Tag Archives: Safety signs

OSHA Proposes $119,350 in Fines for Fairview Contractors

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The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed $119,350 in fines for Fairview Contractors as a result of seven health and safety violations. These violations were uncovered during an inspection which came as the result of a fatality on a worksite on November 14, 2013. The employee fell from a scaffold 17 feet to his death while performing roofing work.

“This was a needless and avoidable loss of a worker’s life. While guardrails and fall arrest systems were present at this work site, they were not used and were thus useless,” said Mary Hoye, OSHA’s area director for central and western Massachusetts. “Fatalities such as this will stop only when employers supply and ensure the use of effective and legally required fall protection safeguards on all job sites at all times.”

In this case, the employer did provide the correct equipment, however it was not properly made available to employees. And while this may sound absurd, it is actually quite common, especially in non-permanent worksites. For this reason, it is important for anyone who owns a business which is active in multiple worksites, to have a comprehensive safety and health management system in place which is properly disseminated to all relevant employees. A man’s life was lost, a company’s reputation tarnished, and a hefty fine was levied due to worksite carelessness, rather than a true misunderstanding of regulations.

If you have any questions about establishing a safety and health management system, please contact us so that we can help you protect your business. If you have anything to add about the importance of a health and safety management plan or about the case against Fairview Contractors, please leave a comment.

Creating New Lockout Tagout Procedures

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In the world of occupational health and safety, there is not much that is more difficult to understand and implement than lockout tagout procedures. OSHA created Standard 1910.147, which sets basic guidelines and rules relating to lockout tagout, which should act as a blueprint for any lockout tagout procedures created. This standard, however, is extremely complicated and leaves many first timers in a very confused place.

This confusion generally leads to one of three things: the employer either attempts to do it himself, leaving his employees potentially at risk for serious injury or death and the company at risk for sizable fines; the employer hires a qualified third party lockout tagout specialty firm to create the procedures, which creates sizable upfront costs to the company and takes control out of the hands of ownership; or the employer finds an online “cheat sheet” and hopes the material is accurate.

Thankfully, a new option has developed over the last few years which acts as a hybrid of all three; you can remain in control of your lockout tagout procedures, under the supervision of a true powerhouse in the lockout tagout arena, and use easy to understand documents to guide you. This is accomplished through our Factory Solutions Software, which is a fully customizable, fully scalable, and is available to you anywhere you have an internet connection. We ensure the program is up to date on all regulations, and we ensure your illustrations are accurate, but you can make changes as you need without the hassle of consulting a third party, delaying your business for days waiting for an approval.

If you would like more information about our Factory Solutions Software, please contact us. And if there is anything else you would like to add about creating new lockout tagout procedures, please leave a comment.

Software That Helps Maintain Lockout Tagout Procedures

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After you go through the headache of establishing lockout tagout procedures, it is important to have a procedure or plan of some kind in place to maintain those procedures. OSHA very heavily regulates lockout tagout procedures, and they can, and will, update their policies if needed to maintain the safest possible work environment.

OSHA regulates lockout tagout procedures with Standard 1910.147, which is often considered one of the most difficult standards to understand and comply with. It is no surprise, then, that even properly created lockout tagout procedures are often quickly out of compliance due to either regulatory changes or changes to a company’s structure. And the unfortunate truth is that most companies monitor and maintain their lockout tagout procedures in-house with a woefully understaffed and unprepared safety team.

To help employers maintain the safest possible workplace, while keeping a mindful eye to OSHA regulations, we at PF Safety have created software specifically designed to maintain your lockout tagout procedures. It is fully customizable, fully scalable, and will help you monitor both changes at your company and regulatory changes. You remain in control of your lockout tagout procedures, with the ability to update your machinery or personnel anywhere there is an internet connection, while still being provided the support of a premier lockout tagout auditing firm.

If you have any questions about our Factory Solutions Software and how it could streamline your lockout tagout procedures, please contact us. If you have anything to add about the importance of proper maintenance of your lockout tagout procedures, please leave a comment.

More than 1 Million Participated in National Fall Safety Stand-Down

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Last week, the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration partnered with over 25,000 businesses to bring awareness to measures which can prevent fall hazards in construction. These businesses provided fall safety information throughout the week to over 1 million employees in an effort to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities caused by falls. Falls are the most common cause of death in the construction industry, and OSHA is taking a hard stance against inadequate fall protection and ineffective training.

“This is an unprecedented event. Tens of thousands of employers and hundreds of thousands of workers across the country have joined our campaign to save lives and prevent fatal falls in the construction industry,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “The economy is on the rebound, housing starts are on the rise and the summer construction season is getting underway. Now is the time to focus on this vital safety issue and make sure all construction workers come home at the end of every workday.”

The magnitude of this movement, coupled with the words of Perez show that fall safety is at the forefront of what OSHA will be focusing on. So if you are in the construction industry, it is imperative that you have iron-clad fall safety procedures and training in place. If you have not recently reviewed your plans, or if they are not firmly set in writing, it is time to review, update, and finalize them. If you are worried that your plans are not up to par, it is advisable you contact a qualified third party occupational safety and health auditing firm to help you update your plans.

If you should have any questions about your fall protection policies, or any other health and safety policies, please contact us and we will help you bring your company up to code. If you have anything to add about the National Fall Safety Stand-Down, please leave a comment.

OSHA Proposes $217,000 in Fines for Dollar Tree

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The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $217,000 in fines for Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., following an inspection performed at a location in Missoula in November of 2013. OSHA cited Dollar Tree with four violations, which were comprised of three willful and one repeat violation. These fines come on the heals of three other citations in April, which carried penalties of $143,000.

“This employer’s extensive history of ignoring basic safety standards establishes a clear pattern of intentional and complete disregard for employee safety,” said Jeff Funke, OSHA’s area director in Billings. “Employers have an obligation to keep their workers safe, and Dollar Tree keeps failing to do that.”

The history of citations for Dollar Tree comes from inspections held at different stores all across the country, showing that retailers need to be cognizant of conditions and standards at every location. If you have multiple locations, they can, and will, be inspected by OSHA, and if they are not all following proper procedures, your company can, and will, be heavily fined.

If you have recently been through an inspection at one of your retail locations, it is important that you have all of your facilities audited by a qualified third party, and that you review the entirety of your health and safety procedures, to ensure you will not be dinged in a follow up inspection.

If you have any questions about how retail inspections work, or if you need help updating your procedures, please contact us and we will help you. If you have anything to add about the importance of maintaining all retail stores under your company’s ownership, please leave a comment.

Software That Helps Maintain Lockout Tagout Procedures

Posted on by
Twitt

After you go through the headache of establishing lockout tagout procedures, it is important to have a procedure or plan of some kind in place to maintain those procedures. OSHA very heavily regulates lockout tagout procedures, and they can, and will, update their policies if needed to maintain the safest possible work environment.

OSHA regulates lockout tagout procedures with Standard 1910.147, which is often considered one of the most difficult standards to understand and comply with. It is no surprise, then, that even properly created lockout tagout procedures are often quickly out of compliance due to either regulatory changes or changes to a company’s structure. And the unfortunate truth is that most companies monitor and maintain their lockout tagout procedures in-house with a woefully understaffed and unprepared safety team.

To help employers maintain the safest possible workplace, while keeping a mindful eye to OSHA regulations, we at PF Safety have created software specifically designed to maintain your lockout tagout procedures. It is fully customizable, fully scalable, and will help you monitor both changes at your company and regulatory changes. You remain in control of your lockout tagout procedures, with the ability to update your machinery or personnel anywhere there is an internet connection, while still being provided the support of a premier lockout tagout auditing firm.

If you have any questions about our Factory Solutions Software and how it could streamline your lockout tagout procedures, please contact us. If you have anything to add about the importance of proper maintenance of your lockout tagout procedures, please leave a comment.

More than 1 Million Participated in National Fall Safety Stand-Down

Posted on by
Twitt

Last week, the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration partnered with over 25,000 businesses to bring awareness to measures which can prevent fall hazards in construction. These businesses provided fall safety information throughout the week to over 1 million employees in an effort to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities caused by falls. Falls are the most common cause of death in the construction industry, and OSHA is taking a hard stance against inadequate fall protection and ineffective training.

“This is an unprecedented event. Tens of thousands of employers and hundreds of thousands of workers across the country have joined our campaign to save lives and prevent fatal falls in the construction industry,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “The economy is on the rebound, housing starts are on the rise and the summer construction season is getting underway. Now is the time to focus on this vital safety issue and make sure all construction workers come home at the end of every workday.”

The magnitude of this movement, coupled with the words of Perez show that fall safety is at the forefront of what OSHA will be focusing on. So if you are in the construction industry, it is imperative that you have iron-clad fall safety procedures and training in place. If you have not recently reviewed your plans, or if they are not firmly set in writing, it is time to review, update, and finalize them. If you are worried that your plans are not up to par, it is advisable you contact a qualified third party occupational safety and health auditing firm to help you update your plans.

If you should have any questions about your fall protection policies, or any other health and safety policies, please contact us and we will help you bring your company up to code. If you have anything to add about the National Fall Safety Stand-Down, please leave a comment.

Monitoring for Lockout Tagout (LOTO) Procedures

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Anyone who has ever had to write procedures for lockout tagout can attest to their difficulty. Lockout tagout procedures are difficult to create because they are based upon a difficult OSHA standard to comply with, Standard 1910.147. This standard is often regarded as one of the most difficult to understand and to implement, and can give even experienced occupational safety and health experts a difficult time.

So if you have a functioning lockout tagout procedure in place, it is imperative you maintain it. To do this, you have to properly monitor regulatory changes, industry changes, and changes to your business. Even a small change in any of these areas left unaccounted for can lead to substantial fines and serious workplace injuries. In order to protect yourself and your business, it is imperative to have a system in place which monitors these three areas.

Many companies monitor these changes internally, with quarterly or semi-annual audits. Others hire external companies to manage their lockout tagout needs. But the first option leaves you vulnerable in between audits, and the second option leaves you at the mercy of another company.

To combat these risks, we created software which tracks and manages your lockout tagout procedures while leaving you in complete control of them. Factory Solutions Software is updated by you and monitored by us, it is fully scalable, fully customizable, and can be accessed anywhere an internet connection is available.

If you have any questions about monitoring lockout tagout procedures or about our Factory Solutions Software, please contact us. If you have anything to add about the importance of monitoring lockout tagout procedures, please leave a comment.

OSHA Forms Alliance With American Staffing Association

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has signed an alliance with the American Staffing Association in an effort to protect temporary employees from workplace injuries. Temporary employees are often not given the same training as permanent employees and as such are at greater risk of injury. This alliance will mean a greater focus will be placed upon the safety of temporary employees.

“We want to make sure that at the end of every work shift, all temporary workers in the United States are able to go home safely to their families,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Through this alliance with the ASA, we will increase outreach to staffing agencies and host employers and provide information and education that is vital to protecting temporary workers.”

So if you employee temporary employees, it is important to be up to date on all regulations relating to temporary employees and to be sure you have a sufficient training program in place for these employees. If you are not confident in your temporary employee training, it is time to review it and update it; if you wait until an incident occurs, it will be too late.

If you would like to have your temporary employee training reviewed, please contact us and we will discuss strategies to improve workplace safety for these employees. And if you have anything to add about the consequences of the alliance between OSHA and the American Staffing Association, please leave a comment.

OSHA Proposes $181,000 in Fines for American Plant Food Corp.

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued 12 citations to the American Plant Food Corp. following an investigation of their Bartlett facility. These citations carried a $181,000 fine. The inspection came as a result of an injury suffered after a worker’s leg was entangled in an auger.

“This worker’s debilitating injury was preventable had the employer used certain safeguards,” said Casey Perkins, OSHA’s area director in Austin. “As an established company in this industry with long-term management in place, American Plant Food Corp. should not allow such dangerous workplace practices.”

The violations ranged from inadequate training regarding confined spaces to inadequate safeguards for machinery, to insufficient lockout tagout procedures. The charges levied against American Plant Food Corp. range the full spectrum of occupational safety and health, serving as a testament to the depth of an OSHA investigation. OSHA investigators are not limited in the scope of their investigation and will examine every aspect of your business.

This is why we recommend having routine third party safety audits held for your entire facility. It protects your entire company from potential violations and, should something occur, your potential violations will be much smaller. In an instance like this, a proper and routine third party auditing schedule would have eliminated the majority of these citations.

If you have any questions about third party safety audits and how they might help protect your company and its employees, please contact us. If you have anything to add about this case or about the benefits of third party safety audits, please leave a comment.