience double
the fogging problem because they have multiple optical surfaces
trapping multiple layers of hot, moist air. This may include those
wearing prescription glasses under safety faceshields, such as the
ones first responders wear. Welders, who are required by regulation
to wear both a faceshield and impact-resistant safety eyewear, may
face an even greater challenge in the summer months.
How Can You Prepare?
The hot-weather injury risk of fogged-up safety glasses is a reality,
as OSHA notes. For that reason, the topic needs to be integrated
into heat stress safety planning. It should be incorporated as a part
of an effective safety culture. Here are some key considerations:
■ Train for it. Just as you cover the symptoms of, and safety
precautions for, heat stress, discuss fogging. Explain the potential
for fogging problems. Review the organization’s safety eyewear
policy and the injury risks of removing safety eyewear or working
with fogged-up lenses. Inform workers of solutions available from
the company.
■ Provide ways to prevent fogging. Consider offering workers
anti-fog treatments or lenses. Think about adding additional styles
of eyewear during the summer that could improve air flow.
■ Remember to address other barriers to safety eyewear compliance that might be aggravated by heat and humidity. Comfort
matters; when nosepieces or temples get sweaty and slippery, they
can slip off or chafe. A worker may solve the problem with a different eyewear design. Provide a strap; if glasses are removed during a
break, they are less likely to be left on a bench or in the truck.
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Untitled-3 1
2/5/13 10:29 AM
■ Be vigilant about compliance. If you see workers without
eyewear, address it immediately and look into root causes.
This is a good time for indoor heat safety reviews, too. While
organizations with outdoor workers are just now gearing up for the
summer heat and humidity, others face the challenges year round.
They include iron and steel foundries, confectioneries, chemical
plants, and glassmakers, among others. The change of seasons is
an opportune time for any organization to review its approach to
safety eyewear and fogging.
The Isis Central Sugar Mill Company in Childers, Australia, is a
good case study. The company mandates compulsory eye protection
to help prevent dust and foreign-body eye injuries. “The need to wear
safety eyewear has been established, and we all need clear vision to
do our task,” said Peter Whelan, Isis’ workplace health & safety officer. “If the glasses are removed due to lack of vision, the chances of
permanent lack of vision suddenly become a potential reality.
“We started to run into problems with compliance in our
manufacturing process as we use a significant amount of steam
throughout the plant, which causes hot and humid environments,”
he added. In an effort to address the root cause, Isis began supplying workers an anti-fog treatment. When asked whether the safety
strategy worked, Whelan affirmed, “There’s a very short answer to
this one: yes.”
In Isis’ case, the lessons learned inside the factory about the
relationship between safety eyewear non-compliance and humid-
heat fogging migrated to its outdoor safety procedures, as well.
“As the warmer tropical months approached, our outdoor workers were suffering the same fogging problems — especially during
night work,” Whelan explained. Isis again found that offering an
anti-fogging coating met the challenge.
Whether a work environment subjects employees to high heat
and humidity for just three months a year or for all 365 days, the
potential risks of fogged safety eyewear are documented and deserve careful consideration. Safety glasses aren’t safe when they’re
fogged. Fogging has been shown to be a significant barrier to wearing safety eyewear, even in workplaces with mandatory policies.
For the protection of your workforce, now is the time to make fogging a hot topic.
Jodi Groh, a vision care professional with Defog It by Nanofilm, has
18 years of experience advising some of the country’s largest optical
companies. She is a member of The Vision Council’s Vision Protection Committee, which educates professionals and consumers. She
frequently writes and speaks on topics related to vision.
John Olesky, CSP, has been a Certified Safety Professional with
the Engineering Specialty since 1991 and currently works as a safety
consultant for Rhodes Research in Las Cruces, N.M. He has worked
in many aspects of the safety field, including the military, hospitals,
general industry, hazardous waste Superfund sites, construction,
and demolition sites.
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0313ohs_016_022_Groh_v3.indd 22
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2/11/13 10:32 AM
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Untitled-3 1
2/5/13 10:14 AM
HEAT STRESS
Walking the Path to
Effective Controls
Milliken applies the DMAIC model to tackle
heat stress in its operations.
BY CATI SPENCER
I
t’s time to apply an uncommon approach to the
common, high-risk occurrence of heat stress in
our work environments. Most think of continuous improvement in the context of their quality
programs, but the DMAIC model of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control can play in several sandboxes.
Milliken broadens the application of continuous
improvement work to include process development
and control measures affecting all associates’ safety.
In fact, the company’s 39 manufacturing sites have
successfully applied the DMAIC thought process to
safety for more than two decades. Headquartered in
South Carolina with many manufacturing sites in the
24
0313ohs_024_026_Spencer_v3.indd 24
hottest states in the nation, Milliken provides solutions for linking existing processes, such as continuous improvement, to provide proactive solutions to
any and all safety hazards. An analysis of how Milliken
successfully tackles heat stress is instructive to those
working in similar high-risk environments, while the
application of continuous improvement methodologies to address all safety issues is relevant to everyone.
Define
Heat stress can be fatal. If healthy, well-trained athletes in the prime of their lives sometimes die on
football fields because of dehydration and heat exhaustion, what must you do to address this workplace
hazard in your sites? The first step is to define your
risk potential. If heat is not a problem, consider other
extreme conditions. Directing oil exploration in the
polar climate of Barrow, Alaska, for example, reveals a
different set of extreme conditions that may be similarly tackled using the DMAIC model.
At Milliken, we start every project by understanding what the site-specific data exposes as the greatest
risk. You can transform your lagging indicators into
predictive, leading measures by conducting incident
profile analyses. Milliken’s databases are populated
with investigation facts from every near miss, first aid,
and recordable incident investigation. We recommend
analyzing your data trends in order to drill down to a
high-risk department or even one particular piece of
equipment. We find that narrowing the project scope
in this way allows Milliken’s safety leaders the ability
to apply focused improvement efforts, while ensuring
the highest risk issues are addressed first.
Holding more than 2,200 U.S. patents and 5,000
patents worldwide, our manufacturing is extremely
diverse. No two locations among the sites are the same.
A past evaluation of our incident profile analyses underscored the need to address the highest-risk areas.
The data were clear: Heat stress was a heightened risk
at non-air conditioned locations utilizing high heat
finishing ranges. Milliken associates working in these
locations were at the highest risk to suffer from heat
stress, and if no action was taken, leading indicators
predicted that one or more associates would suffer a
heat stress injury or illness during the summer months.
As a result, focused continuous improvement projects were rolled out at these sites, reducing the risk of
heat stress. Cross-functional teams of production associates serving various roles across the site were deployed to apply the DMAIC principles to reduce the
risk of this hazard.
Measure
During 2010, OSHA reported 2,365 recordables
caused by heat stress or stroke. Among these were
fatalities. Using well-accepted statistical multipliers,
we know that for every major incident there are 29
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Untitled-7 1
9/4/12 4:54 PM
HEAT STRESS
A strong control plan should allow your team to positively answer
the question, “Will this plan prevent this injury from ever occurring
in this site again?”
minor/first aid incidents and 300 near miss
occurrences. Considering this multiplier,
2,365 OSHA heat-stress related recordables
are equal to 68,585 heat-stress related minor/first aid incidents and another 709,500
near misses.
Milliken plants have emphasized the
need for reporting all types of incidents in
order to have accurate, reliable data to direct project work. For the purpose of your
continuous improvement projects, we have
learned that identifying your key leading
metrics allows you to qualify early whether
your project improvements are trending
toward success. Lagging metrics only allow
you to react. Utilizing near misses, environmental temperatures, and body temperatures of at-risk associates as key leading
indicators allows you to change your project
approach to keep it on track and proactively
reduce risk. Early in the project, measurement of these important leading indicators
creates a frame of reference for goal setting,
aids the project team in the next project
phase, and provides a baseline for comparison after improvements are complete.
Analyze
This phase of the continuous improvement project requires your project team to
understand the problem and analyze the
associated risk. Heat stress occurs when
the body is unable to efficiently maintain
its internal temperature. A body’s normal
cooling process occurs through blood
circulation to the skin and by sweating.
However, when external temperatures are
higher than the body temperature or the
environment is too humid for sweat to
evaporate, the body cannot effectively release heat. The retention of this excess heat
causes symptoms of disorientation, illness,
loss of desire to drink, and possibly death.
Hazard risk assessments are utilized to
determine the risk of individual job tasks
by understanding the severity, frequency,
and likelihood of heat stress for affected
individuals. This allows your team to focus
on specific job tasks that need attention.
We recommend using Why-Why analyses
to further understand the true root cause
of associated risks. Further, Milliken rec26
ommends applying a 6M “gut check” to the
Why-Why tool to ensure you fully consider
all contributing factors of man, method,
machine, material, Mother Nature, and
measure.
awareness of heat stress risk areas.
The final three steps on the countermeasure ladder are installation of fail-safes,
elimination of the task when possible, and
automation. To ensure the quality of our
finished product, Milliken’s ranges are required to operate at high temperatures, so
teams worked to review automation and
“leaned out” work processes to minimize
time spent in this adverse environment.
Improve
Control
After you have analyzed and determined
root causes, we recommend your project
team assign countermeasures to address
specific risks and evaluate what effect those
countermeasures will have on risk reduction. Awareness campaigns during highrisk months, improved PPE in the form of
highly breathable and comfortable work
wear, and environmental and body temperature monitoring programs were all
countermeasures that were implemented
by our heat stress teams.
Just as in quality applications of continuous improvement, the strength of
your countermeasures has a significant
impact on the success of the project. We
challenge each project team to climb the
countermeasure ladder. Raising awareness
is the first step on this ladder and is the
most basic countermeasure. Of course,
education on heat stress, how to identify
symptoms, and how to respond is valuable. But Milliken has learned that pairing
fun activities with awareness initiatives
increases the retention of critical information. We suggest you post the symptoms of
heat stress near your site’s high-heat areas.
Challenge your associates to find these
postings and turn them in for a refreshing prize, such as a cold sports drink or ice
cream sandwich.
Auditing is the next rung on the countermeasure ladder. We utilize quick yet
comprehensive audits covering a wide variety of topics throughout each site. Audits
are modified on a regular basis to refocus
on high areas of risk and to ensure new
practices or procedures are followed. For
heat stress reduction, job rotation, body
temperature monitoring, and task timelimiting procedures are countermeasures
that are added to audits. One rung up from
auditing is visual controls. Temperature
alert lights and caution signs in high-risk
areas serve as visual reminders to raise
Control is the final and most crucial step to
your continuous improvement projects. A
strong control plan should allow your team
to positively answer the question, “Will
this plan prevent this injury from ever occurring in this site again?” If it does not
meet this standard, then work remains to
be done. Control plans include reviews of
audit results, monitoring programs, scheduled awareness events, and best-practice
sharing events. This activity at Milliken
closes the loop on heat stress and ensures
our plants will be working in the realm of
proactive prevention.
We recommend establishing your goal
of zero incidents when initiating your safety continuous improvement projects.
Through the engagement of production
associates in project teams, safety auditing,
awareness activities, and the overall safety
process, the Milliken culture has evolved to
be a predictive, preventative process with
100 percent associate engagement. Application of existing continuous improvement
methods to safety hazards in your own
sites will aid in standardized use of tools.
Inclusion of production associates in this
process will give you the avenue to tap into
their creative resources, increase engagement, and make improvements in matters
that will have the most significant impact to
them, their co-workers, the plant, and your
company.
0313ohs_024_026_Spencer_v3.indd 26
Cati Spencer is in her seventh year with
Milliken. She spent two years serving as a
Safety Steering Team Leader and three years
leading new team development. Currently,
she leads safety system implementations at
several leading client organizations as part
of Performance Solutions by Milliken, Milliken’s consulting services group, which helps
clients successfully navigate toward safety
and operational excellence. To learn more,
visit performancesolutionsbymilliken.com.
www.ohsonline.com
2/8/13 9:17 AM
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Untitled-2 1
2/8/13 2:24 PM
HEARING PROTECTION/PPE
Four Steps to Protection
nate it, but now we want to see whether we can engineer out the hazard. Do you remember our big, huge
machine that makes a lot of heat, smoke, noise, and
vibration? We need to protect the operator from all of
that and we can do that by using engineering controls.
We have Frank run the machine during the
morning hours and Jim run it in the afternoon.
We have not cut down the noise of the machine,
but we’ve cut their noise exposures in half.
BARRY R. WEISSMAN
BY BARRY R. WEISSMAN
BARRY R. WEISSMAN
T
here you are, the operator of this big machine
that produces a lot of heat, smoke, noise, and
vibration. You have to turn it on and off and
periodically take gage readings. The question
is, to what are you exposed? (I’ll wait while you get
paper and pencil so you can write down the answers.)
The answer, of course, is heat, smoke, noise, and
vibration. What we need to do is to protect you from
all of those hazards — hazards that are similar to what
your employees may be exposed to all of the time.
The Question
What’s the best way to protect your employees? Hmm,
what’s that you say? Give them PPE? Have I heard you
correctly? Let’s see a show of hands — how many of
you agree that using PPE is the best way to protect
your employees? Don’t be shy, get those hands up.
Wow! Only a few of you have your hand up. That’s
interesting. What we need to do is figure out how to
best protect our employees.
The Hierarchy of Controls
The hierarchy of controls is the various actions that are
taken to protect employees when they have to work either with hazardous chemicals or in a hazardous environment. For a definition, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Hierarchy_of_hazard_control. OSHA requires
the use of hierarchy of controls in several areas of
its regulations and in several letters of interpretation
(e.g., 1910.1000(e), VPP application instructions).
These are the “Four Steps to Protection”:
Step One: If we are able to either substitute a lesshazardous material for the hazardous one or eliminate
it altogether, we have eliminated the hazard. For example, rather than using a flammable solvent to clean
our part, what about using soap and water to clean the
part and then air dry it?
Step Two: At this step, we still have the hazard because we weren’t able to substitute anything or elimi28
0313ohs_028_030_Weissman_v5.indd 28
We have isolated the controls by moving them exterior to the machine and have put a hood over the
top to collect the heat and smoke. The operator is now
protected from the heat, smoke, noise, and vibration.
Step Three: Administrative or work practices do
not protect the employees from hazards; however,
they make them more aware of the hazards. Training
is one of the most widely used administrative practices. The hazard is there, but now the employees are
aware of the hazard and know that they need to lock
out the machine before they try to clear the jam on the
production belt.
In the work practice area, we can split the work
between two or more employees. We have a punch
press that generates over 90 dBA. Frank and Jim are
both operators. Rather than have both of them work
on the machine together, all day, we have Frank run
the machine during the morning hours and Jim run
it in the afternoon. We have not cut down the noise
of the machine, but we’ve cut Frank’s and Jim’s noise
exposures in half.
Step Four: At the bottom of the hierarchy; the last
step, is PPE – personal protective equipment. It is the
last step, the bottom of the hierarchy, because the employees are responsible for their own safety. They need
to be able to select the correct PPE, know how to use,
and use it correctly.
We can ensure the employees know what the correct PPE is if they are involved in developing the Hazard Assessment that is required by OSHA under 29
CFR 1910.132(d).
A hazard assessment is a formalized procedure
that looks at the hazards of the process and how to
best protect the employees when they are involved
in performing that process. Usually a checklist is
used to ensure all of the hazards have been discussed. (An Internet search will turn up many forms
that you can use, or check the www.ohsonline.com
archives for a sample form attached to this article.
www.ohsonline.com
2/11/13 10:35 AM
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CIRCLE 3 ON CARD
Untitled-1 1
1/9/13 11:35 AM
Are your workers
blinded by fog?
HEARING PROTECTION/PPE
Case Study
Let’s do a case study: Process 607 is to neutralize acid. Jack, the
operator, has to pump 100 gallons of waste hydrochloric acid
(HCl) into a high-density polyethylene tank. Next, he turns on
the air mixer on a low speed and slowly adds sodium bicarbonate
(NaHCO3) powder, one scoop at a time. Every 15 minutes, he uses
a dipper to take a sample and measure the pH with litmus paper
until he has no change. He then opens the valve and discharges the
neutral solution into the plant’s waste stream.
First, we need to identify the hazards of this process. See whether you can find something that I missed.
1. Exposure to corrosive chemicals
2. Exposure to chemical dusts
3. Ergonomic problems with having to continuously scoop the
powder or dipper samples
4. Ergonomic problems with continually having to turn valves
Next, we need to know how to protect our employees utilizing
the hierarchy of controls.
1. Substitution or elimination: We cannot substitute or eliminate the HCl, but what about the NaHCO3? Rather than scoop it in,
couldn’t we purchase it as a solution and have it pumped in?
2. Engineering controls: We’re already using some engineering
controls in that we’re pumping the acid into the tank, and we have
an air mixer rather than having to mix it by hand. What about getting an in-line pH probe so the operator doesn’t have to continually take hand samples for pH adjustment? What about electrically
operated valves to prevent the ergonomic problems?
3. Administrative/work practices: I’ll let you come up with
some suggestions.
4. PPE: How would you protect these employees? What PPE
is needed?
What’s Left to Do?
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30
Circle 16 on card.
0313ohs_028_030_Weissman_v5.indd 30
We ask, “How can we protect employees?” Many times, the first
thing that people say is to give them a respirator. It is interesting
to note that in the Respirator Standard, 29 CFR 1910.134(a)(1),
OSHA says:
“In the control of those occupational diseases caused by breathing air contaminated with harmful dusts, fogs, fumes, mists, gases,
smokes, sprays, or vapors, the primary objective shall be to prevent
atmospheric contamination. This shall be accomplished as far as
feasible by accepted engineering control measures (for example,
enclosure or confinement of the operation, general and local ventilation, and substitution of less toxic materials). When effective engineering controls are not feasible, or while they are being instituted,
appropriate respirators shall be used pursuant to this section.” (italics
for emphasis only)
This leads us back to the hierarchy of controls as being the best
way to protect the employees. However, when they are “not feasible,
or while they are being instituted, appropriate” PPE can be used.
If you have answers or questions, you can contact the author at
[email protected].
Barry R. Weissman, REM, CSP, CHMM, CHS-V, CIPS, is the Corporate Safety Manager for a major consumer product company. He
is owner and moderator of RegulatoryPost, a Yahoo! Group that
publishes updates to the Federal Register and provides safety tips and
links to free EHS information. You can subscribe by sending a blank
email to: [email protected].
www.ohsonline.com
2/11/13 10:35 AM
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Untitled-2 1
2/8/13 11:18 AM
Staying on Top of the Problem
Occupational injuries are very costly, and not just to the
affected party. They can drain the company’s coffers, its
employees’ morale, and its standing in the community.
BY JERRY LAWS
J. J. KELLER & ASSOCIATES, INC.
Talk with your worker’s comp provider to find out where head and facial injuries have
occurred and, if possible, whether PPE was not being used by those workers or possibly
was not right for the task being done.
32
0313ohs_032_034_Laws_v4.indd 32
I
t bears mentioning that head and face PPE is one
of the categories that employers are required to
provide at no cost to employees. That’s one of
the givens for this vital category of protection,
which is addressed in OSHA’s general industry PPE
standard, 1910.132.
www.ohsonline.com
2/11/13 10:35 AM
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CIRCLE 5 ON CARD
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Untitled-3 1
2/5/13 10:26 AM
“At a minimum, safety glasses, with side shields, should be
used for all laboratory work.”
This standard explains that the process
starts with a written assessment documenting the hazards in the workplace. Based
on what they are and whether they can be
adequately addressed through engineering
and/or administrative controls, the employer might need to provide various types
of PPE: head and face, hearing, vision,
hand and arm, foot, respiratory, etc.
The requirements of 1910.132 should be
familiar to all of us:
■ 1910.132(e): Workers shall not use
defective or damaged PPE.
■ 1910.132(f)(1): The employee shall
train each employee required to wear PPE
on when it is needed; what to wear; how to
put it on, remove it, adjust it, and wear it; its
limitations; its useful life; and proper maintenance and disposal of it.
■ 1910.132(f)(3): If the employer has
reason to believe an already trained employee does not understand or cannot use
the PPE properly, or when changes render
previous training obsolete or the types of
PPE in use under the previous training are
obsolete, that person shall be retrained.
Enforcement cases involving violations of this and the specific eye and face
(1910.133) and head protection standards
(1910.135) are fairly common, and head
and face PPE violations usually are listed by
OSHA enforcement releases among an array of alleged violations of varying severity.
A recent case involved an Illinois manufacturer investigated last year following a hydrochloric acid leak and cited for allegedly
failing to have evacuation routes and procedures specified in its emergency response
and contingency plan, failing to ensure
respiratory protection was worn and workers were trained to use it, and also failing
to ensure workers who were exposed to
chemicals, acids, or caustic liquids wore
hand, eye, and face PPE. OSHA proposed
$41,200 in fines in the case.
The High Costs of Injuries
Occupational injuries are very costly, and
not just to the affected party and his or her
family. Workplace injuries can drain the
company’s coffers, sap its employees’ morale,
and harm its standing in the community.
34
Former OH&S Technical Editor Linda
J. Sherrard always urges safety professionals to keep their programs fresh and alive
by reviewing them and updating them
regularly. She suggests surveying management and employees to find out how they
perceive their facility’s safety program and
talking with your worker’s comp provider
to find out where head and facial injuries
have occurred and, if possible, whether
PPE was not being used by those workers
or possibly was not right for the task being done.
Tracking past PPE purchases is another
good practice because it helps you pinpoint
problem areas or gaps in the program. If
processes have changed, it’s important to
determine whether the PPE being ordered
is still appropriate for the hazards in those
new processes.
Training is the next piece, as noted in
1910.132(f)(3). Sherrard advises training on safety in general, first aid, PPE use
and maintenance, obtaining replacement
items, and how to report an injury or a
damaged item.
OSHA’s Guidance on Hazardous
Chemical Exposures in Labs
Head and face PPE includes hard hats,
welding helmets, safety eyewear, sideshields, goggles, and faceshields. OSHA
mentioned most of these in the recently issued (Jan. 22, 2013) technical amendment
to the non-mandatory appendix in its standard on occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals in laboratories, 1910.1450.
That amendment was made to include content from a 2011 National Academy of Sciences publication; adhering to the hierarchy of controls is the third general principle
listed in the technical amendment, following minimization of chemical exposures/
risks and making an accurate assessment
of the risks.
The hierarchy of controls principle
says this:
“The hierarchy of controls prioritizes
intervention strategies based on the premise that the best way to control a hazard
is to systematically remove it from the
workplace, rather than relying on employ-
0313ohs_032_034_Laws_v4.indd 34
ees to reduce their exposure. The types
of measures that may be used to protect
employees (listed from most effective to
least effective) are: engineering controls,
administrative controls, work practices,
and PPE. Engineering controls, such as
chemical hoods, physically separate the
employee from the hazard. Administrative
controls, such as employee scheduling, are
established by management to help minimize the employees’ exposure time to hazardous chemicals. Work practice controls
are tasks that are performed in a designated way to minimize or eliminate hazards. Personal protective equipment and
apparel are additional protection provided
under special circumstances and when exposure is unavoidable.
“Face and eye protection is necessary to
prevent ingestion and skin absorption of
hazardous chemicals. At a minimum, safety glasses, with side shields, should be used
for all laboratory work. Chemical splash
goggles are more appropriate than regular
safety glasses to protect against hazards
such as projectiles, as well as when working
with glassware under reduced or elevated
pressures (e.g., sealed tube reactions), when
handling potentially explosive compounds
(particularly during distillations), and
when using glassware in high-temperature
operations. Do not allow laboratory chemicals to come in contact with skin. Select
gloves carefully to ensure that they are impervious to the chemicals being used and
are of correct thickness to allow reasonable
dexterity while also ensuring adequate barrier protection.
“Lab coats and gloves should be worn
when working with hazardous materials
in a laboratory. Wear closed-toe shoes
and long pants or other clothing that covers the legs when in a laboratory where
hazardous chemicals are used. Additional protective clothing should be used
when there is significant potential for
skin-contact exposure to chemicals. The
protective characteristics of this clothing
must be matched to the hazard. Never
wear gloves or laboratory coats outside
the laboratory or into areas where food is
stored and consumed.”
Jerry Laws is editor of Occupational Health
& Safety.
www.ohsonline.com
2/11/13 10:35 AM
CIRCLE 18 ON CARD
Untitled-2 1
2/11/13 10:22 AM
HUMAN RESOURCES
Is Your Organization Bullying-Proof?
Bullying is a serious psychological assault.
It is relentless. The target is put into a
no-win situation.
BY PAMELA WELLS
W
hat form of behavior is legal; costs an
organization much in terms of productivity, turnover, top talent, and
bottom line; yet is often missed, denied, or simply overlooked? If you guessed bullying,
you would be right.
Bullying in an organization can be likened to an
insidious deadly disease, wreaking costly havoc before it gets realized. Consider the case of Bill. Bill was
a quiet guy, high performer, “nose to the grindstone”
type who consciously stayed clear of organizational
cliques and politics. Bill’s worldview was that if he
worked hard, didn’t gossip, didn’t take sides, didn’t
stir up trouble, and treated all people with respect, he
would be rewarded. He sounds like a great organizational citizen, right? Well, a certain middle manager/
supervisor thought differently.
Bill’s manager, Dave, had been in the organization
for many years. Dave had a charismatic and boisterous
personality and knew the strengths and weaknesses of
the company. He had been through several reorganizations within the company and stuck it out through
the ups and downs, good times and bad times. Along
the way, however, he had developed some counterproductive workplace behaviors that sometimes caused
trouble for the organization.
During his tenure with the company, Dave had
formed a coalition of followers who looked up to
him. In blind faith, they supported him and his initiatives. These followers made up an “in-group” for
Dave, who used his power to help them advance
within the organization.
Bill was careful not to get too involved with the
“in-group.” Bill felt Dave should provide equal help
and mentoring to everyone within the organization
and not just the “in-group.” Whereas Bill respected
Dave for all he had endured in the organization over
the years, he didn’t believe it was right to favor some
over others, especially without regard to performance.
In fact, some of those whom Dave helped advance
were low performers and would never have been promoted had they not been part of the “in-group.”
Bill remained respectful and cordial to Dave and
the “in-group” but inadvertently declined membership into the clique by treating everyone in the entire organization with equal regard and not showing
36
0313ohs_036_037_Wells_v4.indd 36
preference to the clique. Dave interpreted Bill’s independence as a personal threat, especially because it
appeared Bill could be promoted on his own merits
and would not require help from Dave. One day, while
discussing Bill, Dave was overheard telling one of his
cronies, “I’ll get him!” Thus began the bullying.
Definition of Bullying
Only within the last decade or so have academic
researchers in the United States identified bullying
as a distinct form of workplace harassment (LutkenSandvik et al., 2007). The academic literature defines
bullying in terms of negative acts perpetrated toward
a target that has some degree of frequency and duration (Lutken-Sandvik et al., 2007; Mikkelsen and
Einarsen, 2001). The Workplace Bullying Institute
(WBI) defines bullying as repeated harmful acts that
include verbal abuse, which is interpreted through
rate of speech, tone, inflection, volume (shouting),
and body-language (finger in face, invasion of personal space); threats; intimidation; humiliation
(public and private); work interference; sabotage
of work; sabotage of personal reputation through
spreading lies and gossip; other harmful acts; and
generalized torment.
It should be noted that bullying is not simply a
personality conflict or a scapegoat for being criticized
in the workplace. Bullying is a serious psychological
assault. It is relentless. The target is put into a no-win
situation. Imagine the metaphor of shooting a target:
You aim for and try to hit that target, no matter what.
If the target moves, you follow it. Now imagine a bully
targeting you because he or she wants to “get you,” is
threatened by you, or simply doesn’t like you. Imagine
if that person is one’s supervisor or boss. It suddenly
becomes clear that if one becomes a target, the work
environment will become very stressful and harmful
to that individual’s health.
The research has long been established documenting the relationship between stress and serious
physical disease (cardiovascular, blood pressure, etc.).
Work-related stress is no exception. Without a doubt,
the cumulative pressure and unknown yet anticipated
next assault to be delivered by the bully provoke work
stress and compromise health.
Health and Productivity Consequences
Bill began receiving the silent treatment at work. The
clique and others began ignoring him, causing isolation and anguish. They knew Dave was not happy
with Bill, and the clique wanted to show Dave their
support. Dave began questioning Bill’s work and
www.ohsonline.com
2/11/13 10:36 AM
Making psychological assault and abuse a culpable offense
with enforceable consequences shows the organization is socially
responsible and truly cares about its employees.
scrutinizing his work. With such close
scrutiny, Bill began to make small mistakes. When mistakes were made, Dave
overemphasized them. When Dave could
not find anything wrong with Bill’s work,
he would change the scope or outcomes
of the project, leaving Bill with unclear
expectations and ambiguous instructions.
In private, Dave would say mean and hurtful comments to Bill. Even though Bill was
losing respect for Dave and did not care
about Dave’s personal opinion, the comments lingered in the back of Bill’s head.
It appeared Dave was making good on his
commitment to “get” Bill.
On the advice of some friends, Bill talked to Dave’s boss and subsequently to HR.
Dave denied any wrongdoing (his word
against Bill’s) and through the process, Bill
appeared as though he was simply whining
and causing trouble. HR simply told Bill he
needed to learn to get along with all people
and work it out with Dave. As might be expected, going over Dave’s head only made
the situation worse for Bill.
After months of being targeted, Bill
began getting ill. He gained weight, and
his blood pressure increased. He felt nauseous when getting ready for work and
worse when he arrived there. His work performance began to suffer. He didn’t know
when Dave would strike again. He felt
paranoid.
Taking the advice of his doctor, Bill took
some time off. The doctor provided him
with a note citing “work-related stress” as
the reason. Even though this helped Bill’s
health, the covert message was that Bill
couldn’t handle stress well. While on leave,
Bill began assembling a chronology of
events. He consulted several attorneys who
told him he didn’t have a case because his
experience did not constitute a protectedclass violation. Bill would have to take the
abuse or quit.
Implementing a Bullying Policy
There are no laws prohibiting bullying in
the workplace. There are laws that prohibit
discrimination and harassment for people
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0313ohs_036_037_Wells_v4.indd 37
who fall within certain protected classes,
but if the target doesn’t fall under one of
those protected classes and it cannot be
proven that the bullying was a result of being in one of the protected classes, then no
laws are broken.
What is the cost of bullying to the
organization? To answer that question,
other questions must be answered. What
is the cost of turnover? What is the cost of
decreased morale within teams? What is
the cost to investigate allegations? What is
the cost of lost worker productivity? What
is the cost of employee time off ? What is
the cost to fight a lawsuit? What is the
cost of the organization’s reputation? It
is reasonable to conclude that the cost of
bullying to the organization is great and
tolerating bullying is costly to the organization’s bottom line.
What can an organization do? An organization by itself will not change the core
personality of a bully or a target and is
not in position to “change” the essence of
people; transformations should be left up
to licensed professionals, such as psychotherapists. However, an organization can
set up policies and systems that specifically
address workplace bullying. The following
is a blueprint provided by the Work Doctor® (see www.workdoctor.com) and Namie
and Namie (2011) that outlines key steps to
establishing and implementing a policy:
■ Assess the pre-change prevalence in
your organization.
■ Collaboratively create an anti-bullying policy.
■ Design enforcement procedures applicable to all.
■ Train a Safety/Peer Expert Team.
■ Educate the entire organization.
■ Incorporation, Integration, & Impact Evaluation.
An organization has the responsibility
to keep employees safe and healthy, and
that includes a safe psychosocial workplace
environment. Making psychological assault
and abuse a culpable offense with enforceable consequences shows the organization
is socially responsible and truly cares about
its employees.
Corporate social responsibility gives an
organization a competitive advantage by
improving the company’s reputation and
attracting and retaining top, skilled workers (Osland et al., 2007). The cost of implementing a no-tolerance bullying policy is
far less than the cost of not having a policy.
An organization’s silence on the matter is a
passive endorsement and reward of the bad
behavior. Don’t let your organization be
under the influence of a bully. The time to
change is now.
Workplace bullying facts (WBI, 2007,
2010):
■ Most bullies are bosses.
■ Most targets are women.
■ Anyone can become the target of
a bully.
■ Both women and men bully.
■ Women who are bullies mostly bully
other women.
Pamela Wells ([email protected]) is
the owner of Critical Moments Safety Training, LLC and an instructor in Organization
and Management at San Jose State University. Her master’s degree is in Industrial/
Organizational Psychology. She recently attended a three-day intensive workshop at the
Workplace Bullying Institute in Bellingham,
Wash. She noted this article is based on a
real-life situation.
REFERENCES
1. Lutgen-Sandvik, P., Tracy, S. J. and Alberts, J.
K. (2007). Burned by bullying in the American
workplace: Prevalence, perception, degree, and
impact. Journal of Management Studies 44(6),
837-862.
2. Mikkelsen, E. G. and Einarsen, S. (2001).
Bullying in the Danish work-life: Prevalence and
health correlates. European Journal of Work
and Organizational Psychology, 10, 393-413.
3. Namie, G. (2007). WBI workplace bullying
survey. Retrieved from www.workplacebullying.
org /wbiresearch/wbistudies/.
4. Namie, G. (2010). WBI workplace bullying
survey. Retrieved from www.workplacebullying.
org /wbiresearch/wbistudies/.
5. Namie, G. and Namie, R. F. (2011). The
bully-free workplace. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley
and Sons, Inc.
6. Osland, J. S., Kolb, D. A., Rubin, I. M and
Turner, M. E. (2007). Organizational behavior:
An experiential approach. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
MARCH 2013 |
37
2/11/13 10:36 AM
COMBUSTIBLE DUST
NFPA 654 2013 Edition Revised
Requirements for Housekeeping
Although the strategies offered in the new
revision can provide a benchmark for triggering housekeeping efforts, plant management
should strive for zero dust accumulations.
BY STEVEN J. LUZIK
T
he 2013 revision of the NFPA 654 “Standard
for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing,
and Handling of Combustible Particulate
Solids” was issued by the Standards Council on May
29, 2012, with an effective date of June 18, 2012. The
goal of the NFPA 654 standard is to provide safety
measures to prevent and mitigate fires and explosions
in facilities that handle combustible particulate solids.
This standard applies to all phases of the manufacturing, processing, blending, conveying, repackaging,
and handling of combustible particulate solids or hybrid mixtures, regardless of concentration or particle
38
0313ohs_038_040_Luzik_v4.indd 38
size, where the materials present a fire or explosion
hazard. The owners or operators of affected facilities
are responsible for implementing the requirements.
The 2013 edition incorporates several significant
changes, most notably in the areas of housekeeping
and establishing whether or not a flash fire or explosion hazard exists within the facility. This addition is
particularly important because incident history and
statistics clearly indicate that secondary dust explosions, caused by inadequate housekeeping and excessive dust accumulations, have caused much of the
damage and casualties experienced in major industrial
dust explosions. Other important areas that have been
revised or where new requirements have been added
include safety management practices such as hazard
analysis, management of change, training, emergency
procedures, and contractor and subcontractor safety.
This article will focus on the changes to the 2013
edition of NFPA 654 with regard to housekeeping requirements, including cleaning strategies.
Housekeeping is an extremely important administrative control to manage combustible dust accumulations that can result in a flash fire or explosion hazard.
Managing dust levels below values calculated from
Section 6.1 of the standard will obviate the need for
personal protection equipment, deflagration venting
in the building, and possibly not having to install electrical equipment specifically designed for hazardous
Class II areas (combustible dust).
There are four methods to determine whether a
flash fire or explosion hazard exists within a building or room in the plant. These methods include a
layer depth criterion method, two mass accumulation
methods, and a risk evaluation method that allows for
a documented risk evaluation, acceptable to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), to be conducted
to determine whether or not the flash fire or explosion hazard exists. The Layer Depth Criterion Method
and Mass Method A tend to be more conservative in
nature and do not require input of specific dust properties or building parameters, other than the bulk
density of the dust being generated. Mass Method B
considers additional factors, including the combustibility properties of the dust and building design.
Background
The most notable method of determining whether a
flash fire or explosion hazard exists is the Layer Depth
Criterion Method. This method is based on a layer
depth criterion calculated by dividing the previous
benchmark dust accumulation level (2006 Edition)
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2/11/13 11:07 AM
of 1/32 inch, which was based on a dust with a bulk density of 75
pounds per cubic food, by the bulk density of the dust of interest to
establish a new threshold dust accumulation thickness.
The total area of nonseparated dust accumulation exceeding
the layer depth criterion cannot exceed 5 percent of the footprint
area, and the total volume in the footprint area cannot exceed
the layer depth criterion multiplied by 5 percent of this area. For
areas larger than 20,000 square feet, the maximum accumulations
and total volumes are based on a footprint area of 1,000 square
feet. For example, in a room with an area of 1,000 square feet
where dust having a bulk density of 37.5 pounds per cubic foot
has accumulated, the layer depth criteria is 1/16 inch and the accumulation of dust in the room is limited to not greater than 1/16
inch over 50 square feet. Additionally, the total volume of dust in
this room cannot exceed (1/16 inch)/12 inches/ft*50 ft2 = 0.26 ft3
or 9.77 pounds.
A calculation can be performed to determine the airborne dust
cloud concentration in a room if the bulk density of the dust, accumulation depth, and dispersion height above the floor is known.
The genesis of the 1/32 inch accumulation, as a benchmark thickness, was based on this calculation using a dust bulk density of 75
pounds/cubic foot (1,200 kg/m3) and an assumed concentration of
0.32 ounces/cubic foot (320 g/m3).
Equation 1 - C = ρ*h/H
where
C = dust concentration (g/m3)
ρ = bulk density of dust in g/m3
h = dust accumulation (m)
H = height of room (m)
If the equation is solved for “h,” the dust accumulation in meters, the calculation shows that a dust layer averaging 1/32 inch
(0.8 mm) thick and covering the floor of a building is sufficient to
produce a uniform dust cloud of optimum concentration (320 g/
m3), 10 feet (3 m) above the floor throughout the building. This
calculation assumes that the deposit would be uniform throughout the floor area and that the layer would be completely dispersed
throughout the volume of the room by some initial pressure wave
presumably caused by a primary explosion event.
If only 50 percent of the accumulation were suspended, the
concentration in the air space would still be within the explosible
range of most dusts. (Typical Minimum Explosible Concentrations
[MECs] of combustible dusts range from 0.02 to 0.12 ounces/cubic
foot (20-120 g/m3).
The rationale for establishing a threshold limit accumulation
value prior to cleaning was that consideration should be given to
the proportion of the building volume that could be filled with a
cloud of combustible dust. The percentage of the floor area covered
can be used as a measure of the hazard. A 10 foot by 10 foot room
with a 1/32 inch layer of dust would obviously be hazardous; however, the same 100 square foot area in a building with a floor area
of 2,000 square feet would be considered to be, relatively speaking,
less hazardous. This represents about 5 percent of the total floor
area and was judged by the standard committee to be as much accumulated dust as should be allowed before cleanup. The Layer
Depth Criterion Method reflects this point.
Generally speaking, dust deposits on the floor do not readily
become suspended to fill the volume or a significant portion of a
www.ohsonline.com
room due to a pressure disturbance caused by some primary explosion event. Deposits at higher elevations, however, easily can be
disturbed and lofted into suspension, creating a combustible dust
cloud. The energy necessary to cause these disturbances can come
from a primary explosion event, rupture of a steam or compressed
air line, mechanical failure of equipment, a forklift striking a structural member of the building, lighting strike on the building, etc.
Therefore, the importance of good housekeeping cannot be overemphasized. Although the strategies offered in the new revision
can provide a benchmark for triggering housekeeping efforts, the
goal of plant management should be to strive for zero dust accumulations. Even small accumulations can become airborne and present localized flash fire hazards.
Housekeeping Plan Requirements
Chapter 8, Fugitive Dust Control and Housekeeping — Section
8.2 Housekeeping, outlines housekeeping requirements. These
requirements are intended to be applied retroactively. Where the
facility is intended to be operated with less than the dust accumulation levels determined by the requirements of Section 6.1.1
(the hazard assessment that determines whether a flash fire or
explosion hazard exists in the plant), housekeeping frequencies
must be established that prevent the threshold accumulation levels from developing, and a planned inspection process needs to
be in place to maintain the accumulations below the threshold
dust mass/accumulation.
The housekeeping plan also must include requirements establishing time to clean local spills or short-term accumulations. Table
A.8.2.1.3.(a) in the Annex provides guidance for these time intervals based on the level of accumulation on the worst single square
meter of surface.
If the facility is operated at dust levels that exceed the chosen
criterion as outlined in Section 6.1, then a documented risk assessment acceptable to the AHJ needs to be conducted to determine
the level of housekeeping consistent with any dust explosion and
dust flash fire protection measures provided in accordance with
Section 6.4 and 11.2.2 of the standard. These measures include
room or building deflagration venting and use of PPE, including
flame-resistant garments, in accordance with the workplace hazard
assessment required by NFPA 21131.
The revised standard also states that vacuuming is the preferred
method of cleaning and establishes a hierarchy of cleaning methods: vacuuming first, followed by sweeping or water wash, and
finally, if necessary, blowing down with compressed air, but only
under the following conditions:
1. Vacuuming, sweeping or water wash down is performed first.
2. Dust accumulations in the area after cleaning as per item 1 do
not exceed the threshold dust accumulation.
3. Compressed air hoses are provided with pressure relief nozzles limiting discharge pressure to 30 psig.
4. All electrical equipment potentially exposed to airborne
dust in the area meets requirements of NFPA 702, NEMA 12,
or equivalent.
5. All ignition sources and hot surfaces capable of igniting a
dust cloud or layer are shut down or removed from the area.
Elements of a Sound Housekeeping Plan
Important items that should be part of any sound housekeeping
MARCH 2013 |
39
2/11/13 11:07 AM
COMBUSTIBLE DUST
plan include:
1. A risk analysis that considers specific
characteristics of the dust being cleaned
(particle size, moisture content, Minimum
Explosible Concentration, Minimum Ignition Energy [MIE]) and other safety risks
introduced by the cleaning method used.
2. Personal safety procedures, including fall protection when working above
ground level.
3. Use of PPE, including flame-resistant
garments in accordance with NFPA 2113.
4. Cleaning sequence.
5. Specific cleaning methods to be used.
6. Equipment used in the cleanup, including lifts, vacuum systems, etc.
The NFPA position on portable vacuum cleaners has also been relaxed when
compared to the 2007 revision. The revision now allows use of non-listed or nonapproved [Note: Listed or approved refers
to equipment that has been included in a
list published by an organization, that is acceptable to the AHJ, and that indicates this
equipment meets appropriate designated
standards or has been tested and found to
be suitable for a specified purpose.] portable
vacuum cleaners to collect combustible
particulate solids in non-electrically classified areas if they are made of noncombustible material, except for filter media
and support frames, and where portable
Accumulation on the Worst
Single Square Meter of
Surface
Longest Time to Complete
Unscheduled Local Cleaning
of Floor-Accessible Surfaces
Longest Time to Complete
Unscheduled Local Cleaning
of Remote Surfaces
> 1 to 2 times threshold dust
mass/accumulation
8 hours
24 hours
> 2 to 4 times threshold dust
mass/accumulation
4 hours
12 hours
> 4 times threshold dust mass/
accumulation
1 hour
3 hours
containers used to collect material are separated from the unit by a valve.
Hoses must be conductive or static
dissipative and all conductive components, including wands and attachments,
are required to be electrically bonded
and grounded. Where metal dusts are being collected, vacuum cleaners must meet
NFPA 4843 requirements (listed specifically
for metal dusts). In Class II electrically classified areas, portable vacuums are required
to be listed for the purpose and location,
and in instances where flammable vapors
or gases are present, vacuum cleaners must
have a dual listing for both Class I and Class
II hazardous locations.
Development and implementation of
a sound housekeeping plan that meets
the requirements of this standard will significantly reduce the risk of flash fire and
explosion in the industrial plant setting.
Training the employees to recognize combustible dust hazards and in the proper
methods for cleaning is also of paramount
importance as part of the overall safety culture of the company.
NFPA 654 (2013) Annex A - Table A.8.2.1.3(a) Unscheduled Housekeeping
Contain it
in minutes.
Construction dust, paint spray
and other airborne contaminants
The ZipWall® system lets you contain
construction dust, paint overspray, odors
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■ Barrier heights up to 20 feet.
■ Accessories seal the floor, walls and
Steven J. Luzik, PE, CFEI, is a Senior Process
Safety Specialist at Chilworth Technology,
Inc. with more than 30 years of experience
in the area of fire and explosion hazards,
including gas/vapor explosions, dust explosions, and fire and explosion protection
strategies. He is a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator (CFEI) with the National
Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI), a
member of the American Society for Testing
and Materials E-27 Committee on Hazardous Properties of Chemicals, the National
Association of Fire Investigators, and the
National fire Protection Association. He has
written numerous publications in the areas
of fire and explosion prevention, protection,
and investigation.
ceiling without tape
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REFERENCES
■ New: ZipDoor™ kits turns a doorway
1. NFPA 2113, “Standard on the Selection, Care,
Use, and Maintenance of Flame Resistant Garments for Protection Against Flash Fire, (2012)
Edition, The National Fire Protection Association,
1 Batterymarch Park, PO Box 9101, Quincy, MA
02169-7471.
2. NFPA 70, “National Electrical Code, (2011)
Edition, The National Fire Protection Association,
1 Batterymarch Park, PO Box 9101, Quincy, MA
02169-7471.
3. NFPA 484, “Standard for Combustible Metals”, (2012) Edition, The National Fire Protection
Association, 1 Batterymarch Park, PO Box 9101,
Quincy, MA 02169-7471.
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www.ohsonline.com
2/11/13 11:07 AM
Integrated Safety System
Technology is Here I
Heavy-duty technology advancements are
improving driver and highway safety.
BY ALAN KORN
n just over a decade following the 1956 Federal
Aid Highway Act, the brand-new interstate highways laced up the nation coast to coast and border
to border. The result was a boom for commercial
trucking, which became — and remains — the number one way to connect large cities with small ones and
the goods with the people. To accomplish this, Class
8 (tractor-trailer) truck drivers alone travel more than
175 billion miles a year, with many of them averaging
100,000 miles or more of driving each year.
With all of those miles, truck manufacturers,
fleet operators, and drivers have a great responsibility to keep the roads we share safe for all drivers and
the communities that surround them. That’s why the
industry is constantly innovating with safety technology, such as stopping systems, stability control, collision mitigation, lane departure warnings, and other
driver-assist functions. Those of us in the transportation industry understand that innovation is more
than a business plan; it’s a way to save lives and improve efficiency.
Regulatory agencies obviously stay very close to
technology advancements that make our roads safer.
Just as they have done with the passenger car industry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration continues to update federal safety standards for
commercial vehicles to ensure that safety remains a
priority. During the past five years, NHTSA has spent
considerable time studying tractor-trailer safety standards and has recommended changes to strengthen
regulations, covering everything from braking standards to electronic stability control and collision safety systems. To meet the increasing demand for safety
while also balancing investment requirements, manufacturers have been working on the development and
delivery of integrated, or combined, active braking
system technologies that improve vehicle stability in
certain conditions and reduce the likelihood of a multitude of crash types. The result is that increasingly sophisticated and effective technology has become more
widely available and accepted by the fleet community.
The earlier the system brakes, the higher
the likelihood of avoiding a crash or
reducing the energy of the crash.
Putting the Brakes on Collisions
In 2011, more than 3,700 fatalities resulted from
large-truck crashes in the United States. Oftentimes,
improper decisions by passenger car drivers are
responsible for these collisions. When a 2,000- to
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0313ohs_041_042_Korn_v4.indd 41
MARCH 2013 |
41
2/11/13 10:38 AM
Another area receiving a great deal of attention is
the effort to reduce rollovers and loss of control
incidents for Class 8 vehicles.
4,000-pound passenger vehicle darts in front of an 80,000-pound
tractor-trailer rig, prompt assessment, reaction, and effective braking systems are critical to prevent a crash.
New braking standards enacted by NHTSA in 2009 mandate a
loaded truck-tractor traveling at 60 mph must come to a complete
stop within 250 feet, rather than the old standard of 355 feet. This is
a 30 percent reduction in truck-tractor stopping distance. The standards are being phased in during a four-year period, with the most
common three-axle truck-tractors meeting the new stopping distance in August 2011 and two-axle and severe duty truck-tractors
meeting the new rule by August 2013. NHTSA estimates the braking requirement will save 227 lives, prevent 300 serious injuries, and
reduce property damage costs by more than $169 million annually.
Assisting Drivers with Collision Safety Systems
Another big area of safety improvement has been in collision safety
systems, which include forward collision warning, lane change assistance, and lane departure warning. These systems assist drivers
by quickly recognizing and responding to potentially dangerous
driving situations, such as sideswipes, rear-end collisions, or following too closely. Reactions range from audible and visual warnings to alert distracted or drowsy drivers to automatic braking to
eliminate or mitigate an impending crash. NHTSA is expected to
announce a decision on whether to mandate collision safety systems for commercial vehicles by late 2013.
While radar-based collision mitigation technology was first
introduced five years ago, continuous innovation has brought
major advancements in improved object tracking performance
and stationary object warning capabilities. By using advanced
radar sensors with improved object resolution and tracking, the
systems are designed to minimize false warnings. One of the
highlights of this cutting-edge technology includes the ability
to perform evasive maneuver checks, giving the system visibility into adjacent lanes. If the system recognizes the potential for
a rear-end collision and detects an object in an adjacent lane, it
“understands” the driver cannot perform an evasive maneuver,
and the system will apply the service brakes sooner. The earlier
the system brakes, the higher the likelihood of avoiding a crash
or reducing the energy of the crash.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association has named “failure
to keep in proper lane,” which is often caused by driver distraction
or fatigue, as the third-most-cited reason for a fatal truck accident,
Lane departure warning systems use a forward-looking, visionbased camera designed to monitor the road ahead and the vehicle’s
position in the lane, detecting and notifying the driver of lane drifts,
weaving, or lane changes that occur without a turn signal.
Reducing Rollovers and Loss-of-Control Events
Another area receiving a great deal of attention is the effort to reduce rollovers and loss of control incidents for Class 8 vehicles. Last
May, NHTSA proposed a new standard to require electronic stabil-
42
0313ohs_041_042_Korn_v4.indd 42
ity control (ESC) systems on truck-tractors and large buses for the
first time ever. Light vehicles preceded heavy-duty vehicles with a
2007 federal mandate that required automakers to install ESC systems on all passenger cars, SUVs, vans, and pickup trucks manufactured on or after Sept. 1, 2011.
NHTSA estimates that during a three-year period, passengercar ESC saved more than 2,200 lives. The agency believes it could
be equally effective in the commercial vehicle segment.
Applying the ESC technology to the heavy-duty fleet could prevent up to 56 percent of rollover crashes each year and another 14
percent of loss-of-control crashes in these vehicles. NHTSA estimates that requiring ESC on the nation’s truck-tractors and large
buses would prevent up to 2,329 crashes, eliminate an estimated
649 to 858 injuries, and prevent between 49 and 60 fatalities a year.
The agency is reviewing the commentary that the industry has
submitted and expects to issue a final rule by the end of 2013; the
regulations likely will be phased in starting in 2015.
Truck manufacturers, fleets, and equipment manufacturers
have been proactively addressing safety improvements, as well.
Technology to reduce rollovers for trailers and tractor-trailers has
been around for more than 10 years with very impressive results.
Stability control systems are integrated right into brake systems
and incorporate additional sensors and sophisticated software
capable of identifying when a truck is in an imminent rollover
or a loss-of-control situation. Then, the technology automatically
takes the appropriate action, which could include reducing engine torque, applying the engine brake, and applying all or individual service brakes.
Stability control was first widely adopted among fire truck and
emergency fleets and has had tremendous success in reducing rollover and loss-of-control incidents in highly demanding driving
environments. Even without a new federal regulation, electronic
stability control systems are becoming more common on commercial vehicles: In 2012, about 50 percent of new truck-tractors and
80 percent of new motor coaches were equipped with such systems.
However, the mandates will certainly speed large-scale adoption.
A Commitment to Safety
For truck drivers, the interstate is their workplace and their community. If you drive the 1,000-mile trip along I-40 from Memphis
to Little Rock to Oklahoma City to Amarillo and over to little San
Jon, New Mexico (which a truck driver would do in two days, 500
miles a day), you will see how trucks provide the lifeblood to all
communities.
From rural areas — where a fifth of this nation’s population still
works and lives — to large cities, keeping this vital economy connected and moving safely is a commitment all of us in the trucking
industry make every day. And it’s a commitment being fulfilled as
industry and government work together to implement integrated
safety system technology.
Alan Korn is director of advanced brake system integration at Meritor WABCO. Meritor WABCO is a North American joint venture
focused on the development and delivery of proven, integrated safety
technology and efficiency components. For more information, visit
meritorwabco.com.
www.ohsonline.com
2/11/13 10:38 AM
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injection-molded construction, the handoperated RT Taps can deliver liquids at
rates from drops to gallons to beakers,
weighing scales, or day tanks from the
original chemical source containers,
using either GoatThroat® Pumps or ondemand electric pumps with 1/2-inch
inlet and outlet tubes.
Mott Corporation’s porous metal components and filters come in a variety
of refractory metal alloys, including
zirconium, titanium, tungsten, molybdenum, and niobium. Known for outstanding chemical resistance, high strength,
and thermal stability, refractory metals
can meet the most demanding operating conditions. With melting points from
2,400ºC to more than 3,400ºC, porous
components in refractory metals can
meet the most demanding filtration or
flow control requirements.
The new SB1000 and SB2000 by CEA
Instruments, Inc. are low-cost, selfcontained portable and wall-mounted
analyzers that utilize single beam
infrared technology for a wide range of
gases, ranges, and applications. Fullscale measurement ranges are typically
available from 0-1 percent up to 0-100
percent volume. One optional internal
electrochemical sensor for oxygen,
hydrogen sulfide, or another toxic gas in
ppm levels can be installed, making any
unit a dual gas analyzer.
CIRCLE 306 ON CARD
CIRCLE 307 ON CARD
CIRCLE 308 ON CARD
ELECTRICAL SOLUTIONS BROCHURE
PRESSURE TRANSMITTER
THIN CUT-OFF WHEEL
Brady’s Electrical Product Solutions
brochure is a four-page guide identifying trends affecting the industry as
well as products and services that help
individuals execute successful electrical identification projects. The brochure
includes information on identifying wires
and cables, electrical hazards, energy
control compliance, and more. Among
the products and services featured are
Brady’s self-laminating labels and heat
shrinkable sleeves, raised panel labels,
lockout devices and procedure writing
services, portable and desktop printers,
and accompanying software.
NK Technologies’ DS1 DC Current
Sensors feature a compact and nonadjustable one-piece design to deliver
reliable detection of very low DC current
levels in a wide range of applications.
This design simplifies installation, even
in crowded control cabinets. DS1 current sensors can be powered by any DC
voltage between 10-28 volts and use
the same circuit as the one being controlled, or a separate source of voltage
can power the sensor as long as the
circuit being controlled uses the same
ground. This further simplifies installation and operation when compared with
other current sensors.
Designed for cutting thin-gauge metal,
Walter Surface Technologies’ ZIP ONE
high performance extra thin cut-off wheel
is a specially reinforced disc bonded with
a unique, proprietary mix of high-performance abrasives that deliver extra-cool
cutting. A new technology enables an
optimal grit distribution throughout the
disc. Until now, good performance cutting
wheels claimed to be 1 mm in thickness
but actually measured closer to the
range of 1.4 to 1.7 mm. According to the
manufacturer, ZIP ONE is the first wheel
on the market with a true 1 mm (1/32”)
thickness that can last much more than
only a few cuts.
CIRCLE 310 ON CARD
CIRCLE 311 ON CARD
CIRCLE 309 ON CARD
44
0313ohs_043_044_NP_v5.indd 44
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Untitled-1 1
CIRCLE 19 ON CARD
2/12/13 9:57 AM
PRACTICAL EXCELLENCE
BY SHAWN GALLOWAY
Stop Trying to
Create a Safety Culture
You already have one, but is it as effective
as it could be?
S
initiatives fail or succeed and why you are able to achieve basic
compliance or are still struggling to create obedience with rules,
policies, and procedures. Your culture is your most effective sustainability mechanism, working hard to maintain status quo and,
if leveraged properly, the most effective tool available to a leader.
afety culture has become the new catch phrase, program
focus, and desire of global executives, verbalized in the
often expressed, “We need a safety culture!” Safety culture
is not new. Stop trying to create it.
How to Begin Cultural Evolution
Safety practices, risk perceptions, and mitigation techniques Ten questions to consider:
have been and always will be a part of human conversation, prob1. What is the necessary focus for evolving or enhancing our
ably more so among those who are more successful
existing safety culture?
in navigating life’s risks and able to pass this knowl2. Aside from perception surveys, what data deedge to their offspring and descendants. Safety is a
termined the necessary cultural focus?
part of every culture. Everyone to some degree has,
3. What percent of the population can recite from
or is influenced by, multiple safety cultures.
memory this desired focus?
Organizational safety goals should not be fo4. What is the current focus within our safety
cused on the creation of safety culture, rather on
culture?
improvement to the existing and ranging cultural
5. How wide is the gap between the desired and
foci that already exist in the many influencing
existing cultural focus?
groups to which your employees are exposed. Rath6. Once alignment is established, how would this
er than questioning, “Do we have a safety culture?”
benefit the cultural beliefs and behaviors?
ask, “Are we managing our safety culture or being
7. What is the individual (not organizational) valCultures are the
managed by it?”
ue-add to the employee to obtain the cultural focus?
According to cultural anthropology and now ultimate sustain8. How will achieving a culture of safety excelcommon knowledge, safety has played an integral
lence benefit the employee off the job?
role in group norms since the beginning of docu- ability mecha9. Who are the individuals at each level that can
mented mankind. As we developed into societies, nism. Programs
help carry the message forward?
what to do and what not do contributed to the lon- and processes
10. How will you measure progress, rather than
gevity of life and was passed from one generation
activities and results?
all work because
to another.
Consider prompting group conversations with
Every organization has a safety culture. More- of, or in spite of,
these 10 questions. Research and experience has
over, every culture has a safety focus. Similar to the
provided extensive validation that beginning culturthe culture.
English joke, “You can’t have your cake and eat it,
al evolution starts with questioning the strategy and
too,” we all want a safety culture of excellence, and
status quo. Leaders at all levels must move from the
we all want it aligned on the most important areas of focus. desire to create a safety culture to the realization that one already
Therein lies the challenge.
exists. Then, focus on how to strengthen the cultural beliefs, deciMisunderstanding the existence of safety cultures contributes sions, behaviors, and stories that influence the individual decito the desire for “wanting one.” Moreover, this often results in the sions carried out when no one is watching — the most important
program of the month, flash-in-the-pan, or management fad. Cul- part of cultural reality, safety or otherwise.
tures are the ultimate sustainability mechanism. Programs and
processes all work because of, or in spite of, the culture.
Shawn M. Galloway is the coauthor of “STEPS to Safety Culture
Cultures are not a program; they are the interconnectedness Excellence” and President of ProAct Safety. As a professional keynote
that explains why efforts work, don’t work, succeed, and fail. Safety speaker and internationally recognized safety excellence expert, he
cultures need to be considered, leveraged, and managed just as im- has helped hundreds of organizations within every major indusportantly as contractors, projects, and key performance indicators. try, achieve and sustain excellence in performance and culture. His
Organizations are either managing the safety element of the culture personal mission is to continuously challenge and evolve the global
or are being managed by it. Stop searching to create a safety culture. thinking around safety excellence. He is also the host of the acclaimed
You already have one, but is it as effective as it could be?
weekly podcast series, Safety Culture Excellence®. He can be reached
Your culture is one of the primary contributing factors to why at 800-395-1347 or [email protected].
46
0313ohs_046_Galloway_v4.indd 46
www.ohsonline.com
2/11/13 10:39 AM
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS
ALL-IN-ONE EYEWEAR AND GOGGLE
The G100™ has joined the GuardDogs Aggressive Eyewear family;
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frame protects from airborne debris,
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ANSI Z87.1-2010, CSA Z94.3-2007,
CE EN166, MIL-PRF-31013
http://enconsafety.com/guard-dogs-g100
Circle 40 on card.
STERILE EYESALINE®
PERSONAL EYEWASH
Whether on the way to a primary eyewash unit, or continued flushing en
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Products/Sperian/Eye_and_Face_
Protection/Eyesaline%c2%ae_Personal_Eyewash_Bottles.aspx?site=/
americas
Circle 43 on card.
www.ohsonline.com
0313ohs_047_ProdSpot_v2.indd 47
FACE PROTECTION FOGGING UP?
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LEAD THEM TO SAFETY
Honeywell can help.
Honeywell Safety Products has the
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Circle 41 on card.
Circle 42 on card.
ADVANCED EYEWEAR
PROTECTIVE EYEWEAR
Uvex Pheos eyewear delivers the
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require. It’s an impressive combination of innovative materials,
advanced optics and proprietary
coatings seamlessly engineered
into one lightweight, attractive style.
Workers can feel good about wearing Uvex Pheos eyewear all day long
— and that helps encourage a safer
workplace.
3M™ Virtua™ CCS Protective
Eyewear with Foam Gasket features
a comfortable seal that helps limit
eye exposure to nuisance dust while
providing additional cushioning. The
anti-fog lens and removable gasket
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The CCS system keeps eyewear and
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Thanks for asking for Virtua!
For more information from Uvex,
visit http://www.uvex.us/pheos/.
Circle 44 on card.
Circle 45 on card.
MARCH 2013 |
47
2/11/13 10:40 AM
SALISBURY BY HONEYWELL’S PREMIUM LIGHTWEIGHT HRC 4 SUIT
IS THE LIGHTEST IN THE INDUSTRY!
OH&S CLASSIFIEDS
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS
Salisbury’s Premium Lightweight
HRC Suit is uniquely designed
to provide users with increased
comfort without compromising their
safety. Offering the same protection
as a standard 40 cal/cm2 arc flash
suit, the Premium Lightweight is a
preferred choice among electrical
workers due to its lighter fabric
weight which enables them to move
easier and keep cooler longer.
Learn more at: www.salisburybyhoneywell.com/arcflash
Circle 51 on card.
Circle 31 on card.
*VTWSPLZ^P[O6:/(YLN\SH[PVUZMVYZHML[`NH[LZ
*DWHFRPHVIXOO\DVVHPEOHGDQGLQVWDOOVLQOHVVWKDQPLQXWHV
PRODUCT LITERATURE
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hours in length are available. Visit
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$YDLODEOHLQQRPLQDOVL]HVFRYHUVRSHQLQJVIURP}WR}
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7LH]L`9VHK*OHZRH45
;VSS-YLL! -H_! ^^ÎS\L^H[LYTMNJVT
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Personnel
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STILL USING¬COMPRESSED¬AIR¬FOR¬CLEANING?
2EENGINEERED
FOR¬EVEN¬BETTER
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-EETS¬/3(!¬GUIDELINES
Specialized Safety Products
Sp
S
48
0313ohs_048_Classified_v2.indd 48
SALES SPECIALIZEDSAFETYPRODUCTSCOM
#ALL¬US¬AT¬
WWWSPECIALIZEDSAFETYPRODUCTSCOM
Manufactured & assembled in USA
Circle 34 on card.
2/11/13 10:42 AM
ADVERTISER INDEX
FREE PRODUCT INFO
Quick, Easy and Direct...get the info you need NOW!
Go online to ohsonline.com/productinfo to request free information
from advertisers in this issue. Search by category or by company.
CIRCLE #
ADVERTISER
PAGE #
3
Banom
www.banom.com
29
18 Blackline GPS
www.blacklinesafety.com
CIRCLE #
ADVERTISER
PAGE #
10 Summit Training Source
www.safetyontheweb.com
20
35
16 3M
www.3m.com/
11
1
CBS ArcSafe
www.cbsarcsafe.com
13
8
UL Workplace Health and Safety
www.ulworkplace.com
2
Columbia Southern
www.ColumbiaSouthern.edu/OSHMag
14
18 CPM East
www.CPM-East.com
29 Draeger
www.draeger.com
4
Encon Safety Products
www.enconsafety.com
CIRCLE #
COMPANY
PAGE #
Product Literature
36 Scaffold Training Institute
www.scaffoldtraining.com
48
New Products
309 Brady Worldwide
44
5
17
308 CEA Instruments, Inc.
44
12 Wiley X Eyewear
www.wileyx.com
11 Workrite Uniform
www.workrite.com
7
306 GoatThroat Pumps
44
35
13 ZipWall, LLC
www.zipwall.com/infex.html
40
302 Honeywell
43
25
305 LBA Group Inc.
43
8
Product Spotlights
307 Mott Corporation
44
23
40 Encon Safety Products
http://enconsafety.com/guard-dogs-g100
47
14 Ergodyne
www.ergodyne.com
303 Newcastle Systems
43
31
42 Honeywell Safety Products
www.honeywellsafety.com
47
23 ESC Services
www.escservices.com
310 NK Technologies
44
21
www.honeywellsafety.com
47
15 Fibre-Metal by Honeywell
http://fibre-metal.com/
301 Serco
43
22
41 Nanofilm
47
17 Glove Guard
www.gloveguard.com
304 Thermo Fisher Scientific
43
19
45 3M
www.3m.com
47
22 Haws Corp.
www.hawsco.com
300 Videx, Inc.
43
33
51 Salisbury by Honeywell
www.salisburybyhoneywell.com/arcflash
48
5
Honeywell Safety Products
www.honeywellsafety.com/culture
311 Walter Surface Technologies
44
52
44 Uvex® by Honeywell
www.uvex.us/pheos/
47
www.honeywellsafety.com/respiratory
6
J.J. Keller & Associates Inc.
www.jjkeller.com/PPE
18
7
MCR Safety
www.mcrsafety.com
2
20 Moldex-Metric, Inc.
www.moldex.com
9
PRESIDENT & GROUP PUBLISHER | Kevin O’Grady
972-687-6731 [email protected]
16 Nanofilm
30
19 OH&S Supercast
www.ohsonline.com
45
PUBLISHER | Karen Cavallo
50 Rigid Lifelines
www.rigidlifelines.com/
27
■ WEST DISTRICT SALES MANAGER
SALES MANAGER | Barbara Blake
3
■ EAST DISTRICT SALES MANAGER
SALES MANAGER | Jenna Conwell
21 Salisbury by Honeywell
www.SalisburybyHoneywell.com
9
STOKO Skin Care
www.stokoskincare.com/
www.ohsonline.com
0313ohs_049_AdIndex_v4.indd 49
51
MARCH 2013 |
49
2/11/13 1:16 PM
BREAKTHROUGH STRATEGIES
B Y RO B E R T PAT E R
Nine ‘Secret’ Keys to Unlock
Breakthrough Results
H
ow do you attain breakthrough results in safety — espe- foundation strengthened with the rebar of actions and avoided the
cially with pervasive problems such as strains/sprains, temptation of trying to leap directly to “zero injuries,” which often
slips/trips/falls, and hand injuries? This is especially im- can result in hiding, not fixing, problems. They know that without
portant when these have strong “personal” (off-work) or a strong base, trailing indicator improvements won’t be sustained.
environmental contributors that are difficult to control, and where
5. Focus both at home and at work. These companies show speit seems that merely eking out incremental safety improvements is cific methods and techniques can make a beneficial impact on offfrustratingly OH-so-slow and difficult.
work applications of personal interest — hobbies, sports, common
But it does happen. In fact, companies we’ve worked with at-home tasks, those involving children and older relatives, etc.
have reported results that are eye-opening: An international auto
6. Enlist leaders on all levels so that Executives, Managers, and
manufacturer saw an “80 percent reduction in soft-tissue injuries/ Front-line Supervisors are less likely to undercut applications of
worker’s comp claims,” a major airline with “53 percent decrease new actions. Maximally — as frequently occurs — they initially
in strains/sprains,” a large oil company had “42 percent fewer slips, drive and then continue to support desired changes in actions.
trips and falls,” an energy producer saw “60 percent fewer claims,
Because everyone can be susceptible to soft-tissue/strains/
66 percent less costs” — and much more. Of course,
sprains and slips/trips/falls, the methods that address
each of these organizations is different, with its own
these are appropriate for all in the company, title or
exposures and dedicated culture. But here’s the crititasks notwithstanding. High-performing organizacal question: Is there anything they do in common to
tions have found that addressing these universal inget such great results? No surprise, the answer is YES:
juries provides a common ground of safety practices
1. Focus individually and internally. They underthat works for all, thereby unifying safety culture.
stand that everyone is the director of their own safe7. Develop peer-to-peer processes for transmitty, and the objective is to elevate each person’s safety
ting and setting new skills and methods. So rather
leadership. So these winning companies strategized
than “experts” being the only source for disseminatand implemented approaches that help people being new information, methods or skills, these come
come more in control of their own actions and safety.
as much from another worker doing similar work.
2. Get the attention of everyone, from top manag- By listening to
These “safety catalysts” then informally coach and reers to line supervisors to workers. They accomplish workers’ personal
inforce their peers to make it more likely new mental
this by surprising and amazing people with what’s
and physical approaches take.
possible for them; they show others how they can safety concerns,
8. Make it easy to change. Rather than expecting
achieve significant personal improvements with wise companies
one-fell-swoop massive change in actions, successful
relatively little extra effort. Emphasis is on individual
organizations adopt a “Small Changes Make Large
have found workresults, rather than solely on “doing what’s good for
Differences” approach.
ers will, in turn,
the company.”
9. Develop self-reinforcing systems & surround
3. Harness energetics. To get as many people as be more likely to
reminders. People learn and change actions by reppossible involved in considering and trying out new
— but successful companies understand that,
listen to and adopt etition
methods, these highly successful organizations introactually to be practiced, repetition has to have some
duce these as enjoyable. They move away from “same process safety and variation to maintain attention and interest. Sports
old” messages and ways of delivering them (“Do this other procedures.
instructors know they have to somewhat vary their
so you don’t get hurt or in trouble or written up,”
drills. Similarly, high-results companies find creative
etc.) and they harness the power of individual discovery, thereby and changing mechanisms for reviewing and reinforcing new
encouraging all to try out new methods for themselves and make mental and physical skillsets.
their own decisions. They find that one personal “Aha!” moment is
High-results companies aren’t satisfied with one-cycle imworth millions of “You-shoulds” or “You-have-tos.”
provements; they look for ways that elevate their organizational
4. Emphasize improvements in practical skills. They focused on culture. Truly engaging workers from the ground up can lead to
transferring tangible skills rather than expecting only “awareness” lasting communication and performance improvements. There’s an
or memorizing to automatically lead people to adhere to minute old martial arts expression that “the best secrets keep themselves.”
policies and procedures. They focus on actions anchored in work- Talking and philosophizing is not enough. Breakthrough improveers’ actual daily tasks, not bemoaning or looking to scapegoat oth- ments come only from taking actions that emanate from a consisers for disappointing trailing indicators.
tent base. So if these nine keys make sense to you, consider which
They enlist the three levels of building change: First, people you are already doing, which ones not, and why. If many other
become more receptive and interested in improving the quality of companies can achieve breakthrough results, can’t you, too?
their safety actions. Second, they engage in these actions. Finally,
they measure a range of statistical results — verifiable improve- Robert Pater ([email protected]) is Managing Director, SSA/
ments. Like erecting a building, they first laid a strong receptivity MoveSMART®, www.movesmart.com.
50
0313ohs_050_pater_v4.indd 50
www.ohsonline.com
2/11/13 10:43 AM
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CIRCLE 9 ON CARD
Untitled-2 1
1/14/13 4:03 PM
Decades of evolution.
Our NEW! lower profile cartridges, filters and combinations
are the perfect addition to our line of pure-air respirators.
The sleek new design enhances features such as an expanded
field of vision, easier fit testing and a secure threaded connection.
Workers all over the world trust the North 7600 Series full
facepiece and 7700 Series half mask to keep them comfortable
and safe. Our masks are soft, durable and made from nonallergenic silicone material which provides excellent protection,
unmatched comfort and superior fit with no pressure points.
Constantly evolving in our pursuit of providing workers with
the protection and comfort they’ve depended on for the last
five decades.
Then
Now
Visit our website at:
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respiratory or call Honeywell
Safety Products at 800-430-4110
for more information.
CIRCLE 52 ON CARD
Untitled-4 1
12/7/12 11:29 AM

March 2013

Transcription

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