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What's Happening? |
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- Enforcement
- Partnerships and Alliances
- Outreach
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Enforcement
- A new construction standard for traffic control signs, signals, and barricades takes effect December 11 to reduce fatalities and injuries at roadway worksites.
- Beginning Jan. 1, 2003, new criteria for recording work-related hearing loss will require employers to record cases when an employee’s hearing test shows a marked decrease in overall hearing.
- The public comment period on the presence-sensing device initiation requirements of the mechanical power press standard continues through Jan. 27, 2003.
- OSHA is reviewing public comments solicited on several issues: possible revisions to its glycol ethers rule, the best way to address occupational exposures to hexavalent chromium, and whether the agency should add a requirement for hearing conservation to its construction noise standard. A negotiated rulemaking advisory committee will review public comments on the 1971 construction safety standards for cranes and derricks.
- OSHA’s newly revised rule concerning changes to approved state plans streamlines the process for submission, review, and approval of plan changes.
Partnerships and Alliances
- Heralding the success of the Voluntary Protection Programs, OSHA Administrator John L. Henshaw challenged VPP participants to help the agency expand the program to cover 8,000 worksites and suggested broadening the program to include an entry-level category, tentatively called “Jump Start.”
- OSHA joined the Justice and Equality in the Workplace Program designed to protect Hispanic workers. The partnership program includes the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division; the Consulates General of Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, and El Salvador; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund; and Houston’s Office of the Mayor, Immigration and Refugee Affairs.
- The American Industrial Hygiene Association and OSHA signed a new alliance to collaborate on injury and illness prevention programs with a focus on ergonomics.
Construction
- A new alliance between OSHA and the Independent Electrical Contractors, Inc., is designed to protect employees by reducing falls, rear-end auto collisions, and material-handling hazards.
- A newly announced alliance between OSHA and the Construction Management Association of America focuses on reducing and preventing exposure to construction hazards.
- A new partnership at the Soldier Field Renovation Project in Chicago aims to reduce the injury and illness rate to 2.9 or less—30 percent below the industry average. Joining OSHA in the year-long partnership are: Turner/Barton Malow/Kenny Joint Venture; Zurich Services Corporation; Chicago and Cook Country Building and Construction Trades Council; Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs; On-Site Safety and Health Consultation, Chicago; Northeast Illinois District Council of Carpenters; and Aon.
- OSHA’s Columbus Area Office entered into a strategic partnership with the Central Ohio Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association, Inc., and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Locals 683 and 1105 to reduce employee injury and illness rates by 3 percent.
- OSHA’s Baltimore/Washington, D.C. Area Office formed a strategic partnership with Centex Construction Co. and contractors at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse Annex project in Washington, D.C.
- A new site-safety and health partnership agreement with Bovis Lend Lease, the Building Trades Employers’ Association, and the Building and Construction Trades Council focuses on promoting safety at a 54-story, 1.4 million-square-foot building construction project in Manhattan.
- OSHA Area Offices throughout the Chicago area entered into a strategic partnership with the Chicago Roofing Contractors Association to enhance training for association members and encourage them to implement aggressive safety and health programs.
- A new partnership between the Austin Area Office and the South Texas Chapters of the Associated Builders and Contractors focuses on eliminating the top four hazards in construction: falls, electrocution, and struck-by and caught-between accidents.
- OSHA’s Providence Area Office formed a partnership with the Rhode Island Chapter of the Associated General Contractors and the Rhode Island Building Trades Council to enhance safety and health at construction sites throughout the state.
Maritime
- OSHA is partnering with CSX Lines of Puerto Rico, Inc., and the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1575 to protect workers during marine terminal operations at the Main Yard and Segui Terminals in San Juan.
- A fatal accident at a Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc., plant in Gulfport, La., has led to an agreement committing the company and several local unions to safety improvements at the facility and at other locations in Mississippi and Louisiana. Participating local unions are the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Pascagoula Metal Trades Council, New Orleans Metal Trades Council, and International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Boilermakers Local 693.
General Industry
- OSHA and the American Textile Manufacturers Institute formed a new alliance to protect workers in the textile industry from hazards such as cotton dust, noise, and unintended energy releases.
- OSHA, the National Association of Shooting Ranges, and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute established an alliance to protect workers in target shooting facilities, with emphasis on minimizing noise and airborne pollutants.
- A new partnership between OSHA, the On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, and the Center for Individual and Organizational Development promotes safe and healthful working conditions in rehabilitation facilities.
- TheAmerican Furniture Manufacturers Association and the North Carolina Department of Labor formed a new alliance to produce voluntary guidelines to help furniture manufacturers reduce ergonomic hazards and injuries.
- A new alliance between OSHA and the Society of the Plastics Industry focuses on identifying and eliminating hazards likely to result in amputations and reducing and preventing exposure to ergonomic hazards.
- The American Biological Safety Association entered into an alliance with OSHA to address the evolving biological safety issues facing American employers and workers.
Outreach
- OSHA announced that it will award more than $11 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to 64 nonprofit organizations for safety and health training programs. Emphasis for this year’s grants is on ergonomics, workplace emergency response, and training for small businesses and non-English-speaking workers.
- Several new eTools are now available on the OSHA website. The interactive tools address “Evacuation Plans and Procedures,” “Eye and Face Protection,” “Steel Erection,” and “Machine Guarding.”
- As part of a growing effort to reach Spanish-speaking workers and employers, OSHA produced a new Spanish-language publication, “OSHA: ¡Listos para ayudarle!” (OSHA: Ready to Help You!) The agency released several other new or revised publications: “Employer Rights and Responsibilities Following an OSHA Inspection,” “Job Hazard Analysis,” “Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout),” “OSHA Inspections,” “A Guide to Scaffold Use in the Construction Industry,” “Materials Handling and Storage,” and “Excavations.” New fact sheets include: “Compliance Assistance,” “Bloodborne Pathogens,” “Powered Platforms,” “Formaldehyde,” and “Ethylene Oxide.”
- A new animated video, “Examining Fatal Shipyard Accidents: Hazards and Solutions,” was produced to increase employee awareness and reinforce the need for employers to make shipyards safer.
- A new Technical Information Bulletin alerts workers and employers of the hazards involved while working in temporary enclosed spaces when those enclosures are near hazardous substances.
- A new Consultation Kit distributed to consultation program offices nationwide describes OSHA’s consultation services in language helpful to employers. JSHQ
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