April 2009 - American Society of Safety Engineers

Transcription

Professional
A PRIL 2009
Safety
JOURNAL OF THE
AMERICAN SOCIETY
OF SAFETY ENGINEERS
Culture
Change
One Utility’s
Transformation
■ Business
of Safety
How Financial
Executives
View SH&E
■ Research
to Practice
Improving
Scissor Lift
Stability
P
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Professional
Safety
JOURNAL OF THE
AMERICAN SOCIETY
OF SAFETY ENGINEERS
April 2009
contents
PS Online at www.professionalsafety.org
Volume 54, Number 4
Professional Safety is a blind peerreviewed journal published monthly
by the American Society of Safety
Engineers, the oldest and largest safety
society. Professional Safety keeps the
professional occupational SH&E specialist informed on developments in the
research and technology of accident
prevention, industry best practices and
safety management techniques.
features
28
Safety Management
Transforming Safety Culture:
Grassroots-Led/Management-Supported
Change at a Major Utility
By Steven I. Simon and Peter A. Cistaro
This article presents a case study that captures the 9-year culture change
journey started at a major New Jersey utility in 1999. Keys to the success
of an authentic, sustainable culture change include engaging and empowering union employees in the process; customizing interventions;
and implementing those interventions in two phases—first village by village, then utility-wide.
36
Business of Safety
Financial Decision Makers’ Views on Safety:
What SH&E Professionals Should Know
By Yueng-Hsiang Huang, Tom B. Leamon, Theodore K.
Courtney, Sarah DeArmond, Peter Y. Chen and Michael F. Blair
Often, SH&E professionals must try to convince decision makers to support
safety programs without knowing much about the thought processes
behind their decisions. This article highlights some results of a survey that
explored how 231 senior financial executives or managers for U.S.-based
companies with 100 or more employees perceive workplace safety issues.
43
Equipment Design
Scissor Lift Safety: An Initiative
to Model Static Stability
By Mahmood Ronaghi, John Z. Wu, Christopher S. Pan,
James R. Harris, Daniel Welcome, Sharon S. Chiou,
Brad Boehler and Ren G. Dong
Scissor lift tipover during stationary operation is a common incident. This
article discusses a study in which a simulation model calculates the center
of gravity and the safe operational margins due to applied horizontal forces
to the scissor lift under static conditions. The results indicate that even if all
ANSI regulations covering scissor lift operations are strictly followed, the
lift can still tip over if the horizontal forces exerted by a worker on the lift
exceed the manufacturer safety limits as specified in ANSI standards.
28
SUBSCRIPTION PRICES
Professional Safety (ISSN 0099 0027) is published
monthly by the American Society of Safety Engineers,
1800 E. Oakton St., Des Plaines, IL 60018-2187 USA;
phone +1 (847) 699-2929; fax +1 (847) 296-3769; profes
[email protected]; [email protected]; ASSE
website: www.asse.org.
U.S., Canada and Mexico—$60.00 per year; $5.50 per
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bank. Public and educational institution libraries—$60.00
per year; $96.00, 2 years; $126.00, 3 years. Add $60.00 per
year for airmail.
The basic association subscription price for Professional
Safety is $17.50.
Periodicals postage paid at Des Plaines, IL, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to Change of Address Dept., Professional Safety, 1800
E. Oakton St., Des Plaines, IL 60018-2187 USA. Requests for
back issues should be made within three months of publication.
Judgments made or opinions expressed in Professional
Safety feature articles, news sections, letters to the editor,
meeting reports or related journal content do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor, nor should they be
considered an expression of official policy by ASSE. They
are published for the purpose of stimulating independent thought on matters of concern to the safety profession and its practitioners.
Correspondence should be addressed to the Editor.
No responsibility will be assumed for manuscripts not
accompanied by self-addressed envelope and return
postage. Editor reserves the right to edit manuscripts and
other submissions in order to improve clarity and style.
Professional Safety copyright ©2009 by the American
Society of Safety Engineers. All rights reserved. Permis sion to reproduce articles must be obtained from the
Editor. Single-copy and academic reprint permission is
also available through the Copyright Clearance Center
[+1 (978) 750-8400]. No copyright is claimed in any works
of the U.S. government that may be published herein.
Cover: Photo highlights this issue’s lead feature, “Transforming Safety Culture: Grassroots-Led/ManagementSupported Change at a Major Utility,” which presents a
case study that captures the 9-year culture change journey started at a major New Jersey utility in 1999. Photo
by McCaig/iStockphoto.
P RINTE D IN THE USA
2
PROFESSIONAL SAFETY APRIL 2009 www.asse.org
Thank You!
Remember 1984 when…
Ronald Reagan was president…
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Safety trainers had to keep a spare bulb for the slide projector…
CLMI developed the very first Hazard Communication
training program.
As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we want to thank you,
our valued customers and safety professionals everywhere,
for your support over the years.
Dedicated to the principles of quality and trust,
we look forward to working with you in the future.
With appreciation,
CLMI was there for you
Then...
&
Now
Richard A. Pollock, CSP
Founder and President
CLMI is here for you
Celebrating 25 years of
dedication to safety
A true pioneer in the development
of innovative safety training and
management systems with more than
400 programs. CLMI was there for you
in 1984 and is here for you now!
INTRODUCING the 25th Anniversary Edition!*
Hazard Communication: Your Key to Chemical Safety
Now, 25 years later, CLMI is leading again with HazCom training that includes
an introduction to the Global Harmonization System for labeling
*CLMI will donate $25 to the ASSE Foundation for each new HazCom program purchased thru May 31st !
Preview our new 25th Anniversary HazCom program or any of the vast library of leading safety programs, streamed online at:
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email: [email protected]
©2009 CLMI
Professional
Safety
JOURNAL OF THE
AMERICAN SOCIETY
OF SAFETY ENGINEERS
Sue Trebswether Editor
(847) 768-3433; [email protected]
Tina Angley Associate Editor
Cathy Wegener Assistant Editor
contents
continued
Publication
Design Inc. Design Consultants
EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD
departments
6
8
EDITORIAL STAFF
Frank G. D’Orsi, CSP, ARM, Chair
Daniel H. Anna, PH.D., CSP
Peter D. Bowen, CSP, ERM, ARM, CPEA-S&H
Salvatore Caccavale, CHMM, CPEA
Jeffery C. Camplin, CSP, CPEA
Theodore K. Courtney, M.S., CSP
Steve Minshall, CSP, CIH
In the Loop
President’s
Message
Listening effectively
SOCIETY OFFICERS
10
Warren K. Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHM
Dates &
Places
President
C. Christopher Patton, CSP
10
14
18
20
25
50
52
54
58
60
64
68
72
4
President-Elect
Darryl C. Hill, CSP
Industry Notes
Senior Vice President
James D. Smith, M.S., CSP
V.P. Finance
Rules & Regs
Richard A. Pollock, CSP
V.P. Professional Development
Safety 2009 Preview
Professional Affairs
Fred J. Fortman
Executive Director
18
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REPRESENTATIVES
Fox Associates—Atlanta
Government Affairs
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Fox Associates—Chicago
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Standards Developments
Fox Associates—Detroit
phone (248) 626-0511 • fax (248) 626-0512
Fox Associates—Los Angeles
Best Practices
phone (213) 228-1250 • fax (213) 627-7469
Gaining 360° visibility with technology
25
Best Practices
[email protected]
ARTICLE REPRODUCTIONS
Authorization to photocopy items for internal, personal
or educational use is granted by ASSE, provided the
appropriate fee is paid directly to the Copyright
Clearance Center (CCC), 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers,
MA 01923 USA; phone +1 (978) 750-8400; www.copy
right.com/UseAccount/IconJr/prodchoice.html.
(Reference Code No. 0099-0027.)
Best Practices
Using the OSHA.gov inspection database
Product Pulse
Professional Safety is available free online to ASSE
members at www.professionalsafety.org. Articles are
also available via microform and/or electronic databases from ProQuest, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI
48106-1346 USA; phone +1 (800) 521-0600. For specific
format details, visit www.proquest.com.
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64
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In the
Loop
Brush Wellman Guide on
Beryllium Safety Now Online
B
The interactive
guide is based on
Brush Wellman’s
beryllium worker
protection model
and provides
a roadmap for
controlling workplace exposures.
rush Wellman’s Interactive Guide to Working
Safely with Beryllium and Beryllium-Containing
Materials is now available at www.berylliumsafety
.com. The guide was introduced in January 2008 but
until now was only available
on CD. The guide is based on
the company’s beryllium
worker protection model
(WPM), which was developed
as the result of extensive
research and decades of real
occupational experiences.
According to the company, the
WPM provides a roadmap to
control workplace beryllium
exposure in other workplaces.
The guide features digital
video, tabbed navigation tools,
text references, hyperlinks and
printable information to present the latest information on safe handling of beryllium. Based on user
selections from dozens of work roles, material
types and operational variables, the guide can generate a customized, printable action plan for
addressing the handling of beryllium and beryllium-containing materials.
The guide has garnered significant attention. In
July 2008, Brush Wellman and NIOSH were recognized for highly collaborative work on a rapid
research-to-practice approach to protecting beryllium
workers. They were jointly awarded the National
Occupational Research Agenda 2008 Partnering
Award for Worker Health and Safety. The guide has
won several other national and regional awards for
its engaging approach to promoting safety precautions to customers, vendors and employees.
NAOSH Week Is May 3-9
ASSE has
many
tools and
resources
that
members
can use to
promote
NAOSH
Week.
6
S
afety Means Always Coming Home. That’s the
theme for North American Occupational Safety
and Health (NAOSH) Week
2009. Activities are underway—the Safety-on-the-Job
kids’ poster contest winners
have been announced and the
NAOSH Week 2009 poster is
available. Now is the time to
start planning for events, says
ASSE President Warren K.
Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHM.
“Consider partnering with a NAOSH alliance partner to hold an activity or distribute information on
workplace safety and health,” he says. “It’s a great
way to promote the importance of workplace safety.”
ASSE has many tools and resources to help
members promote NAOSH Week—all available at
www.asse.org/newsroom/naosh09/tools.php.
The international observance will kick off
Monday, May 4, in Washington, DC, at the U.S.
Department of Labor headquarters. An awards ceremony for the winners of the kids’ poster contest
will follow at the U.S. Capitol. In addition, ASSE’s
Region III will host a brunch at the National Zoo on
Sunday, May 3. OSHA will also host a workplace
safety panel discussion Monday, May 4, and a program for NAOSH Week participants in the afternoon. All ASSE members are invited to attend.
Contact ASSE’s Diane Hurns at [email protected] or
Joanna Climer at [email protected] by April 15 to
be added to the security list.
Circadian White Paper Examines
Shiftwork Lifestyle Training
A
recent survey by Circadian found that most
shiftwork employers surveyed offer
no form of lifestyle training for their
shiftworkers. Of those that do, only
1 in 20 involves the families of the
shiftworker in any of that training.
As a result, few people adjust their
lifestyle to minimize the negative
effects of working around the
clock—and their job performance,
safety, health and family life suffer.
To help shiftwork employers
and employees understand how to
better manage the shiftwork lifestyle,
Circadian has published a white paper,
“Shiftwork Lifestyle Training: Employee and
Employer Benefits.” The document discusses the
results of a joint training study the firm performed
with a major surface mining company. To download the document, visit www.circadian.com/
pages/157_white_papers.cfm.
ASSE Practice Specialty
Publications Go Digital
A
SSE’s practice specialties provide many opportunities for members to network, volunteer and
share their expertise with fellow professionals. In
addition, each of the 14 groups publishes a technical
publication three times per year. As of January,
those publications are now delivered in a
full-color digital format that incorporates
video, audio and other links to provide a
more interactive reading experience.
Readers can zoom in and out of pages,
navigate quickly throughout the publication, click-navigate through an active
table of contents, instantly send an e-mail
to authors and download the entire publication as a PDF.
“It’s an exciting transition,” says George W. Pearson, CSP, ARM, Vice President of ASSE’s Council
on Practices and Standards. “We are using some of
the latest technology to deliver high-quality content
to our members in a more efficient and timely manner.” Be sure to check out the first issue of FireLine,
published by the Fire Protection Practice Specialty
at http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/900dc
03c#/900dc03c/1.
Glove Guard
Mfr. of simple tools with unique designs
LP
President’s
Message
Truly effective communication involves more than just
expressing yourself clearly. It also requires effective listening.
Both will make you a better communicator and a stronger leader.
Listen Up
ee Froschheiser, president and CEO of Map Consulting, has been helping managers
become successful leaders for nearly 30 years. When asked about the keys to success
in business, Froschheiser and his colleagues point to six basic functions: leading,
communicating, planning, organizing, staffing and controlling. But, they say, one golden
thread ties all of those together: clear communication. “Ask yourself a simple question,”
Froschheiser says. “How do the best leaders motivate and inspire their people? Through
clear communication. How do the best organizations promote discipline, accountability
and strategic alignment? Through clear communication. And how do market leaders sell
their products and services? With clear, compelling ads and marketing campaigns. In
sum, by clear communication.” As SH&E professionals, we can all benefit by focusing on
communicating more clearly and concisely with our stakeholders.
But truly effective communication involves more than just expressing yourself clearly. It
also requires effective listening. As Steven Covey explains in The Seven Habits of Highly
Successful People, the function of speaking is to be understood, but the function of listening
is to understand. Yet, listening is an often-overlooked element of the communication
equation, perhaps because it takes significant effort and skill to do it correctly.
The good news is that you can, through a combination of experience and training,
improve your listening skills. Many resources are available to those interested in improving their listening skills. I typed in effective listening on Google and received nearly 8.6 million results. I’d like to share a few suggestions from various resources that I have found
most helpful in improving my own listening skills. In Harvard Business Review on Effective
Communications, Ralph Nichols and Leonard Stevens suggest that you develop a keen
awareness of factors that affect your listening ability, then find ways to take advantage of
those factors. They suggest four processes that improve reception of what you are hearing:
1) Think about where the speaker is going.
2) Consider whether the supporting evidence supports the words.
3) Keep summarizing the points being made.
4) Listen between the lines and be aware of nonverbal communication. Is it supporting
the perception of the verbal communication?
Nichols and Stevens caution against jumping to premature conclusions and suggest
waiting until the speaker has finished before rendering a final understanding of the message. They also recommend looking for negative evidence that will balance the positive
evidence which might be overriding your thought process.
In Listening: The Forgotten Skill, Madelyn Burley-Allen discusses three levels of listening:
•Level 1: empathetic listening—seeing the message from the speaker’s point of view.
•Level 2: hearing words but not concentrating on the meaning of what is being said.
•Level 3: listening in spurts and not being engaged with the speaker at an understanding level.
The goal is to gravitate to Level 1 so that you best understand what is being said.
We spend a good deal of our communication time listening—perhaps up to 40%, says
Burley-Allen—yet, on average, people are only about 25% efficient as listeners. She
explains that this is because we often assume that listening and hearing are the same—
and as a result, we make little effort to learn—or improve—listening skills.
Take the time to evaluate your listening skills, then take action to improve the weaknesses you find. It will make you a better communicator and a stronger leader—and,
therefore, a more effective SH&E professional.
L
“When people talk,
listen completely.
Most people
never listen.”
—Ernest
Hemingway
Warren K. Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHM
8
Tell Us Your Story
Now you know our story.
It’s time to tell us your story.
Please share your:
• Best SH&E practices
• Reasons you
became an
ASSE member
• Milestone events
from the past
100 years
effecting safety
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) will
celebrate its 100th Anniversary in 2011. Founded in 1911 the
Society was formed in the wake of tragic events such as the
March 1911, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York
City where 146 young girls and women lost their lives in
a workplace tragedy that drew the attention to the need for
workplace safeguards and regulations.
“Your Safety is Our Business. Your Future is Our Mission”
is ASSE’s theme for its 100th year.
Visit www.asse.org/100
and input your story and
continue to visit our
website for updated
information.
American Society of Safety Engineers
1800 East Oakton Street
Des Plaines, IL 60018
+01.847.699.2929
www.asse.org
As our 100th anniversary nears we look forward to
commemorating years of dedicated service to workplace
safety and health by:
•
Celebrating the accomplishments and professionalism
of our members
•
•
Fostering the recognition of the SH&E profession
Launching our vision for the future of the safety
profession
The Society plans to conduct a variety of events
throughout 2011 including the cornerstone event
SAFETY 2011 to be held in June in Chicago.
Places
“Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
April 14
■ THE SAFETY PROFESSIONALS HANDBOOK WEBINAR
SERIES: SAFETY & HEALTH TRAINING—REGULATORY
ISSUES. Contact ASSE Customer Service Department; (847) 699-2929; [email protected];
www.asse.org.
Featured
Event
April 19-23
RIMS 2009 CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION in Orlando,
FL. Contact Risk and Insurance Management Society;
(212) 286-9292; www.rims
.org/rims2009.
April 20-21
BOOM-TRUCK OPERATOR
TRAINING course in Birmingham, AL. Contact Crane Tech;
(800) 290-0007; www.crane
tech.com.
ORLANDO, FL
April 19-23
RIMS 2009
CONFERENCE &
EXHIBITION
Strengthen your
risk program and
challenge your
own risk IQ while
learning the latest
innovations and
solutions during
this conference.
Attendees may
choose from more
than 120 educational sessions and
hundreds of
exhibitors who will
provide the latest
products and solutions.
Send event
announcements to
professionalsafety
@asse.org.
April 20-21
■ FRAME, TUBE & COUPLER &
SYSTEM workshop in Houston,
TX. Contact Scaffold Training
Institute; (281) 332-1613; www
.scaffoldtraning.com.
April 20-22
HEALTH & SAFETY CANADA 2009 in Toronto,
Ontario. Contact Industrial Accident Prevention
Association; www.iapa.ca/conference.
April 20-24
■ BEST-IN-CLASS SAFETY MANAGEMENT virtual symposium. Contact ASSE Customer Service Department; (847) 699-2929; [email protected];
www.asse.org.
April 20-24
CERTIFIED OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY SPECIALIST course
in San Diego, CA. Contact Pacific Safety Council;
(888) 846-4200; [email protected];
www.safetycouncilonline.com.
April 20-24
COMPREHENSIVE INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE REVIEW
course in Vancouver, British Columbia. Contact
Northwest Center for Occupational Health and
Safety; (800) 326-7568; [email protected];
http://nwcenter.washington.edu.
April 20-25
CSP & ASP EXAM PREPARATION workshops in
Cleveland, OH. Contact Paul Longville, ASSE
Northern Ohio Chapter; (440) 526-9301; paul
@steininc.com.
April 21
DOT COMPLIANCE TRAINING course in Cleveland,
OH. Contact Transportation Management Group
Inc.; (866) 572-8644; www.tmgihazmat.com.
10
April 21-22
APPLIED INDUSTRIAL ERGONOMICS seminar in
Newport Beach, CA. Contact Humantech; (734)
663-6707; [email protected]; www.humantech
.com/seminars.
April 21-22
ROOT-CAUSE ANALYSIS FOR PRACTITIONERS course in
St. Louis, MO. Contact Apollo RCA; (281) 218-6400;
www.apollorca.com.
April 21-22
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DRILLING CONTRACTORS DRILLING HSE MIDDLE EAST CONFERENCE
& EXPOSITION in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Contact International Association of Drilling Contractors; +31 24 675 2252; [email protected]; www
.iadc.org/conferences/Middle_East_HSE.htm.
April 21-23
SAFETY MEXICO EXPO 2009 in Mexico City, Mexico.
Contact Giprex; www.safetymexico.com/e/index_e
.htm.
April 21-24
MODERN SAFETY MANAGEMENT course in Houston,
TX. Contact DNV Training; (800) 486-4524; sheq
[email protected]; www.dnvtraining.com.
April 21-24
ELECTRICAL STANDARDS course in Atlanta, GA. Contact Georgia Tech OSHA Training Institute Education Center; (800) 653-3629; www.pe.gatech.edu.
April 22
ARC FLASH SEMINAR FOR DECISION MAKERS in
Boston. Contact Lewellyn Technologies; (800) 2426673; www.lewellyn.com.
April 22-24
CAOHC TRAINING course in Palatine, IL. Contact
Acoustic Associates; (847) 359-1068; seminars
@acousticassociates.com; www.acousticassociates
.com.
April 23-24
HAZARDOUS/TOXIC WASTE MANAGEMENT course in
Chicago. Contact Lion Technology Inc.; (973) 3830800; [email protected]; www.lion.com.
April 23-24
LEADING WITH SAFETY seminar in The Netherlands.
Contact BST; (800) 548-5781; bstusc@bstsolutions
.com; www.bstsolutions.com.
April 24
ADVANCED HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT
workshop in Memphis, TN. Contact Environmental
Resource Center; (919) 342-0807; www.ercweb.com.
■ Current month advertiser
PHOTO COURTESY ORLANDO CVB
Dates &
April 24
ASSE EAST TENNESSEE CHAPTER PDC in
Knoxville, TN. Contact ASSE East Tennessee Chapter; (865) 250-7391; http://
easttn.asse.org.
April 26
HAZWOPER REFRESHER course in Shafter,
CA. Contact Westec Inc.; (866) 493-7832
or (661) 763-5161; www.westec.org.
April 26-29
AMERICAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH CONFERENCE 2009 in San Diego, CA. Contact
American College of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine; (847) 818-1800,
ext. 374; www.acoem.org.
April 28 - May 1
May 4
NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE in Kansas
ESSENTIALS OF SAFETY TRAINING PART I
City, MO. Contact AVO Training Institute; course in East Elmhurst, NY. Contact
American Safety Training Inc.; (800) 896(877) 594-3156; www.avotraining.com.
8867; www.trainosha.com.
April 29 - 30
MANAGING VALUE-STREAM IMPROVEMay 4-6
MENT PROJECTS course in Cambridge,
SIX SIGMA GREEN BELT FOR PROCESS
MA. Contact Lean Enterprise Institute;
IMPROVEMENT seminar in Atlanta, GA.
(617) 871-2900; www.lean.org.
Contact Institute of Industrial Engineers;
(800) 494-0460; [email protected]; www
April 30 - May 1
.iienet.org.
HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT course
in Cincinnati, OH. Contact Lion TechnolDates & Places continued on page 12
ogy Inc.; (973) 383-0800; www.lion.com.
April 27-28
TRENCH RESCUE TECHNICIAN course in
Baton Rouge, LA. Contact Roco Rescue;
(800) 647-7626; www.rocorescue.com.
April 27-28
ASTM INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE E34
ON OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY
meeting in Washington, DC. Contact
ASTM International; (610) 832-9500;
www.astm.org/COMMIT/E34.htm.
April 27-28
MANAGING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE workshop in Scottsdale, AZ. Contact Homeland Defense Journal; (703) 412-9287, ext.
222; www.homelanddefensejournal.net.
April 27-29
OCCUPATIONAL HEARING CONSERVATION
workshop in Minneapolis, MN. Contact
Midwest Center for Occupational Health
and Safety; (800) 493-4515 or (612) 6264515; http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu.
April 27-30
ESSENTIALS OF SAFETY TRAINING PARTS
1-4 seminars in Houston, TX. Contact
American Safety Training; (800) 8968867; www.trainosha.com.
April 27-30
ERGONOMIC EVALUATION CERTIFICATION
PROGRAM in Keene, NH. Contact The
Matheson Discussion Group; (800) 4437690; www.roymatheson.com.
April 27-30
OCCUPATIONAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RADIATION PROTECTION: PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES OF RADIATION SAFETY course in
Boston. Contact Harvard School of
Public Health; (617) 384-8692; www.hsph
.harvard.edu/ccpe.
April 28-29
CONFINED SPACE METERING course in
Oakdale, PA. Contact Industrial Scientific Corp.; (800) 338-3287; training@ind
sci.com; www.indsci.com.
www.asse.org APRIL 2009 PROFESSIONAL SAFETY
11
NorthWest Arkansas
Community College
Online Degrees and Certificates in
Environmental & Regulatory Science
AAS degree in:
Safety, Health & Hazardous Materials Management
Certificate of Proficiency in Safety &
Health
Technical Certificate in Environmental &
Regulatory Science
Open Registration: April 20 - August 25
OSHA outreach training courses also available
For information, contact:
www.nwacc.edu/academics/environmentregnew
[email protected]
1-800-996-6299, ext. 5178
[email protected]
1-800-996-6299, ext. 4226
One College Drive t Bentonville, AR 72719
Dates &
Placescontinued
from page 11
12
May 11-16
■ ASP & CSP EXAM PREPARATION workshops in Dallas, TX. Contact SPAN
Intenational Training; (888) 589-6757;
www.spantraining.com.
May 4-7
CERTIFIED HAZARDOUS MATERIALS MANAGER REVIEW course in Chapel Hill, NC.
Contact North Carolina Occupational
Safety and Health Education and
May 12-15
Research Center; (888) 235-3320; osh
[email protected]; http://osherc.sph.unc.edu. ■ MATH REVIEW, ASP & CSP EXAM
PREPARATION workshops in Kansas City,
MO. Contact ASSE Customer Service
May 4-8
Department; (847) 699-2929; customer
OSHA SAFETY TRAINING: THE 30-HOUR
[email protected];
www.asse.org.
COMPLIANCE course in New York. Contact National Seminars Group; (800) 2587246 or (913) 432-7755; www.national
May 13-14
seminarstraining.com.
TAPROOT INCIDENT INVESTIGATION &
ROOT-CAUSE ANALYSIS course in PortMay 5-6
land, OR. Contact System Improvements
LEADING WITH SAFETY seminar in
Inc.; (865) 539-2139; [email protected];
Chicago. Contact BST; (800) 548-5781;
www.taproot.com.
[email protected]; www
.bstsolutions.com.
May 17
CONFINED SPACE ENTRY TRAINING workMay 6
shop in Shafter, CA. Contact Westec Inc.;
ADVANCED HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGE- (866) 493-7832; www.westec.org.
MENT course in Atlanta, GA. Contact
Environmental Resource Center; (800)
May 18
537-2372; www.ercweb.com.
ASSE THREE RIVERS CHAPTER GOLF
SCRAMBLE in Homer Glen, IL. Contact
May 6-8
Bill Linneweh; (630) 910-2961; wlinne
■ MANAGING THE BUSINESS ASPECTS OF
[email protected]; http://three
SAFETY workshop in Providence, RI.
rivers.asse.org.
Contact ASSE Customer Service Department; (847) 699-2929; customerservice
May 18-19
@asse.org; www.asse.org.
ARC FLASH PROTECTION & ELECTRICAL
SAFETY workshop in Anchorage, AK.
May 7
Contact American Trainco; (877) 978ASSE WEST FLORIDA CHAPTER PDC:
BUILDING SOLID EH&S SKILLS in Tampa, 7246; www.americantrainco.com.
FL. Contact ASSE West Florida Chapter;
http://westfl.asse.org.
May 11-15
SYSTEM SAFETY ENGINEERING course in
Huntsville, AL. Contact A-P-T Research
Inc.; (256) 327-3399; training@apt-research
.com; www.apt-research.com.
May 11-12
APPLIED RIGGING PRACTICES seminar in
Salt Lake City, UT. Contact Crane Tech;
www.crantech.com.
May 18-20
EFFECTIVE RISK COMMUNICATION: THEORY, TOOLS & PRACTICAL SKILLS FOR
COMMUNICATING ABOUT RISK workshop
in Boston. Contact Harvard School of
Public Health; (617) 384-8692; www.hsph
.harvard.edu/ccpe.
May 11-13
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS & REGULATIONS course in Phoenix, AZ. Contact
ABS Consulting; (281) 673-2800; www
.absconsulting.com.
May 18-20
■ FRAME, TUBE & COUPLER & SYSTEM
workshop in Houston, TX. Contact
Scaffold Training Institute; (281) 3321613; www.scaffoldtraning.com.
May 11-15
FIRE, EXPLOSION & THERMAL HAZARDS
TRAINING workshop in Plainsboro, NJ.
Contact Chilworth Technology Inc.; (609)
799-4449; [email protected]; www
.chilworth.com.
May 18-22
SESHA 31ST ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL
HIGH TECHNOLOGY ESH SYMPOSIUM:
WHERE ESH & TECHNOLOGIES CONVERGE
in Scottsdale, AZ. Contact Semiconductor
Environmental, Safety and Health
Association; (703) 790-1745; www.sesha
online.org.
■ Current month advertiser
May 19-21
PERFORMING HIGH-QUALITY LEGIONELLA
ASSESSMENTS course in Carlsbad, CA.
Contact HC Info; (800) 801-8050; www
.hcinfo.com.
May 19-22
FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS INSPECTIONS,
TESTING & MAINTENANCE course in
Madison, WI. Contact Department of
Engineering Professional Development,
University of Wisconsin; (800) 462-0876;
[email protected]; www.epd
.engr.wisc.edu/webK736.
May 20-21
UNDERSTANDING ARC-FLASH ANALYSIS
COMPLIANCE workshop in Valley Forge,
PA. Contact AVO Training Institute;
(877) 594-3156; avotraining@avotraining
.com; www.avotraining.com.
June 7-9
ASP EXAM PREPARATION workshop in
Pensacola Beach, FL. Contact Deep
South Center for Occupational Safety
and Health; (205) 934-7178; [email protected];
www.uab.edu/dsc.
June 8-11
■ CIH EXAM PREPARATION workshop in
Columbia, SC. Contact Bowen EHS;
(866) 264-5852; www.bowenehs.com.
June 8-11
NFPA CONFERENCE & EXPO in Chicago.
Contact NFPA; (800) 344-3555 or (617)
770-3000; www.nfpa.org.
June 11
APPLIED OFFICE ERGONOMICS seminar in
Ann Arbor, MI. Contact Humantech;
(734) 663-6707; www.humantech.com.
June 13
BASIC EMPLOYEE SAFETY FOR GENERAL
INDUSTRY course in Shafter, CA. Contact
Westec Inc.; (866) 493-7832 or (661) 7635161; www.westec.org.
June 15-19
ASBESTOS SUPERVISOR workshop in
Tucson, AZ. Contact ETC Compliance
Solutions; (520) 321-1999; [email protected];
www.e-t-c.com.
May 21
ASSE CENTRAL NEW YORK CHAPTER
PDC in East Syracuse, NY. Contact Judy
Smith; (315) 424-6326; jhsmith@travelers
.com; http://cyn.asse.org.
May 21
OSHA DUST EXPLOSION INSPECTION
PREPARTORY TRAINING course in Seattle,
WA. Contact Chilworth Technology Inc.;
www.chilworth.com.
May 28-29
SUPERVISOR SAFETY course in Lakewood,
CO. Contact Rocky Mountatin Education Center; (800) 933-8394 or (303) 9146420; www.rrcc.edu/rmec.
May 28-29
THE COMPLETE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS workshop in St. Louis, MO.
Contact Lion Technology Inc.; (973) 3830800; [email protected]; www.lion.com.
Our Focus:
Your Safety
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every situation. SlipNOT® products can be installed with new construction or
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walking surface including floor plate, grating, stair treads, platforms, ladder
rungs/covers and catwalks among others. SlipNOT® products are available
in steel, stainless steel, galvanized steel and aluminum.
May 30 - June 4
2009 AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE
CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION in Toronto,
Ontario. Contact AIHA; (703) 849-8888;
[email protected]; www.aiha.org/aihce09/
default.htm.
June 2-3
Grip Pllate®
Grip Grate®
Ladderr Runggs
Nosinggs
HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT workshop in Orlando, FL. Contact Environmental Resource Center; (919) 342-0807;
www.ercweb.com.
June 2-4
■ IMPLEMENTING CULTURE CHANGE seminar in San Diego, CA. Contact Culture
Change Consultants; (914) 315-6076;
[email protected]; www.culture
change.com.
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13
Industry
Notes
•print the information at the end of the recertification cycle for submission to their designation’s
certifying body.
“Because of the relatively lengthy 5-year recertifiThe National Association of Tower Erectors
cation cycle, all certified professionals need and
(NATE) has announced a new facet of the “It’s Up
desire a more efficient way to track their progress
to You” safety campaign—
toward recertification and keep their records in a
100% tie-off, which calls for an
centralized location for easy access and printing,”
individual pledge from each
says AHMP Executive Director A. Cedric Calhoun,
NATE member to commit to
CAE. “Flipping through documents, receipts, confirmaking 100% tie-off a reality
mations and the like is time-consuming and some
in the industry. The camitems could be lost, costing lost time and additional
paign’s goal is to ensure that
money to earn replacement recertification points. . . .
every member across the
As an organization that is striving to become comtower industry commits to
pletely green, the service is a great way to minimize
safety first and safety always.
and ultimately eliminate the use of paper records
The organization commemand, therefore, help our members and all EHS&S
orated the event at its annual
professionals become green at the same time.”
conference, where NATE
members signed a pledge-printed lanyard and
PUBLICATIONS
clamped it to a 6-ft base of a tower, demonstrating
their continued dedication to the association’s mis- USACE Revises Safety Manual
sion. NATE says it will continue to focus on stressU.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has revised
ing the critical importance of safety to everyone
the 2008 Safety and Health Requirements Manual, EM
affiliated with the industry to guarantee the safety
385-1-1. The 1,050-page document has been updated
of tower workers throughout 2009.
to reflect current standards and
“NATE sees this conference as the best time to
requirements. The manual proreach everyone in the industry and discuss the
vides safety guidelines to all
importance of safety to our members,” says Patrick USACE personnel and contracHowey, NATE’s executive director. “We must contors working in construction,
tinue to discuss the issue of safety to ensure every- maintenance, research and
one in the industry makes it home safe at the end
development, and other daily
of the day.”
operations. The new manual
For more information, visit www.natehome.com. focuses on improving safety
and efficiency by providing
guidelines that are clear, conPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
cise and user friendly.
AHMP Introduces New
USACE Office of Safety and Occupational
Recertification Tracking Service Health, which led the revision, relied on more than
Alliance of Hazardous Materials Professionals
4,000 comments from the field to create a new man(AHMP), formerly the Academy of Certified
ual that was practical and relevant to on-site tasks.
Hazardous Materials Managers, is making a recerti“This updated manual has become a job enhancer,
fication tracking service product available to its
a tool to help in the safe performance of any task,”
members and other environmental, health, safety
says Maj. Gen. Merdith W.B. “Bo” Temple, deputy
and security (EHS&S) professionals. The recertifica- commanding general for civil and emergency operation tracking service was developed by OverNite
tions. “It helps our folks get the job done without
Software Inc., a leading provider of web-based dis- being an obstacle.”
tance-learning systems based in Angleton, TX, in
The revised manual can be found at www.usace
cooperation with AHMP. This new tracking service .army.mil/CESO/pages/home.aspx.
is free to all AHMP members. Nonmembers must
pay a nominal annual fee—used for records mainGREEN INITIATIVES
tenance and reporting—to access the service.
Atlanta Businesses
Holders of the CHMM designation can easily and
Form Zero Waste Zone
efficiently track their progress toward attaining
The Georgia World Congress Center Authority is
recertification from the Institute of Hazardous
joining with its downtown Atlanta neighbors to
Materials Management. The program can also be
form a Zero Waste Zone, the first of its kind in the
used by other EHS&S professionals to track their
southeast and one of the first in the nation.
progress toward retaining their industry designaParticipating businesses—including restaurants,
tion. Users will be able to:
attractions and hotels—have pledged to recycle,
•create a recertification portfolio;
reuse spent grease for local production of biofuel,
•view their recertification documents;
•update and add activity documents eligible for and compost or donate food residuals in order to
drastically reduce the amount of waste going to
recertification points;
FALL PROTECTION
NATE Asks Members to
Commit to 100% Tie-Off
NATE board member
Kevin Reski attaches
his pledge lanyard
to the 6-ft tower
section at NATE
2009. During the
event, nearly 500
NATE members
pledged to promote
tower safety
and commit to
100% tie-off.
14
INDUSTRY AWARDS
Mountaineer Guardian Awards
Two Massey Energy Subsidiary
Mining Operations
Two subsidiaries of Massey Energy—Aracoma Coal
Co.’s Hernshaw Mine and Elk Run Coal Co.’s
Logan’s Fork Mine—have received the Mountaineer
Guardian Award from the West Virginia Office of
Miners’ Health, Safety and Training and the West
Virginia Coal Association. Established in 1983, the
award is presented annually to companies and mines
that exemplify safety throughout West Virginia.
The sites were nominated by state mine inspectors and the West Virginia Coal Association for
The Georgia World Congress Center and its Atlanta
their outstanding safety performances and mine
neighbors are forming a Zero Waste Zone.
safety initiatives during 2008. The Aracoma
landfills. The initiative is organized through a part- Hernshaw mine, located in Logan County, WV, has
been recognized by both state and federal agencies
nership between Atlanta Recycles and the Green
Foodservice Alliance, and is working in conjunction over the past 2 years as a safety leader in the industry. Aracoma Hernshaw members have worked
with EPA Region 4 and the Pollution Prevention
more than 230,000 exposure hours and reported no
Assistance division of the Georgia Department of
lost-time injuries.
Natural Resources.
Similarly, Elk Run’s Logan’s Fork Mine takes a
“Our goal is to adopt practices that meet the
proactive approach to safety and exceeds safety
demands of our customers, attendees and staff. At
training requirements. As a result, miners worked a
the same time we want to reduce the impact that
total of 443,462 exposure hours, reporting only one
our 3.9 million sq ft facility has on the landfill,”
says Kevin Duvall, assistant general manager of the minor injury during that period.
“We thank the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety
Georgia World Congress Center. “During this
process we’ve reminded ourselves that being green and Training as well as the West Virginia Coal
Association for promoting safety in our mines and
is a journey and not a destination. The Downtown
recognizing outstanding work when it is demonZero Waste Zone reinforces a lot of initiatives that
strated,” says Aracoma’s John Jones.
we’re already tackling and it is propelling us to
move forward on new ones.”
Industry Notes continued on page 16
Two subsidiaries of
Massey Energy have
received the Mountaineer Guardian
Award for their outstanding safety performances and mine
safety initiatives
during 2008.
15
Industry
Notescontinued
from page 15
ONLINE RESOURCES
ORC Launches EHS
Center of Excellence Wiki
ORC Worldwide recently launched the
ORC Environmental Health & Safety
Center of Excellence (www.orcehs.org),
an interactive online resource where safety and health research results and best
practices information will be publicly
available. Built on a wiki platform, the
site is designed to foster collaboration
among all stakeholders.
While the site is beginning with a
focus on contract worker safety information—such as best practices in contractor
safety management, research topics critical to improving contract worker safety,
and research reports on contractor safety
risk and prequalification—the firm anticipates that it will grow to include other
SH&E topics in the near future. ORC is
hopeful that stakeholders will contribute
to the growing body of knowledge, and
invites companies, SH&E professionals,
academicians, government representatives, labor unions and workers who are
seeking to improve the safety of contract
workers to share their expertise.
NANOTECHNOLOGY
Plan Inadequate for Risks
From Nanomaterials,
Report Finds
A recent National Research Council
report finds serious weaknesses in the
government’s plan for research on the
potential health and environmental risks
posed by nanomaterials. According to
the report, an effective national plan for
identifying and managing these risks is
essential to the successful development
ASSE to Host Virtual Symposium,
April 20-24
A
SSE will hold its first virtual symposium, “Best-in-Class Safety
Management: U.S. & International
Practices & Approaches,” April 20-24,
2009. In a globally connected world,
SH&E professionals must be able to
implement and manage safety programs in a borderless environment.
From culture to coaching, measurement to management systems, participants will learn the best approaches to
managing safety from safety professionals from around the world.
The hub of the virtual symposium is
a social network, which allows participants to attend the live webcasts during
the week of the symposium, as well as
interact with speakers and other attendees, and review session materials and
watch sessions they may have missed.
Speakers include John Howard,
M.D., former director of NIOSH, who
will present a session titled “Management and Leadership Thinking: Where
Have We Been and Where Are We
Going?” Tom Krause will focus on
safety best practices and an organization’s ability
to execute them
successfully.
Antoine Carrillo,
world engineering and SH&E
director at L’Oréal,
will share best
practices being
implemented at
16
his company’s facilities. Frank White,
senior vice president, ORC Worldwide,
will look at worker safety and health
and the expectations of the Obama
administration.
“ASSE is working to advance 21st
century professional development
offerings to our members—this virtual
symposium is a culmination of those
efforts,” says ASSE President Warren K.
Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHM. “It’s also a
way that we can gather world-class
speakers and SH&E professionals from
around the globe at a reasonable price
for our budget-conscious members.
These days, SH&E professionals are
busier than ever; we want to provide
the flexibility they need, and still offer
the best professional development
events in the industry.”
Registration includes access to all
live webcasts; access to the Virtual
Symposium Social Network; access to
live webcast recordings for 2 weeks
after the symposium ends; and indefinite access to the social networking system allowing
members to network with companies and colleagues
from across the
globe. Attendees
are eligible to
receive 1.0 CEU.
For more information, visit www
.asse.org/educa
tion/bestinclass.
and public acceptance of nanotechnology-enabled products.
The report, “Review of the Federal
Strategy for Nanotechnology-Related
Environmental, Health and Safety Research,” focuses on what would constitute an effective national research
strategy for ensuring that current and
future uses of nanomaterials are without
significant impacts on human health or
the environment.
“The current plan catalogs nano-risk
research across several federal agencies,
but it does not present an overarching
research strategy needed to gain public
acceptance and realize the promise of nanotechnology,” says committee chair David
Eaton, professor of environmental and
occupational health sciences, School of
Public Health, and associate vice provost
for research at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Developed by the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), the research plan
does not provide a clear picture of the
current understanding of these risks or
where it should be in 10 years, according
to the report. Also, the NNI plan does
not include research goals to help ensure
that nanotechnologies are developed and
used as safely as possible.
Although the research needs listed in
the plan are valuable, the report says,
they are incomplete—in some cases
missing elements crucial for progress in
understanding the safety and health
impacts of nanomaterials. A new national strategic plan is needed that goes
beyond federal research to incorporate
research from academia, industry, consumer and environmental groups and
other stakeholders, the report concludes.
Among the shortcomings of the NNI
plan, according to the NRC report:
•It overstates the degree to which
already funded studies are meeting the
need for research on health and environmental risks.
•It does not note the current lack of
studies on how to manage consumer
and environmental risks.
•It does not adequately incorporate
input from industries that produce and
use nanotechnologies, environmental and
consumer advocacy groups, and other
stakeholders, which is necessary to identify deficiencies in research strategies.
•Accountability is lacking in the plan.
Although lead agencies—such as the
National Institutes of Health, EPA and
FDA—are given roles for overseeing
nanotechnology research, there is no single organization or person that will be
held responsible for whether the strategy
delivers results.
According to the committee, a robust
national strategic plan would involve a
broader group of stakeholders, and
would consider the untapped knowledge
of nongovernment researchers and academics. The plan should identify research
needs clearly and estimate the resources
necessary to address gaps, as well as provide specific, measurable objectives and a
timeline for meeting them. It should also
focus on providing solutions to challenges that do not fit neatly into disciplinary or institutional categories.
For more information or to view the
report, visit http://national-academies
.org or contact the National Academies
Press at (800) 624-6242.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Safety & Health Manager
Certification Newly
Accredited
Certified safety and health manager
(CSHM), a credential administered by
the Institute for Safety and Health Management (ISHM), has been accredited by
the Council on Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards. The CSHM credential recognizes SH&E professionals
who demonstrate a high level of knowledge of safety and health management
and display the ability to apply effective
skills and techniques through examination and experience.
The CSHM certification program promotes the application of safety manage-
ment principles
throughout all levels
and activities of an
organization. In addition to technical knowledge of occupational
safety and health, a successful safety and
health manager must
possess working knowledge of a broad range
of business and financial principles and an
understanding of related issues such as hazard analysis and
mitigation, incident/accident investigation, conducting safety audits/surveys,
administration of workers’ compensation, product safety, environmental laws,
quality and labor relations.
For more information, visit www
.ishm.org.
EYE PROTECTION
Sperian Protection
Donates to Prevent
Blindness America
Sperian Protection recently donated
$5,000 to Prevent Blindness America
(PBA) as part of a fundraising effort at
NSC Congress & Expo in Anaheim, CA,
last fall. For each attendee badge
Kathy Majzoub,
RN, M.B.A., and
northeast region
director for PBA
(left), and Peggy
Costabile, director
of strategic development for Sperian
Protection, Eye and
Face Division.
scanned at the Uvex booth, the company
made a donation to PBA.
“We are so pleased to make this contribution,” says Sperian’s Peggy Costabile.
“The mission of Prevent Blindness
America is perfectly aligned with our goal
of working to reduce the number of eye
injuries and helping to build a culture of
safety both in the workplace and at home.
We hope that this partnership will help
raise awareness for these efforts.”
Founded in 1908, PBA is a volunteer
eye safety and health organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving
sight. “We want to thank Sperian Protection for its generous contribution to
our organization as well as for its continued dedication to preventing serious eye
injuries,” says PBA’s Hugh Parry.
WHY CSU?
COMPLETELY
ONLINE
DEGREES
t AAS in OS&H New
t AAS in Fire Science
t BS in Environmental
Management
t BS in OS&H/
Fire Science Concentration
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t Quality Online Programs
t Affordable Tuition
t Begin Courses at Anytime
t Maximum Transfer Credit
t No Scheduled Online Sessions
t Textbooks at No Cost
t Personalized Service
t TA, DANTES and VA Benefits
t BCSP Recognizes CSU Degrees
t Undergraduate Certificates
Occupational Safety & Health New
Environmental Management New
t Graduate Certificates
Occupational Safety & Health New
Environmental Management
OTHER DEGREE AND CERTIFICATE
PROGRAMS AVAILABLE
Superior Service. Flexible Programs. Extraordinary Value.
COLUMBIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
Orange Beach, AL
www.columbiasouthern.edu/info/psm | 877.845.7795
17
“I've attended numerous conferences
and found the ASSE Conference to
be the best value for educational and
networking opportunities. If you can only
go to one conference, I would strongly
recommend the ASSE PDC.”
— Ken Wengert, Kraft Foods
“…the efforts of ASSE and the presenters
made this the best conference that
my colleagues and I have ever attended.”
— Anthony 'Tony' O'Dea, CSP, CHST, Gilbane
“Several clients, including an ASSE
PDC Rookie, had nothing but positive
remarks to me about SAFETY 2008
ASSE Conference.”
— Scott Clark, SMCONSULTATIONS
Register at
www.SAFETY2009.org
The American Society of Safety Engineers SAFETY 2009 Professional Development
Conference & Exposition is the safety, health and environmental professional’s most
important resource to stay connected with the latest issues and trends in the profession.
SAFETY 2009 will give you the opportunity to grow professionally, link with other professionals
and share ideas in order to obtain the skills and knowledge needed to address the key issues
and challenges you face. The program was developed by practicing SH&E professionals
to meet your needs with a broad range of topics from leading speakers and practitioners,
as well as nationally renowned speakers.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Individuals in the safety, health and environmental profession.
GET THE MOST FROM YOUR CONFERENCE!
We look forward to delivering events and opportunities
that will enable you to:
CONNECT WITH FELLOW PROFESSIONALS
■ Practice Specialties – meet others in your practice area
■ Roundtables – share YOUR ideas
■ Networking Events – receptions, meetings,
luncheons, social events
GROW PROFESSIONALLY
■ Understand the key issues affecting you
■ Expand your knowledge and skills
ENJOY
■ Beautiful San Antonio & the River Walk Area
■ Informal Events – Evening Events, Golf
■ Chapter & Region Events
EXPOSITION
The SAFETY 2009 Exposition includes more than 400 exhibitors featuring the latest in safety, health and environmental products and
services to help you succeed. Look to our expo to address your particular safety needs and realistic solutions to your safety challenges.
If you are interested in exhibiting go to www.asse.org/education/
expo09 or call +01.630.434.7779.
Register at
www.SAFETY2009.org
Monday, June 29
GENERAL SESSION Keynote Presentation
The New Realities
of the Global Economy
PROGRAM
Stuart Varney
Business and Financial Journalist Fox News
An exceptional business and economic commentator, Stuart Varney
will address the state of global business and economy. Stuart Varney
incorporates the latest national and worldwide news into his presentations, frankly assessing how current affairs affect economic conditions.
An economist trained at the London School of Economics, Varney offers
his wide-ranging and sophisticated expertise, evaluating political
administrations and their effects on the economy.
Thousands of Safety, Health and Environmental professionals
will choose SAFETY 2009 as their primary source of professional
development this year. Be a part of the excitement. Learn
from the successes of other professionals and organizations,
take away examples and strategies, network with your peers
and earn CEUs.
PLENARY SESSION
Occupational Safety and Health
Panel Discussion
Leaders in occupational safety and health are invited to share their
insights with conference attendees and respond to questions from
our panel moderator. The panelists will address the key issues and
concerns of SH&E professionals on the activities and impact of the
regulatory, standards development and compliance assistance efforts
of the Federal Government.
EXECUTIVE SUMMIT
This year’s Executive Summit Panel will discuss the views of senior
management on the importance of employee safety and health and the
expectations business and industry leaders have on the role of safety and
health professionals. Understanding the perspective of executives at the
highest levels of their organizations is a critical element of success for
safety and health professionals. The panel moderated by a practicing
safety professional will include questions submitted by attendees.
KEY ISSUE ROUNDTABLES
Tuesday, June 30
GENERAL SESSION Keynote Presentation
Saving the World at Work
Tim Sanders
It’s your chance to SPEAK UP! Do you have a lesson learned to share with
fellow professionals? Are you looking to meet with others with mutual
interests? The Key Issue Roundtables will be hosted by ASSE Practice
Specialties/Common Interest Group professionals in areas of their particular expertise. The Roundtables sessions will be conducted during the
concurrent session periods. Join the discussion and share your ideas,
challenges and successes in each moderated session.
Former Yahoo Chief Solutions Officer
TOPIC TRACKS
Noted author Tim Sanders will address attendees on the increasing concern about corporate social responsibility and green business practices.
He calls this ‘the responsibility revolution’, which will likely change the
basis for competition in every industry over the next decade. He’ll show
what organizations and individuals can do to connect with this trend.
Wednesday, July 1
LUNCH PROGRAM
S.W.I.T.C.H. On
Your Sales Success
Chip Eichelberger
SH&E professionals need to know how to sell – their programs, themselves and the importance of safety in their organizations. Chip Eichelberger will deliver an energized and entertaining session to help
attendees truly affect the performance of their organizations. It is fairly
easy to achieve sales success in America because so many are satisfied
with mediocrity, what can you do to stand out?
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Safety Management
Technical / Engineering / Standards
Regulatory Issues / Government
Career / Personal Development
International Issues
Ergonomics
Risk Management / Insurance
Construction
Environment / Hazardous Material
Transportation
Business Skills – NEW!
Fire Protection
Health / Industrial Hygiene
Healthcare
Training / Education
Emergency Management / Security
Spanish Language Sessions
HIGHLIGHTS
CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT
Attendees earn 1.8 CEUs for the conference, which includes the Wednesday
lunch (1.7 without lunch). CIH CM points have been applied for. CHMMs earn
1.0 CMPs. Up to 3.5 CEUs, as well as additional CM points and CMPs may
be earned for the pre and post-conference seminars.
SPANISH SESSIONS
Six sessions in Spanish are planned for the program as well as other
sessions addressing the safety and health of Spanish speaking workers.
PRE AND POST CONFERENCE SEMINARS
Attend ASSE’s Pre- and Post-conference seminars to explore in-depth
continuing education and training opportunities and earn up to 3.5
additional CEU/COCs. You can also gain extra CM points and CMPs
by taking advantage of the 38 one, two or three-day seminars offered
before and after the Professional Development Conference (PDC).
• The most advanced safety management techniques including
six sigma and lean manufacturing
• Leadership skills such as coaching; team building;
communication skills and change management
• Business strategies to integrate safety with your organization’s
business goals including statistical analysis, risk assessment
and risk management
• Technical topics that fill a niche in your training needs
such as hazard recognition, incident investigation and root
cause analysis, industrial hygiene and fire safety management
• Current topics such as crane safety management, predicting
human error and nanotechnology that are critical to a successful
safety program
• Certification preparation workshops
• Certificate program seminars
NEW ATTENDEES
Learn how to navigate SAFETY 2009 by attending our New Attendee
Orientation Monday, June 29 from 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM. Don’t miss this
session if this is your first time, if you are a new ASSE member, or want to
become a member.
FOUR WAYS TO REGISTER
Web:
Fax:
www.SAFETY2009.org
+01.847.768.3434 or +01.847.296.3769
If you fax in a registration form, please do not send an
additional form in the mail.
Mail: ASSE, 33477 Treasury Center, Chicago, IL USA 60694-3400
Phone: +01.847.699.2929
Monday through Friday 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM CST
Register at
www.SAFETY2009.org
ASSE would like to THANK
the following organizations for their
SAFETY 2009 Professional Development Conference
& Exposition Sponsorship
PLATINUM
American Heart Association
GOLD
Behavioral Science Technology, Inc. (BST)
SILVER
SlipNOT Metal Safety Flooring
Crowcon Detection Instruments
AON eSolutions
EXPOSITION
Industrial Safety & Hygiene News (ISHN)
EXHIBITORS LIST
360training.com
3E Company
3M
Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials
Managers (ACHMM)
ACGIH
Advanced Driver Training Services, Inc.
Aearo Technologies
AGC of America
Alertdriving
All Star Incentive Marketing
American Red Cross
American Heart Association*
Ansell
AON Smart Drive
AON eSolutions*
APG, LP
Apollo Associated Services
Aramark Uniform Services
Argus-Hazco
Ascom (US), Inc.
ASI Health Services
Atlas Ergonomics
AVO Training Institute
Beagle 1, Inc.
Behavioral Science Technology, Inc. (BST)*
Bei Bei Safety Co., Ltd.
Best Glove, Inc.
Biolife, LLC
BlueWater Manufacturing
BNA
Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP)
Bowen EHS, Inc.*
Bradley Corporation
Brady Corporation
Bright Star Lighting Products
BTE Technologies, Inc.
Buckingham Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Bullard
BullEx Digital Safety*
Bulwark Protective Apparel
Bureau Veritas
Business & Legal Reports
Bustin Industrial Products
BW Technologies by Honeywell
Capital Safety
Cardiac Science, Inc.
Carnie Cap, Inc.
Casella USA
Checkers Industrial Safety Products
Chums-Chisco, Inc.
Cintas
Clarion Safety Systems, LLC
ClickSafety
CMC Rescue, Inc.
Coaching Systems, LLC
Coastal Training Technologies
Columbia Southern University*
Complete Equity Markets, Inc.*
Comprehensive Loss Management, Inc.*
Consentium Search, LLC
Contour Design
CoreMedia
Crowcon Detection Instruments*
CY Holding Company, Ltd.
Datachem Software, Inc.
Day & Zimmermann
DBO2, Inc. (Design Build Own Operate)
DC Sales
DNV Industry
The Doctors Center Health Services
Draeger Safety, Inc.
Dragon Fur by True North
The Drake Group
Eagle Safety Eyewear
Eclectic Products, Inc.
EHS Today
Elk River, Inc.
Emergency Care and Safety Institute
Encon Safety Products
ENMET Corporation
EORM
Equipois, Inc.
Ergodyne
ErgoGenesis
Ergonomic Technologies Corporation
The Ergonomics Center of NC
ESC Services, Inc.
ESIS Global Risk Control Services
EtQ, Inc.
Ex3
Examinetics, Inc.
FabEnCo, Inc.
Facility Safety Management Magazine
Fall Protection Systems
FallTech
Firewall – Flame Resistant Apparel
Fisher Safety
Flexible Lifeline Systems
G&K Services, Inc.
Galson Laboratories
Garlock Equipment Company
GfG Instrumentation, Inc.
Glen Raven, Inc.
Global Safety Sources, Inc.
Glove Guard, LP*
Golder Associates
Grainger
GreenRoad Technologies
Guard-Line, Inc.
Hagemeyer, North America
Hammerhead Industries, Inc.
HCI Health Conservation, Inc.
Health & Safety Institute
Herwin Company
HexArmor
Hi-Tech Optical, Inc.
Ho Cheng Enterprise Co., Ltd.
HPL Pure Sport
Human Engine, Inc.
Hy-Safe Technology
Hytest Safety Footwear
ICU Environmental Health & Safety
InCord Safety Nets
Indiana University of Pennsylvania –
Safety Sciences Department
Industrial Scientific Corporation
Industrial Hygiene News/
Rimbach Publishing, Inc.
Industrial Safety & Hygiene News (ISHN)*
Insights & Research
Interactive Safety Products, Inc.
International Enviroguard
Intrepid Industries, Inc.
Ives Training & Compliance Group, Inc.
John Drebinger Presentations
Jordan David
Kappler, Inc.
Kee Safety
KeepSafe, Inc.
Kimberly-Clark Professional
Kinetics Noise Control
Knowledge Management Innovations, LLC (KMI)
Labelmaster
LSS (Lab Safety Supply)
LaCrosse Footwear
Lakeland Industries, Inc.
Lapeyre Stair, Inc.
Larson Davis, Inc.
Lewellyn Technology, Inc.
Lewis Safety Knife Co.
div. of Seal-O-Matic Corporation
LFS Glove & Safety
Liberty Glove & Safety
as of February 25, 2009
LJB, Inc.
Lomont IMT
Lovegreen Risk Management, LLC
Magid Glove & Safety
Majestic Glove Company
Mancomm
Marigold Industrial USA, Inc.
Marshall University
Martor USA
Master Lock
McKee Research, LLC
MCR Safety
Medtox Laboratories
MEGAComfort, Inc.
Meltric Corporation
Milliken & Company
Moldex-Metric, Inc.
MSA
MSDSonline
MSDSpro, LLC
Murray State University
Narda Safety Test Solutions*
Nasco Industries, Inc.
National Safety Council
Neutral Posture
NIOSH/ERC/CE
NJ & Associates, Inc.
North Safety Products
Northwest Territorial Mint
O/E Learning
Occupational Health & Safety
OHD
OK-1 Manufacturing Company
OLFA-North America
One Market Source
ONGUARD Industries
OSHA Training Institute
OverNite Software, Inc.
Pacific Handy Cutter, Inc.
PBI Performance Products, Inc.
PDAge, Inc.
Pembrooke
Perimeter Protection Products
Pharmascience Laboratories, Inc.
Phonak, LLC
Physio-Control
PICS-Pacific Industrial Contractor Screening
Pigeon Mountain Industries, Inc.
Polyconversions, Inc.
Power Pusher, A Division of Nu-Star, Inc.
Practicing Perfection Institute
Princeton Tec
ProAct Safety
ProcessMAP Corporation
Protective Industrial Products
Protective Equipment Testing Laboratory
PS Doors
PSRG, Inc.
PureSafety*
Quest Technologies, Inc.
Radians, Inc.
RAE Systems
Randy Smith Training Solutions
Red Wing Shoe Company
RegScan, Inc.
Regulatory Consultants, Inc.
Reliance Industries, LLC
Remedy Interactive
Riverside Manufacturing Co.
RKI Instruments, Inc.
Roco Rescue
RU2 Systems, Inc.
SKC, Inc.
Safeguard Technology, Inc.
SAFEmap International Pty. Ltd.
Safestart/SafeTrack
Safety Council – LCA
Safety Maker, Inc.
Safety Performance Solutions
Safety Source Productions
Safety Through Engineering, Inc.
Safety Vision, LP
SafetyBanners.org
Safetycal, Inc.
SafetyFirst Systems, LLC
Safety Jackpot, dba Peavey Performance
Salisbury by Honeywell
Save A Back, Inc.
SAWSTOP, LLC
Scaffold Training Institute*
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
Scott Health & Safety
Sempermed USA
Shat-R-Shield, Inc.
Shoes For Crews, LLC
SiteHawk/Industrial Data Systems, Inc.
SlipNOT Metal Safety Flooring**
Smalltown Media, LLC
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
Southern Glove Mfg. Co.
Spanco, Inc.
SPAN International Training*
Speakman Company
Spenco Medical
Sperian Protection
Spiramid
The Sqwincher Corporation
SR MAX Slip Resistant Shoes
Stanco Manufacturing, Inc.
Steel Grip, Inc.
Summit Training Source
Tailored Injury Prevention Solutions, Inc.
TAPCO
Tec Laboratories, Inc.
Technology Research Corporation
TEEX (Texas Engineering Extension Service)
TenCate Protective Fabrics
Therm Omega Tech, Inc.
Timberland Pro
TRA, Inc.
Tri-Motion Industries
Tritech Fall Protection
TSI, Incorporated
TUF-TUG Products/Deuer Developments
Tulane University-CAEPH
Turtleskin Protective Products
Teijin Aramid USA, Inc.
UniFirst Corporation
Uniline Safety Systems
University of Central Missouri,
Dept. of Safety Sciences
Usang Industrial Co., Ltd.
US Chemical Storage
Valeo, Inc.
Varian, Inc.
Vinatronics High Visibility Apparel
Visual Workplace
VitalSmarts
Vivid Learning Systems, Inc.
Walls Industries, Inc.
Web Devices
Weldas Company
Wells Lamont
Westex, Inc.
Wolf Peak International
Wolters Kluwer Law & Business (CCH)
Wooster Products. Inc.
WorkCare, Inc.
Working Concepts, Inc.
Workrite Uniform Company
ZeraWare
Zoll Medical Corporation
* Professional Safety Journal Advertisers
* Safety 2009 Sponsors
Rules &
Regs
WORKER SAFETY
NIOSH Issues Guidance to Help Workers
Exposed to Engineered Nanoparticles
Hotlinks
ASSE
American Society
of Safety Engineers
www.asse.org
CSB
Chemical
Safety & Hazard
Investigation Board
www.csb.gov
DHHS
Dept. of Health
& Human Services
www.dhhs.gov
DOE
Dept. of Energy
www.doe.gov
DOL
Dept. of Labor
www.dol.gov
DOT
Dept. of
Transportation
www.dot.gov
EPA
Environmental
Protection Agency
www.epa.gov
MSHA
Mine
Safety & Health
Administration
www.msha.gov
NIOSH
National Institute
for Occupational
Safety & Health
www.cdc.gov/niosh
NRC
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission
www.nrc.gov
NTSB
National
Transportation
Safety Board
www.ntsb.gov
OSHA
Occupational
Safety & Health
Administration
www.osha.gov
18
NIOSH has issued temporary guidance for medical screening and hazard surveillance for workers potentially exposed to engineered nanoparticles. Available at www. cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2009-116, NIOSH
reports the recommendations respond to requests
for authoritative occupational safety and health
BLS Will Record Contractor
guidance in the manufacturing and industrial use of
Fatalities in 2011
engineered nanomaterials. The recommendations
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will begin tracking conalso reflect NIOSH’s leadership in providing such
interim scientific guidance as research progresses for tractor fatalities for the first time in 2011. BLS economist
Stephen Pegula says this new tracking will give OSHA
determining whether engineered nanomaterials pose and lawmakers “a much better sense of what’s going
risks for adverse occupational health effects. As inon” with the contract worker sector. According to the
terim guidance, NIOSH recommends that employers: Occupational Safety & Health Reporter, the move comes
•take measures to control occupational exposures in response to concerns about an increasing reliance on
contract workers, whom safety advocates say are at a
to engineered nanoparticles;
greater risk of getting hurt or killed on the job than reg•conduct hazard surveillance as the basis for
ular employees.
implementing controls, including the identification
Caroline Austin, a partner with the WolfBlock law
of work tasks and processes that involve the profirm, says she has seen a “huge uptick” in the number of
duction and use of engineered nanoparticles;
contract employment arrangements within the past
year. She says much of that activity has been driven by
•continue use of established medical surveillance
the economic downturn, as companies try to keep labor
approaches to flag increases in the frequency of
costs down. In the construction industry, the number of
adverse health effects potentially associated with
contract workers has been steadily rising. According to
occupational exposures to engineered nanoparticles. BLS, 20 years ago, 57.4% of the nation’s construction
The guidance addresses the question of whether
workers were specialty trade contractors. As of January
specific medical screening is appropriate for work2009, that figure had risen to 63.4%.
Contract workers are vulnerable to safety and health
ers potentially exposed to engineered nanoparticles
risks because they are often unqualified to perform the
who do not display symptoms of disease. At this
jobs for which they are hired or are brought on specifitime, there is insufficient scientific and medical evically to perform dangerous work, says Scott Madar, ORC
dence to recommend the specific medical screening
Worldwide consulting firm. Other times, contract workof workers potentially exposed to engineered nanoers are deliberately left uninformed about occupational
particles, NIOSH concludes. However, NIOSH
hazards by their host employers so the employers can
later evade legal liability, Madar says. BLS’s contractor
adds, where occupational medical screening recommendations exist for given chemicals or bulk materi- fatality data are expected to be published in late
als, those recommendations would be applicable for summer of 2012.
workers exposed to engineered nanoparticles composed of those same chemicals or bulk materials. In the meantime, NIOSH will continue to collect and
evaluate new research findings, and will update its medical screening recommendations to reflect
advances in research.
COMBUSTIBLE DUST
CSB Video Urges Increased Dust Explosion Prevention
With the first anniversary of the February 2008 Imperial Sugar explosion in Port Wentworth, GA, U.S.
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) Chair John Bresland released a video safety message on YouTube asking federal regulators and businesses to increase efforts to prevent combustible dust
fires and explosions. In the video, Bresland discusses how all but one catastrophic industrial dust explosion since 1995 occurred during cold weather months. He urged the industry to take the hazard seriously, not only during the winter months, but throughout the year as well.
“Despite the efforts of NFPA, OSHA, CSB and many others, serious dust explosions and fires continue
to occur,” Bresland says. “My commitment is to do everything possible to make these tragedies a thing of
the past. Stronger, clearer regulations and more robust safety programs in industry will prevent most dust
explosions—and save lives.” To view the video, visit www.youtube.com/safetymessages or read it at
http://safetymessages.blogspot.com.
ERGONOMICS
Aide Expects Congress to Defer to OSHA for Action on Ergonomics
An advisor for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee says that Congress would
prefer for OSHA to take the lead on addressing ergonomic hazards, while the committee concentrates
on reforming the agency. In the keynote address at the conference, Healthy Aging for Workers: Anticipating the Occupational Safety and Health Needs of an Increasingly Aging Workforce, Sharon Block, the
Senate committee’s labor advisor, said OSHA should address musculoskeletal disorders but indicated that
a standard might not be an immediate
possibility for improvement.
“There’s a huge area for improvement
on how the Labor Department deals
with this. I’m not sure there’s a big
appetite for legislative action. We hope
the department will act,” says Block.
Block adds that moving forward on
the Protecting America’s Workers Act is
the top occupational safety and health
priority for the committee. The bill
would address a variety of workplace
safety issues, including increasing criminal penalties and extending OSHA coverage to public-sector employees.
Block also said the committee would
like to see OSHA make progress on
many different safety standards, including finalizing its cranes and derricks
standard, as well as “taking action on
fall protection.” Block urged OSHA to
take a more active role in developing
safety and health standards, saying, “We
hope to see OSHA stand up. It is not
Congress’s role to be legislating standards.” Responding to questions from
the audience on whether the committee
would address issues at MSHA and
NIOSH, Block said the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act
of 2006 “is a great first step, but there’s
definitely more that has to be done,”
including hiring more inspectors.
RAILROAD SAFETY
FRA Releases New Video
for Truck Drivers
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
released a new highway-rail grade crossing safety video for
truck drivers designed to promote
safety at highwayrail grade crossings.
The video also provides situational
awareness by highlighting important
aspects of railroad
operations at crossings. Avaliable in
English and Spanish, FRA reports the
video is short enough to be shown to
drivers before shifts or in safety meetings. Download the video at www.fra
.dot.gov/us/content/2109.
AIR QUALTIY
EPA Reviews Key
Clean Air Document
EPA granted a petition for reconsideration of a Bush Administration memo
regarding the purpose of the Clean Air
Act. The memo, put forward by former
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson in
December 2008, addresses when the
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Prevention of Significant Deterioration
program applies to carbon dioxide.
Concerns were raised about the memo’s
potential impact on U.S. communities.
The Sierra Club and other parties petitioned EPA in January to reconsider the
memo. “I am granting this petition
because we must
learn more about
how this memo
affects all relevant
stakeholders impacted by its provisions,” says EPA
Administrator Lisa
Jackson. “This will
be a fair, impartial
and open process that will allow the
American public and key stakeholders
to review this memorandum and to
comment on its potential effects on communities across the country.”
EPA plans to review the memo to
ensure that it is consistent with the
Obama Administration’s climate change
strategy and interpretation of the Clean
Air Act. While reviewing, EPA will abide
by the three core principles outlined by
Jackson: overwhelming transparency,
adherence to the rule of law, and science-based policies and regulations. To
learn more, visit www.epa.gov.
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19
Professional
Affairs
I
Out of the Shadows
have always found it interesting when SH&E
professionals point out particular business leaders and proclaim that these executives “get it”
when it comes to safety management in their
organizations. The suggestion is that only a few
astute and talented business leaders are able to
Tom Lawrence, Vice
grasp the concept that the proper management of
President, Council on safety is socially responsible, good business and a
critical aspect of corporate governance. Does it real(COPA), discusses
ly make sense to put the onus on the “unenlightCOPA’s recommenda- ened” business leaders for their failure to
tions for revisions to understand the importance of safety and SH&E
ANSI Z10-2005, and
professionals to their organizations, or should
suggests that corpo- SH&E professionals be
rate executives may
looking in the mirror
need to be educated when assigning blame?
about what SH&E
This question came to
professionals do and mind again recently
how they add value. when the Council on
(COPA) was working
on some of the tasks
relating to the Value of
the Safety Professional
project, as highlighted
in the May 2008 and
November 2008 issues
of Professional Safety.
One of the goals
related to that project is
to increase the business community’s understanding of the value of the SH&E professional. With
that goal in mind, COPA reviewed ANSI voluntary
consensus standard Z10-2005, Occupational Health
and Safety Systems. During that review, it became
apparent that we had not given business leaders
sufficient guidance on how to fulfill their responsibilities regarding Z10, particularly as it relates to
working with SH&E professionals. This failure to
provide clear directions leaves business executives
to their own devices on several important issues
and minimizes the importance of the role of SH&E
professionals in implementing Z10.
Unfortunately, similar concerns can be voiced
regarding the guidance provided for preventionthrough-design (PtD). If we are to reposition SH&E
professionals to a more prominent role in their
organizations, we must lead the way for executives,
showing them how SH&E professionals fit into the
various organizational processes and the value they
add. In other words, it is time that we demystify
the role of SH&E professionals and move them out
of the shadows by shedding more light on their
capabilities and competence.
the SH&E professional in this process? One of your
tasks is “defining and assessing the OHSMS competence needed for employees and contractors”
(Section 5.2A). According to the Z10 guidance,
“competence is normally achieved or demonstrated
through one or more of the following: education,
training, mentoring, experience, certification, licensing and performance assessment” (Section E5.2E).
Continuing this example, at this point, based
on your lack of experience in this area, you would
probably be thinking about getting expert help,
perhaps forming a team or identifying a point
person to assist you. In fact, the Z10 guidance
states that you should
“ensure that competent health and safety
personnel are available
to participate in the
implementation of the
OHSMS and to provide adequate expert
technical consultation”
(Section E5.2E). So
what type of team
should you put together or what expert
advice should you
seek? If you choose the
option of seeking
expert OSH-related
advice (Z10 does not require this—the Z10 guidance states that you should do this, not that you
must), what do the terms competent health and safety personnel and adequate expert technical consultation mean?
Based on the guidance provided, would you
have a grasp on what level of expertise you need,
when you should involve experts in the process
and for what tasks? If you are unfamiliar with the
capabilities of SH&E professionals, would you use
them at all, limit their involvement to answering
technical questions or view them as a leader in the
OHSMS implementation process? Perhaps you
would interpret competent health and safety personnel
to mean your operations manager who has had
some experience performing safety audits with an
OSHA checklist. Should we assume that because
you are in top management you are able to figure
out what steps to take and who to get involved,
and, so, just let you handle it? We want you to be
the champion of the OHSMS but have we put you
in a position to successfully fulfill that role?
OSH Management Systems:
Prevention-Through-Design
Continuing with our hypothetical scenario, the
OSH Management Systems: Competence
same questions arise about who should be involved
Let me share some examples of our findings
in the PtD process required by Z10 5.1.2 (Design
regarding Z10. Suppose you are an executive with
Review and Management of Change) and what
minimal safety-related experience and you have
that process would look like. In reading the Z10
been asked to implement an OSH management sys- guidance, the only on-point recommendations are
tem for your organization. What guidance does Z10
offer you and what would you view as the role of
Professional Affairs continued on page 26
25
Professional
Affairs
continued
from page 25
that training programs should include
“engineers in safety design” (Section
E5.2B) and that one of the roles and
responsibilities of directors, managers
and department heads is “(Engineering)
assess the health and safety impact of
new processes and equipment, and
incorporate appropriate controls”
[Appendix B (Informative)]. This suggests that PtD is an engineering-only
function.
Pursuant to the Z10 guidance, there is
no recognized role for the SH&E professional in the PtD process. There is no
direct reference to the role of the SH&E
professional in the PtD process, only the
catchall statement of responsibility that
the safety and health department provide
guidance and technical assistance in identifying safety hazards [Appendix B
(Informative)]. If you followed the
informative recommendation of the Z10
guidance and assigned the PtD responsibility to an engineer, would you be in a
position to quality-control the process if
the engineer decided not to include SH&E
professionals in the process or minimized
their role? Would you know the value of
SH&E professionals in the process?
Miscellaneous
There are several other instances
where additional guidance would be
useful—if not indispensible—to managers responsible for implementation of
OHSMS. Regarding the initial and ongoing reviews to identify OHSMS issues,
the Z10 guidance states that training
should be provided for the people performing these tasks and cites as examples of hazard-related training, “training
in hazard identification, good safety
practices and use of personal protective
equipment” (Section E5.2B d).
Does this guidance sufficiently
inform managers about the complexity
of the hazard identification process and
the skills necessary to competently handle these tasks? Could you send an
employee for one day of hazard identification training and meet the requirements of Z10? Compare the language in
OHSAS 18001, the international occupational health and safety management
system specification widely used in
Europe, “Hazard identification should
be conducted by person(s) with competence in relevant hazard identification
methodologies and techniques and
appropriate knowledge of the work
26
activity” (OHSAS 18002 Section 4.3.1.3).
Perhaps even this language does not go
far enough to make clear that the
responsible manager needs to pay close
attention to the skill level and competencies of people involved in identifying
OHSMS issues.
In addition, further details, definitions
or examples of various aspects of the
process of identifying OHSMS issues
would be helpful to managers trying to
understand what is required. Compare
the Z10 guidance that “the review
should also include consideration of
work organization, programs, policies,
procedures and workflow,” with the
OHSAS 18002 recommendation that pro-
Plainly stating
the role of SH&E
professionals
and the value
they bring to the table
is a necessary step
toward educating
those who are
in a position to make
critical decisions
for the organization.
vides details regarding these items:
“workplace design, traffic plans, site
plans; process flowcharts, operations
manuals and product plans; inventories
of hazardous materials (raw materials,
chemicals, wastes, products, subproducts); equipment specifications; product
specifications, material safety data
sheets, toxicology and other OH&S data;
monitoring data; and occupational exposure and health assessments” (OHSAS
18002 4.3.1.3). This additional information will allow the implementing
manager to better understand and quality-control the process.
Similar issues can be raised regarding
the complexity of the risk assessment
process and the capabilities and skill
level of those performing them. The
background information, general guide
on how to perform a hazard analysis
and risk assessment, and references to
publications on risk assessment systems
and methods provided in Appendix E
are useful in providing a framework for
the process. But, does it suggest that
someone who has no relevant training,
education or experience can complete a
quality risk assessment? Can such a person simply read about the process and
perform a risk assessment for a chemical processing plant? Would such a per-
son know the pitfalls and lessons
learned regarding the process and
whether some risk assessment methodologies are more effective than others
for certain types of organizations?
This leads to the fundamental question of the role of the SH&E professional
in successfully implementing and operating an OHSMS. The reality is that the
companies most successful in implementing OHSMS have dedicated SH&E
professionals managing the process.
It is disappointing that Z10 makes the
involvement of the SH&E professional
optional. Indeed, the term SH&E professional is not used, and other than a reference in Appendix B to Health and Safety
Department, there is no mention of the
safety function. ASSE lobbied for inclusion of the term occupational SH&E professional and better guidance on the role
during the original deliberations on Z10,
but was ultimately unsuccessful in gaining a consensus on these points. I understand that we want top management to
take the lead in implementing the
OHSMS to demonstrate their commitment to it, but to draft the standard and
the guidance as though SH&E professionals do not exist or are of limited
importance to the process does not make
sense. This not only minimizes the role
of the SH&E professional but also does a
disservice to an organization.
Recommendations
Viewing these issues from another
perspective, what information would
managers find useful in assisting them
in the OHSMS implementation process?
With that thought in mind, COPA
reviewed and compared the requirements and guidance provided in Z10,
OHSAS 18001 and the International
Labour Organization (ILO) Guidelines
on Occupational Safety and Health
Management Systems. (The ILO is the
United Nations agency that promotes
decent work throughout the world.) A
comparison chart with recommendations was prepared (visit www.asse.org/
psextras). Following is a summary of
several key recommendations made by
COPA regarding revisions to Z10:
•Mandate the involvement of competent safety and health personnel rather
than recommend it. This would be similar to the requirement in the U.K., where
the Management of Health and Safety at
Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR),
Regulation 7, requires every employer to
appoint one or more competent persons
to assist with putting measures in place
to ensure legal compliance.
•Develop a step-by-step guide on
how to implement OHSMS directed at
leaders responsible for implementation.
This would include information on who
should be involved in each step, what
role each plays and the expertise required; a breakdown and explanation of
each process; the lessons learned, pitfalls, concerns and examples regarding
required activities; and information for
small- and medium-size organizations
and relevant industries. ASSE is also
considering the development of a workshop for managers to support implementation of Z10.
•Provide a detailed explanation of
competent health and safety personnel and
adequate expert technical consultation. We
recommend introducing the term occupational safety and health professional, explaining what SH&E professionals do using
ANSI Z590.2 (the scope and function of
the safety professional position) or the
Nature of Work section from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook
Handbook (2008-09 Edition), and providing examples that demonstrate the
advantages of using SH&E professionals.
•Provide a detailed explanation of
what competent employees and contractors
means and how to determine such competence. This would include a discussion
on OSHA requirements and an appendix
summarizing OSHA regulations on competent persons.
•Provide more-detailed information
on the hazard identification, initial
review and ongoing review processes,
including methodologies, techniques,
human factors, expertise needed to conduct these processes and examples of the
completed processes.
•Expand the language on PtD to clarify how the process works and that there
is a role for the SH&E professional. This
would include a list of all those who
should be involved in the design process,
delineation of responsibility, a discussion
of the expertise required and the specific
steps to carry out the design process.
•Discuss the legal ramifications of not
implementing Z10.
•Add more details to the tools provided in the appendices to further educate
managers on how the processes work.
Tooting Our Own Horn?
The focus of this article has been on
clarifying the role of the SH&E professional in implementing and operating
OHSMS. However, that does not mean
that the recommendations we made to
amend Z10 are biased or self-serving.
The additional guidance we propose
would be in the best interest of all parties involved in or affected by the
OHSMS. Plainly stating the role of
SH&E professionals and the value we
bring to the table is not tooting our own
horn—it is a necessary step toward edu-
cating those who are in a position to
make critical decisions for the organization. The notion that we should not
wave our own banner is widespread
and detrimental to the profession. Is it
better to sing the praises of the SH&E
professional in a tactful manner or leave
our fate in the hands of others? If we do
not make a case for the value of the
SH&E professional then who will? From
ASSE’s perspective, promoting and
being a champion for the SH&E professional is an important part of our purpose, vision and mission statements.
Finally, my intent was not to be overly critical of Z10 and all of the good
work that went into making it happen.
The same issues of lack of clarity on the
SH&E professional’s role and instructions on how to implement safety-related processes are common in many of
the standards and programs that we
have analyzed. We want Z10 to be as
successful as possible, and clarifying the
role of the SH&E professional and providing additional guidance to management is one way to make that happen.
But in a larger sense, we are seeking to
change a mindset among those SH&E
professionals who think that managers
will figure out what we do and how we
add value without our educating them
to these facts.
27
Safety
Management
Safety
Management
Transforming
Safety Culture
Grassroots-led/management-supported change
at a major utility
By Steven I. Simon and Peter A. Cistaro
I
IMPLEMENTING CULTURE CHANGE in any
organization with deeply entrenched subcultures
presents special challenges. Transforming the safety
culture in a utility with dozens of gas, electric and
customer service sites requires particularly creative,
customized solutions.
In 1999, New Jersey’s principal utility, Public
Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) embarked on a
journey toward safety excellence through culture
change. Through this initiative, this organization with
6,500 employees and a record of 32 fatalities in the previous 27 years achieved an OSHA recordable rate of
1.41 and a lost-workday case rate of 0.33 by 2007.
At PSE&G, site-specific subcultures had been in
place for generations. Gas delivery was different
from electric, north was different from south, urban
was different from rural and so on. These different
subcultures had different needs. No uniform transformational template—and no cookieSteven I. Simon, Ph.D., is president cutter program—could be applied
of Culture Change Consultants Inc. An company-wide.
organizational psychologist with 25
The first phase of the 9-year culture
years’ experience guiding companies change project made its way through
through culture change to improve the organization village by village, tribe
safety performance, he holds a Ph.D. by tribe, tailoring interventions to fit
in Clinical Psychology from Harvard each individual subculture. The second
University. Simon has coauthored phase focused on issues that needed to
many professional publications on the be addressed system-wide—leadersubject of safety culture. ship, trust, measurements, learning and
Peter A. Cistaro worked in the utility communications.
industry for more than 38 years,
PSE&G recognized that union parretiring in January 2007 as vice ticipation had to be built in from the
president, gas delivery, from Public start. The company committed to enlist
Service Electric and Gas Co. in Newark, grassroots leadership along with manNJ. During his career, he held agement support at every stage, thereleadership positions in many national by institutionalizing its conviction that
and international industry culture change could, and should, take
organizations, and was involved in place from the bottom up and the top
many nonprofit organizations, down simultaneously.
including serving as chair of the New
The synergy and reciprocity rooted
Jersey Safety Council. in mutual trust and respect between
28
change agents is key to making long-term culture
change journeys work. Peter Cistaro, then the
PSE&G vice president in charge of gas distribution
and chief internal champion, and Steven Simon,
Ph.D., an outside consultant, maintained an open
channel over the sometimes rocky terrain of the 9year journey to create, examine, implement and
modify strategy according to shifting conditions.
Along the way, dozens of new internal culture
change champions joined in, expanding the coalition
of leaders at each level of the organization. All
involved share the belief that transformation of an
organization’s culture is an intensively people-oriented enterprise: it is, after all, people who make it
happen. What follows is the story of how the internal and external culture change champions worked
together to transform PSE&G’s safety culture.
The Way It Was
In 2003, PSE&G celebrated its 100th anniversary.
The company has a proud tradition of providing gas
and electric service to its customers. Its employees
have a wealth of experience, many of them on the
job for their entire adult lives. They are dedicated
and hardworking.
For much of the company’s history, the cultural
norm was to take some risks in order to get the job
done. Jorge Cardenas, manager of the Northern Gas
Division, recalls observing a crew opening a 6-ft hole
in the road in front of a house in Jersey City to investigate a gas leak. A fire was burning in the hole when
the crew uncovered the pipe. It was an extremely
dangerous situation. Nearby residents were evacuated from their houses and two inspectors from the
New Jersey Board of Utilities were at the scene.
The local crew chief took Cardenas aside and
said, “If you can get the inspectors away from here,
we’ll jump in there and get the job done, get these
people back in their homes.” Cardenas knew the
Jersey City guys had a reputation for taking chances
and considered getting hurt a badge of honor. Their
pride in doing whatever it takes, nevermind the risk,
explained their 11 OSHA recordables in the previous
6 months. “It hit me right then and there,” Cardenas
reports, “that we needed to make some real changes,
and we needed to make them pronto.”
In fact, everyone from the chairman on down
knew changes were needed. Jersey City was not the
only PSE&G district with a poor safety record. The
same behavior characterized both the gas and electric sides of the distribution and delivery business
throughout the state.
Yet, it was not as though PSE&G had ignored
safety. The company had always had at least a semblance of a safety committee system. Safety rules
were in place and PPE was readily available.
Routine safety audits were performed to monitor the
workplace for safety hazards. And there had never
been a lack of funds for safety equipment or training.
Yet, these programs, taken together, had not been
effective because too many people were getting hurt.
Traditionally, safety had been thought of as management’s responsibility, and there were not enough
safety-minded managers or safety professionals to
go around. Employee involvement in safety was
low. Gas and electric delivery are field operations
and people are scattered in small crews over 2,600
square miles. Employees in the field tended to do
things the way they had been doing them for at least
30 years—bringing problems to management, for
example, rather than taking the lead to resolve issues
themselves. Each district was its own tribe—and
within each resided additional minitribes consisting
of as few as the two or three workers on a truck crew.
A district might have 20 minitribes, each doing
things according to its own unspoken code.
Despite this, relations between the company and
the union had improved as a result of joint effort on
quality and legislative initiatives, to the extent that in
the late 1990s PSE&G was somewhat fertile ground
for seeding a world-class safety culture. Indeed,
safety was perhaps the one cause around which all
parties could unite. The company’s poor safety performance and recent fatalities provided a clear call to
action. All that was needed was effective leadership
and a way to make it work.
Among the salient recommendations produced by
the joint union/management benchmarking team
was a new safety system, creating a safety constitution and a safety congress for the company.
The new system incorporated 19 component
mandates representing key aspects of safety from
accountability to training, which were manualized
and scheduled for serial implementation companywide over a 5-year period. Development of a new
safety structure for managing the safety program
was one critical mandate.
The safety structure was to operate on two levels.
A local safety council (LSC) made up of represented
workers, managers, supervisors and SH&E professionals, was to be formed for each district and division. A separate line of business council (LOB) was to
be formed for gas, electric and customer operations,
the membership of each to be comprised of the LSC
chairpersons and the respective LOB upper management. Of particular importance, chairpersons in all
cases were to be drawn from the grassroots—frontline, bargaining unit workers (Figure 1, p. 30).
This new structure dedicated significant people
resources to safety. It emphasized the commitment to
full engagement of frontline employees in the safety
process: the LSCs were designed to foster much
greater grassroots responsibility for their own safety.
The structure was based on the recognition that creating a positive safety culture requires involvement and
engagement by all levels of the organization. It set the
stage for the shift from a command-and-control
approach to managing safety to a hybrid approach
that is grassroots led and management supported.
Skepticism surfaced over whether the new system
and structure would amount to just another flavorof-the-month tactic, but because the unions had been
accorded a share in leadership, hopes were high that
the commitment was real this time. In fact, senior
managers and top union officials signed a safety
commitment statement (Figure 2, p. 31). It was writ
large and posted across the utility to make their commitment to an accident-free workplace known to all.
Abstract: This article
presents a case study
that captures the 9-year
culture change journey
started at a major New
Jersey utility in 1999.
Keys to the success of an
authentic, sustainable
culture change include
engaging and empowering union employees in
the process; customizing
interventions; and
implementing those
interventions in two
phases—first village by
village, then utility-wide.
Enter Culture
By 1999, 2 years had passed and the new safety
system and structure were being put in place. Cistaro
The Commitment to Change
was trying to develop increased employee involveChange began with an extended benchmark study ment in safety, which he saw as a potential anchor
of companies known for excellent safety programs. strategy for improvements in other areas and in
which he maintained a key personal interest. Building on the
fact that represented workers at
PSE&G were becoming increasThis narrative reflects the authors’ shared conviction that transforming
ingly responsive when it came
organizational culture in an authentic, sustainable way means enlisting
to safety issues, Cistaro brought
people as champions and guides, not just implementing programmatic
some LSC chairpersons to the
formulas. This article was written to illustrate how strategic collaboraannual meeting of the New
tion between internal and external agents of change works and how
Jersey State Safety Council, of
much it matters. Accordingly, we—Peter Cistaro, former PSE&G vice
which he was then chair, to see
president in charge of gas distribution, and Steve Simon, an independwhether they might return with
ent consultant—explicitly reference our participation and very real
some good ideas.
partnership as we chronicle the utility’s safety culture journey.
The union chairpersons
spread out at the meeting, but
Authors’ Note
29
two of them quickly corralled Cistaro and hurried
him to a talk on achieving a world-class safety culture. “You have to get over here and listen to this
guy. He might as well be talking about us.” The
speaker was Steven Simon, and Cistaro was struck
by how well his examples embodied where PSE&G
was and where it wanted to go.
Simon asserted that safety excellence is a product
not only of the right programs, such as the safety system PSE&G had just designed and adopted, but also
of the right culture. He compared the two factors to a
Figure
Figure 1 1
New Safety Structure
PSEG H&S Council
Line of Business H&S Council chairs
Union representaves to the PSEG H&S Council
Senior H&S advisor, safety manager, safety
administrator or safety leader
Manager, corporate health and safety
Medical director
PSEG Health & Wellness Leader
Wellness Council chair
Director, corporate security services
Members-at-large
Communicaons specialist
PSEG Wellness
Council
Line of Business H&S Councils
Local H&S Council chairs
Line of Business Council leader
Senior H&S advisor, safety manager,
safety administrator or safety leader
One appointed union representave
per union
Line of Business wellness
representave
Local H&S Councils
Cross-secon of locaon employees
Locaon manager
Local H&S advisor
Local wellness representave
30
stew and its broth. Safety programs are the ingredients in the stew—policies, systems and processes as
the meat and vegetables, while the prevailing culture
is the broth. If the ingredients are cooking in a wholesome broth—a positive safety culture of trust, caring,
responsible leadership—everything works to its
potential: incident investigations are open and honest, root causes are identified and countermeasures
are easily designed; and training is well-attended and
productive. However, if those safety programs are
swimming in a rancid broth—a safety culture characterized by mistrust, poor communication, lack of
leadership—the stew will be ruined: incident investigations will be marred by suspicion, prevarication
and withholding; root causes will remain elusive and
countermeasures a matter of guesswork; and training
will be poorly attended and unproductive.
In PSE&G’s case, all 19 components of the new
safety system would flourish only in a wholesome
broth. That was a revelation to the PSE&G union
representatives and it became clear to them that only
part of the journey toward safety excellence was in
fact underway. Introduction of the new system and
structure had created a scaffolding for safety
improvement at PSE&G, but values, norms and
behaviors had a long way to go.
Cistaro recognized that culture change might fill
the gap he knew existed at PSE&G. He invited
Simon to address the next monthly LBC safety meeting, where Simon asserted that now culture needed
as much attention as programs had received. He
introduced the importance of enlisting leadership at
all levels of the organization, of working on safety
culture by means of a grassroots-led, managementsupported approach.
Phase 1: Culture Change
Village by Village, 1999-2003
Crafting the Strategy
The next step was devising the right roadmap for
intervening at PSE&G. The approach needed to
make sense in terms of the geographic dispersal of
the gas and electric locations as well as in terms of the
history, existing culture and current needs of each. In
1999, the utility had four electric divisions with 400 to 500
constituents apiece, and 11
gas and appliance services
districts of about 150 people
each. Customer operations
An employee-led safety council struc(meter readers) were a sepature was one of the key components of
rate department of 1,200.
the new safety and health system.
How does one get one’s arms
Those asked to serve as chairs
around that? Where does one
responded with enthusiasm, yet most
begin culture change?
had no experience chairing a commitInitially, Cistaro advocattee. The chairperson training program
ed for a roadmap that landed
was designed to teach the basics: How
at every site in the compato 1) move through an agenda and
ny—in other words, for a
keep notes; 2) facilitate open discusutility-wide initiative. After
sion; and 3) resolve issues and comall, if culture change was
municate the resolutions.
worth doing, it was worth
putting in place everywhere
Chairperson
Training Program
Figure
Figure 2 2
Commitment Statement
and on a fast track. In fact, many companies adopt
such an approach. However, the culture was not uniform across the sites, so the interventions could not
be applied uniformly either.
An optimally sustainable transformation would
proceed village by village. It would identify and
honor the particular strengths, needs and resources
of each individual culture. Furthermore, global lessons learned in one area could be applied to the next,
facilitating course corrections. When it was agreed
that this approach offered a better platform for culture change, two pilot locations were selected.
The next critical question was who would drive
the change process. It is important to tailor the intervention to fit an organization’s existing structure.
Since PSE&G’s safety structure emphasized that
safety was to be driven from the grassroots level, the
culture change process should be driven from the
grassroots as well.
However, because culture change driven by the
grassroots cannot realistically succeed without management support, it would be vital to enlist and educate safety culture leaders from both constituencies
within each location. To produce a sustainable new
safety culture, parallel paths for change would have
to be put in place among represented workers and
through the existing management system—within
each village and within the company as a whole.
Pilot Interventions:
Different Strokes
The first phase of the culture
journey at PSE&G took place
from 1999 to 2003. The two
pilot locations became demonstration projects to show people what the process was like,
gaining buy-in from both
union and management, and
spreading the word in advance
of a larger roll-out. One pilot
program was launched at
New Brunswick Gas, which
had a strong safety record and
a good working relationship
between union and management, and the other in the
Central Electric Division,
where injuries and controversy
were more common.
It was decided that New
Brunswick was ready to begin
implementing culture change
with a traditional sequence
whose first step was an assessment. That would enable the
site to see where it was so those
involved could determine
where they wanted to go. To
generate baseline quantitative
data about the culture, all
employees participated in a
safety culture perception survey; the data were amplified, qualified and textured
through focus groups and interviews. The results,
complete with recommendations, were reported to a
joint group of union and management personnel
during a 2-day feedback session that offered a care-
Figure
Figure 3 3
PSE&G OSHA Recordable
Incidence Rates, 1999-2007
4
3.21
3.11
2.83
3
2.67
2.58
2.68
2.22
2
1.38
1.41
2006
2007
1
0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
31
ful snapshot of the division’s
Figure 4
culture, then invited participants to define key issues and
brainstorm interventions that
would best advance them in a
more positive direction.
In 1999, the Central Electric
0.99
1.00
0.93
Division had too many unresolved union and management
issues to take the conventional
culture assessment route. Mistrust and suspicion were rampant. Stories were told about
workers who reported phan0.50
tom injuries to get management
in trouble and about managers
who disciplined first and investigated later. Before the factions
could unite around a commitment to assess the safety cul0.00
ture—much less around actions
to improve it—they needed to
2000
2001
address the longstanding mistrust that undermined every interaction between
union and management at this location.
In keeping with the philosophy of tailoring intervention to need, the first step was to host a 3-day
workshop that brought together 30 key leaders from
the ranks of union and management and created an
opportunity for them to identify the underlying
assumptions which fueled mistrust, disrespect and
negativity in their relationships and, in turn,
spawned a poor safety culture. The facilitated
exchange of perceptions and working through of the
issues voiced over the course of the workshop produced positive results in the form of action plans for
the short- and long-term future as well as praise for
their counterparts by management and union leadership—a definite leap forward.
In retrospect, starting with two different pilot
projects served this initiative well. Launching the
process with an assessment in a highly successful
location produced a template that would be mod-
Figure 4
PSE&G OSHA Lost-Time
Case Rate, 2000-07
0.85
0.81
0.70
0.62
0.45
0.33
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
eled by other successful sites; in fact, it has since
been applied in five more gas locations and one electric location, as well as in the transportation and
materials management departments.
Likewise, initiating the process by intervening
where an adversarial relationship prevailed between
workgroups established a model for galvanizing
partnership in the face of union/management
unreadiness to work together. The 3-day workshop
has proved to be so powerful a tool that eight more
sessions have been instituted since 2000.
Enlisting Senior Managers as Leaders
At the launch of the pilot projects, Cistaro, aware
of the effect of strong leadership on safety performance, asked Simon to meet with his management
team. He recognized that empowering and unleashing the grassroots to exercise leadership for safety
without preparing management to respond to the
increased safety emphasis could derail the entire
process. Consistent with the decision to
drive the culture change journey from both
the top down and the bottom up, Cistaro
sought to develop the skills of his senior
A self-assessment survey provides a vehicle for leaders at all levels of the organileadership team—his direct reports in
zation to evaluate their current safety culture leadership skills and develop
charge of the gas and electric businesses—
action plans to improve them. At PSE&G, a 25-item instrument was used to
toward advancing their transformation
assesses strengths and weaknesses around five key leadership practices.
into effective safety culture leaders.
Examples follow:
Several members of this team initially
•Making the case for change: “I successfully communicate to people in our
showed resistance to the initiative. They felt
organization how improvements in the safety culture benefit everyone’s longthey were spending more time than ever on
term interests.”
safety—perhaps too much time. The new
•Shared vision: “I talk about the kind of safety culture we want to create
19-component safety system made for a lot
together.”
of work, as did the monthly LSC meetings
•Building trust: “My actions are consistent with the values I espouse.”
and the monthly all-day LBC meetings. But
•Developing capability: “I consistently seek to develop the skills and knowlCistaro believed this team had to learn to
edge in myself and others to meet the challenges of changing the culture.”
support the culture change process as it was
•Recognition: “I make sure that people who contribute to success receive
rolled out in their divisions and districts so
recognition.”
they could encourage and harness the participation of their field personnel.
How Do Leaders Lead Safety Culture?
32
It was recognized that senior managers’ time and attention had been taken up
managing—rather than leadThe first initiative developed by the leadership subteam was to
ing—the safety program. It
increase the number of individual grassroots safety champions.
was in that context that safety
It was pursued through mentoring and peer-to-peer coaching. Sucess
culture leadership became a
was realized when the first group of chairpersons rotated.
priority. From the early stages
The second leadership initiative was to develop the safety culof the undertaking, senior
ture leadership quotient of middle management. It was aimed
managers were educated to
at
addressing
a significant change brought about by the adoption of
lead the journey, supervisors
the new safety and health system in 1997, namely that whereas the
received intensive leadership
old safety system was supervisor-led, the new system was employeetraining, and safety culture
led. Many supervisors, who traditionally handled the safety protransition teams would be
grams, were out of sorts in dealing with a supportive role in safety
established to guide and susrather than a leadership role. The second initiative provided sequentain the process, reflecting the
tial workshops that helped supervisors develop a better understandhybrid structure.
ing of their new role through developing the safety culture leadership
When members of this team
skills of middle management. The result was their greater engagewere asked to define their indiment in the safety process.
vidual roles as leaders in the
organization with regard to
The third leadership initiative was to improve the relationship
safety (“What are you doing
between street leaders and supervisors in the gas department.
personally?”), many indicated
In addition to learning to speak the language of culture and the correthey sponsored mandated safesponding tools, the sessions helped develop the street leaders’ capaty meetings, audits and trainbilities to walk the delicate balance between supervising a crew of
ing by coordinators. These
union workers and being safety leaders. The key result of these seswere not the desired answers.
sions was more people returning home safely each day. Their success
It was not enough to have a
could also be seen in greater participation in the local safety council
great institutional safety prostructure and the increase in near-hit reporting.
gram. Safety had to be practiced by everyone, particularly
leaders, every day. They had to focus people’s atten- 150 employees, even before they got their promised
individual projects. His 75 managers and supervition on safety issues—they had to set the example.
To that end, members of the leadership team sors met once every 4 months and devoted half a
completed a safety culture leadership inventory, day to training in the tools and methodology for
compiling a list of their individual and collective changing the safety culture. The initiative to create
leadership skills. Members committed to use their leaders at the supervisory level was so well targeted
influence as leaders in their divisions to cultivate that it was adopted by nearly every electric and gas
their home ground so that when the culture seed location in the company.
Again, like the safety culture assessment and the
was planted, it would have a greater chance to germinate and grow. Each division was promised that it breaking cycles workshop in the pilots, an intervention tailored to address the need of a particular vilwould receive at least one project of its own.
The momentum for enlisting leadership cascaded lage resonated and was eventually replicated
down to the next level even as the division managers throughout the entire organization.
continued to meet bimonthly with Cistaro and
Devising a Guiding Coalition for Each Village
Simon. Their chief subordinates attended a 3-day
A long-term process like safety culture change
off-site course designed to develop safety culture
needs not only the templates established locally but
change leaders. By now the number of people with
also a sturdy superstructure under which key leaders
the body of knowledge to champion a safety
can manage the transition from the prevailing safety
culture change initiative at the utility has grown to a
culture to the safety culture of the future. To accomcritical mass.
plish this across a division, the first safety culture
transition team (SCTT) was set up in the Palisades
Enlisting Supervisors as Leaders
The members of the senior leadership team rep- division, on the electric side of the business.
It was December 2000 and Palisades had experiresented only a small part of the PSE&G management structure. Frontline supervisors actually had enced a particularly bad year. The existing safety
the most interaction with the grassroots. Jorge committee structure was not advancing the necesCardenas, the Northern Gas Division manager men- sary change. A parallel team that focused exclusivetioned earlier, identified a need and personally ly on culture issues had to be created. Cistaro and
drove an effort to provide the supervisors in his ter- Simon agreed on a dedicated group comprised of
union and management leaders, all of whom comritory with the means to effect change.
He came up with a plan that would spread cul- mitted themselves to the transition team. In fact,
ture change throughout his five districts, each with they have been meeting for 4 hours every other
Three Leadership Initiatives
➊
➋
➌
33
week for more than 7 years, and their efforts have
created a turnaround in the division. Both Cistaro
and the head of the union, who attended the early
sessions regularly, share the conviction that these
meetings have produced some of the most open and
fruitful discussions that they have ever engaged in.
By this time, it was almost axiomatic that the success of a trial initiative would spread throughout the
organization—and it did. Soon, every electric division had its own SCTT.
Phase 2: Culture Change Utility-Wide,
2003-2007
After 4 years of establishing the elements to sustain the safety culture change journey in PSE&G’s
separate business units and their divisions and locations, it became apparent that some issues essential to
continued success would only be resolved through
utility-wide initiatives and support. The catalyst for
embracing a utility-wide focus was the observation
of new president Ralph Izzo in 2003. He noted that
while tremendous improvement had been achieved
since the creation and adoption of the new safety system in 1997, the OSHA recordable rate had reached
3.21—and stayed there. “Can we break through this
plateau?” he asked his senior leadership team.
“What do we need to do to get to the next level?”
The response reflected his team’s conclusion that
since the company’s safety programs were fine, the
margin for improvement resided in attention to the
culture in which they were implemented. Izzo questioned his team intently until he came to understand
and share their vision of the link between enhancing
the organization’s safety culture and achieving a
breakthrough in OSHA rates. He assumed the necessary leadership role and within a short time articulated his own vision of a safety culture to his
executive team and union leaders.
Utility-Wide Culture
Subteam Initiatives
•The Measurements & Benchmarking subteam created a new system of leading indicators to replace the focus on OSHA recordables as
the sole measurement; called SLIM (Safety Leading Indicators
Measurement), it looks at upstream activities that are intended to produce improved safety performance (see sidebar on p. 35).
•The Leadership subteam identified three initiatives: 1) to expand
the base of individual grassroots safety champions; 2) to develop the
safety culture leadership quotient of middle management; and 3) to
improve the relationship between street leaders and supervisors in
the gas department.
•The Communications subteam created a popular training program that taught skills for the many rank-and-file people who had
limited experience chairing the local safety councils.
•The Learning & Knowledge subteam created an intranet site for
coordinating all safety information.
•The Safe Driving subteam crafted a safe driving component that
was added to the safety and health program (see the web extras).
•The Ergonomics subteam initiated efforts in job safety analysis.
34
Izzo, who came in with a reputation as a numbersoriented manager, said he would gauge progress not
only by quantitative measures but also through the
quality of safety dialogue. As a kind of a one-man
focus group, he collected impressions by listening to
people at all levels of the company. His embrace of a
subjective metric was not lost on those who worked
for him. It reflected his evolving respect for the
importance of the people side of safety and paved the
way for skeptics—on his executive team, in the
supervisory ranks and in the union—to unify their
efforts toward working on the culture.
Creating a Utility-Wide Vision
Izzo first suggested consolidating a vision for
what the PSE&G safety culture would look like 5
years into the future. To do so, he commissioned an
ad hoc group consisting of the corporate head of safety, an internal organizational development consultant and Simon, whom he recognized as the external
partner in the organization’s culture change process,
to lead the safety culture visioning exercises.
One hundred twenty participants, representing
each safety council for the gas, electric and customer
operations businesses, identified the PSE&G safety
culture of the future as one comprised of four key
factors: pride, caring, trust and the belief that safety
is good business.
The objective was defined, yet the question remained: How shall we get where we want to go? It
would be a challenge to institute those initiatives not
amenable to implementation at the local level while
honoring the grassroots thrust of the first leg of the
journey and building on the work done village by
village.
In September 2003, the ad hoc group recommended a corporate-level SCTT structure to guide
the transition to the future the visioning groups had
defined. Six subteams would be established, each to
focus on one critical imperative in the safety culture:
1) measurement and benchmarking; 2) communication; 3) trust; 4) leadership; 5) learning and knowledge sharing; and 6) identifying what is missing.
Members of these teams would be drawn from
union and management personnel; every subteam
would also have an upper management sponsor and
a subject-matter expert.
Within a month, Izzo approved the recommendations and committed the resources needed to develop
this new analog to the safety structure whose express
mission would be to advance the company’s safety
culture change process utility-wide. Senior union and
management leadership bought into the formation of
a new corporate-level SCTT.
Launching the Utility-Wide
Safety Culture Transition Team
The utility-wide SCTT was launched in December 2003 with 15 members. Forty-five additional
leaders from union and management ranks across
the organization were invited to choose which of the
six safety culture subteams they wanted to join.
Then, beginning in January 2004, each subteam
assembled to create and, upon approval from the
SCTT, detail an initiative to address its assigned safety culture imperative.
The documented work plans identified the deliverable, the team member responsible, the key milestones, the desired accomplishment and results, and
the completion status. Once ratified by the SCTT, the
subteams’ work plans became major company-wide
initiatives for deployment by the separate LBCs
across the utility (see sidebar on p. 34). This highly
structured process served the needs of both the subteams and senior management, institutionalizing a
method by which teams could garner support for
the solutions they designed for their defined problems and senior management could tap into each
initiative’s objectives and resources up front before
committing to implementation.
The corporate SCTT met monthly to make decisions around the subteams’ initiatives; to eliminate
roadblocks and supply the resources necessary for the
effective implementation of their work plans; to work
with the management sponsors and team leaders; and
to keep communication about the initiatives flowing
throughout the organization. The SCTT was given the
authority to determine when subteams have run their
course or when they should be renewed and given the
wherewithal to rejuvenate themselves.
By the end of the first year of the subteam effort,
some small-scale deployment of their plans had
occurred; quarterly update sessions, attended by all
subteam members (approximately 70 people), provided periodic updates and a chance to celebrate
progress. By the end of the second year, several of
the initiatives were in place utility-wide. By 2006, the
leadership and what’s missing subteams had concluded their work and were recognized for their
contributions. Two new subteams were formed to
replace them, addressing additional needs identified
in the safety culture for attention to ergonomics and
safe driving.
Of particular note is one initiative adopted by the
trust subteam. Members embraced the value of the
cycle of mistrust and came up with a plan for on-site
cycle busters who could respond to emerging spirals
of mistrust while they were still relatively new to
prevent them from festering and spreading. The initiative called for volunteers from both union and
supervisory/management ranks to be trained in
facilitating mini-workshops. Graduates of the training become part of a cadre of cycle busters, ready to
take calls when a trust issue surfaces within the division and to facilitate in teams of two.
Key Take-Aways from the PSE&G Experience
Culture change is a long-term process. PSE&G’s
9-year project was predicated on the organization’s
internalization of the importance of the following:
•Look beyond safety programs to the surrounding culture.
•Develop authentic partnership for change
between internal champions and outside consultant,
building on trust and synergy to craft strategy and
interventions.
•Recognize that interventions must be tailored to
address the culture or subculture in question rather
than be developed and ima) Participation: monthly safety
plemented in a cookie-cutter
meetings (percent attendance and
manner.
quality); near misses; stop the jobs.
•Engage and empower
b) Inspections: completing guideunion employees from the
line of eight inspections per month;
start to provide genuine
issues resolved.
grassroots leadership.
c) Training: percentage of people
•Enlist and maintain
completing safety training.
strong, consistent support
d) Jobsite observations: number
for that leadership from
JSOs completed; percent safe behavmanagement.
iors; completing corrective actions.
•Respond to emerging
realities both village by village and organization-wide by improvising design
accordingly instead of adhering to prepackaged
strategies.
New Leading
Indicators
Conclusion
The first phase of the PSE&G safety culture
change journey wound its way around this major
utility village by village. The second phase focused
on issues that could only be addressed system-wide.
Throughout the process, a hybrid approach that
enlisted grassroots leadership and management
support was adopted.
The outcome has been the creation of an authentic,
sustained safety culture. Walk into any PSE&G location these days and one will hear the language of culture. It permeates the organization. Discussions about
safety have moved beyond talk about engineering or
training fixes to norms, perceptions, values, beliefs
and behaviors. There are safety culture leaders at all
levels of the organization, walking the talk. 䡲
References
Hogan, R. & Kaiser, R.B. (2005). What we know about leadership. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 169-180.
Kotter, J.P. & Heskett, J.L. (1992). Corporate culture and performance. New York: The Free Press.
Ryan, K.K. & Oestreich, D.K. (1998). Driving fear out of the workplace: Creating the high-trust, high-performance organization (2nd ed.).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Schein, E.H. (1983, Summer). The role of the founder in the
creation of organizational culture. Organizational Dynamics, 13-28.
Schein, E.H. (1992). Organizational culture and leadership (2nd ed.).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Schneider, W.E. (1995). Productivity improvement through cultural focus. Consulting Psychology: Practice and Research, 47(1), 3-27.
Simon, S.I. (1998). Safety culture assessment as a transformative process. Proceedings of the ASSE Behavioral Safety Symposium,
USA, 192-207.
Simon, S.I. (2001). Implementing culture change: Three strategies. Proceedings of the 2001 Behavioral Safety Symposium: The Next
Step, USA, 135-140.
Zohar, D. & Luria, G. (2005). A multilevel model of safety climate: Cross-level relationship between organization and grouplevel climates. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 616-628.
To view several additional
items related to this article,
visit www.asse.org/psextras.
35
Business
ofSafety
Safety
Business of
Financial Decision
Makers’ Views
on Safety
What SH&E professionals should know
By Yueng-Hsiang Huang, Tom B. Leamon, Theodore K. Courtney, Sarah DeArmond,
Peter Y. Chen and Michael F. Blair
I
IN 2006, A TOTAL OF 5,840 FATAL occupational
injuries occurred in private industry in the U.S. (BLS,
2008). In addition, 4.1 million nonfatal workplace
injuries and illnesses were reported, which means
that 4.4 nonfatal occupational injuries or illnesses
were reported for every 100 full-time-equivalent
workers in the U.S. Rosenman, Kalush, Reilly, et al.
(2006) have suggested that these statistics are a cause
for employer concern, especially in light of a recent
study which indicated that the BLS’s system for
recording work-related injuries and illnesses under-
counts the total number of injuries associated with
chronic or acute conditions.
Most SH&E professionals are very much aware of
these statistics and endeavor to reduce the numbers
of occupational fatalities, injuries and illnesses.
Often, however, there are limits as to what SH&E
professionals can do to positively impact occupational safety. For example, practitioners may not be
in a position to ultimately determine what and how
company resources are allocated to safety interventions. They may often have to find ways to convince
higher-level managers—who
Yueng-Hsiang Huang, Ph.D., is a senior research scientist at Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety
set priorities and control the
(LMRIS) in Hopkinton, MA. She holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Portland
budget—of the need to fund
State University. She is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, American
occupational safety efforts,
Psychological Association, Society for Occupational Health Psychology, the ASSE Foundation
and of the critical role their
Research Committee and the editorial board of Accident Analysis and Prevention.
support can play in their comTom B. Leamon, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor of occupational safety at Harvard University and has directed pany’s occupational safety.
major ergonomics and safety organizations in the glass, coal mining and insurance industries. He holds a Ph.D. in
Research has supported
Industrial Engineering from the Institute of Technology, Cranfield. Leamon has published widely and is a Fellow the concept that a positive assoof the Ergonomics Society, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Institute of Electrical Engineers. ciation exists between top
Theodore K. Courtney, M.S., CSP, is director of the Center for Injury Epidemiology at LMRIS and an instructor management support and imon injury, safety and ergonomics at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Recipient of the 2003 William proved workplace safety and
Floyd Medal and the 2006 NORA Partnering Award for his work in occupational injury research, he holds a B.S. health outcomes (Cohen, 1977;
in Human Factors from Georgia Tech and an M.S. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University Griffiths, 1985; Marsh, Davies,
of Michigan. Courtney is a member of the editorial boards for Professional Safety and the Journal of Phillips, et al., 1998). Griffiths
Environmental and Occupational Hygiene. He is a member of ASSE’s Greater Boston Chapter. (1985) found that top management commitment to safety and
Sarah DeArmond, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of human resources management at the University of
health was associated with
Wisconsin, Oshkosh. She holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Colorado State University.
reduced lost-time injuries in
DeArmond was named the 2005 ASSE Foundation-Liberty Mutual Safety Research Fellow. She is a member of
the industrial gas industry.
the Society for Occupational Health Psychology, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Academy
Sawacha, Naoum and Fong
of Management and American Psychological Association.
(1999) found that top managePeter Y. Chen, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at Colorado State University and heads the occupational ments’ attitudes toward safety
health psychology training program in the Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center funded by played a significant role in safeNIOSH. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida. ty performance.
Despite these findings, reMichael F. Blair, M.M.S., is a technical consultant within the National Market Loss Prevention Department
at Liberty Mutual Insurance Group. During his career, he has led the Workplace Safety and Occupational search to assess the safety priDisability Management group and conducted research at LMRIS. He holds an M.M.S. in Manufacturing orities and safety concerns of
Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and a B.S. in Industrial Technology from the top-level executives/managers
University of Lowell. He is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. (such as corporate financial
36
decision makers) has been limited. For SH&E professionals, it can be anticipated that knowing something
about top management’s priorities and concerns
would help to improve communication with these
individuals.
This article is part of a larger study (DeArmond,
Huang & Chen, 2007; Huang, Leamon, Courtney, et
al., 2007) that attempted to address this issue by
exploring corporate financial decision makers’ perceptions of safety issues. The purpose of this article
is to highlight results that identified corporate financial decision makers’ perceived leading safety priorities, concerns and losses; their perceived financial
impact of safety; and issues regarding safety programs in order to help SH&E professionals communicate more effectively with decision makers. The
goal is to provide information that may help shape
communications between SH&E professionals and
financial managers.
The Survey
Participants & Procedure
This study focused on medium- to large-sized companies (100 employees or more), anticipating that they
were more likely to have an individual dedicated to
corporate finance. Survey questions were developed
by the project team with additional contributions from
research scientists, SH&E professionals and market
research professionals. A pilot study was conducted
with 11 financial decision makers to test the questionnaire and identify potential methods for increasing the
response rate (Huang, et al., 2007). The questions have
content validity as they were developed, verified and
tested by various subject-matter experts.
Nine core questions were formulated to assess
financial decision makers’ perceptions toward workplace safety issues. A survey research/consulting
firm was hired to conduct the telephone interviews
using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing
lab. Experienced telephone interviewers contacted
the most senior executive or manager responsible for
making decisions about property and casualty risk
management or insurance-related services for their
organizations (e.g., CFO, director of finance).
Survey Topics
Topic 1: Perceived Leading Safety Priorities,
Concerns & Losses
Three questions were developed to explore financial decision makers’ perceptions of the leading safety priorities, concerns and losses. Participants were
asked about their companies’ safety priorities for
resource allocation for the upcoming year (Q1), leading cause of workers’ compensation losses (Q2) and
single greatest workplace safety concern (Q3).
The list of possible response options for a company’s safety priorities (Q1) for the upcoming year
were generated using data from the 2005 Liberty
Mutual Workplace Safety Index (Liberty Mutual,
2007), which provides information about the most
costly occupational injury events on an annual basis,
and the event or exposure leading to injury or illness
categories used by BLS (2004).
Topic 2: Perceived Financial Impact of Safety
Three questions were included to obtain insight
into the respondents’ perceptions of the financial
impact of occupational safety. These questions asked
about the ratio of direct costs (such as payments to
medical providers and the injured employees) versus indirect costs (such as lost productivity and
worker replacement costs) and what is the biggest
cause of indirect costs (Q4), the ratio of dollars spent
improving workplace safety versus dollars returned
(Q5) and the impact of workplace accidents on company financial performance (Q6).
Topic 3: Issues Regarding Safety Programs
Three open-ended questions were developed to
explore participants’ perceptions of issues related to
safety programs. These questions asked participants
what they perceived as the top benefits of safety programs (Q7), the best single modification to improve
safety within their companies (Q8) and whether
they thought that safety engineers were necessary in
their companies (Q9).
Survey Results
Telephone surveys were conducted with 231 corporate financial decision makers. This number represented about 20% of the total completed contacts.
The average survey lasted 12 minutes. Among the
respondents, 81% were male. In terms of job title,
49% were chief financial officers, 15% were controllers, 10% were vice presidents and 8% were
directors of finance.
Using company information provided by the
respondent, each company’s major industry sector
was identified. In accordance with the 2002 NAICS
codes and titles, about 23% of the respondents were
in manufacturing, 13% were in healthcare and social
assistance, 10% were in the finance and insurance
industry, 8% were in construction and 8% were in
wholesale trade. Detailed demographic information
about the sample is shown in the sidebar on p. 38.
Abstract: Top-level
managers determine
high-level budgets,
resource allocation and
corporate priorities
about safety-related
issues, yet little research
has been done regarding what they consider
to be important. Often,
SH&E professionals must
try to convince decision
makers to support safety
programs without
knowing much about
the thought processes
behind their decisions.
This study involved a
survey that explored
how 231 senior financial
executives or managers
for U.S.-based companies with 100 or more
employees perceive
important workplace
safety issues. This article
highlights some results
of that study.
Topic 1: Perceived Leading Safety Priorities,
Concerns & Losses
The top safety priorities for future resource allocation and efforts named by the corporate financial
decision makers in this sample were overexertion,
repetitive motion and bodily reaction injuries. Table
1 (p. 39) presents the ratings on safety priorities for
resource allocation for various injury causes.
When asked about the leading cause of workers’
compensation losses (Table 2, p. 40), the most common response was overexertion (34.4%), followed by
repetitive motion (13.5%) and bodily reaction
(11.6%). A few participants (2.3%) reported that they
had not had any losses/claims for some time.
For the single greatest workplace safety concern
for their company in the coming 12 months (Table 3,
p. 41), the most frequently reported were: 1) overexertion (20.3%); 2) repetitive motion (14.6%); 3) highway accidents (12.7%); 4) falling on the same level
(9.9%); and 5) bodily reaction (5.7%).
37
Descriptive Information of Respondents & Their Companies
Job Title
49.1% Chief financial officer
15.2% Controller
9.6%
Vice president
8.3%
Director of finance
3.5%
Chief operating officer
3.0%
Risk manager
11.4% Other (e.g., treasurer, finance manager)
Industry Type
23.4% Manufacturing
12.6% Healthcare and social assistance
9.5%
Finance and insurance
7.8%
Construction
7.8%
Wholesale trade
7.4%
Educational services
6.9%
Retail trade
5.2%
Hospitality
19.4% Other (4.3% or less each)
Number of Employees
43.7% 100 to 245 employees
4.8%
1,000 to 1,999 employees
12.6% 2,000 or more employees
Approximate Annual Revenue
10.4% Less than $10 million
19.7% $10 to $24.9 million
37.3% $25 to $74.9 million
15.5% $75 to $199.9 million
10.9% $200 to $499.9 million
3.1%
$500 to $999.9 million
3.1%
$1 billion or more
Gender
81.4% Male
18.6% Female
Topic 2: Perceived Financial Impact of Safety
The average estimated ratio of direct costs to indirect costs associated with occupational injuries was
$2.12 with a standard deviation (SD) of 1.9. This
means that for every dollar spent on direct costs,
participants believed about $2.12 would be spent on
indirect costs. The median ratio was $2:$1 (Figure 1,
p. 42). The biggest causes of indirect costs participants mentioned were: 1) workplace disruption,
downtime, loss of productivity (41.4%); 2) worker
replacement, training new employees (23.2%); and
3) workers’ compensation, increased insurance premiums, attorney fees (16.7%).
Participants perceived that, on average, for every
dollar spent improving workplace safety, about
$4.41 (SD = 12.0) would be returned. The median
was $2 (Figure 2, p. 42). For the question, “How
would you characterize the impact of workplace
accidents on your company’s financial performance,
using a scale of: 1 = below average impact, 2 = average impact; 3 = above average impact; 4 = well
above average impact; 5 = one of the highest
impact?”, 43% of the respondents reported below
average impact and 57% reported average and
above (a score of 2 to 5). Among all participants, only
10.8% reported that workplace accidents have well
above average or one of the highest impacts on their
company compared to other factors.
Topic 3: Issues Regarding Safety Programs
The top benefits of an effective workplace safety
program were perceived to be: 1) increased productivity (42.5%); 2) reduced costs (28.3%); 3) greater
retention of employees (7.1%); and 4) better employee/company morale and greater job satisfaction
among employees (5.8%).
The most preferred occupational safety intervention reported by participants centered around introducing more/better safety-focused training and
programs (26.6%). No other intervention reported
was named by more than 8% of the respondents.
Among these interventions, in descending order,
were safer/better/updated equipment and workspace, more safety management, more enforcement
of policies and procedures, improvements made to
38
create a safer and cleaner environment, removal of
hazards and additional personnel present at all
times to monitor safety.
Twenty-seven percent of the respondents believed
safety engineers were needed in their organizations.
A greater percentage of respondents from the larger
companies saw a need for safety engineers—50% of
participants from companies with 1,000 employees
and more agreed, while 22.3% of those from companies with 100 to 999 employees agreed.
Discussion
Data on financial decision makers’ perceived leading safety priorities, concerns and losses for their
companies were collected in this study. Participants’
reported areas of safety priorities for organizational
resources and efforts in the next 12 months that were
consistent with their responses on their companies’
past workers’ compensation losses.
The three most commonly named areas for both
were overexertion, repetitive motion and bodily
reaction. This may demonstrate that these decision
makers tend to allocate financial resources to areas
associated with what they understand to be sources
of major losses.
When the participants were asked to name their
single greatest workplace concern, after citing
overexertion and repetitive motion, highway accidents and falling on the same level were mentioned
more often than bodily reaction. It may be understandable that these financial executives are concerned about highway accidents yet do not consider
them a top priority for resources because many factors that affect highway safety are not directly controllable by their company.
It is curious that falling on the same level ranked
higher in the question about their single greatest
concern than it did in their top priorities for future
resources. Perhaps these respondents recognize this
as a great concern yet might not understand the
actual losses from falls. According to the Liberty
Mutual (2007) Workplace Safety Index, falls on the
same level was the second-leading cause of workplace injury in 2005, the same year the survey data
were collected. Knowing this, SH&E professionals
can explore whether their own financial executives’
perceptions on losses and concerns coincide with
data from other sources (e.g., OSHA/OSHA recordables, workers’ compensation data, medical records,
company safety records). Are their financial managers’ perceptions consistent with company reality?
The results of this study demonstrate that the participants recognized that there are indirect costs in
addition to the direct costs associated with occupational injuries and that these costs can be substantially larger than the direct costs. Further, it is clear
that the participants believed that the money spent
improving workplace safety would have significant
returns. The average perceived return on safety
investments was $4.41 (SD = 12.0). This might suggest that corporate financial decision makers might
encourage or be receptive to safety improvement
interventions. Conversely, it is possible that it could
suggest that these decision makers have an expectation of return on investment if they choose to direct
resources toward a given issue. Nonetheless, the
majority thought that workplace accidents had only
an average impact on company financial performance compared to other factors.
Although research in this area is very limited, the
findings of the current study are similar to those
found in other sources. For example, in terms of
management views on investment in workplace
safety and health, one survey project (Liberty
Mutual, 2001), which collected data from American
business executives, reported that 95% of business
executives believed that workplace safety has a pos-
itive impact on a company’s financial performance. Of these executives, 61% believed that their
companies received a return on investment of $3 or
more for each $1 they invested in workplace safety.
ASSE (2002) has concluded that a direct, positive
correlation exists between investment in SH&E and
its subsequent return on investment. OSHA (2007)
asserts from its own evidence that companies implementing effective safety and health programs can
reduce injury and illness rates by 20% or more—and
generate a return of $4 to $6 for every $1 invested.
OSHA reported that employers investing in workplace safety and health can expect to reduce fatalities,
injuries and illnesses. This will result in cost savings
in various areas, such as lowering workers’ compensation costs and medical expenses, avoiding OSHA
penalties, and reducing costs to train replacement
employees and conduct accident investigations. In
addition, employers often find that changes made to
improve workplace safety and health can produce
significant improvements in their organization’s productivity and financial performance.
The information from the current study presents
a good starting point for SH&E professionals to
approach their company financial decision makers to
find out how they perceive company safety costs and
priorities. After identifying their company’s actual
direct and indirect injury costs, the returns on safety
investment and the impact of workplace accidents on
the company’s financial performance, SH&E professionals can compare the actual figures with their
managers’ perceptions and see how those compare
with the survey data. Practitioners can then deter-
These results
give SH&E
professionals
a good starting
point from
which to
approach
financial
decision
makers to find
out how they
perceive safety
costs and
priorities.
Table
Table 1 1
Top Safety Priorities for Resource Allocation
Ranking of priorities for resource allocation
N
M
SD
1) Overexertion from lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying or
throwing an object
2) Repetitive motion (e.g., injuries due to repeated stress or strain)
3) Bodily reaction (e.g., injuries due to bending, climbing, slipping or
tripping without falling)
4) Exposure to harmful substances or environment
5) Falling on the same level
6) Highway accidents
7) Being caught in or compressed by equipment or objects
8) Being struck by an object (e.g., a tool falling on a worker from above)
9) Workplace violence
10) Falling from heights
11) Striking against an object (e.g., employee walking into a door frame)
12) Contact with high/low temperature
227
3.31
1.29
228
229
3.18
3.16
1.16
1.23
223
228
218
217
224
227
223
229
214
2.63
2.62
2.37
2.34
2.27
2.26
2.22
2.20
1.94
1.46
1.31
1.44
1.42
1.38
1.30
1.26
1.19
1.17
Note. Number of respondents answering out of 231 participants (N), means (M) and standard deviation (SD) of 5-point
Likert scale responses to Q1 regarding the top safety priorities for resource allocation. Respondents were asked to rate their
choices with a scale ranging from 1 as below average to 5 as one of the highest.
39
Table
Table 2 2
Responses Regarding Top Cause of WC Losses
Rank
Frequency Percent
1) Overexertion
2) Repetitive motion
3) Bodily reaction
7) Being struck by an object
9) Carelessness, not paying attention
10) Cuts, abrasions, lacerations
11) Back injuries
13) Employees not adhering to safety regulations/policies
14) Bites, scratches
16) We have not had any losses/claims for a while
17) Fraudulent claims
18) Other (e.g., knee injury, cumulative trauma disorder)
Number of responses to item
Number of no response
Total participants
74
29
25
19
11
6
5
5
5
5
4
2
2
2
1
5
4
11
215
16
231
While it is good
that these decision
makers recognize
the importance of
safety training
and programs, it
is also important
that they
understand the
importance of
other safety
interventions.
mine whether these areas are consistent
or whether discrepancies exist that need to
be addressed.
Since financial decision makers usually
focus on the financial impact of decisions,
providing actual financial evidence of the
impact of safety investment for their companies can aid SH&E professionals in their
efforts to find ways to improve top-level
managers’ perceptions of the importance
of workplace safety. It has been shown that
safety professionals need to understand an
organization’s financial losses in order to
help senior management understand the
financial benefit the safety department
provides (Behm, Veltri & Kleinsorge, 2004;
LaBelle, 2000). To work more effectively
with other financial and operations management personnel, SH&E professionals
would benefit from becoming more familiar with the common language of business
(Adams, 2002).
In terms of the best safety interventions,
the modification respondents mentioned
most often was to have more/better safety-focused
training. Corporate financial decision makers might
believe that training-related changes in workers
would have the greatest impact on safety or they
may think that safety training is less costly—and,
therefore, better—than other modifications. This may
also indicate that financial decision makers would
more readily support intervention proposals related
to safety training.
While it is good that these decision makers recog-
40
Valid percent
nize the importance
of safety training
and programs, it is
also important that
they understand the
importance of other
safety interventions.
Research has shown
the limited effectiveness of education
and safety interventions to increase
awareness in reducing various incidences of unsafe
behavior (Connelly,
Conaglen, Parsonson, et al., 1998).
In
addition,
Amick, Robertson,
DeRango, et al.
(2003) found that
training alone did
not reduce musculoskeletal symptoms
among office workers, but average pain
levels were reduced
when training was provided in conjunction with supplying adjustable office furniture and equipment.
Training works better when coupled with a welldesigned workplace and a high level of management commitment. Training is only one of several
important organizational responses to safety concerns. Examples of others are good housekeeping,
active safety auditing, active participation of workers in safety programs and decision making, and the
application of engineering safety controls (Hunt &
Habeck, 1993; Shannon, Walters, Lewchuck, et al.,
1996; Shannon, Mayr & Haines, 1997). SH&E professionals need to explore whether their financial decision makers recognize the importance of these other
factors documented in the literature and identify
ways to bring these factors to their attention.
Results showed that about one-quarter of the
financial decision makers surveyed recognized the
need for safety engineers. It was also found that
decision makers from larger companies were more
likely to identify this need. The application of engineering safety controls is recognized within the
SH&E profession as fundamental to ensuring occupational safety. Therefore, it is important for SH&E
professionals to ensure that their financial managers
are fully informed about the importance of safety
engineers’ roles within an organization.
Overall, the findings of this study showed that
the financial decision makers of U.S. companies surveyed recognized the importance of occupational
safety and the need for and benefits of occupational
safety interventions. While their reported perceptions of safety may not necessarily be the same as
those of the SH&E professional’s own company,
32.0
12.6
10.8
8.2
4.8
2.6
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
1.7
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.4
2.2
1.7
4.8
93.1
6.9
100.0
34.4
13.5
11.6
8.8
5.1
2.8
2.3
2.3
2.3
2.3
1.9
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.5
2.3
1.9
5.1
100.0
Table
Table 3 3
Responses About Top Workplace Safety Concern
Rank
Frequency Percent Valid percent
1) Overexertion
2) Repetitive motion
5) Bodily reaction
9) Employee carelessness or lack of focus
10) Flu, disease, viruses, bacteria, infection
11) Creating a safe work environment
12) Cuts, abrasions, lacerations from needles, knives
or sharp object
13) Striking against an object
14) Workplace violence
15) Safety education and training
16) Being struck by an object
17) Contact with high voltage/electricity
19) All concerns are equally important
20) No concerns
21) Other
Number of responses to item
Number of no response
Total participants
43
31
27
21
12
11
9
8
7
5
4
18.6
13.4
11.7
9.1
5.2
4.8
3.9
3.5
3.0
2.2
1.7
20.3
14.6
12.7
9.9
5.7
5.2
4.2
3.8
3.3
2.4
1.9
4
3
3
3
2
2
1
2
3
11
212
19
231
1.7
1.3
1.3
1.3
0.9
0.9
0.4
0.9
1.3
4.8
91.8
8.2
100.0
1.9
1.4
1.4
1.4
0.9
0.9
0.5
0.9
1.4
5.2
100.0
knowing how financial executives in general perceive safety priorities, concerns and other safety
issues creates an opportunity for expanding and
enriching the dialogue between SH&E professionals
and their financial decision makers.
Conclusion
Financial executives who were surveyed said that
the top benefits of an effective workplace safety program were predominately financial in nature (e.g.,
increased productivity, reduced costs). This finding
should act as a reminder to SH&E professionals
about the perspective from which financial decision
makers view safety programs. Awareness of this perspective may help practitioners to better communicate with their own organizations’ financial decision
makers. However, it also identifies an important
challenge for SH&E professionals—the need to communicate all of the important benefits of effective
safety programs to financial decision makers. 䡲
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41
Figure
Figure 1 1
Perceived Ratio of Direct Cost vs. Indirect Cost
30.0%
27.3%
21.1%
19.9%
The 50th percentile
20.0%
15.5%
15.0%
8.1%
10.0%
5.0%
5.0%
0.6% 0.6%
1.2% 0.6%
0.0%
Perceived indirect cost per dollar of direct cost (dollar)
Note. The average estimation of the ratio of direct cost versus indirect cost was $2.12 (SD = 1.9); the arrow indicates the
median score (the 50th percentile) ($2).
Figure
Figure 2 2
Perceived Dollar Return on Each Dollar
Spent Improving Workplace Safety
30.0%
26.7%
25.0%
Percent of parcipants
Study
participants
recognized
that there are
indirect costs
in addition
to the direct
costs associated with
occupational
injuries and
that these
costs can be
substantially
larger than the
direct costs.
Percent of parcipants
25.0%
25.0%
The 50th percentile
20.0%
15.0%
14.0%
12.8%
8.7%
10.0%
3.5%
5.0%
5.2%
0.6% 0.6% 0.6% 1.2% 1.2%
0.0%
Perceived indirect cost per dollar of direct cost (dollar)
Note. The average perceived return on safety investment was $4.41 (SD = 12.0). The arrow indicates the median score (the
50th percentile) ($2).
ioral safety intervention. Journal of the Institution of Occupational
Safety and Health, 2(2), 45-56.
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much work-related injury and illness is missed by the current
national surveillance system? Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 48(4), 357-365.
42
Sawacha, E., Naoum, S. & Fong, D. (1999). Factors affecting
safety performance on construction sites. International Journal of
Project Management, 17(5), 309-315.
Shannon, H.S., Mayr, J. & Haines, T. (1997). Overview of the
relationship between organizational and workplace factors and
injury rates. Safety Science, 26, 201-217.
Shannon, H.S., Walters, V., Lewchuck, W., et al. (1996).
Workplace organizational correlates of lost-time accident rates
in manufacturing. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 29(3),
258-268.
Equipment
Design
Equipment Design
Scissor Lift
Safety
An initiative to model static stability
By Mahmood Ronaghi, John Z. Wu, Christopher S. Pan, James R. Harris, Daniel Welcome,
Sharon S. Chiou, Brad Boehler and Ren G. Dong
S
SCISSOR LIFTS ARE ELEVATING PLATFORMS involving scissor lifts were identified as occurring
that can be raised or lowered to various heights. The while there was dynamic movement of the lifts in the
platform can be positioned horizontally beyond the horizontal plane as the workers were conducting
base. These lifts are increasingly being used in vari- assigned tasks within the platform (Pan, et al.) and
ous industries because they are mobile and provide two-thirds of the incidents occurred under statworkers access to elevations to perform required ic conditions. The contribution of specific factors
leading to loss of stability under static work conditasks (Burkart, McCann & Paine, 2004).
NIOSH, in collaboration with National Safety tions was of greatest importance.
Council (NSC) and Center to Protect Workers’
Understanding the etiology of tipover-related
Rights (CPWR), conducted a surveillance study of aerial platform falls/col- Mahmood Ronaghi is a research safety engineer with NIOSH in Morgantown, WV. He holds an
lapses/tipovers across all industry M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from University of Colorado, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from
classifications. This study showed that NCA&T State University and an M.B.A. from Jackson State University. Ronaghi is a member of ASSE’s
approximately two-thirds of fatal and Northern West Virginia Chapter.
nonfatal incidents involving scissor lifts John Z. Wu, Ph.D., is a senior service fellow at NIOSH in Morgantown, WV. He holds a Ph.D. in
occurred in the construction industry Mechanical Engineering from Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg in Germany. Before joining
(Pan, Hoskin, Lin, et al., 2005). A scissor NIOSH, Wu was a post-doctoral researcher in biomechanics at the University of Calgary.
lift is regulated by OSHA as a mobile
scaffold and by the agency’s general Christopher S. Pan, Ph.D., is a research safety engineer in the Division of Safety Research at NIOSH
industry requirements for scaffolds. in Morgantown, WV. He holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of
Manufacturers have relied on the tests Cincinnati. Pan is leading an aerial lift research project, and has been working to complete biomeand safety features described in con- chanical/mechanical analyses and to recommend interventions to reduce fall hazard exposures.
sensus standards published by ANSI James R. Harris, Ph.D., has 15 years’ experience in the Protective Technology Branch, Division of
and Scaffold Industry Association (SIA) Safety Research at NIOSH. He holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and a Ph.D. in
for self-propelled elevating work plat- Occupational Safety and Health from West Virginia University. Harris is a professional member of
forms (e.g., A92.6-1999) to ensure prop- ASSE’s Northern West Virginia Chapter.
er scissor lift performance.
Daniel Welcome is a biomechanical engineer for NIOSH’s Physical Effects Research Team. He holds
Because of market demands to a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering.
increase the vertical reach of lifts, the Sharon S. Chiou, Ph.D., is a senior service fellow in the Division of Safety Research at NIOSH. She
results of certain design changes—such holds an M.S. in Industrial Hygiene and a Ph.D. in Occupational Ergonomics from the University of
as higher center-of-gravity (CG) posi- Cincinnati. She has been conducting research at NIOSH for 12 years.
tions and limited size and weight of the
base of support for the lift—have creat- Brad Boehler, P.Eng., is director of product safety for Skyjack Inc., Guelph, Ontario. Boehler is chair of
ed an increased risk of fall/collapse/ the ANSI/SIA A92.6 Self-Propelled Elevating Work Platforms Subcommittee, and a member of the ANSI
tipover incidents (McCann, 2003; Pan, A92.3 Manually Propelled Elevating Work Platforms Committee and the A92.5 Boom-Supported
Hoskin, McCann, et al., 2007). Review Elevating Work Platforms Committee. He is chair of the AWPT Practical Evaluation Working Group.
of these incidents indicated that approx- Ren G. Dong, Ph.D., is leader of NIOSH’s Physical Effects Research Team. Dong holds a B.S.,
imately two-thirds were reported at a M.Eng. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed
height range of 3.05 to 8.84 m (Pan, et journal articles related to human vibration exposure, hand biomechanics, vehicle dynamics and
al., 2005). One-third of the incidents railway train-track dynamics.
43
Photo 2 (below): The
scissor lift analyzed in
this study can be
raised 5.79 m from its
stowed position.
injuries was the primary
focus of this study. The applied
horizontal tipping loads depend
on the CG position and the total
weight of the lift. Lift manufacturers, relying on the required
horizontal load test from ANSI
A92.6, would consider these
safety margin tests robust
enough for the performance of
normal tasks during standard
operations, but the safety margin would be significantly degraded if loading forces were
additively combined with loadgenerating hazards and stability-reducing factors
associated with specific task operations (e.g., side
force), tribological characteristics (e.g., wet floor) and
nature of the work surface (e.g., slope), as well as environmental factors (e.g., wind effects).
Computer modeling and simulation have been
used to evaluate heavy equipment crash incidents
and fall/instability scenarios, and could effectively
help engineers and SH&E professionals develop an
improved design (Abo-Shanab & Sepehri, 2005;
Huston, 1987; Gerritsen, Van Den Bogert & Nigg,
1995; Lee, 1998; Mohan & Zech, 2005; Tamate,
Suemasa & Katada, 2005). The authors could not
locate published literature on computer simulations
or models of the safety margins of scissor lifts and
related elevated equipment.
Defining the static stability boundary of the scissor
lift is essential for safe operation since the CG position
and weight of the lifts vary with working conditions;
operators may apply excessive horizontal forces
while performing under various working conditions
involving slope, friction and wind load, causing the
lift to lose stability.
For the purpose of this study, the static instability
of the scissor lift was analyzed using computer simulation. The objectives of this study were to 1) develop
a model simulating the variation of the scissor lift’s
CG during normal operation; 2) experimentally
measure the CG position at three different heights to
validate the theoretical model; and 3) calculate the
safety margin of the horizontal forces that can be
applied to the scissor lift.
44
Study Method
Many scissor lifts are available on the market and
each can perform various tasks. For this study, the
SkyJack model SJIII 3219 compact scissor lift with
standard equipment was selected (Photos 1 and 2). A
simulating scissor lift model was developed via a collaborative research partnership between NIOSH and
SkyJack Inc. (manufacturer) using Automated Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems software (2005
version), a simulation software for analyzing static
and dynamic of mechanical systems.
The SJIII 3219 has a deck extension, guardrails
around its periphery and toeboards on all sides. This
platform is 1.63 m long and 0.74 m wide. The deck
extension increases the platform to an overall length
of 2.54 m. The guardrail systems are composed of a
toprail and a midrail. The toprail has a height of
0.99 m, while the toeboard is 0.15 m high. This type
of scissor lift has a total capacity of 2.5 kilo-Newtons
(kN), including two people and materials. The rated
load on the main platform and 0.91 m deck extension are 1.3 kN and 1.1 kN, respectively. These specifications conform to ANSI A92.6 for self-propelled
elevating work platforms.
This model was used for both laboratory testing
and computational simulations using the analysis
software. The model meets the test requirements of
ANSI 92.6-1999. All tests conducted in the study
complied with this standard’s requirements as well.
The SJIII 3219 model has a 0.81 m width and can be
elevated vertically to 5.79 m from its stowed position.
Modeling & Simulation
Computer modeling was performed in two steps.
First, the global structure of the aerial lift was
decomposed into three substructures: base, scissor
and platform (Figure 1). The dimensions and total
mass of these three substructures were modeled
according to the manufacturer’s component design
drafts. The mass distributions of the substructural
models were adjusted so that the computed total
mass and CG positions agreed with the manufacturer’s specifications.
Second, the three substructural models were
assembled and the global CG position of the scissor
lift was computed as a function of the lift height; the
theoretical predictions were then compared with the
experimental data collected in the lab test. The equipment manufacturer provided the geometric drawings
(in SolidWorks format) along with the material properties of each component of the scissor lift.
The major components of the structure were simulated in sufficient detail to capture the manufacturing and testing data without compromising the
model’s accuracy. The most complex substructure is
the base, which was modeled using a simple geometric representation with some Boolean volumes
for the wheels and hydraulic actuator. The wheels
are attached to the base through struts and mounts.
Mounts are fixed to the base while the struts are
attached to the wheels. A stiff spring-damper connects mounts to struts.
The front wheels can swivel about the axis passing
PHOTOS COURTESY SKYJACK INC.
Photo 1 (top): This
analysis involved several major components
of the scissor lift.
through the struts. A stiff spring-damper was applied
between strut and mount with a step function defining its motion to swivel wheels while in motion. The
hydraulic actuator attached to the bottom portion of
base uses a sinusoidal function to elevate the scissor
lift to the proper height. The
wheels were attached to struts
Figure 1
and connected to the base
through a mount. The front axle
has two hydraulic motor-driven
wheels, steerable by a hydraulic
cylinder. A step function describes the path that the scissor
lift can follow.
A horizontal actuator (Series 247, MTS) was used
to apply horizontal loads through a cable-andsheave arrangement (as shown in Photo 3). The
sheave was hung from a 5-ton-capacity overhead
crane. Load readings were taken via a load cell
Figure 1
Modeling of Scissor Lift &
Three-Axes Orientation
Laboratory Testing
CG for the scissor lift was
experimentally determined at
four different heights—stowed
position, 1 m, 1.52 m, 2.14 m
and 3.05 m. In addition, horizontal stability tests were
conducted at these heights following ANSI/SIA A92.6-1999
requirements. To calculate CG
in x and z directions (as shown
in Figure 1), four force plates
(Bertec) were placed under the
wheels of the scissor lift (Photo
3). To calculate the CG in the
y direction, the lift was tilted
using hand pump jacks and
jack stands (Photo 4). Platform
height was recorded using a
cable-extension
transducer
(Model PT5A-250-N34-UP500-C25, Celesco).
Abstract: Scissor lifts are
used in many industries
because they are mobile
and provide access to elevated work tasks. Tipover
during stationary operation is a common incident. In the present
study, a simulation model
was used to calculate the
location of the center of
gravity and the safe
operational margins due
to applied horizontal
forces to the scissor lift
under static conditions.
The results indicate that
even if all ANSI regulations covering scissor lift
operations are strictly followed the lift can still tip
over if the horizontal
forces exerted by a worker on the lift exceed the
manufacturer safety limits as specified in the
ANSI A92.6 standards.
The use of outriggers
increases the base area of
a scissor lift, which consequently improves the stability and safe operation.
Photo 3 (above): To calculate CG in x and z directions (as
shown in Figure 1), four force plates were placed under
the wheels of the scissor lift.
Photo 4 (right): The scissor lift was tilted with hand pump
jacks and jack stands to measure the CG in the y direction.
45
(Model 661.20e-02, MTS) integrated with the lift-study human-subject-data analyses (Pan &
hydraulic actuator.
Chiou, 2005). The CG position in both x and z directions are a function of the lift height; consequently,
the maximum safe horizontal forces in x and z direcCalculation of Safe Operational Margins
Assuming that a worker/operator applies a pull tion will vary with changing lift height.
or push force while working from the platform when
the scissor lift is at a height Hl (as illustrated in Figure Study Results
The positions of the CG in x, y and z directions
2), the maximum horizontal forces in the x and z
directions that will not tilt the scissor lift can be esti- were calculated using the proposed model as a function of the height of the scissor lift. The model premated using the following equations:
dictions were compared with the results from
Equation 1
laboratory testing, which were shown as the discrete
W (Cx + Xext)
points in Figure 3. The modeling predictions agreed
Fx <
Hl + Hh
well with the experimental data with an error of less
than 1% for the whole range of the lift height variaEquation 2
tion in three orthogonal directions (Table 1, p. 48).
W (Cz + Zext)
The modeling and experimental results show that as
Fz <
Hl + Hh
CG in x direction decreased, the CG in y direction
increased, while the CG in z direction remains conwhere:
•W is the total weight of the system including the stant with increasing lift height.
Using the numerically calculated CG positions,
worker’s body weight;
the
safe horizontal forces in x and z directions were
•Cx and Cz are the CG position in the x and z
predicted using Equations 1 and 2 (Figure 4, p. 48).
direction, respectively;
The outrigger extension Xext and Zext are assumed to
•Hh is the height of the elbow of the worker;
•Fx and Fz are the horizontal forces in x and z be zero in these calculations. The horizontal forces
that could be safely applied on the lift decreased dradirection, respectively;
•Xext and Zext implicate the outrigger extension matically with increasing lift height.
length in x and z direction, respectively.
According to the manufacturer, the total system Discussion
weight was 10,791 N. The height of the elbow for a
The scissor lift tipover from a stationary state durtypical construction worker was assumed to be ing operation represents a frequent scenario in lift1.21 m based on the results from the NIOSH aerial- related incidents. The NIOSH team collected data
for operations within the scissor lift platform and the results
indicate that the scissor lift
could lose static equilibrium
when operated at an extended
height above 5.49 m with the
application of a horizontal
force of 623 N—which is the
maximum push force measured in the experiment simulating working conditions on
the platform (Pan & Chiou,
2005). Scissor-lift operators
could easily neglect these hazards when they are concentrating on their jobs.
The tipover risk due to the
excessive horizontal force has
not been discussed in the safety
manual published by Association of Equipment Manufacturers (2002). Considering the
force variations in the human
subject tests, it would be feasible
to consider the maximum horizontal forces in an engineering
design in a range from 667 to 889
N. The results of this study
show that even if all ANSI A92.6
safety limits on lift operations
Figure
Figure 2 2
Modeling Analysis of Static Stability
46
are strictly followed, the lift can still tip over if the horizontal operational forces exceed the manufacturer
safety limits in z direction (Figure 4b, p. 48).
The use of outriggers would increase the safety
limits. However, outriggers will limit the equipment’s mobility. One advantage of using outriggers
is that doing so increases the scissor lift support
area—and the lift’s stability will be enhanced as the
support area increases. The scissor lift is more stable
in x (longitudinal) direction due to greater axis span
in comparison to z direction (Figure 4a, p. 48).
Practical Applications
Most scissor lifts on the market are not equipped
with outriggers, extendable axles or stabilizers.
These modeling analyses show that outriggers
increase safety when the scissor lift is elevated above
two-thirds of its full extension. According to the calculations using Equations 1 and 2, the maximum
horizontal force (in x or z direction) that could be
applied onto the system could safely be doubled if
outriggers with a length of 50% of the base dimension were used. As another equipment improvement, horizontal-overload-detecting sensor devices
could be developed for use on the lift.
The geometric data provided by the equipment
manufacturer were input in the modeling analyses to
generate reliable CG results. The data generated have
been validated with the discrete experimental results
produced by laboratory testing.
This model can predict the CG in three orthogonal
directions for the entire 5.79 m height. Although the
results of this simulation were obtained through static modeling, the computer model can perform and
analyze dynamic predictions for more sophisticated
scenarios—for example, driving into a pothole or
curb, and dynamic push/pull forces exerted on the
platform.
A computer model was developed to simulate
the variation of the position of CG as a function of
the aerial lift height. The theoretical predictions have
been validated to be in line with discrete experimental data. Based on the numerically predicted CG
data, the safety margins of the horizontal forces that
can be applied to the scissor lift are functions of lift
height may be determined.
The study indicates that the scissor lift may tip
over in the horizontal z direction during normal
operations with the excessive applied forces. If the
applied forces are between 623 and 889 N, the scissor lift can be safely extended to a height between
5.49 and 3.49 m, respectively.
Recommendation
Workers need to be aware that excessive horizontal force is a critical factor in scissor lift tipovers. To
ensure safe operation when the lift is extended to
more than half of the fully elevated height, workers
should be cautious in performing a full-power horizontal push or pull action on the lift platform. Any
pull or push action should be applied with caution.
These recommendations should also be emphasized
in lift training programs.
The simulations were performed by assuming
operation in ideal conditions—the lift rests on level,
solid ground and the effects of structural flexibility
and wind are negligible. In the real world, however,
all these effects exist and will affect the equipment’s
static stability. Therefore, a more conservative safety
factor should be applied when using the predicted
maximum horizontal forces in the practical cases. 䡲
Figure
Figure 3 3
Predicted Positions of the
CG Compared With Laboratory
Experimental Measurements
Note. Predicted positions of the CG in (a) x, (b) y and (c) z directions are compared
with the laboratory experimental measurements.
47
Table
Table 1 1
Comparison of Theoretically Predicted CG
With Those Measured Experimentally
Height
Center of Gravity_X
Test
Simulation
Error (%)
Center of Gravity_Y
Center of Gravity_Z
Test
Simulation Error (%) Test
Simulation Error (%)
0.997
1.52
2.15
3.05
0.698
0.695
0.691
0.678
<1
<1
<1
<1
0.463
0.618
0.791
1.051
0.696
0.694
0.689
0.677
0.463
0.616
0.795
1.049
<1
<1
<1
<1
0.406
0.406
0.403
0.401
0.402
0.402
0.402
0.402
<1
<1
<1
<1
Note. Measured in meters.
Figure
Figure 4 4
Predicted Maximum Horizontal
Forces That Can Be Safely
Applied Onto the Platform
References
Abo-Shanab, R.F. & Sepehri, N. (2005). Tipover stability of
manipulator-like mobile hydraulic machines. ASME Journal of
Dynamic Systems Measurement and Control, 127(2), 295-301.
ANSI. (1999). Self-propelled elevating aerial work platforms
(ANSI A92.6-1999). New York: Author.
Association of Equipment Manufacturers. (2002). Safety manual for operating and maintenance personnel (Revision 2/02-2002).
Milwaukee, WI: Author.
Burkart, M.J., McCann, M., & Paine, D.M. (2004). Aerial work
platforms in elevated work platforms and scaffolding. New York:
McGraw-Hill Cos.
Gerritsen, K.G., Van Den Bogert, A.J. & Nigg, B.M. (1995).
Direct dynamics simulation of the impact phase in heel-toe running. Journal of Biomechanics, 4, 181-193.
Huston, R.L. (1987). Crash victim simulation: Use of computer
models. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 1, 285-291.
Lee, H.H. (1998). Modeling and control of a three-dimensional
overhead crane. ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems Measurement
and Control, 120(4), 471-476.
MSC Software. (2005). ADAMS/View and ADAMS/Solver user’s
reference manuals. Santa Ana, CA: Author.
McCann, M. (2003). Deaths in construction related to personnel lifts, 1992-1999. Journal of Safety Research, 34(5), 507-514.
Mohan, S. & Zech, W.C. (2005). Characteristics of worker
accidents on NYSDOT construction projects. Journal of Safety
Research, 36(4), 353-360.
Pan C.S. & Chiou, S. (2005). Effect of operator activities on
the stability of scissor lifts. Unpublished human subject study protocol.
Pan, C.S., Hoskin, A., Lin, M., et al. (2005). Incidents due to
aerial work platforms. Proceedings of the XVII World Congress on
Safety and Health at Work, USA.
Pan, C.S., Hoskin, A., McCann, M., et al. (2007). Fatal and
nonfatal incidents associated with aerial lifts: An injury surveillance approach. Journal of Safety Research, 38(6), 617-625.
Tamate, S., Suemasa, N. & Katada, T. (2005). Analyses of
instability in mobile cranes due to ground penetration by outriggers. ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management,
131(6), 698-704.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of SkyJack Inc.
and its corporate engineering team, which provided two new scissor lifts and other critical technical and design data. We also thank
Mike McCann, David Merrifield, Dan Paine, Jim Weeks, Huei Peng
and Ron Huston for their constructive suggestions in various stages
of this study. We are grateful to John Powers, Doug Cantis and
Anne Brumfield for their valuable assistance in data collection.
Finally, special appreciation is extended to Paul Keane, Alfred
Amendola and Hongwei Hsiao for their editorial review.
Note. Predicted maximum horizontal forces that can be safely applied onto the platform: (a) x direction; (b) z direction. The predicted forces have been compared with a
range of 150 to 200 lb (667 to 889 N) feasible forces in the scissor lift tipovers.
48
Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this article are
those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views
of NIOSH. Mention of company names or products does not
imply endorsement by NIOSH.
House of Delegates &
Membership Meetings
Sunday, June 28, 2009 • Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center • San Antonio, TX
Preliminary Agenda*
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
12:00 p.m.
Delegate Registration
1) Call to Order: HOD Meeting — Warren K. Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHM, Chairperson
2) Reflection/Invocation
3) Welcoming Remarks — Introductions
4) Establishment of a Quorum
5) Appointment/Approval of Parliamentarian
6) Recognition Ceremonies
•MSA Outstanding Student Section Award
•Member Recruitment Awards
•Region Safety Professional of the Year Awards
•Charles V. Culbertson Outstanding Volunteer Service Awards
•NAOSH Champion Awards
•Professional Paper Awards
•President’s Awards
7) Reports to Delegates/Members
•State of the Society — Warren K. Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHM, President
•Financial Report — James D. Smith, CSP, Vice President, Finance
•State of the Foundation — Stephen M. Bennett, ARM, Chairperson
8) Old Business
9) New Business
•Approve Bylaws Change
•Discussion of Status of HOD
10) Other Business
•Nominating and Elections/Installation of 2009-10 Officers
•Awarding of Past President’s Plaque/Passing of Gavel
11) Open Forum
12) Announcements
3:25 p.m.
13) Adjournment: HOD Meeting
3:30 p.m.
1) Call to Order: Membership Meeting
2) Establishment of a Quorum
3) New Business
4) Adjournment: Membership Meeting
*A final agenda will be sent to delegates of record per Bylaws Article VIII Section 3.
49
Government
Affairs
Safety in Florida
A
SSE’s Florida members deserve all the credit
in the world for supporting ASSE efforts in
2008 at passing one of the more significant
occupational safety and health (OSH) bills in recent
years in any state, or even at the federal level.
At a time when few initiatives to advance safety
Dave Heidorn,
and health seem to move forward, legislation introASSE’s government
duced by Senator Evelyn Lynn (R-Ormond Beach)
affairs and policy
and Representative Audrey Gibson (D-Jacksonmanager, commends ville)—championed by ASSE—created a Florida
the Society’s Florida
Public Sector Task Force to determine how
members for their
Florida can provide OSH coverage to its
support on getting
public-sector workers. Because Florida
OSH legistlation
does not have its own state
passed for Florida’s
OSHA plan, under federal law
public-sector workthe state, its counties and
ers. As a result of
municipalities and other pothis legislation, the
litical subdivision employers
Florida Public Sector
are not required to provide federalTask Force was creat- level OSH coverage to their
ed to determine
employees.
how the state can
In May 2007, in testimony before
provide OSH coverthe U.S. House Subcommittee on
coverage to its
Workforce Protections, ASSE outworkers. Contact
lined the impact of this loophole in
Heidorn at dheidorn the OSH Act of 1970. ASSE’s
@asse.org.
testimony in support of federal action can be found at
www.asse.org/professional
affairs_new.
In Florida last year, four ASSE members were
named to the task force, which met three times during the fall. Mark Friend is chair of the department
of applied aviation sciences at Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University; John Henshaw, the former
OSHA administrator, is president of Henshaw and
Associates Inc.; Hastings Williams is president of
Firescience Ltd.; and Scott Blaser is a director of risk
control of the Florida League of Cities.
The Florida Task Force concluded that Florida
can and should begin to provide OSH coverage to
its workers. The full report of the task force can be
read at www.floridaworkplacesafety.org/Docu
ments/FINAL%20REPORT.pdf. Its recommendations, which ASSE supports, to the Florida legislature and Governor Charlie Crist are as follows:
•The primary recommendation is that legislation require all cities, counties, municipalities,
school districts, state agencies and special districts
to comply with OSHA CFR 1910 (General Industry)
and CFR 1926 (Construction) standards within
3 years.
•The state should require all Florida public
employers to collect and retain injury and illness
data as incidents occur, using the using the OSHA
Recordable criteria and Form 300.
•The Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation should expand its annual report to include a
state-of-the-state report covering all public entities.
The report should list each employer’s workers’
compensation claim costs, injury totals, injury incident rate per 100 employees and fatalities.
50
•The state should provide a confidential toll-free
telephone number for public employers and
employees to ask questions, report perceived
unsafe working conditions, and request materials
and assistance.
•The Division of Workers’ Compensation should
compile a list of professional safety resources
to help public employers strengthen workplace
safety programs.
Along with ASSE, the U.S. Chemical Safety
and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) also supports the recommendations and has urged
Florida’s legislature and governor to
enact them, as CSB states in its
YouTube video at www.you
tube.com/watch?v=19HS
iiTu86s.
These are not ideal fixes to
the problem. An ideal solution
would require establishing a state
OSHA plan, a state OSHA plan for
public-sector workers only or some
mechanism to provide both enforcement and consultation services to
Florida’s public-sector employers.
Florida, however, is in the
grasp of an extremely serious
financial crisis. In that crisis,
no matter how much the case
for safety as a means of controlling costs is discussed, the reality is that cashpoor municipalities and counties will perceive
anything that is coming from Tallahassee as an
unfunded mandate.
Among the ASSE members involved in advancing this issue, it is hoped that these measures,
especially the reporting requirements and the
compilation of resources, will result in a greater
understanding of the value of safety and lead public-sector employers to protect their workers.
Now in 2009, ASSE is working to see that these
recommendations are passed into law. ASSE has
engaged the lobbyist who succeeded for the Society
in 2008. ASSE also has a group of dedicated Florida
members who have been working on this issue
from the beginning and who will lead the effort
again this year. Ed Granberry Jr. was instrumental
in making sure ASSE pursued this issue and will be
the member coordinator of the effort. Jim Smith is a
vice president on ASSE’s Board of Directors. As a
member of the Task Force, Mark Friend helped see
these recommendations adopted. And Frank
Lakotich of Alabama, the new ARVP for Government Affairs for Region IV, is bringing the region’s
support to the effort.
But ASSE will need the help of its Florida members if this effort is to succeed. Passage will not
come easy. As with any legislative effort, there is no
guarantee of success. ASSE’s Florida members will
need to help in ways such as contacting their state
senator or representative, writing letters to the editor in their communities, making sure the issue is
raised repeatedly at chapter meetings
and among chapter members, and making sure that anyone else outside ASSE
who can help in this effort is aware of
the measure and can join ASSE members
in supporting it. The more voices that
can be brought to this effort, the better
the chance it will succeed.
A first step in this effort was the following response to Mark Howard, executive editor of Florida Trend, which
recently published an article titled
“Dangerous Work” (www.asse.org/
professionalaffairs_new/docs/FL-Trend
-Dangerous-Work.pdf) that outlined the
most dangerous types of jobs in Florida
but only included law enforcement and
not other public-sector workers:
Florida’s 1,700 ASSE members
commend Florida Trend for so visibly pointing out the risk of death
Florida’s workers face in your
February 2009 article “Dangerous
Work” by Amy Keller. Transportation deaths have long led
workplace deaths across the
nation. The quick rise of homicide
deaths in the workplace is a startling call to action for all Floridians. What is missing from the
statistics, however, are deaths
among Florida’s public-sector
workers beyond law enforcement.
There is a good reason why these
numbers are not easily available.
Because Florida does not provide
federal-level OSH protections that
all private-sector workers enjoy,
the State of Florida, its counties
and municipalities are not
required to report deaths and
injuries among its employees in
the same way private-sector
deaths and injuries are.
Legislation introduced by
Senator Evelyn Lynn and Representative Audrey Gibson was
signed into law last year that created a task force to see how Florida
could provide safety and health
protections to its public sector
workers. The task force’s final
report at www.floridaworkplace
safty.org/Documents/FINAL
%20REPORT.pdf says Florida can
and should begin to provide protections to its public-sector workers, including reporting their
deaths and injuries so all Floridians can better understand the
risks these workers face.
ASSE’s Florida members are
again eager to work to support
legislation by Senator Lynn and
Representative Gibson to enact the
task force’s recommendations. We
urge all Floridians to join us in
demanding state, county and
municipal workers receive the
same on-the-job protections the
rest of us do. It is only fair that
those who work for us should
have the same safety and health
protections the rest of us have at
our workplaces.
The reason ASSE and its members are
doing this is fairly simple. There are
workers in this nation who do not have
the most basic workplace safety and
health protections that nearly all other
Americans enjoy. In that is an unfairness
that ASSE members, whose professionalism drives their interest in this issue,
Efforts to Protect
Florida’s Workers
Visit www.asse.org/professional
affairs new/action/index.php to learn
about the efforts ASSE has made to
ensure worker safety in Florida.
cannot accept. Ultimately, the fix for this
is filling in the loophole in the federal
OSH Act. That could very well happen
in this new Congress and under this
new administration. But, until it does,
ASSE will do all it can to fix it in the
states, if it takes one state at a time.
SAFETY 2010
June 13-June 16
Baltimore, MD
Present at ASSE’s Safety 2010 Professional Development Conference & Exposition. As a presenter, you will help stimulate discussion on matters affecting the profession and provide SH&E
professionals an opportunity to contribute to the discussion and
exchange of ideas on those matters. Of particular interest are
proposals that:
•Address key issues & challenges facing SH&E professionals.
•Provide SH&E professionals the skills & knowledge to
address those issues.
•Identify emerging issues & areas of interest to the SH&E
profession.
Visit www.asse.org for a list of educational tracks and a downloadable application form. Submissions should be sent to:
ASSE Safety 2010 PDC • Director, Professional Development
1800 E. Oakton St. • Des Plaines, IL 60018-2187
[email protected]
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF SAFETY ENGINEERS
51
Standards
Developments
New ASSE Standards on Fall Protection
& Construction Safety in Development
Hotlinks
ANSI
American National
Standards Institute
www.ansi.org
ASSE
American Society
of Safety Engineers
www.asse.org
ASTM
ASTM International
www.astm.org
CEN
European Committee
for Standardization
www.cenorm.be
ISO
International
Organization for
Standardization
www.iso.ch
JCAHO
Joint Commission
on Accreditation
of Healthcare
Organizations
www.jcaho.org
NFPA
National Fire
Protection Assn.
www.nfpa.org
NIST
National Institute
of Standards and
Technology
www.nist.gov
SCC
Standards Council
of Canada
www.scc.ca
UL
Underwriters
Laboratories Inc.
www.ul.com
52
ASSE’s (ASC Z359) new standard, Safety Requirements for Lanyards and Energy Absorbers for Personal
Fall Arrest Systems (BSR/ASSE Z359.13-200x), is in development. This standard establishes requirements
for the performance, design, marking, qualification, instructions, inspection, maintenance and removal
from service of energy-absorbing lanyards and users of personal energy
ASTM International 2009 Advantage
absorbers within the range of 130 to
Award Paper Competition
310 lb (59 to140 kg).
ASTM International is accepting papers for the 2009 ASTM AdvanSafety Design Requirements and
tage Award, a paper competition with prizes up to $15,000. Original
Specifications for Personal Fall Arrest
papers are sought that demonstrate the positive impact of ASTM
Systems (BSR/ASSE Z359.6-200x) is also
International standards, and which provide background information
in development. This standard specifies
and data showing such values as cost savings, efficiency and market
requirements for the design and perform- access. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2009. The cash prizes
are $15,000 for the first prize, $10,000 for the second prize and
ance of complete active fall protection
$5,000 for the third prize. Winning papers will be published in ASTM
systems, including travel restraint and
vertical and horizontal fall arrest systems. International’s bimonthly magazine, Standardization News.
More information on the 2009 ASTM Advantage Award— includIt is intended for engineers with expertise ing rules, entry forms and links to past winning papers—is posted at
in designing fall protection systems.
www.astm.org/advantageaward.
Another standard in development
covers potable water, toilet and handwashing facilities located on a jobsite. Sanitation for Construction and Demolition Operations (BSR/
ASSE A10.25-200x) applies to all construction jobsites where more than four individuals are employed for
more than 1 week.
Finally, ASSE’s new standard, Safety Requirements for Railroad Construction, Maintenance, Analysis
and Demolition Equipment (BSR/ASSE A10.36-200x), is in development as well. It provides minimum
guidelines for safe work practices in those operations involving railroad construction and maintenance of
facilities, track and supporting equipment.
New NSF International Standard on Green Chemicals Proposed
NSF International’s proposed new standard, Green Chemicals (BSR/NSF/GCI 355-200x), establishes a
consistent approach to the evaluation and determination of green/sustainable chemicals. The standard
provides a transparent and fair means of assessing sustainable chemicals that claim to have green attributes. The standard also creates a resource for the industry to provide guidance and information about the
elements of sustainable design and the manufacturing of these products. The goal is to create a standard
with relevant, measurable and economically feasible metrics.
NATE Releases Tower Climber Fall Protection Training Standard
National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE), announced the release of the Second Edition of the NATE
Tower Climber Fall Protection Training Standard (NATE CTS).
With the release of the new ANSI Z359 standards in October 2007, the NATE Board of Directors tasked
the association’s OSHA Relations Committee to revise the NATE CTS to remain in compliance with the
new standards. NATE member companies may download the new version by visiting www.natehome
.com and going to the Members Only page. Nonmembers may also purchase copies through the website.
NFPA Tanks & Containers Standards Under Revision
NFPA’s Standard for the Safeguarding of Tanks and Containers for Entry, Cleaning or Repair (BSR/NFPA
326-200x) is under revision. This standard applies to the safeguarding of tanks or containers, operating at
nominal atmospheric pressure, that contain or have contained flammable and combustible liquids or
other hazardous substances and related vapors or residues.
The Recommended Practice for Handling Releases of Flammable and Combustible Liquids and Gases
(BSR/NFPA 329-200x) standard is also under revision. This standard provides appropriate methods for
responding to fire and explosion hazards resulting from the release of a flammable or combustible liquid,
gas or vapor that could migrate to a subsurface structure. Although this recommended practice is intended to address only these fire and explosion hazards, other authorities should be consulted regarding the
environmental and health impact and other hazardous conditions of such releases.
Explosive Materials Code (BSR/NFPA 495-200x) is also under revision. This standard applies to the
manufacture, transportation, storage, sale and use of explosive materials. This code does not apply to the
transportation of explosive materials where under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Transportation. However, it does apply to state and municipal supervision of compliance with Hazardous Materials
Regulations, U.S. DOT, Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 100-199.
Best
Practices
TECHnically Safe
Gaining 360° Visibility With Technology
By Peter
Thiveos
Corporations
need to
thoroughly
understand
the business
requirements
associated
with their
safety
management
initiatives.
T
he condition of being protected against physical, psychological, financial or emotional
harm requires substantial process commitments within an organization. Safety processes are
vast and span across all industry sectors. If not
managed properly, these same processes could negatively affect an organization. Defining safety policies, promulgating a safety culture, developing
procedures with safety at the forefront, measuring
the success of safety initiatives and reviewing information in a way that allows the management team to
validate future process enhancements are keys to
developing a successful safety-centered organization.
At the core of every safety management system
is the essential requirement to regularly audit
processes. The key components within a safety
management cycle are:
•Define safety processes as required by regulatory compliance, corporate governance, industry
best practices or lessons learned.
•Measure operations against scoring criteria
defined in compliance or best practices standards.
•Analyze processes and overall operations, and
generate corrective actions, incident and observation reports.
SPOTLIGHT
Best
Practices
Safety
Management
TRA’s IndustrySafe
software enables
organizations to
improve safety and
achieve regulatory
compliance. Software
toolset can be used to
identify trouble spots,
reduce claims and
develop proactive
strategies. Features include incident and injury management (including OSHA reporting), safety inspection
checklists, safety recommendation tracking, training
tracking, hazard management and behavior-based
safety tracking. Product is fully scalable to meet the
needs of small and midsized companies, as well as those
of global, distributed enterprises with multiple sites
and organizations.
www.industrysafe.com
Publication of this material does not constitute endorsement by ASSE
54
•Improve operations through corrective action
handling, and incident and observation management.
•Control corrective actions and incident handling processes through escalated reporting and
notification procedures.
•Trend results of specific audits and define
improvement criteria for future safety process
enhancements.
These are just a few of the high-level functions
required to successfully manage a corporate-wide
safety initiative.
Business Rules & Practical Solutions
Defining corporate safety standards and best
practices is crucial in all organizations. Aligning
technical solutions to easily manage these standards and underlying processes is paramount. In
breaking down the technical components that help
direct the safety management cycle, the following
solutions are required:
•training and certification management;
•incident and observation management;
•records and document management;
•risk assessment;
Incident Management
Q5 System’s incident management software helps consolidate
information related to work-related incidents. Software includes
case management module that can be used to search or view
cases, assign corrective actions and flag items for follow up.
Program also provides data trend analysis capabilities and
generates OSHA 300, 300A, 301 reports, sharps reports and first
report worksheets. Company’s MSDS Software Management
System helps companies meet HazCom compliance requirements. Features include MSDS management tools, regulatory
reports, multisite administration and MSDS library backup.
Program can also print container labels and shipping placards.
www.q5systems.com
Job Safety
Analysis
With TechWare’s JSATrac
software, user can set up
job safety analysis and
safety training procedures/schedules for review
and action. Information
can be viewed by employee, department, date
or job event/procedure. Software also records safety incidents
and injuries, including lost employee hours.
http://jobsafety.techwareinc.com
•corrective action management;
•inspection, monitoring and auditing.
While all of these systems have inherent benefits
independently, collectively they provide unparalleled functionality and improvements in managing,
compiling and reporting on an organization’s overall safety status and SH&E governance. Beyond the
use of basic word processing applications, corporations need to thoroughly understand the business
requirements associated with their safety management initiatives and select technologies that will
allow them to provide quantifiable benefits in managing these initiatives.
An effective technology-based safety management system is able to:
•define, manage and customize compliance
evaluation criteria (e.g., best practices, lessons
learned, regulations, standards, governance);
•document all audit components, inspections
and observations while defining criticality and
probability scores;
•define and automatically enforce accountability
in corrective action plans;
•analyze and define risks;
•generate reports across a multilevel hierarchical
structure based on any distinctive criteria, which
helps management make informed decisions
founded on real, corporate-wide data;
•define responses that can be maintained across
all stakeholders (customers, business units, corporate partners, suppliers, auditing organizations)
and provide consistent information back to the
organization;
•reference regulatory compliance criteria and
industry-specific documentation in a centralized
data repository;
•allow safety, audit and inspection teams simul-
taneous access to the audit and inspection management system so they can conduct inspections on
their specific areas of accountability and assemble
their discoveries into one complete assessment;
•permit audits and inspections to be performed
using a wide range of technology (e.g., handheld
devices, tablet PCs, laptops), either connected or
disconnected from any wireless data network;
•provide data security.
In addition, this system must have numerous
behind-the-scenes checks and balances to ensure
that accountabilities and compiled data cannot be
compromised and that transactions within the system are easily audited. It must be able to reference
data from disparate systems and link findings into
the overall reporting of the system. Finally, it must
be simple—that is, user friendly.
Champion Needed
For the safety management system to work, a
company needs a champion. While this may seem
obvious, experience has shown that champions are
hard to come by. A champion is someone who will
lead the project to ensure that it ultimately provides
benefits which will enhance business operations,
improve performance, increase morale, keep people
safe, ensure compliance and support the organization’s governance initiatives. Proper rollout of these
initiatives can be taken to another level by managing compliance for customers, suppliers and vendors. This will ensure true 360º visible and
measurable regulatory compliance.
The characteristics of a champion will directly
affect the success of the overall safety management
system project. Ideally, the champion should be
from within the organization and in a position to
Risk Management
IMPACT Enterprise is a comprehensive enterprise risk management
(ERM) solution from Syntex
Management Systems. Product
facilitates site-level and enterpriselevel discovery and removal of
exposures to risk that result in
organizational loss. Users can track
incidents, investigations and
responsibilities, and assess corrective
actions. Product also automates
regulatory reporting and enables in-depth analysis of key
operational metrics at site and enterprise levels. IMPACT
Enterprise uses an intuitive web-based interface, and it supports
multiple languages.
www.syntexsolutions.com
Safety Management
ZeraWare’s safety management software provides computerbased tools that can be used to build customized programs for
one or multiple locations. Product features four modules:
incident report, accident investigation, safety inspections and
OSHA recordkeeping. Users can track accidents, investigations
and inspections; customize safety and OSHA inspection
checklists; track corrective actions; analyze and compile accident
data, and produce reports; identify accident patterns and trends;
establish safety responsibilities and accountability; and unify
safety functions at multiple locations. Database resides on the
user’s server for greater control and cost efficiency.
www.zeraware.com
Organizations
need to recognize that
technology
innovation
and automation is one of
the best ways
to identify
additional
cost savings
in their
operations.
Best Practices continued on page 56
Compliance Audits
AUDITWorks, from Primatech, helps users prepare and
document SH&E compliance audits. Software provides guidance
in conducting audits, a framework in which to record results and
protocols for evaluating compliance. Preloaded checklists can be
used to audit various programs, including OSHA’s Process Safety
Management and EPA’s Risk Management Program regulations.
User-specific checklists can also be imported.
www.primatech.com
Lockout/Tagout
Management
WinSTETS is a lockout/
tagout solution that
provides a comprehensive
equipment status report
and prints safety labels and
permits. Developed by
Stonebridge Software,
program can track the life
cycle of the lockout/tagout
process. It also provides full
audit trails, operator logs,
equipment line-up lists and detailed management reports.
Features include pop-up pick lists and drop-down lists; internal
security and logging of all database changes; and support for
multiple tag types, lockout/tagout rules and nomenclature.
Program includes option of adding lock tracking for those
devices that require positive lockout.
www.tagout.com
55
Best
Practices
continued
from page 55
make decisions on behalf of the executive or management team. This individual must be able to
•research and learn;
•define stakeholder value;
•define and pool key resources;
•identify risks;
•influence, motivate and assimilate.
This person must also be results-oriented and accountable.
Many other characteristics are
required to successfully navigate the
challenges of a corporate-wide implementation. Many of these challenges are
inherent in the existing culture and may
require additional interventions. The
champion must not only be aware of
these obstacles, but in some cases, needs
to have the fortitude to overcome them.
So, What About the Technology?
In light of today’s national and global
economic condition, organizations need
to understand that technology innovation and automation is one of the best
ways to identify additional cost savings
in their operations. Companies should
always spend on effective technology—
and, in the author’s opinion, they should
spend more in a downturned economy.
Why is this true? Without starting a
debate, most can agree that one fundamental way to improve performance,
productivity and the bottom line is
through proper implementation of technology systems and services (provided
the company is spending appropriately).
Regulations are growing more complex
and the risks of not meeting certain standards could be detrimental. The loss of
decades of knowledge and experience
held by workers who are now approaching retirement will also severely affect
many organizations, not only in the
SH&E arena but in others as well.
SH&E technology initiatives must
overcome these hurdles and sustain regulatory compliance well into the future.
Whether a company develops in-house,
homegrown applications or partners
with a technology vendor, one thing is
certain: The specialized skills required
for a successful implementation must be
defined and obtained.
Many vendors can provide software
applications with the necessary functionality to manage SH&E initiatives and
compliance. The key is to select a technology partner that:
•makes efforts to understand your
business;
•puts the client’s corporate interests
first;
•is visionary and has a roadmap for
the future;
•can provide solutions tailored to
company-specific needs;
Construction
Safety
SH&E Metrics
ProcessMap offers EHS Metrics Management
software, which allows corporate SH&E teams to tie
together all facets of enterprise metrics reporting,
tracking and analysis. Software allows user to create
and manage business-unit and division-specific
metrics. Program allows for automated unit
conversions and derivative data calculations (e.g.,
CO2 equivalent data based on energy data) and
provides instant visibility regarding performance
against goals and targets. According to ProcessMap,
software facilitates comparison between facilities,
divisions and various operating units, information
that can be used to improve operational efficiency.
www.processmap.com
Construction Safety
Supervisor, from
Construction Safety
Software Corp., is a
web-based application
that tracks projectcritical information.
Application completes
OSHA and workers’
compensation forms,
and helps improve rootcause accident analysis.
User can track toolbox
safety meetings;
schedule and manage
MSHA task training; and
track and report MSHA
task training company
requirements.
www.csscsystems.com
•understands governance management concepts;
•has solutions that provide value
independently or collectively based on
specific business requirements;
•understands all areas of technology
and the risks associated within this
industry;
•understands that it cannot be everything to everyone and, therefore, has created solid partnerships with other
well-respected leaders in the industry to
provide a full spectrum of solutions that
meet the client’s safety and compliance
requirements;
•adheres to best practices and standards (e.g., ISO certified).
The technology market can provide the
tools, systems and processes to increase
visibility at the operational levels of an
organization. However, without the correct support framework, industry expertise, retention of knowledge in the forms of
data mining and business intelligence,
and an overall safety-centered corporate
culture, a company is only technically safe.
Peter Thiveos is vice president of technology
at Q5 Systems, an SH&E software development company that specializes in compliance
management and governance software solutions. Thiveos has more than 18 years’ oil
and gas, engineering procurement and construction, and software-development-specific
industry knowledge. He can be reached at
[email protected]. Learn more about Q5
at www.q5systems.com.
HazCom
SiteHawk’s
(M)SDS Engineer
is a secure, webbased MSDS
authoring tool
that uses a
wizard-driven
interface. Product
produces 16section documents that
conform to GHS
and ANSI guidelines, and include
agency-specific pictograms. Tool features
prepopulated pure substance/ingredient
database; prepopulated phrase library;
product use/formulation-based template
building; and multiagency hazard
classification rules engine.
www.sitehawk.com
Audit Management
PocketdynaQ software for mobile devices enables user to conduct field
assessments; capture data at the point of discovery; check regulatory
references; verify reference information; and eliminate paper checklists and
other hard copy reference material. Developed by Aerie Technologies,
software simplifies data entry by providing drop boxes, option buttons
and standardized observations.
www.aerietechnologies.com
56
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AMERICAN SOCIETY OF SAFETY ENGINEERS
Best
Practices
Creating Compelling Data
Displays for Decision Makers
A
By Robert J.
n inevitable finding of any review of an
SH&E program is the need for improved
Emery and
communications. The recurrent commenBruce J. Brown tary provided by groups ranging from frontline
workers to executive management is that they often
The way do not understand what SH&E programs do, nor
do they know how the program’s efforts actually
in which contribute to the organizational mission or the botimportant tom line. When presented with such findings, the
natural response on the part of SH&E professionals
SH&E data is to explore ways of improving the transmission of
verbally or in writing.
are visually information
While efforts to enhance verbal and written comdisplayed is munication are always laudable, there is another
means of communication that also warrants close
an impor- examination. The way in which important SH&E
are visually displayed is an equally important
tant avenue data
avenue of communication. It is ironic that in an era
of communi- when SH&E professionals are implored to develop
collect key performance measures and metrics,
cation. and
little attention is given to the way the data are actually displayed and communicated. This is a crucial
shortcoming within the profession, and one that the
authors believe is a major barrier to achieving full
management support. This impression is based on
5 years of intensive field research, in which the
authors examined the existing literature on the science and art of effective data displays, then reviewed
data displays from hundreds of actual SH&E programs. From this effort, the authors have learned that
when data are displayed in a compelling manner,
desired decision making often results.
comparisons. Tufte (1990, 1997, 2001) addresses this
issue in his many works—the notion of “compared
to what?” For example, to communicate that hazardous waste disposal costs are escalating, it is best
to include data that describe the basis for this escalation. Perhaps an increase in production or expansion of facility size is the underlying driver for such
cost increases. If this is the case, then this important
data should be displayed as well, as this will help
convey the message to upper management and
facilitate their understanding of the problem and
the causality.
Another key point that Tufte addresses is the
notion of presenting such data “adjacent in the eye
span” so that comparisons can be easily made. For
example, if two graphs are shown on the same page
in close proximity, a viewer can easily reach the conclusion that as production increases, hazardous
waste volumes are likewise increasing and, as such,
so are the costs for disposal.
Key Data Display Aspects
Although many techniques can be considered
when displaying data, the authors have encountered a
list of basic precepts that are better described by Tufte
and others, but can at least help get people started on
improving the way that information is conveyed:
•Do not blindly rely on the automatic formatting
provided by standard graphing tools embedded in
software. Software programs provide a useful basis
upon which to create a good data display, but
rarely are compelling data displays automatically
generated upon hitting a button.
•Eliminate the unnecessary. Most of the ink on
the data display should be employed to show data,
Barriers to Effective Communications
When trying to communicate the message inherent to
25
SH&E data accumulated, try
always to first think about the
message being conveyed. A
major barrier the authors have
20
observed is an overly complex
data display that obscures the
underlying message. So, the
first question should be, what is 15
the message? Is injury frequency increasing? Is compliance
improving? Are levels of job
10
satisfaction changing? Once the
message has been determined,
it should be kept in mind when
5
creating the graphic display
that must convey this point.
Another common problem
the authors encountered when
0
reviewing real-world data displays was the absence of valid Figure 1: Graph resulting from automatic formatting of data.
58
Temperature
These modifications allow for the creation of a
much improved data display (Figure 2).
With this improved graphic, the viewer can
clearly see all of the important information: what
the graph is about, the temperature of the ice water,
the room temperature, the nominal thickness of
actual penguin blubber and the experimental data
collected. Showing the data in this way allows the
viewer to conclude that a lard thickness of approximately 4 cm is the point at which nature has determined that sufficient insulation is achieved without
expending additional energy to carry about excess
weight. This improved example provides a stark
comparison to Figure 1 that was automatically generated from a graphing function in a spreadsheet or
presentation software.
not the superfluous matter around it. For example,
in some graphic programs, the graphs automatically produced use a gray background that actually
diminishes the importance of the actual data being
displayed.
•Use clear and thorough labeling. Make sure
each axis is labeled and add text and lines to help
the reader understand other aspects. Be sure to
include a clear descriptive title as well.
•Include comparison data, as this will help tell
the story as well.
Data Display Example
To illustrate some of these points, let’s take a
simple example. This example uses a real-world
data set from a sixth grader’s science experiment.
The first step is to determine what we are trying to
convey. This sixth grader would like to perform an
experiment to estimate the optimal thickness of blubber for a penguin that lives in Antarctica. To do this,
cooking lard will be used to simulate penguin blubber. An ice chest filled with water and ice will be used
to simulate the water conditions in the Antarctic. The
lard will be formed into various sized spheres and
allowed to equilibrate to room temperature. Then,
each sized ball will be immersed in the ice water for
10 minutes, at which time a thermometer will be
inserted into the ball’s center and the temperature
recorded. The idea is that at some lard thickness, the
insulating quality will become self limiting, that is, no
significant additional insulating value is obtained by
the added thickness (and weight) of the lard. The
hypothesis is that this would be the point at which
penguin blubber thickness likely falls.
If we then take this data and place it into the
spreadsheet cells of a widely used computer graphics display package, Figure 1 shows what the automatic formatting might provide.
Now, let’s see how this data display might be
improved. Some key steps include:
•Eliminate the unnecessary three dimensional
effect shown on the bars.
•Eliminate the text box labeled temperature, as this
variable will be specifically mentioned in the title.
•Include a title, axis labels and units of measure.
•Include some key reference points so that comparisons can be made easily.
30
References
Tufte, E.R. (1990). Envisioning information. Cheshire, CT:
Graphics Press.
Tufte, E.R. (2001). The visual display of quantitative information.
Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.
Tufte, E.R. (1997) Visual explanations. Cheshire, CT: Graphics
Press.
Tukey, J.W. (1977). Exploratory data analysis. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley.
Tukey, P.A., & Tukey, J.W. (1982).
Recorded Temperature in Center of Lard Ball After 10 Minute
Summarization; smoothing; suppleImmersion in Ice Water
mented views. In V. Barnett (Ed.),
Interpreting multivariate data. Chichester,
England: John Wiley & Sons.
Room temperature and
temperature of lard ball before
immersion
Temperatu
ure in Degree
es Celcius
Conclusion
Based on intensive review of the data display literature and examination of hundreds of real-world
SH&E data displays, the authors believe that the key
to desired decision making on the part of executive
leadership (and other key stakeholders) is the ability
to display data compellingly. If SH&E professionals
can take the time to think about what they are trying
to convey, then refine the way the data are displayed
to clearly make this point, they are more likely to
achieve desired decision making. In the authors’ experience, most of these data display adjustments require
the removal of unnecessary graphical features and the
inclusion of clear and thorough labeling. The creation
of graphics for paper distribution rather than temporary projection onto a screen also improves the way in
which information is conveyed and comprehended.
Readers who wish to learn more about the science
and art of effective data displays are encouraged to
examine the works listed in the references by Tukey
and Tufte. Taking the time to digest and reflect upon
those authors’ messages will help readers improve
the way they convey their own messages.
If SH&E
professionals take the
time to
refine the
way the
data are
displayed,
they are
more likely
to achieve
desired decision making.
Normal thickness of penguin fat layer
25
Robert J. Emery, DrPH, CSP,
CIH, CHP, RBP, CHMM, CPP,
ARM, is assistant vice president
for SH&E and risk management
and an associate professor of occupational health at University of
Texas Health Science Center at
Houston. He can be reached at
[email protected] or
(713) 500-8108.
20
15
10
5
Temperature
of ice water
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Lard Ball Radius in cm
Figure 2: Improved display of data after thoughtful modifications.
8
Bruce J. Brown, M.P.H., CBSP,
CHMM, ARM, is director, environmental health and safety, at
University of Texas Health Science
Center at Houston.
59
Best
Practices
OSHA.gov
Using the Inspection Database
By William M.
Montante
Inspection is
one of the
best tools
available to
find problems and
assess their
risks before
accidents
and losses
occur.
60
V
eteran safety professionals may recall a time
when, if someone came to your door and
announced, “I am from OSHA, and I am
here to help,” the response may not have been welcoming. In terms of industry safety practices, times
have changed for the better and so has OSHA.
There are many visible signs of a reimaged, refocused OSHA evidenced by the administration’s
multifaceted efforts to fulfill its safety and health
enforcement mandate while extending a helping
hand to business and industry through cooperative,
educative, information-sharing efforts, of which the
OSHA website and the Inspections database are
prime examples.
If you have not visited or used OSHA’s website,
you may be in the minority. In a recent news
release, OSHA (2008) reported that “more than 110
million visitor sessions from the public sought
potentially life-saving safety and health information from OSHA.gov in fiscal 2008 . . . during
which visitors viewed more than 180 million pages
of occupational safety and health resources.” The
site launched in 1995 at the same time the Internet
was first established. Since then, traffic to the website has consistently increased 12% to 15% annually.
Winston Churchill said, “To look is one thing. To
see what you look at is another. To understand
what you see is another. To learn from what you
understand is something else. But to act on what
you learn is all that really matters.”
There likely is no element of an effective safety
management process more attuned to proactive
mitigation of loss exposures than inspections,
whether planned, unplanned, general, critical parts,
pre-use or other specialized types of inspection.
“Inspection is one of the best tools available to find
problems and assess their risks before accidents
and losses occur” (Bird & Germain, 1986).
Inspecting, however, is a skill, honed over time
with training, experience and feedback on performance, requiring much more than looking and seeing. Its effectiveness requires understanding safety
in it most fundamental form—a condition or state
of being when risks and hazards are acceptable or
in control (Manuele, 2006; Montante, 2006). Knowing what is not acceptable—that is, hazardous or
out of control—as in the case of OSHA standards
noncompliance, and being able to evaluate and prioritize risk to people, property and business
process are all critical parts of that skill development. And as Churchill emphasized, it requires acting on what you have seen, understood and come
to learn is unacceptable.
The OSHA Inspections database contains more
than 30 years of inspection data organized in its
integrated management information system (IMIS).
It allows users 24/7 access to query on various
search parameters such as establishment name,
standard industry classification (SIC) code, accident
keyword, by OSHA office or region, by federal
and/or state plan states and others. At the touch of
a few keys users can access all or a specific slice of
that database to see what OSHA compliance officers observed and cited, and what penalties were
levied against a company, peers or industry groups.
From there, users have multiple opportunities to
drill into and dissect the data, analyze and display
it, and use that history for future benefit. The
inspections database offers numerous research
opportunities. This partial list includes:
•guide for hazards assessment;
•supplement to investigations;
•prompt for targeted injury programs;
•guide for updating or fine-tuning inspection
checklists;
•training resource for safety teams, supervisors
and managers;
•lens for others to see hazards as you see them;
•means to benchmark against industry peers;
•motivator to take action;
•“what if” eyeopener for management—if
OSHA were to visit today, what would the inspector find and cite, and what might be the penalties.
Getting Familiar
From your browser, access www.OSHA.gov.
Click on the “Inspection Data” tab (toward the top
of the page). This will open the “Statistics & Data”
page. Take time to become familiar with the many
search option titles. Click the link to “Inspection
Detail Definitions” and familiarize yourself with
the terminology or print out a copy to have ready
when you begin to search. The bulk of resource
information on this page relates to inspection data.
Categories include establishment search; search
inspections by SIC; inspection information; accident
investigation search; general duty standard search;
frequently cited OSHA search; and industry profile
for an OSHA standard.
Establishment search. A query tool to locate
OSHA inspections at a particular establishment
(i.e., company name). Use of this database is highlighted later.
Search inspections by SIC. This tool allows a
query using a specific SIC code. If you do not know
the SIC code for your establishment, ask your
finance manager, risk manager or human resources
manager. It is also a number requested on the
OSHA 300A annual summary. Further down the
category list you will find an SIC manual link
allowing you to search that database for a specific
SIC code. Also note that there is an SIC search link
to an alphabetical index of the 1987 version of the
SIC Manual and a link to the North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS) manual—a
6-digit industry grouping system developed in
cooperation with Canada and Mexico. If you know
your SIC code, you can find a corresponding
NAICS code or vice versa.
Inspection information. If you know a specific
inspection activity number, you can access it from
this category.
Accident investigation search. Enables a user to
do a search from an alphabetical keyword list for
words that may be contained in the text of abstracts
or accident investigation summaries (OSHA Form
170) resulting from an OSHA accident inspection.
For example, clicking on B brings up a list of 89
keywords that begin with B, such as back, belt or burn.
Beside each word is the number of times it was
used—for example, the word back was used 1,937
times out of a total of 19,380 keyword occurrences.
General duty standard search. Enables a user to
search the text associated with general duty clause
standards cited during OSHA inspections.
Frequently cited OSHA standards. Enables the
user to determine the most frequently cited federal
and state standards for a specific SIC code.
Industry profile for an OSHA standard.
Displays the SICs in which a specified federal
OSHA standard is most often cited. The Statistics
portion of this page also provides useful links to
the BLS Workplace Injury, Illness and Fatality database and FedStats, a gateway to statistics from
more than 100 U.S. federal agencies.
The Query
Nearly all of the inspection data query options
follow the same easy-to-follow format. Traversing
one—the establishment search—will give more
than sufficient insight to the others, and those that
differ are similarly quite easy to search, especially
after reviewing the search parameter instructions.
Establishment search is a good starting point. You
might want to access this page (http://osha.gov/
pls/imis/establishment.html) while you read this
article and follow along to get familiar with the
search process in real time. Once on the “Establishment Search” page, review the query option
parameters (Photo 1):
Establishment. Enter your company name, a
peer company of interest, or a generic industry
term (e.g., beverage or automotive).
States. Choose either “All” or a specific state.
Fed & State. Select both, federal or state plans.
OSHA Offices. Select “All Offices” or a specific
office or region.
Case Status. Select either “Closed” or
“Open”—more data are available for closed cases.
Inspection Date. Enter the start and end date.
This may take some experimenting. With 35 years
of available inspection data, selecting too large a
span of time might yield thousands of hits for the
parameters and range selected, making the analysis
quite cumbersome.
Submit or Reset. Clicking “Submit” begins the
search. Results are displayed usually in seconds.
Number of hits appears on the right of the page.
If the number is large (e.g., hundreds or thousands),
you might want to click “Reset” or “Return to
Search” to limit one or more of the search parameters.
Photo 1
Photo 2
The “Establishment Search Results” page
(Photo 2) displays the selected parameters across
the top. Read the restriction notes. A results page
displays 20 or fewer inspections.
Activity reports and each inspection will display
the following headings (not all available headings
are described):
Activity: A 9-digit code specific to the inspection. Clicking it opens the inspection detail, or clicking the box in the column to the left allows you to
flag multiple entries;
Opened: The date the inspection started.
RID: Report ID identifies the OSHA office or
organizational unit responsible for the inspection.
St: The two-letter state abbreviation where the
inspection occurred.
Type: The type of inspection: planned, unplanned, complaint, referral, follow-up and accident.
Sc: The two-letter scope abbreviation indicates
Best Practices continued on page 62
61
Best
Practices
continued
from page 61
whether a complete, partial or records
only inspection was performed. It may
also indicate “no inspection” if for
some reason the inspection could not
be completed.
SIC: Indicates the 4–digit SIC code
(1987 version) which most closely
applies. Multiple SIC codes might
appear in this column for the same
establishment or within an industry
group, which might trigger further
investigation into why same or similar
establishments are using different SIC
codes. It is possible that an incorrect
code is used. The SIC code is entered
on the OSHA 300A summary form.
Reporting the wrong code could place
your establishment in an incorrect peer
bucket when BLS or OSHA tabulates
or applies the data for setting inspection
targets. So, it is well worth verifying
SIC accuracy.
NAICS: Displays the 6-digit code
corresponding to the SIC.
Vio: This code stands for the number
of violations.
Establishment Name: The selected
establishment name or variants of it will
be listed in the far right column. If
searching using an industry keyword,
many different establishment names
could be listed.
To access detail on a specific inspection, click the Activity code to open the
respective “Inspection Detail” page.
Photo 3
62
(Photo 3). This page lists more details on
the establishment, a summary of violations if issued, the specific standards
cited and the fines levied, in addition to:
•inspection type;
•scope;
•number employed/covered—
number of workers employed or covered at the worksite inspected;
•ownership—either private or
public sector;
•union or nonunion status;
•safety/health—the focus of the
inspection;
•emphasis—local (L) or national (N)
indicates whether specific office-dependent initiatives or special OSHA-wide initiatives were under consideration when
performing the inspection;
•advanced notice—indicates (Y/N)
whether advanced notice was given of
the pending inspection;
•close conference—indicates the ending date of the on-site portion of the
inspection;
•close case—indicates the date on
which all activity associated with the
inspection ceased.
To accelerate the search, click the box
to the left of each activity file you wish
to review, then click “Get Detail.” Inspection detail for each selected activity
file will appear.
Of particular interest will be the violations summary and the violations items
boxes. Not all inspections will have
these details, case in point being complaints that are mostly addressed without an on-site inspection. If you do not
see a number in the “Vio” column of the
“Establishment Search Results” page,
you likely will not find detail on cited
standards. The Violations Summary box
displays the type (e.g., serious,
willful, repeat) and number of
violations for each type issued
from the inspection, and the
penalty amounts assessed.
Note that number of violations
and penalties are listed as
“Initial” and “Current.” Both
amounts may have changed
from the initial order depending on decisions resulting
from judicial actions or negotiations in the closing conference (e.g., informal
settlement). The total number
of violations shown does not
include those deleted due to
the settlement or judicial
action. Violations that were
grouped are only counted
once as a group rather than
individually for each standard
cited. An entry in “FTA” indicates a failure-to-abate assessment resulting when the
violations were not abated
during the specified period.
The Violation Items box displays
detail for each violation, the type, the
specific standard (either federal or state
specific code), the issuance and abatement dates, penalty structure, whether
the violation was contested and the
last event.
Each violations summary page will
display across the top the name of the
specific OSHA standard cited, but this,
in most cases, is only the title of the standard or a subsection, not the detail. It
may be necessary to refer to your OSHA
standards book or the web page section
on “Standards.” For example, you might
see “Standard Cited: 1910.157 e(2)—
Portable fire extinguishers.” Unless you
are very familiar with the standards,
you might not know that e(2) refers to
monthly inspections.
Putting It All Together
From this point, it is simply a matter
of repetition and creativity—that is,
opening each activity file of interest or
checking multiple activity files, clicking
“Get Detail,” and finally analyzing, summarizing or expressing the data in some
relevant format (e.g., text, tabular or
slide presentation, depending on the
message you want to convey, to whom
and what action/reaction you seek).
Following is an example of an analysis
flow and outline for a PowerPoint presentation commonly used by the author
in presentations to clients:
1) Determine SIC/NAICS code or
codes for the client and industry; select
meaningful time range; a common range
is 2 to 3 years, although with some large
concerns with frequent OSHA attention,
the search range was limited to 1 year
without compromising quality or quantity of data from analysis.
2) Perform an establishment search
on the client’s name and again for the
SIC code.
3) If multiple SIC codes appear (a
common occurrence) do a limited investigation to determine why the variability
of code choices and which is indeed the
most accurate for the client.
4) Extract relevant data. For example:
•number of inspections (activity
reports) per year for establishment and
the industry, and graphic display of
trend, and average number of inspections per year;
•number of violations per year and
type (serious, other, willful, repeat)
and trending, average number of
violations per inspection, trending of
serious violations;
•penalties per year and trend, average penalty per violation and per
inspection;
•percent change from average initial
penalty to final settlement (not unusual
to range from 40% to 60% reduction);
•analysis of what triggered the
inspections (e.g., percent complaints,
planned, referral) for establishment as
compared to the industry group;
•number of times the general duty
clause was the basis for citation, reasons
why and penalties for the establishment
and industry group;
•analysis of inspection activity by
each state;
•tabular listing of all the standards
cited (with description) and frequency
of each.
5) General description of OSHA
enforcement efforts (e.g., national
emphasis program, local emphasis program, site-specific targeting) and the
OSHA DART and DAFWII thresholds
for site-specific targeting. This is helpful
for what-if analysis and building a profile on why OSHA might inspect and
likelihood of an inspection.
6) General discussion on ways a company can defer or be exempt from
inspections (e.g., by low DART/DAFWII
rates, participation on Cooperative
Compliance Program, or VPP/SHARP).
7) What-if analysis. If OSHA were to
visit today, what might they find, what
might be cited and how much will we
be penalized?
8) Perform a mock inspection and
take photos of all observed violations.
Blend these into your presentation to
show how closely your observations
matched those from the establishment
and SIC searches. Discuss potential
penalties for each and total.
9) Summarize key points and all
action items.
for an effective training guide
for managers, supervisors and
safety teams to acquaint them
to what OSHA inspectors typically observe,
In addition to the latest OSHA news, speeches
as well as a means to sharpen
and testimonials, the OSHA.gov website also
their observation and inspecallows users to access:
tion skills, and help them to
•new and current standards and inter“see hazards that they might
pretations;
have missed or taken for
•proposed rule changes;
granted as a way of doing
•safety and health information bulletins;
business.”
•compliance assistance information;
The inspection data are also
•eTools;
useful for upgrading inspec•QuickCards;
tion checklists and setting
•Quick Start;
internal design standards.
•training;
Accessing some of the other
•recordkeeping;
above-listed search databases
•fact sheets;
such as for accidents, general
•industry partnerships;
duty clause, or most frequent•support for small businesses;
ly cited OSHA standards for
•information on how to take advantage of
your establishment and/or
OSHA’s cooperative programs and on-site conSIC group will provide even
sultation;
more detail and potentially
•the statistics section, which houses the
useful insights to effect posiInspection database.
tive change, open eyes, shift
mental models, enhance hazard observation skills, and
help realize a more acceptable
level of control over hazards and comManuele, F. (2006). On the practice of safety (3rd
ed.). New York: Wiley Interscience.
pliance deficiencies. Why not learn and
Montante, W. (2006, Nov.). The essence of safeprofit from the experience of others?
ty: What’s in your mental model? Professional Safety,
Although it may have taken OSHA a
51(11), 36-39.
quarter of a century to begin to reimagOSHA. (2008, Oct. 28). OSHA website records
more than 110 million visitor sessions from the pubine itself, the safety and health goals of
lic in FY2008 [News release]. Retrieved Oct. 28,
industry and OSHA now are more
2008, from http://www.osha.gov.
mutually aligned. Industry, when seeking help, has another resource, accessible
William M. Montante, CSP, CXLT, is vice
via an information portal and from
which OSHA can respond candidly and president and senior consultant for the global
insurance brokerage Marsh Inc. He is a profeswith confidence, “We are here to help.”
Conclusion
The data and photos of observed hazards or compliance deficiencies combine
References
What’s Available at
OSHA.gov
Bird, F & Germain, G. (1986). Practical loss control leadership. Loganville, GA: Institute Press.
sional member of ASSE’s Georgia Chapter and
past president of the Chattanooga Area
Chapter. Montante holds a B.S. in Industrial
Engineering and Human Factors from the
State University of New York at Buffalo.
63
Product
Pulse
NEW PRODUCTS AND
INNOVATIONS TO ADVANCE SAFETY
AND IMPROVE PERFORMANCE
Safety Cutter
HazMat Suit
Saint-Gobain
Performance
Plastics introduces
the ONESuit Pro
flame-resistant
HazMat suit, certified to NFPA 1991
and NFPA 1994.
CoreTech Barrier
Membrane technology provides the
highest level of
protection against
chemical and biological agents in
both liquid and
vapor form. Lightweight single-skin
design is engineered for maneuverability and user
comfort in challenging environments such as fire
departments, chemical plants, airports
and other facilities
that must be prepared for hazardous conditions.
www.onesuit
tec.com
To submit a
product for this
section, send
an e-mail to
professionalsafety
@asse.org. Be
sure to include
product and contact information,
along with a
high-resolution
image of the
product.
64
Pacific Handy Cutter’s Safety First
System has received NSF Certification for
its RSC-432 disposable safety cutter used in the
food services sector. Cutter features clear guard that
protects and relocks instantly after each cut. Hooded
guard resets immediately after the cutter leaves the cutting
surface. Other features include ambidextrous three-button design;
tape notch for bladeless box tape splitting; and side button release.
www.go-phc.com/rsc432
Exam Glove
Sempermed introduces the SemperCare
copolymer nitrile powder-free exam
glove, offering improved fit and
comfort. This nonlatex alternative uses a
manufacturing process called fusion
bonding, which creates a multilayered
glove that adds the comfort and
elasticity of latex with the safety of
nitrile. Glove offers improved tensile
strength and elasticity, and has a lower
modulus for reduced hand fatigue and
improved comfort.
www.SempermedUSA.com
Fall
Protection
Safety Cap
The head-hugging suspensions
of the Tectra Safety Cap from
Elvex Corp. have a low center of
gravity to keep helmet securely
on head. Four different suspensions are available: four- and
six-point ratchet suspensions
and four- and six-point pin-lock
suspensions. All suspensions
have three height adjustments.
Other features include lightweight polyethylene shell,
hidden suspension hangers,
contour at ears to accommodate hearing protection, rain
trough for water disbursement
and 30-mm accessory slot.
www.elvex.com/sc-50.htm
MSA’s Custom Fall
Protection Products
service enables
customers to easily
customize their fall
protection system.
Users may apply a
heat-transfer or
PVC (3-D rubber)
logo of their
choice, select a
webbing color for
both polyester and
nylon harnesses,
add a back strap or
change back strap
webbing color,
change connectors,
or customize the
length of the
lanyard, lifeline
and rope system.
www.MSANorth
America.com
Safety Management
Created specifically for supervisors, CoreMedia
Supervisor University is a seven-lesson webbased course that demonstrates the principles
of supporting a system of safety accountability
to ensure people who oversee others achieve
a greater understanding of their role in
establishing a strong safety culture. Selfdirected curricula is narrated and organized
into seven modules that are less than 20
minutes each. Downloadable learner
guides appear for each module.
www.coremediauniversity.com
Cleaning System
Outdoor PC
Trimble’s Yuma rugged tablet computer is an all-in-one outdoor
computing solution that can transport a user’s office to the
field. Mobile computing solution is suited to public safety, field
service, forestry, utilities, mapping, military and other servicerelated applications. Fully functional computer runs the
Windows Vista Business operating system, and features 7-in.
sunlight-readable WVGA color touch screen, integrated WiFi
connectivity, GPS and two geotag-enabled cameras. Tablet can
be mounted on a tripod or pole for data collection, or secured
in a vehicle-mount for use as a computer on the road. Approximately the size of a hardback book, the Trimble Yuma weighs
only 2.6 lb. With a 1.6 GHz processor and a 32 GB solid-state
hard drive, device has no moving parts, which allows for
operation in extreme environments. Device meets stringent
military standards for drops, vibration and humidity.
www.trimble.com/rugged
Rubbermaid Commercial Products
introduces the Rubbermaid HYGEN
comprehensive microfiber cleaning
system. Microfiber reportedly traps
and holds 95% of microorganisms,
is bleach tolerant and durable. System features innovative textiles and
hardware to maximize productivity
and value, including Flexi Frame,
which conforms to surfaces, and
Quick-Connect handles and poles
for cleaning hard-to-reach areas.
System reportedly helps user clean
45% faster, reducing worker strain.
www.rcpworksmarter.com
Transportation Safety
Labelmaster is offering the 2009-10 edition of Technical Instructions for
the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air. Published by International
Civil Aviation Organization, the book has been amended to align with
the latest edition of the UN Recommendations on the Transport of
Dangerous Goods. The new edition includes the following updates:
general principles defined in greater detail to clarify the intent of the
requirements; prenotification of revised packing instructions applicable in
2011; changes in training requirements for HazMat employees; major
revisions to the requirements for lithium batteries including new UN
numbers package limits and labeling; provisions for electronic
documentation and recordkeeping; and excepted quantities provisions
have been revised including a new package mark.
www.labelmaster.com/ICAO
Shatter-Resistant
Lamps
Shat-R-Shield introduces the
new T8 lamp, an eco-friendly
28-W safety-coated fluorescent
lamp. Energy-efficient lamp
features extended rated-life—
36,000 hours when used on
programmed start ballasts—
and reduced mercury for
added safety. Clear safety
coating contains virtually all
glass, mercury and phosphors
in the event the lamp is
inadvertently broken.
www.shatrshield.com
Work Glove
Ergodyne has redesigned its ProFlex
glove line for professional workers,
trades people and applications. The
redesign includes feature upgrades to
Handler and Trades series models, such
as additional flex zones for improved
comfort, terry thumb brow wipe,
increased wear patch coverage and
low-profile closures. Trades series is
designed for highly dexterous
applications, while Handler series is
intended for materials handling and
general-duty applications. Other
improvements include neoprene
knuckle pad to protect against bumps
and bruises; reinforced fingertips and
thumb saddle; and breathable, threelayer stretch spandex.
www.ergodyne.com
Product Pulse continued on page 66
65
Product
Pulse
Docking
Station
continued from
page 65
Cleanroom Apparel
Kimberly-Clark Professional
introduces Kimtech Pure A5
Cleanroom Apparel, an aseptic
cleanroom suit designed by
cleanroom operators. Garment
is suited for use in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and
medical device manufacturing
industries and other settings
where sterility is as important
as particle control. Suit features Clean-Don Technology,
designed to ease donning
without compromising sterility.
Built-in snaps gather up legs
and arms to lower the risk of
the garment touching the
floor, then automatically
release as the garment is put
on. Inside-out fold pattern
presents the inside of the
garment as the package is
opened, reducing the risk of
touching and contaminating
the outside of the apparel.
Highly visible blue line along
the inside of the garment
signals the proper place to
grasp while gowning, helping
workers avoid touching
garment exterior. Finally,
thumb loops help keep the
garment from riding up the
arm and help maintain the
glove/garment interface.
www.kimtech.com/
wedelivered
Industrial Scientific
Corp. introduces
the iTrans DS2
Docking Station,
which automates
calibration, recordkeeping and instrument diagnostics for
fixed-point gas monitors. Automated calibration eliminates the
need for a field technician to carry cylinders of gas around to
each sensor in a facility,
which avoids hazards presented by ladder climbing or
going over pipe racks to access
hard-to-reach sensors.
www.indsci.com
Accident Investigation
Summit Training Source introduces its latest release,
Accident Investigation: Examining the Details, to train
employees how to figure out exactly why an accident
occurred. Program teaches a systematic approach to
accident investigation to enable employees to
identify hazardous conditions and eliminate them to
avoid future issues. Available on video or DVD,
program is filmed on-site in multiple settings to show
various real-life scenarios. Topics include when to
investigate; the accident scene; interviewing
witnesses; reviewing records; analyzing information;
and communicating recommendations.
www.safetyontheweb.com
MSDS
Authoring
Chemical Protective Glove
ChemTek 38-214T glove from Ansell
Healthcare protects workers from
phenol chloroform and various
dangerous chemicals. Thin-mil Viton
over butyl glove is comfortable and
provides dexterity and tactile sensitivity
to lab workers. Developed in response
to the need for a thin lab glove that
could be used with phenol and
chlorinated solvents, glove provides
chemical protection without the need to
double-glove. Glove protects against a
range of chemicals, including acetic acid,
benzene, ammonium hydroxide, carbon
tetrachloride, dimethylacetamide,
methylene chloride and sulfuric acid.
www.ansellpro.com
66
3E Co. has released
MSDgen 6.01, a
new version of its
MSDS authoring
system. Several new features
further simplify the development of MSDS and label documents within the system,
increasing user efficiency and
productivity. Updated version
also features enhancements to
help users comply with global
regulatory obligations.
Enhanced multilingual graphical user interface and translations have
been added, and features support for Unicode data throughout the
database. Other updates include settings to help manage data in the toxicological information and ecological information sections, giving users
more control by allowing them to review and approve Ariel data before
it is used in calculations or printed on documents.
www.3ecompany.com
Eye Protection
Sperian Protection introduces the W300 Series safety eyewear for women. Product
offers a refined fit that accommodates women’s facial features, providing better
protection from impact on the sides and periphery. High-impact polycarbonate
construction reportedly meets ANSI Z87+ high impact certification. Slimmer profile
with comfort-shaped temples offers improved comfort, while antiscratch hard coat
improves durability. Designed to not impede vision, unilens is available in
three tints for various work environments.
www.sperianprotection.com
LPG Monitoring
The Xgard IR LPG from Crowcon Detection Instruments is an infrared fixed gas
detector designed to detect liquid petroleum gas (LPG) hazards before concentrations reach flammable levels. Unlike
conventional LPG detectors based on catalytic pellistors, infrared device is immune
to poisoning. Infrared sensors detect
flammable gas in inert backgrounds and
are not damaged by high gas concentrations. Featuring a life expectancy of more
than 5 years, simple plug-in module
makes replacement quick and easy.
Standard junction box is designed for
both wall and ceiling mounting, while
four cable gland options ensure compatibility on any site. Detector takes a range
of accessories for harsh or wet conditions
and for remote sampling.
Fleet Management
J.J. Keller introduces Maintenance Manager Online, www.crowcon.com
a secure, web-based application that allows motor
carriers to track and manage daily preventive maintenance tasks. Application provides a central
HazMat Emergencies
location to schedule and record common
American Chemistry Council’s CHEMTREC
maintenance, report on repair orders, schedule
(CHEMical Transportation Emergency
mechanics and track inventory of vehicle parts. User
Center), an emergency response service
can set alerts and reminders for key maintenance
designed to serve firefighters, law
needs or service requirements, as well as generate
enforcement and other emergency
reports such as cost detail, fuel economy, preventive responders faced with an incident involvmaintenance status and repair detail. Program
ing HazMats or dangerous goods.
operates as a stand-alone application or integrates
CHEMTREC is a 24/7/365 emergency call
with the firm’s in-cab technology.
center that provides immediate
www.jjkeller.com/KMMO
information and assistance to anyone
involved in a HazMat incident. It is staffed
with emergency service specialists who
can provide access to HazMat experts,
chemists, physicians and toxicologists, as
well as millions of MSDS.
www.chemtrec.com
Sustainable
Cleaner
3M’s Novec Contact Cleaner
Plus is a nonflammable
aerosol cleaner for removing
oil, grease and silicones in
sensitive electronics. Product
is safe for plastics and reportedly meets the new California
VOC regulation for electrical
cleaners. Product contains
95% active solvent, which
helps deliver more cleaning
power and additional cleans
per can. Fast-drying, noncorrosive, nonconductive cleaner
requires no rinsing, and is
suitable for maintenance and
repair, as well as assembly
operations for electronics,
aerospace, defense, transportation, utilities and
mining industries.
www.3M.com/Novec
Environmental Monitor
Quest Technologies introduces the EVM-7, a durable, easy-to-use environmental monitor that combines several instruments into one. Device can
simultaneously measure and log particulates (mass concentration), VOCs,
toxic gas, CO2, relative humidity, temperature and air velocity with
optional accessory. Dial-in impactor system facilitates quick particulate
selection. Built-in sampling pump assists in the collection of particulates
while the light-scattering photometer mass concentration engine provides real-time measurement. Smart sensors offer automatic recognition
at power-on and store sensor-specific data such as calibration levels,
service dates and temperature compensation.
www.questtechnologies.com
67
Classified
Ads
Positions Wanted
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, B.S. in Occupational
Safety and Health. ASSE student member
seeking entry-level position in safety field.
Coursework included: legal liability in safety
and health legislation; industrial hygiene; engineering and ergonomics; industrial training
and development; HazMat and waste management; acoustics, vibrations and noise control; conservation of natural resources; soil
science; environmental impact assessment;
and environmental policy and law. Computer
skills: Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and
Internet. Field skills: Can operate handheld GPS
and read soil maps. Contact Jeffery Chad Milburn, (580) 916-2905; [email protected].
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health. ASSE student
member seeking entry-level position in safety
field. Coursework included: introduction to fire
science; legal liability in safety and health legislation; industrial hygiene; HazMat and waste
management; engineering and ergonomics;
acoustics, vibrations and noise control; safety
training and development; safety program
management. Computer skills: Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Internet. Work experience:
appraiser’s assistant, Great Plains Appraisal,
Enid, OK, 2000 to present; contract labor,
Stanford Paving, Durant, OK; landscaping,
Joyce K. Barnes Contractor, Durant, OK, spring
and summer 2008; farmhand, Sue Freeney,
Kingston, OK, summers 1999-2007; lifeguard,
Oakwood Country Club, Enid, OK, summer
2006. Contact Landon Dixon, (580) 747-0010;
or SOSU Placement Office at (580) 745-2270.
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health, minor in General
Business. ASSE student section secretary seeking entry-level position in safety field.
Coursework included: drugs in society; HazMat and waste management; legal liability in
safety and health legilation; systems approach
to hazard control; safety program management; engineering and ergonomics; fire science; acoustics, vibrations and noise control;
elementary Spanish; accounting; management
and organizational behavior; micro- and
macroeconomics; industrial hygiene; construction safety; and international business
law. OSHA 10-hour general industry training;
and C-CERT certification. Computer skills:
Windows Vista, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and
Internet. Work experience: safety internship,
On-Site Oil Tools Inc., Ratliff City, OK, May
2007 to present; Lowe’s Home Improvement,
customer service associate, Durant, OK,
October 2006 to May 2008. Contact Derek
Black, (580) 993-0414; derekblack_20@hot
mail.com; or SOSU Placement Office at (580)
745-2270.
68
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health. May 2007
graduate, Carl Albert State College, Associate’s in Business Administration. ASSE student
field. Coursework included: industrial hygiene; legal liability; HazMat and waste management; systems approach to hazard control;
safety program management; ergonomics; fire
science; acoustics, vibrations and noise control. Computer skills: Windows, Word and
Internet. Work experience: labor hand, operator, CCC Construction, Heavener, OK, 2003 to
present; part-time safety trainer, Poteau VoTech, Poteau, OK, January 2009 to present;
safety management internship, Bremnar Food
Group, Poteau, OK, February 2009 to present.
Contact Dustin Caughern, (918) 413-2427;
[email protected]; or SOSU Placement Office at (580) 745-2270.
field. Coursework included: drugs in society;
legal liability in safety and health legislation;
industrial hygiene; acoustics, vibrations and
noise control; safety program management;
and HazMat and waste management.
Computer skills: Windows, Word, Excel,
Internet, Kofax and Healthport. Work experience: service manager, Malmquist Mechanical
Inc., Stockton, CA, June 1990 to May 2000; secretary, Atoka Memorial Hospital, Atoka, OK,
May 2000 to July 2008; document imaging
coordinator, Atoka Memorial Hospital, Atoka,
OK, July 2008 to present. Contact Ronda
Beasley, 438 S. Park Ln., Atoka, OK 74525;
(580) 364-2494; [email protected]; or
SOSU Placement office at (580) 745-2270.
member seeking position in safety field.
Coursework included: industrial hygiene;
HazMat and waste management; systems
approach to hazard control; engineering and
ergonomics; effective safety and health training; fire science; acoustics, vibrations and
noise control; OSHA construction safety and
health. Computer skills: Windows, Word,
AutoCAD, Pro Engineering and Internet.
Work experience: OSHA SGE, safety committee member, Black and Decker, for past 7 years;
current chair of safety/steering committee,
Kwikset, Denison, TX; member of VPP committee that helped to achieve VPP Star worksite 2006, Kwikset, Denison, TX. Contact Robert
Clark, 260 E. FM 120, Denison, TX 75021; or
SOSU Placement Office at (580) 745-2270.
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S in Occupational Safety and Health. ASSE student
field. Coursework included: industrial hygiene; legal liability in safety and health legislation; HazMat and waste management;
systems approach to hazard control; safety
training and instructional techniques; acoustics, vibrations and noise control; engineering
and ergonomics. Computer skills: Windows,
Word, PowerPoint and Internet. OSHA 10hour general industry training. Contact Ryan
Brnardic, (941) 586-1571; [email protected];
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, B.S. degree in Occupational Safety and Health. ASSE student
field. Coursework included: industrial hygiene; legal liability in safety and health; HazMat and waste management; systems
approach to hazard control; safety program
management; fire science; acoustics, vibrations and noise control; and community recreation. Computer skills: Word, Excel and
PowerPoint. Contact Chelcie Franks, 5516
Armstrong Rd., Durant, OK 74701; (580) 3670330; or [email protected].
member looking for entry-level position in
safety field. Coursework included: acoustics,
vibrations and noise control; fire science;
industrial hygiene; legal liability in safety and
health legislation; ergonomics; HazMat and
waste management; safety program management; industrial training and development;
and systems approach to hazard control.
Computer skills: PowerPoint, Word, Internet
and Windows. Contact Daniel Taylor, tennis
[email protected]; or SOSU Placement
Office at (580) 745-2382.
field. Coursework included: industrial hygiene;
HazMat and waste management; engineering
and ergonomics; industrial training and development; fire science; acoustics, vibrations and
noise control. Computer skills: Windows,
Word and Internet. Work experience: sales
associate, Dollar General Corp., TX, summer
2008; server, Stadium Restaurant, TX, summer
2007; tennis instructor, Polo Tennis Club, TX,
summers 2001-08. Contact Deana Brooks,
(512) 507-4789; [email protected]; or
Positions Wanted
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S in Occupational Safety and Health and July 2009 B.A.
in Technical Theatre. Coursework included:
industrial hygiene; construction safety; legal
liability in safety and health legislation;
HazMat and waste management; and acoustics, vibrations and noise control. Training and
skills: live performance safety academy, experienced carpenter, stitcher and sound operations, SketchUP, welding, USITT basic rigging,
electrical safety workshop, Windows, Word,
Internet, NHC Mixing Software, iTunes, MixPad, Sound Forge, Pet Car and TX DL. Work
experience: 3 years Tractor Supply Co. team
leader; student scenic and lighting designer,
SOSU Theatre; and two seasons in the
Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival. Contact
Catherine Brunet, 205 Love Trail, Valley View,
TX 76272; [email protected].
and health field. Coursework included: introduction to occupational safety and health; fire
science; drugs in society; acoustics, vibrations
and noise control; construction safety; systems
approach to hazard control; safety training
and instructional techniques; safety program
management; industrial hygiene; safety engineering and human factors (ergonomics);
HazMat and waste management; and general
safety. Work experience: current safety internship, Durant/Bryan County Emergency Management. Contact Elijah Dalton (580) 945-4501
or (580) 775-4500; [email protected];
JULY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health. ASSE student
field. Coursework included: legal liability in
safety and health legislation; industrial hygiene; HazMat and emergency planning;
ergonomics; safety training; construction safety; acoustics, vibrations and noise control; systems approach to hazard control; fire science;
safety program management. Computer skills:
Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint and Internet.
Contact Matthew Kelso, (936) 525-7376; [email protected]; or SOSU Placement
Office at (580) 745-2270.
systems approach to hazard control; ergonomics; acoustics, vibrations and noise control.
Computer skills: Windows, Word, Excel and
Internet. Work experience: environmental
compliance officer, U.S. Marine Corps,
Jacksonville, NC, Camp Lejeune. Contact
Rocky Robinson, (580) 565-9829; or robinson
[email protected].
member seeking an entry-level position in the
safety field. Classes attended but not limited
to: safety legislation; construction safety;
chemistry; psychology; industrial hygiene;
and HazMat handling. Computer skills: Word,
WordPerfect, Windows and Internet. Work
experience: store manager and safety training
coordinator, O’Reilly Auto Parts. Contact Bob
McAdoo, (580) 380-1588; bmcadoo07@yahoo
.com; or SOSU Placement Office at (580)
745-2270.
member looking for entry-level position in
safety field. Coursework included: industrial
hygiene; legal liability in safety and health legislation; HazMat and waste management; systems approach to hazard control; safety
program management; engineering and ergonomics; construction safety; fire science; and
acoustics, vibrations and noise control. Computer skills: Windows, Office and Internet.
Work experience: safety committee, Dollar
General Corp.; licensed forklift operator DG;
brand scaffold builder, BP; Gene Autry volunteer firefighter and lead. Contact James
Elmore, 3952 Provence Rd., Ardmore, OK
73401; (580) 768-3915 or (580) 768-3914; smgf06
@juno.com; or SOSU Placement Office at (580)
745-7486.
member seeking position in safety field.
Coursework included: industrial hygiene;
construction safety; HazMat and waste management; engineering and ergonomics; safety
program management; fire science; acoustics,
vibrations and noise control; systems approach to hazard control. Other related
coursework includes business law and numerous business courses. Computer proficiency in
Office, Windows and Internet applications.
Work experience: managerial role, AutoZone,
past 11 years; experience leading a team. Contact Jack Farley, (580) 916-5724, jachairm
@yahoo.com; or SOSU Placement Office at
(580) 745-2270.
SUMMER 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern
Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S. in
Occupational Safety and Health. ASSE student
field. Coursework included: construction safety; legal liability; industrial hygiene; HazMat
and waste control; ergonomics; fire safety;
safety training and instructional techniques;
acoustics, vibrations and noise control; safety
program management. Work experience: customer service, training and maintenance, Spin
Cycle, Durant, OK; server, Chucks BBQ,
Calera, OK; sales, customer service and stocking, K.P.’s Quick Mart, Heavener, OK. Contact
Jake Hembree, (479) 719-7104; jake_s_h
@hotmail.com; or SOSU Placement Office at
(580) 745-2270.
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health along with
Psychology. ASSE student member seeking
entry-level position in the safety field. Coursework included: industrial hygiene; legal liability in safety and health legislation; HazMat
and waste management; systems approach to
hazard control; safety program management;
engineering and ergonomics; industrial training and development; fire science; and acoustics, vibrations and noise control. Computer
skills: Windows, Word and Internet. Work experience: safety management internship,
Bremner Food Group, Poteau, OK, summer
2008; regulations/safety training. Contact
Kristi Goins, (918) 658-4812; or SOSU Placement Office at (580) 745-2270.
member seeking entry-level position in the
hygiene; legal liability in safety and health legislation; HazMat and waste management; systems approach to hazard control; safety
program management; engineering and ergonomics; industrial training and development;
fire science; and acoustics, vibrations and
Word, PowerPoint and Internet. Work experience: parks and facilities assistant, Derby
Recreation Center, Derby, KS, summer 2008;
regulations/safety training. Contact Nathan
Johnson, (316) 619-0455; njohnson31@student
.sosu.edu; or SOSU Placement Office at (580)
745-2270.
JUNE 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health. ASSE student
hygiene; legal liability in safety and health legislation; systems approach to hazard control;
safety engineering and human factors; safety
program management; HazMat and waste
management; acoustics, vibrations and noise
control; safety training and instructional techniques; and construction safety. Work experience: safety team member at MEMC Southwest,
Sherman, TX, 2000-02. Contact Stephen Justus,
(580) 916-5577.
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, B.S in Occupational
Safety and Health. Coursework included:
health legislation; HazMat and waste management; systems approach to hazard control;
safety program management; engineering and
ergonomics; industrial training and development; fire science; and acoustics, vibrations
and noise control. Computer skills: Windows,
Word and Internet. Work experience: safety
representative and emergency medical technician, Dallas Veterans Hospital Emergency
Department; certified firefighter with IFSAC
seals; medic and military police for the U.S.
Army. Contact Chad Schulenberg, 129
Meadow Ridge Dr., Anna, TX; (469) 667-4399;
[email protected].
69
Positions Available
member seeking an entry-level position within the safety field. Coursework included:
drugs in society; introduction to fire science;
program management; safety legislation; industrial hygiene; acoustics, vibrations and
noise control; construction safety; safety training and instructional techniques; HazMat and
waste management; and fundamental safety
engineering and ergonomics. Work experence:
count team, booth clerk, slot operations supervisor, Choctaw Casino; child welfare aid,
Department of Human Services; safety internship, Elkhorn Construction; secretary, Urgent
Care Clinic. Contact Shera Loudermilk, (580)
916-0311; or [email protected].
program management; engineering and
ergonomics; industrial training and development; fire science; and acoustics, vibrations
and noise control. Computer skills: Windows,
Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Internet. Work
experience: safety and mining skills. Contact
Loyd Lowe, 9801 S. Gray Rd., Tishomingo, OK
73460; (580) 371-8406; [email protected];
Office and Internet. Contact Cameron Sparks,
3994 Sword Dancer Way, Grand Prairie, TX
75052; (214) 533-4064; cameronsparks5@hot
mail.com; or SOSU Placement Office at (580)
745-2270.
field. Coursework included: systems approach to hazard control; safety program management; engineering and ergonomics; legal
liability in safety and health legislation; industrial hygiene; acoustics, vibrations and noise
control; and construction safety. Computer
skills: Windows, Word and PowerPoint.
Certifications: basic structural firefighter in the
state of Texas and EMT-Basic. Work experience: well operations and drilling, Kingery
Drilling Co., Ardmore, OK, 2006-08. Contact
Bret Johnston, (580) 222-1087; or SOSU Placement Office at (580) 745-2270.
70
SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE University graduate with a B.S. in Occupational
Safety and Health. An experienced leader in a
fast-paced environment. Knowledgeable with
emergency evacuation plans, building codes,
safety training and recordkeeping. Coursework included: industrial hygiene; legal liability; HazMat and waste management; and
safety program management. Field experience: safety director for a local company, perform safety meetings, training inspection and
maintain records. Experience in commercial
and residential settings. Contact Forrest
Nowlin, 203 S. Bond, Atoka, OK 74525; (580)
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health, minor in
Environmental Science. Seeking entry-level
position as a safety professional in the field of
construction or the oil and gas industry. GPA
is 3.78. Coursework included: systems approach to hazard control; acoustics, vibrations
and noise control; industrial hygiene; environmental policy and law; construction safety;
environmental impact assessment; safety
training and instructional techniques; legal liability; HazMat and waste management; safety
engineering and human factors. Contact
Bryan Patterson, [email protected];
safety field. Coursework included: drugs in
society; construction safety; HazMat and
waste management; fire science; industrial hygiene; systems approach to hazard control;
legal liability; and acoustics, vibrations and
noise control. Work experience: receiving associate, Home Depot, Sherman, TX, 2008-09; customer service representative, PRC, Durant,
OK, 2007-08; welder fitter and fabricator,
Professional Metal Works, 2004-07. Contact
Dylan Rudisill, (580) 306-2800; or drudisill22
@gmail.com.
Word, PowerPoint and Internet. Work experience: campus safety internship, SOSU,
September 2008 to present; on-the-road trucking experience; large machinery experience
such as combine, backhoe, tractor, forklift,
asphalt compactor and front-end loader.
Contact Glenn Landers, (918) 557-5886; har
[email protected]; or SOSU Placement
Office at (580) 745-2270.
JUNE 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), B.S. in Occupational Safety and Health. ASSE student
systems approach to hazard control; construction safety; acoustics, vibrations and noise
control; safety training and instructional techniques; engineering and ergonomics; safety
program management; and fire science. Computer skills: Windows, Word, PowerPoint and
Internet. Work experience: Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse, Durant, OK, December 2008 to June 2009; bilingual representative,
HazMat handling approved, equipment operator license. Contact Bernardo Estrada Jr.,
(580) 258-0098 or [email protected]; or
MAY 2009 GRADUATE, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, B.S. in Occupational
Safety and Health. ASSE student member
seeking entry-level position in safety field.
Coursework included: construction safety;
health legislation; HazMat and waste management; systems approach to hazard control;
safety program management; safety engineering and ergonomics; safety training and
instructional techniques; fire science; and
acoustics, vibrations and noise control.
Computer skills: Windows, Word, Excel and
PowerPoint. Contact William Talbert, (214)
safety and health field. Coursework included:
industrial hygiene; HazMat; legal liability;
safety training and instructional techniques;
ergonomics; construction safety; acoustics,
vibrations and noise control; and safety program management. Qualifications include:
ASSE student section president; certified in
OSHA 10-hour general industry training;
Community Emergency Response Team certified; knowledgeable of fire panels, sprinkler
systems, fire pumps and evacuation procedures; excellent written and oral communication; knowledgeable in MS Office. Work
experience: current occupational safety and
health intern, SOSU, experience providing
new-hire and staff training such as fire extinguishers, utility carts and PPE. Contact
Jonathan Ludrick, (580) 380-8122; jploufan85
@sbcglobal.net; or SOSU Placement Office at
(580) 745-2270.
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Eastman/Toy F. Reid Employee Center
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. . . Whereas there is evidence that products used in safety and health programs, or by the public in general, may
in themselves present hazards; and Whereas, commercial advertising of products may not depict the procedures
or requirements for their safe use, or may depict their use in some unsafe manner . . . the Board of Directors of
ASSE directs staff to see that advertising in official Society publications is warranted and certified by the advertiser prior to publication, to assure that products show evidence of having been reviewed or examined for safety and
health problems, and that no unsafe use and/or procedures are shown and/or described in the advertising. Such
requirements and acceptance of advertising by ASSE shall not be considered an endorsement or approval in any way of such
products for any purpose. ASSE may reject or refuse any advertisement for any reason ASSE deems proper.
71
Here’s to
Opening Day
Back
Page
O
pening day in Major League Baseball is a day of dreaming, high
expectations and grand plans for players
and fans—perhaps even more so this
year because of the steroids drama playing out in the headlines. To take our
minds off that, consider some Opening
Day trivia.
A Look Behind
“There are
only two
seasons:
winter and
baseball.”
Who’s on First
Beloved by comedy and sports fans
alike, the Abbott and Costello comedy routine
“Who’s on First?” is thought to have grown
out of turn-of-the-century burlesque sketches
that featured similar plays on words. Abbott
and Costello honed their now-famous routine
—Bill Veeck throughout their careers, performing it in various shows and venues—and even once at
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s request.
In 1956, a gold record of them performing
“Who’s on First?” was placed in the
Baseball Hall of Fame museum and a
recording of the routine plays continuously on screens at the museum. In 1999,
Time named the routine the Best Comedy
Sketch of the 20th century.
■ ■ ■ The Cincinnati Reds, MLB’s first
officially recognized franchise, were awarded the “opening of openers” and hosted the
games from 1876 to 1989. Only twice during this time (1877 and 1966) was the team
forced to debut on the road due to rain.
■ ■ ■ Opening Day has become an opportunity for U.S. presidents to show their
stuff. On April 14, 1910, in a game between
the Washington Senators and Philadelphia
Athletics, President William Howard Taft
became the first president to throw the ceremonial first pitch. Including Taft, 11 sitting
U.S. presidents have tossed out the season’s
ceremonial first
pitch. In 1950,
ambidextrous
President Harry S.
Truman threw out
balls with both his
right and left arms.
■ ■ ■ On Opening
Day 1940, Cleveland
pitcher Bob Feller
tossed the only
Opening Day
no-hitter in Major
League history.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
“When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine
and I . . . talked about what we wanted to be when
we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a real
major league baseball player, a genuine professional
like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he’d like to be president of the United States. Neither of us got our wish..”
www.mlb.com
{
Visit the complete
Safety Photo Gallery at
www.asse.org/gallery
April
SAFETY
PHOTO
OF THE
MONTH
}
A Presidential Connection
■ U.S. President Andrew Johnson
watched the first baseball game between
teams from different states. He is also
said to be the first U.S. president to invite
a baseball team to the White House.
■ Benjamin Harrison was the first U.S.
president to see a Major League game:
Cincinnati 7, Washington 4 on June 6,
1892.
■ Dwight Eisenhower reportedly
played semipro ball under an assumed
name while he was at West Point. While
that’s been the subject of some controversy, Eisenhower is known to have aspired
to be a professional baseball player.
■ Calvin Coolidge’s wife, Grace, always
kept her own scorecard at games she
attended.
www.newsday.com; www.baseballalmanac.com
Not safe at any height.
Submit your safety items, jokes and photos for Back Page to [email protected]. All submissions become the
property of ASSE. While there is no guarantee of publication, ASSE will pay $25 for each submission that appears in print.
James Cohn, New York, NY
72
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TO DO MORE. WITH MORE.
Born out of a workplace tragedy, PureSafety understands
your challenges and the results you need to achieve. Thats
why thousands of organizations in over 20 major industries
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not ours. Our vision and commitment is to do more, every day,
to empower the real heroes of the companies we serve:
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PureSafety Empowered Gemaire to:
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April 2009 - American Society of Safety Engineers

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