IEN (Industrial Equipment News) is the leading resource for industrial professionals, providing product technology, trends and solutions impacting the industrial market. IEN reaches manufacturers, designers, distributors & supply chain professionals.
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Trial Offers Today's manufacturer Today's Manufacturer IEN / DECEMBER '16 35 www.ien.com T he foundation of a good safety culture starts with employee buy-in, and is executed when workers utilize best practices and top-notch safety equipment to protect them- selves from on-the-job hazards. According to the National Safety Council (NCS), "we cannot keep workers safe and healthy just by minimizing hazards and risks. Employers must engage their workers and create a positive safety culture." At NSC's Expo this past October, the organization hosted OSHA for the release of its annual Top Ten List of citations. Compiled from nearly 32,000 inspections of workplaces by federal OSHA staff, fall protection was the leading cause of injury for the fifth straight year, and the remaining list also saw little discernible change from years past. 1. Fall protection 2. Hazard communication 3. Scaffolds 4. Respiratory protection 5. Lockout/tagout 6. Powered industrial trucks 7. Ladders 8. Machine guarding 9. Electrical wiring 10. Electrical, general requirements In a follow-up blog on OSHA's website, the organization explains: "Year after year, our inspectors see thousands of the same on-the-job hazards, any one of which could result in a fatality or severe injury. More than 4,500 workers are killed on the job every year, and approximately 3 million are injured, despite the fact that by law, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their workers. If all employers simply corrected the top 10 haz- ards, we are confident the number of deaths, amputations and hospitalizations would drastically decline." But, according to Grainger's Senior Director of Safety Strategy and Solutions Travis Kruse, it sometimes takes more than just reviewing the list – businesses need to dig deep and find ways to make the information actionable for their health and safety programs. "There is only one compliance officer for every 59,000 workers in the United States," ex- plains Kruse, in a recent article on www.IEN.com. "If you look at the number of inspections and the number of regulators OSHA has, OSHA is only finding a small subset of the hazards and regulatory violations troubling organizations today." Kruse recommends that organizations conduct health and safety program assessments, staying abreast of regulatory changes, mandatory employee training, keeping workers in- formed, and having the right partners — all of which can help improve the effectiveness of your organization's safety and health programs and management systems. But ultimately it falls on you to figure out if you need help. "You have to know the confidence level you have in your program," says Kruse. "Ultimately, a third-party assessment may help you close the gaps and bring your program into compliance more quickly and efficiently." OSHA Maps Out Regulations for '16 - '17 Besides looking to outside sources for help adopting some best practices, the best thing businesses can do is keep a careful eye on regulatory changes. OSHA has had an ac- tive year, outlining critical areas for compliance, and the following regulatory requirements should be on your radar: Post-Accident Drug Testing On August 10 th , 2016, OSHA's new rule on post-accident drug testing took effect, to promote "accurate recording of work-related injuries and illnesses by preventing the un- der-recording that arises when workers are discouraged from reporting these occurrences." According to the DOL website, the rule does not prohibit drug testing of employees. It only prohibits employers from using drug testing, or the threat of drug testing, as a form of retal- iation against employees who report injuries or illnesses. If an employer conducts drug test- ing to comply with the requirements of a state or federal law or regulation, the employer's motive would not be retaliatory and this rule would not prohibit such testing. The National Law Review cautions businesses with a practice of recurring drug testing that "the rule makes clear that employer drug testing programs used in cases where an in- jury is unlikely to have been caused by drug impairment and where the test applied cannot measure such impairment will be subject to scrutiny as retaliatory. If deemed retaliatory, OSHA can levy fines against the employer." Safety: Some Things Change , and Some Stay the Same On-the-job hazards aren't changing much, which is all the more reason not to get complacent with your health and safety program. by Anna Wells