The Simple Way to Manage Risk

It’s been a long time coming but finally we’re able to announce the roll-out of our new Risk Management Center.

This terrific new on-line web based service allows clients to manage many components of their safety program including: tracking Certificates of Insurance, MSDS’s, training records and  OSHA 300 logs. The platform includes a large library of training videos and Powerpoint presentations; job hazard analyses and more. We work with clients to build their own library of job descriptions, job hazard analyses, training resources and more. Because the service is web-based, our clients and their employees have access to it 24/7 for a low monthly fee regardless of the number of employees who use the program.  More information about the service is provided in a slide presentation you can view by clicking  below.

Risk Management Center Presentation

 

JoAnn Copperud, CEO – Emeryville, CA

Renewed Appreciation for U.S. Workplace Safety

 I’ve just returned from a three week vacation to Nepal which included 10 glorious days of trekking in the Annapurna region and three days in Bangkok Thailand on the return trip. As I reviewed my photographs I realized that a disproportional large number were of construction sites and unsafe working conditions. It’s hard to leave your professional self completely at home even while on holiday!

Traveling to the countries in the developing world makes you realize just how far our country has come in changing the attitudes towards workplace safety in the past 30 years.

Construction Site in Thailand

It’s a rare job site in the US where workers aren’t wearing hard hats and safety vests for example. But in three weeks in Nepal I never once saw anyone at a construction site wearing even the most rudimentary personal protective equipment. Clearly, the safety consulting business in Nepal is wide open for business should the government ever decide to develop and enforce safety regulations!

Seeing the differences between safety in the US and safety in the developing world makes me especially proud of the work we’re doing in providing safety training to a wide variety of clients. Working collaboratively with such diverse clients such as the City of Foster City, CA,  Seattle City Light, City of Napa, Todd Shipyards and King County Jobs Initiatives our trainers are providing classes on such diverse topics as:  Lockout/Tagout; First Aid/CPR; respiratory protection, accident investigation, job hazard analysis, asbestos and lead, office ergonomics and back safety.

JoAnn Copperud, CEO – Emeryville, CA

Are We Too Quick to Blame the Stagnant Economy for Everything?

Robert Gils, CIH (bob@rgaenv.com)  and Joan Nelson Brave, Sr. Safety Consultant (joan.nelsonbrave@rgaenv.com) with RGA have both just completed a number of safety audits for both public and private clients.  Both were surprised to see more safety violations than they had in the past at the same facilities. As companies downsize and reduce employee hours it is as if basic safety housekeeping seems to be getting pushed down in the priority list. Many of the violations they noted seem small and perhaps innocuous to some: unbolted bookcases and cabinets; items stacked overhead; expired fire extinguishers; and file boxes blocking egress from work area.  We’re hoping that seeing more and more housekeeping related safety violations isn’t a sign of future trends towards greater antipathy towards maintaining a culture of safety.

Keeping safety a priority in times of reduced staff and cash is challenging for even the most savvy managers. Some companies are lucky enough to have annual safety audits included with their general liability or worker’s compensation insurance package. As economic times worsen, however, many brokers and carriers no longer include safety audits as means to be more price competitive.  Pro-active companies conduct regular walkthroughs of their facilities to identify and correct safety violations before accidents occur. Using internal staff can help reduce expenses however often they are insufficient trained or simply are so used to the “landscape” they overlook violations that would be obvious to a well-trained outside safety inspector.  If you are looking to bring safety inspections in-house, considered creating a checklist with an outside inspector, increasing the frequency of walk throughs using internal staff and using an outside consultant on an occasional basis as a fresh set of eyes.  Also, consider suscribing to an online service such as the Cal-OSHA Reporter  to see a daily listing of safety violations from across the nation.

JoAnn Copperud, CEO – Emeryville, CA

Are you prepared for the new EPA Lead Renovation Regulation?

The word just doesn’t seem to be getting out about the new EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Regulation.

Virtually every organization I chat with about it, whether they are property owners or contractors, just shake their heads on the rare occassion when they know about it.  We’re feeling a little like a one-man band on this issue but because lead poisoning is such an enormous public health issue, we’ve not giving up on getting the word out!

The new regulation takes place April 22, 2010 and the EPA estimates that over 250,000 individuals will need to be trained. Thus far, the EPA has only approved 35 training providers nationwide including RGA.  The eight hour class covers topics such as tenant notification, conducting lead paint surveys, proper work practices, clean-up, recordkeeping and on-the-job training. There is also a 2 hour hands-on component. The regulation is currently only applicable to pre-1978 housing that is occupied by children under the age of six or a pregnant woman but the EPA is considering making it applicable to any building constructed prior to 1978 which is when lead paint was banned.

JoAnn Copperud, CEO – Emeryville, CA

Nevada contractors sent back to school

The Nevada State Contractors Board is advising contractors to sign their workers and supervisors up for new state-mandated safety training courses.

To enhance safety in the construction workplace, the 2009 Nevada Legislature enacted legislation that requires workers to complete an Occupational Safety and Health Administration 10-hour safety course and supervisors to complete a 30-hour OSHA Training course no later than 15 days after being hired. The measure takes effect Jan. 1. Once the courses are completed, the construction worker will receive a “completion card” that must be presented to the employer. The card is valid for five years.

OSHA’s 10-hour construction course is an introduction to OSHA and its construction standards, covering several subparts of the standards with emphasis on Nevada enforcement activities. OSHA’s 30-hour supervisor course also provides training in OSHA’s construction standards.

Both courses emphasize construction safety, health hazard recognition and prevention standards.

The state Department of Business and Industry’s Division of Industrial Relations is responsible for approving the OSHA-10 and OSHA-30 courses. Federal OSHA training guidelines that parallel Nevada’s requirements are available at the OSHA Web site.

OSHA-10 and OSHA-30 courses are offered by numerous organizations including Associated Builders and Contractors; Associated General Contractors and the Safety Consultation and Training Section of the Department of Business and Industry. In addition, the College of Southern Nevada offers courses and some online courses are available.

JoAnn Copperud, CEO – Emeryville, CA

Regulating the flu?

Thousands of California business, municipal and state agencies will be affected by a new Cal-OSHA standard that took effect August, 5, 2009. CCR Title 8 Section 5199 covers employees who have occupational exposure to aerosol transmissible diseases (ATD) such as influenza, tuberculosis and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). The new standard is focused on controlling potential exposure for employees who work in facilities or operations where there is an elevated risk of exposure to ATD’s. Examples would be hospitals, clinics, skilled nursing facilities, paramedics, firefighters, homeless shelters, mortuaries, HVAC repair operations in affected industries, and prisons. There is a similar regulation that covers workers in industries where there could be an exposure to zoonotic diseases.  Examples would be operations that involve the handling, culling, transport of slaughter of animals with ATP’s (pathogenic avian influenza).

Employers in affected facilities are required to develop a written plan that addresses infection control procedures, engineering and work practices to control exposure; respiratory protection, personal protective equipment, decontamination procedures, training and recordkeeping.

Our Irvine office is providing consultation to San Bernandino County on development of their plan. This includes conducting site visits to determine all County departments and job classifications covered under the regulation; development of the written plan of training materials for affected staff.

Unlike some safety programs where “one size fits all” each affected organization is going to make their program specifically tailored to their facility. With the H1N1 flu season upon us, now is the time to get your plan written and implemented!

Steve Rosas, Sr. Project Manager – Irvine, CA

Keeping Cool on the Job

As we all sweated through another hot summer trying to keep cool at home, CAL-OSHA and Washington DOSH have been busy trying to make sure our employers keep us cool at work too.

In 2005 California was the first state in the nation to implement a Heat Illness Prevention standard, mandating that employers take steps to reduce heat related illnesses on the job, with emphasis placed on the agricultural and construction trades who comprise most of the outdoor labor force during the hot summer months. Washington State followed California’s lead by establishing its own rule in 2008. Where there are technical differences between the two standards, the main points to both plans are:

Planning—Employers must develop written site specific plans for preventing Heat Illness. Plans must address how the employer will provide water and shade, including quantities to have available, where to obtain it, and locations to be placed on site.

Training—Train all employees and supervisors on the subject of heat illness. The plans stress recognition of trigger conditions (temperatures, clothing levels, etc), symptoms of heat illness (especially heat exhaustion and heat stroke), and methods of prevention.

Water—The main defense against heat illness is drinking water. Employers must provide at least 1 quart per hour per employee in a drinkable condition (clean, cool, with adequate cups, etc). In addition to providing water, employers must encourage workers to actually drink it, locating water supplies in convenient spots to allow for water consumption with minimal disruption to the work flow.

Shade—Employers in California must provide shade for workers to rest in. Shade can be provided by anything that blocks the sun’s path, however, the employer must evaluate work sites before work starts, and identify shaded locations. If no natural shade is available, artificial shade from self supporting canopies or other means must be provided at the work site.

Monitoring of workers—Workers and their supervisors must monitor each other for signs and symptoms of heat related illness. Workers showing signs of heat illness onset must be relieved of work duty and provided with water, shade, and other means as needed to reduce body temperature.

Both Cal-OSHA and Washington DOSH have created training materials and extensive outreach programs. More information can be found at:

California:
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/HeatIllnessinfo.html

Washington: http://www.lni.wa.gov/safety/topics/atoz/heatstress/default.asp

Eric Hartman, CIH,  Sr. Project Manager – Seattle, Washington

OSHA Implements Trainer “Watch List”

It was disappointing to read a recent news brief from Federal OSHA  regarding the need for them to create a “watch list” of OSHA outreach trainers who are having their training authorizations either revoked or suspended as a result of failing to comply with program guidelines. A recent investigation of a 10-hour construction safety course conducted by a firm in Las Vegas revealed several examples of failure to comply with program guideline including submitting falsified information regarding the instructional time spent on the topics, failing to collect and retain required documentation and inappropriately advising students not to contact OSHA to report hazards. The “Watch List,” is available at on the OSHA website. OSHA is monitoring training programs and has provided a hotline at 847-297-4810 for individuals to file complaints about fraud and abuse. “Trainers who fail to provide appropriate safety training will pay a stiff price for their fraudulent behavior,” said Jordan Barab, acting assistant secretary of labor for OSHA. “A tighter record control procedure has been instituted requiring trainers to sign their reports and certify the class was conducted in accordance with OSHA’s guidelines. Trainers face civil and criminal penalties under federal law if reports or certifications are found to have been falsified.” Additionally, the EPA recently prosecuted and convicted the owner of an EPA-licensed training facility in the Northeast of falsifying asbestos training records for over 2,000 individuals from 2001-2006. http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/criminal/highlights/2009/deleon-albania-11-20-8.pdf

As health and safety professionals, all of the trainers at RGA take their responsibilities of providing the best possible training extremely seriously. We’re happy to see that our licensing agencies are helping to ensure that all of our training collegues live up to the same high standards we have at RGA.

JoAnn Copperud, CEO – Emeryville, CA

Is the notorious “Chinese drywall” showing up in the western US?

Our Emeryville office recently received a request from a local school district who suspects that Chinese drywall was installed in one of their schools during a recent renovation project. A Google search on Chinese drywall turns up over 346,000 citations. Rather than wade through all those citations, skip straight to the most authoritative site on the web: The Consumer Product Safety Comisssion.   

It appears that some drywall manufactured in China in the mid-2000’s has various metals  added to the manufacturing process.  The materials added to the drywall have reportedly caused corrosion of other building materials as well health effects similar to allergies or asthma attacks. CPSC founded varying levels of corrosion on exposed portions of copper wires, in particular ground wires, since they are not insulated. Wiring associated with smoke alarms, fire sprinklers and coils on air conditioning units also appear to be at risk of corrosion.  There have been reports of Chinese manufactured drywall in twenty-four states including both Washington and California.

The CPSC is the lead agency and is working with both the EPA and the Center for Disease Control to develop a coordinated approach to the investigation of the scope of the problem as well as a governmental response.  The EPA is developing a protocol for air monitoring.  RGA is receiving regular email updates for the CPSC to ensure that we can give our clients the most recent and updated information as to how to investigate, respond, mitigate and respond to cases of installed Chinese drywall.

JoAnn Copperud, CEO – Emeryville, CA

Outsourcing Safety: Not Just for Startups

Remember when real estate was all about “location, location, location”? In today’s economy it’s more about “anybody home”? Virtually all of our construction company clients are being hard hit as the downturn in the economy impacts the commercial real estate industry. Workers across the board are out of work including safety officers. At a recent meeting of the Puget Sound Safety Summit  there were at least twenty construction safety officers looking for employment. We’re supporting a number of firms who can no longer afford to keep a full-time safety officer on the payroll by providing safety consulting on an hourly or retainer basis. Joan Nelson Brave is the lead construction safety consultant in our Seattle office. She has over 13 years of experience as an inspector and consultant with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industry. Joan has expertise in accident investigation and was a fatality investigator with L&I for many years. She has conducted over 2,000 jobsite safety investigations in construction, agriculture and manufacturing. I’m hoping Joan will become a regular contributor to our blog to help drive home the “Reducing Risk –Improving Lives” core value of RGA.

JoAnn Copperud, CEO – Emeryville, CA