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OSHA’s most-violated standards related to COVID-19

Due to the continuously evolving guidance from public health officials, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)  chose not to develop and issue COVID-19-specific emergency standards. Instead, OSHA opted to use existing standards when inspecting job sites for COVID-19 violations. Some states — Virginia, Michigan, and Oregon have introduced OSHA-approved state safety programs — in the absence of COVID-specific OSHA guidelines.

For the coronavirus pandemic, OSHA has published standards that have been cited as the most frequently -violated during COVID-19 inspections. By understanding which workplace hazards most frequently result in OSHA citations, employers can better protect their workers.

 These inspections were initiated following complaints, referrals, or fatalities in industries such as:

  • hospitals 
  • healthcare
  • nursing homes and long term care settings
  • meat/poultry processing facilities 

The most commonly violated standards are: 

  1. Provide a medical evaluation before a worker is fit-tested or uses a respirator 
  2. Perform an appropriate fit test for workers using tight-fitting respirators. 
  3. Assess the workplace to determine if COVID-19 hazards are present, or likely to be present, which will require the use of a respirator and/or other personal protective equipment (PPE). 
  4. Establish, implement, and update a written respiratory protection program with required worksite-specific procedures.
  5. Provide an appropriate respirator and/or other PPE to each employee when necessary to protect the health of the employees (ensuring the respirator and/or PPE used is the correct type and size). 
  6. Train workers to safely use respirators and/or other PPE in the workplace, and retrain workers about changes in the workplace that might make previous training obsolete.
  7. Store respirators and other PPE properly in a way to protect them from damage, contamination, and, where applicable, deformation of the facepiece and exhalation valve
  8. For any fatality that occurs within 30 days of a work-related incident, report the fatality to OSHA within eight hours of finding out about it.
  9. Keep required records of work-related fatalities, injuries, and illness

Due to the essential need for adequate supplies of respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA has exercised temporary enforcement discretion regarding respirators, including certain fit testing provisions, extended use, and reuse. For one to qualify for enforcement discretion, employers must demonstrate and document their good-faith efforts to obey existing OSHA standards, as outlined in Understanding Compliance with OSHA’s Respirator Standard during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic. For construction workers, OSHA has also issued guidance to wear face coverings while on the job at all times. In an updated Sept. 30th guidance, OSHA now requires employers to report a work-related COVID-19 employee death to the OSHA within eight hours of learning about it.

Employers of small to medium size are also encouraged to consult the OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program for no-cost safety and health services. The program prioritizes high-hazard workplaces and works with employers to identify hazards and provides advice to comply with OSHA’s standards. 

 

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Eye Safety in the Mining Industry

Workplace safety goes beyond avoiding heavy lifting, slips, and falls. It includes eye protection.

At least 90% of our daily activities use our eyes. Every day, approximately 2000 mining workers suffer from eye injuries that must require medical attention in the US alone. That is 300,000 workplace eye injuries that send people to the emergency room every year, nationwide. OSHA reports that workplace eye injuries cost an estimated $300 million a year in lost productivity, medical treatment, and worker compensation. But, workplace-related eye injuries are a global phenomenon. A majority of these incidents occur because workers do not wear the recommended PPE for certain tasks. This can be due to a variety of reasons such as discomfort, fatigue, unsuitability for the task, etc.

In Australia, the largest mines are continually improving protection against eye injuries by implementing new PPE innovations such as Bollé Safety’s Rush+ specs for medium impact protection, and Ultim8, which is reminiscent of swimming goggles, with a 180-degree panoramic vision. It is up to the businesses to implement and enforce safety policies and build PPE adequate for the tasks at hand, but it boils down to the individuals to look at those policies actively and wear the correct protective eyewear. The goal is to reduce the need for seemingly insignificant events such as briefly removing one’s fogged up glasses, which is a potential precursor to some of the biggest injuries that occur in the workplace, such as the loss of an eye or vision. 

According to Shweta Kaushik, a fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists, the vast majority of eye injuries are caused by foreign metal bodies that enter the eye. This renders simple safety glasses ineffective. The global mining industry is taking note of this discrepancy of effective PPE across mining sites and employees. As a result, Mines are taking hard stances to implement strict, continually-improving, guidelines to protect the eyes of miners, according to Kevin Webster, a mining worker in Australia. Mining operators can change inefficient, unsafe processes and equipment and put checks and balances in place to protect workers against any exposure that could lead to an eye injury. 

The manufacturing of safety glasses should strictly adhere to your nation’s safety standards, such as the United States’ American National Standards Institute (ANSI),  and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance for eye and face protection and Australia’s Safework Australia, or New Zealand’s Standards. Just like respirator fit testing, mining companies are looking for eyewear that fits users, with minimal gaps around the lenses, to maximize comfort and prevent harmful particulates from entering the eye. When it comes to choosing the right protective eyewear for your application, one size does not fit all, but it is important to ensure that your eye protection is appropriate for the type of hazard present, and fits the individual well.

 

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Travel During the COVID-19 Holiday Season

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve are coming up fast, but like everything else during 2020, holiday cheer is going to look a bit different than normal as it intersects with the current coronavirus pandemic. 

Many are wondering if it is safe to visit friends or family- if they should take a car, a plane, a bus? Should they travel at all? Is it worth it? The answers to these questions are individual choices. Having said that, according to Johns Hopkins University, over 250,000 people have now died from COVID-19 in the US and over 11.5 million people have been diagnosed. As a result, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its COVID-19-related holiday guidance. 

Celebrating Thanksgiving by staying home is the safest option this year. No matter how small the gathering, if it is being held with people outside of your immediate family household, see that everyone involved quarantines for 14 days before arriving. Even after quarantining, it is important to remember that 40% of all COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic and you still may be a carrier.  

Before you Travel, some more tips for as also given some more tips for potential travelers and on protecting yourself and others during the holidays: 

Although the CDC has recommended against flying during COVID-19, they have provided travel recommendations for destinations around the world for people that are. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has also released some tips on how to stay safe while flying. 

In short, they are: 

  1. Always wear your mask, and pack extras.
  2. Practice social distancing.
  3. Check what foods you can and can’t carry with you on the plane.
  4. Download the myTSA App, and check-in with TSA early, before your flight.
  5. Enroll in TSA PreCheck, as this streamlines the security process and reduces touchpoints.
  6. If possible, cut down the time window of the gathering. For example, instead of a 6-hour celebration, cut it down to 2 or 3 hours.
  7. Hold the gathering outside, or open the windows.

 

 

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How to prepare for Flu Season during COVID-19

Have you been sneezing? Do you have a cough, a sore throat, or shortness of breath? During a normal winter, it would be normal to assume that you have the flu or even the common cold. But, the 2020 coronavirus pandemic has made things more complicated, and so we must be more careful. 

We have all already been preparing for the COVID-19 for the majority of this year. COVID-19 has killed over 239,000 Americans since the start of the pandemic. But now that flu season is here, there are additional risks to take seriously. According to the CDC, approximately 34,000 Americans died from the flu in 2019. Both viruses have similar symptoms, and with a rapid increase in cases for both during the winter months, it is imperative that we all take the initiative, by taking preventative measures. 

There are some similarities, and differences between the cold, the flu, and COVID-19.

A cold:

  • Symptoms may develop slowly
  • The most commonly occurring symptoms are: sneezing, a sore throat, and a stuffy nose
  • Headaches or fever happen rarely

The flu:

  • Symptoms show up suddenly
  • The most common symptoms are: aches, a fever, fatigue, chest discomfort, and a headache
  • Sneezing, a stuffy nose, or a sore throat are not common

COVID-19:

  • Symptoms appear 2-14 days after being exposed to the virus. There may be no symptoms whatsoever
  • A unique symptom is a change in or loss of taste or smell
  • Shared symptoms with the flu:  fever, aches, fatigue, and a headache

This year,  getting a flu shot is crucial to mitigate the spread of the seasonal flu and therefore, save healthcare resources for the care of patients with COVID-19. This Vaccine Finder tool can locate nearby options for you to get a flu shot. If you do get the flu, the CDC recommends staying home to rest, avoiding contact with people who are not sick, including those in your own home, and drinking plenty of water. If you are caring for someone with the flu but you don’t have it, the CDC recommends: avoiding close contact with the sick individual as much as possible, and washing your hands as frequently as possible with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand rub.

For both COVID-19 and the flu, it’s possible to spread the virus for at least a day before experiencing any symptoms. If you think you are exposed to someone with COVID-19 or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, the CDC recommends quarantining at home and contacting your health care provider for guidance on what steps to take next. 

The CDC has a  Coronavirus Self-Checker tool that allows you to enter your symptoms and other relevant information to determine whether or not you need to get tested for COVID-19. This is important to determine if you should seek medical care.

According to the CDC, avoiding face-to-face contact with others as much as possible is the best way to reduce the spread of COVID-19.  This is extremely important especially if you are in or exposed to people belonging to high-risk groups. You should also: stay at least six feet away from others you don’t live with, wear a mask when you cannot socially distance, wash your hands often, with soap and water, especially after touching public surfaces frequently clean and disinfect the high-touch surfaces and objects in, and around your home.

 

 

 

 

 

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Confined Space Injuries

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A construction worker lost his right arm during a “trench cave-in” on Monday, November 3rd at a Lenexa construction site, according to the Lenexa Fire Department. 

Multiple agencies including The Lenexa Fire Department, units from Johnson County Med Act and the Lenexa Police Department all responded to the Johnson County Emergency Communications Center’s “confined space rescue” call. This call was later updated to a trench “cave-in rescue” while the officers were already en route to the location.  

The victim had already been removed from the trench by the time the first Lenexa police officer arrived on the scene. He rendered immediate first aid by applying a life-saving emergency tourniquet to the victim’s site of injury. The victim “sustained a full amputation of the right arm just below the shoulder,” according to the fire department, and has been transported to an area hospital for further treatment. This incident is still under further investigation.

According to OSHA, a confined space is a space large enough for an employee to enter and conduct work, but has limited means for entry or exit, and is not designed for continuous occupancy. According to the NIOSH, approximately 60 percent of confined-space fatalities were rescuers, and the OSHA reported that when multiple deaths occur during a rescue, 29 percent of the dead were supervisors, 31 percent had written Confined Space Entry procedures. 

These statistics have shown that we have not lowered the risk of confined space injuries and fatalities, which in turn tells us that there is no consistent focus on practical employee preparation, supervision, and protection before working in these spaces. A well-designed and executed rescue plan is a must. Employers must be held accountable for protecting their workers, responsibility must be delegated accordingly, and permits and procedures must be investigated thoroughly. 

For more information about how to implement checks and balances to mitigate confined space injuries risk, read EXP’s blog post “Confined Space – Where the Responsibility Falls”.  

 

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Safety is Good Business

We can all agree in theory and in practicality, that safety is good for everyone and protecting employees’ safety is the right thing to do. What many companies may not have, however, are the financial optics of injury prevention, and the real cost of incurring workplace injuries.  

OSHA’s “$afety Pays” program was put in place in order to help employers assess the impact of occupational illnesses and injuries on their profits. The intention of this program is to act as a tool to raise awareness for the financial burden of occupational injuries, and in effect, how lack of safety protocols can result in decreased profitability. 

The above table shows the types of preventable injuries that frequently occur in the workplace. Since these costs directly affect a company’s profits, the company would need to generate a significantly higher amount of sales to cover these costs.

A large portion of the costs of an injury are indirect costs. These are any wages paid to injured workers for absences not covered by workers’ compensation such as the wage costs related to time lost through work stoppage associated with the worker injury, the overtime costs necessitated by the injury, administrative time spent by supervisors, safety personnel, and clerical workers after an injury, training costs for a replacement worker, lost productivity related to work rescheduling, new employee learning curves, and accommodation of injured employees; and clean-up, repair, and replacement costs of damaged material, machinery, and property.

EXP platform’s proven root cause analysis, investigation methodologies and workflows help reduce injuries. The reduction of just one to two injuries per year covers the annual cost of EXP software. EXP’s award-winning customers have achieved a 92%+ reduction in recordable injuries & 88%+ reduction in lost time injuries since implementing the EXP platform.

 

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RegScan and EXP Announce New Partnership

 

June 24, 2020 (Press Release) – Williamsport, PA – RegScan, Inc., a trusted provider of global compliance solutions for Environmental, Health, & Safety professionals, is pleased to announce that the RegScan™ regulatory content can now integrate with EXP Integrated Compliance Management Systems.

EXP customers who subscribe to RegScan content can pull the most current regulatory information available in RegScan databases into their own EXP software interface.

“As part of our ongoing effort to provide best-in-class content to EHS professionals, we’re excited to partner with EXP”, said Ned Ertel, President and CEO of RegScan, Inc. “RegScan continues to expand our collection of regulatory content to cover over 200 jurisdictions worldwide, and working with a global enterprise software provider like EXP is a win-win for our shared clients.”

“We are pleased to partner with RegScan and offer their up-to-date regulatory content and audit protocols”, said Sree Velicheti, CEO of EXP “seamlessly integrated within our comprehensive and highly flexible QEHS platform, providing a value added and efficient approach to regulatory compliance for our clients.”

About RegScan
Independently owned and operated, RegScan, Inc. is a provider of world-class compliance information to Fortune 1000 companies.  Based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, RegScan has provided of compliance solutions for Health, Safety & Environmental practitioners for over 30 years.

RegScan’s vast regulatory library provides the framework for compliance programs within multiple industries including Manufacturing, Transportation and Distribution, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Oil & Gas, Aerospace, and Governments.  For businesses that need to build Corporate, Site-Based, Manufacturing, Office Space, R&D or Distribution based compliance programs, RegScan offers innovative solutions designed to address the needs of your organization.

About EXP

EXP delivers award-winning Enterprise Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE) management systems. Since 1999, EXP has deployed software platforms for clients in over 100 countries, including some of the most admired global companies. EXP’s customers are consistently recognized globally for their world-class QHSE programs. EXP partners with world-class experts in incident investigation and root cause analysis, language translation, regulatory content, and learning management.