MRO Today - Safety notes: February/March 2001

Safety notes: February/March 2001 issue
Ford, UAW partner with OSHA
Hazcom, scaffolding top lists
Company assessed seven-digit fine for finger amputations
OSHA funding surpasses $400 million mark for 2001

Ford, UAW partner with OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Ford Motor Company and the United Auto Workers union recently aligned in a landmark partnership to improve health and safety at Ford facilities.

The partnership addresses hazards specific to the auto industry and establishes guidelines to streamline the inspection process in 25 U.S. Ford plants.

"The goal is to reduce injury and illness rates through improved safety and health programs," says OSHA administrator Charles Jeffress. "This unique coalition sets a new precedent for public-private cooperation."

Under the agreement, an 11-point set of guidelines provides shorter, more focused inspections and diminishes the probability of wall-to-wall inspections. The guidelines address focused hazards such as confined spaces, skilled trades hazards, maintenance vehicles, chemical safety, energy control and power lockout, ergonomics, noise control and hearing conservation, heat stress, powered material handling vehicles, machine guarding, and personal protective equipment.

"By working as a team, we harness the best resources and knowledge available," says James Padilla, Fords group vice president of manufacturing. "(Its) an industry partnership that focuses on collaboration rather than acrimony."

Each affected Ford location will conduct a yearly OSHA meeting where the plant manager, union chair and leadership team brief the local OSHA area director. The briefing reviews injury and illness reports, safety progress, and results of internal health and safety inspections. OSHA can conduct an informal facility walkthrough or return to review particular issues.

OSHA also can access Ford safety and health data (including injury and illness reports related to the guidelines) to help identify emerging industry issues.

The agreement doesnt preclude OSHA inspections to investigate employee complaints, serious injuries or fatalities, and national or state emphasis programs.

"This is an important step to make sure all our employees have a safe workplace," says Ron Gettelfinger, vice president and director of UAW National Ford Department. "This agreement will lead to better communication and a better process."

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Hazcom, scaffolding top lists
OSHA handed out more citations for violations to the hazard communication standard than for violations of any other standard during fiscal year 2000.

However, when it came to "most serious" (serious, willful or repeat) citations, the scaffolding standard was the clear front runner.

The rankings are for all SIC codes for the period of September 1999 through September 2000.

OSHA wrote 6,709 citations last year for violations to hazcom standard 1910.1200. Of that total, less than half (3,087) were "most serious," making it No. 3 on that list.

Scaffolding standard 1926.451 drew 6,406 citations (No. 2 on the frequency list), of which 6,047 were "most serious."

Fall protection standard 1926.501 was No. 4 in terms of frequency (4,158 citations) and No. 2 on the "most serious" list (3,920).

Powered industrial trucks standard 1910.178 had the largest jump in the frequency rankings, moving from 26th in 1999 to 10th in 2000.

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Company assessed seven-digit fine for finger amputations
A Texas door manufacturer faces a fine of more than $1.1 million following a series of accidents that caused two workers to suffer finger amputations and another to endure crushing injuries to both hands, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced.

OSHA assessed Lifetime Doors Inc. of Hearne, Texas, $860,000 for 17 instances of failing to train employees in lockout/tagout procedures. An additional $210,000 was proposed for three alleged willful violations of machine guarding requirements and failure to implement a lockout/tagout program. OSHA also cited Lifetime Doors for 15 serious violations of hearing conservation, hazard communication, personal protective equipment, powered industrial trucks and other standards.

Tyler Pipe Company (Tyler, Texas) faces a $1 million fine following an accident that killed a maintenance mechanic. The employee was pulled into an unguarded conveyor belt system.

OSHA says the employee entered a machine pit alone and conducted routine maintenance while belts, pulleys and conveyors continued to operate. The pit also was a permit-required confined space; however, the employee was allowed to work without the necessary permit.

The owner of a Michigan company pleaded guilty to "attempted involuntary manslaughter" for the death of an employee in 1994. Edmund Woods of Midland Environmental Services supervised the cutting of an underground storage tank when a spark set off an explosion.

Under oath, Woods testified he knew the wrong cutting tools were being used to dismantle the tank. He faces up to five years in jail and a $35,000 fine.

A supervisor at a cookie manufacturing company in Oakville, Ontario, was sentenced to 20 days in jail and a second was fined $7,500 for safety violations that led to a workers death.

David Ellis, 18, died of head injuries after being drawn into a mixer whose moving parts were exposed and not equipped with guards. The accident occurred on Ellis second day of work.

OSHA cited American Modern Metals Corporation of Kearny, N.J., for six alleged willful and 48 alleged serious violations and proposed penalties of $278,250.

OSHA says AMMC knowingly let employees operate numerous machines without adequate guarding and knowingly failed to ensure employees wore protective eye equipment when exposed to flying pieces of metal.

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OSHA funding surpasses $400 million mark for 2001
OSHA received $426 million for fiscal year 2001 from the federal government, an increase of $44.3 million over last years funding level. The agencys federal compliance program received $67 million, an increase of $12.9 million; and federal enforcement received $152 million, an increase of $11 million.

OSHA projects in the final rule stage include: recording and reporting injuries and illnesses; exposure to tuberculosis; employer payment for personal protective equipment; and walking working surfaces and personal fall protection systems. Projects at the proposed rule stage include: permissible exposure limits for air contaminants; exposure to crystalline silica; and signs, signals and barricades.

This article appeared in the February/March 2001 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright, 2001.