The safety message of the week
These are all the posts that mention “The safety message of the week”
Safety Focus of the Week: Employee/Employer Obligations in Safety
ECI is formally rolling out its new Corporate Safety Program Manual. A key part is a description of the obligations of the Employee and the Employer relative to safety.
Obligations of the Employer
Providing a safe workplace which is managed and controlled in accordance with all applicable regulations and standards is an essential obligation of all Employers. ECI achieves this by providing:
- Education and training specific to an employee’s role and assigned work tasks
- Supervision and council from experienced and trained working professionals
- Perform risk assessment
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Hazardous condition measuring instruments
- Fit for purpose safety systems and equipment
- Compliance monitoring by dedicated Health and Safety staff
- Executive leadership
- Developing and maintaining a company-wide safety culture that includes an appreciation of:
- Engineering and science associated with our work and the safety practices.
- Use of risk assessment to identify and mitigate hazards.
- Sense of pride for quality work and safe work practices.
- The Code of Conduct items, particularly regarding safe driving, respectful behavior, and environmental conscientious work practices.
In addition to worker safety, ECI has a duty to protect the public near and around the work. This is particularly important as many of ECI’s projects and tasks take place within public rights-of-way.
Obligations of the Employee
All ECI employees are provided with the following responsibilities with respect to the Safety Program:
- Acknowledge and understand the content within the Safety Program Manual
- Understand and follow all applicable health and safety policies and procedures
- Adhere to fit-for-duty physical and mental requirements
- Maintain licensure for operating motor vehicles and other equipment as required
- Proper use and maintenance of assigned equipment and personal protective gear
- Recognize hazards and implement adequate measures to control hazards
- Ask for assistance if uncertain about a specific hazard or potentially hazardous situation
- Look out for fellow workers and the public traveling through ECI jobsites
- Acknowledge and appreciate general engineering principals as they relate to personal safety
- Attend and participate in Jobsite Hazard Assessment discussions and Weekly Safety Meetings
- Report safety incidences in accordance with reporting procedures
- Comply with the ECI Substance Abuse Policy
- Follow the ECI Code of Conduct
All employees have the authority to stop work under the following conditions:
- If you see an unsafe act taking place or about to take place
- If you believe conditions are unsafe and not fit for the task(s) at hand
- If there is confusion with regards to the work plan
Employees are encouraged to speak up if they have a suggestion to make the jobsite or activity safer. When we share the responsibility in the workplace, everyone wins.
Safety Focus of the Week: ECI’s New Safety Program Manual
As indicated previously, ECI has been in the process of revising its corporate Safety Program Manual to reflect the evolution of our safety program.
Two main aspects of ECI’s program include:
Behavioral Based Safety – The effect of a worker’s behavior on safety. Behavioral issues may include complacency, distractions, exhaustion, and overconfidence. ECI’s focus to address the behavior effect on safety is primarily:
a) the management of these conditions (recognize, contain, and respond to behavioral issues), and
b) to develop and maintain a corporate culture focused on safety and appreciation of practical engineering principles related to safety.
Compliance Based Safety – Working within Safety Regulations specific to the type of work. On ECI jobsites, these regulations typically include OSHA, FRA, MSHA, and FMCSA. ECI’s focus for achieving compliance based safety is to provide the workers with appropriate training and resources to perform a risk assessment to be safe and compliant.
We look forward to the rollout of the new ECI Safety Program Manual which will be available on our website.
Safety Focus of the Week: Corporate Safety Program
ECI is updating its corporate health and safety program which will contain the following sections:
Section 1 – Safety Program Summary
1.2 Purpose of the Safety Program Manual
1.3 ECI’s Fundamental Approach to Health and Safety
1.4 Obligations of the Employer
1.6 Subcontractor Requirements
1.7 Corporate Health and Safety Team and Facilities
Section 2 – ECI Health and Safety Systems
2.1 Employee Management Systems
2.3 Jobsite Safety Planning Systems
2.4 Jobsite Safety Surveillance System
2.5 Incident Management Systems (Internal and External)
Section 3 – Safety Training Program
3.1 Safety Qualifications and Certifications
3.4 General Safety Awareness Training
Section 4- Additional Health and Safety Resources
4 Jobsite Hazards Assessment Form
5 Site Safety Inspection Forms
7 Preferred Personal Injury Health Providers
Safety Focus of the Week: Working Around Drilling Fluid
Many of our projects involve drilling fluids, grouts, or additives. Some of these products can be hazardous in certain conditions. For example, nearly every dry powered product has some kind of inhalation risk.
However, the hazards are very broad and might include:
- Specific chemical hazards (reference the SDS Sheets)
- General Dust Exposure (inhalation hazard)
- Heavy Containers/Bags/etc. (lifting and back hazards)
- Slick surfaces (slip/trip/fall hazards)
- Splash (eye or skin exposure hazards)
- High-pressure fluid lines (potential energy hazards)
The following links are for SDS Sheets fro some of our common drilling fluid materials and additives:
Safety Focus of the Week: Hand-Held Electronic Devices and Driving
Hand-held electronic devices are the most common driver distractions. The statistics are very concerning:
- 3,179 people were killed, and 431,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2014.
- Approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving at any given daylight moment across America.
- The percentage of drivers text-messaging or visibly manipulating handheld devices increased from 1.7 percent in 2013 to 2.2 percent in 2014.
Reference: https://www.distraction.gov/stats-research-laws/facts-and-statistics.html
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It has been over 2 years since Vermont passed the ban on the use of portable hand-held devices.
Violations of the Vermont law involve minimum fines of $100 for the first offense. Additionally, 2 points are assessed against a driver if the offense occurs in a construction work zone.
Hand held devices are also regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the US Department of Transportation.
FMCSA Hands Free Device Fact Sheet
The FMSCA regulation applies to commercial motor vehicles (any combined gross vehicle weight rating over 10,000 lbs). This CGVWR applies to a large part of our fleet. The penalty for violating this rule is up to $2750 to the driver and up to $11,000 for the employer, which is much higher than the Vermont law.
Safety Focus of the Week: The FMCSA Pre-Trip Motor Vehlicle Inspection
From 49 CFR 396.11:
§396.11 Driver vehicle inspection report(s).
(a) Equipment provided by motor carrier. (1) Report required. Every motor carrier shall require its drivers to report, and every driver shall prepare a report in writing at the completion of each day’s work on each vehicle operated, except for intermodal equipment tendered by an intermodal equipment provider. The report shall cover at least the following parts and accessories:
(i) Service brakes including trailer brake connections;
(ii) Parking brake;
(iii) Steering mechanism;
(iv) Lighting devices and reflectors;
(v) Tires;
(vi) Horn;
(vii) Windshield wipers;
(viii) Rear vision mirrors;
(ix) Coupling devices;
(x) Wheels and rims;
(xi) Emergency equipment.
The regulation requires the inspection report be documented and submitted to the Motor Carrier. All defects that are a safety hazard must be repaired prior to putting the vehicle back into service.
The FMCSA also provides a guide to the regulations in a Q&A format:
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/396.11
Safety Focus of the Week: The OSHA 300 and 300A Forms (Revisited)
OSHA requires all employers (with over 12 employees) to collect information on injury incidents and post the records for the employees. The OSHA 300 “Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses” form includes a list of each reportable injury with the employee’s name, employee’s job title, injury date, location injury occurred, description of the of injury, summary of the cause, date, and any associated lost time from work. Then the information is summarized on the OSHA 300A “Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses”.
This information is important for employers, workers, and OSHA in evaluating the safety of a workplace, understanding industry hazards, and implementing worker protections to reduce and eliminate potential hazards.
Document Link:
Safety Focus of the Week: Hazards of Concrete Construction
Concrete construction requires careful planning to address and mitigate the potential hazards.
Here are a few of the many hazards and considerations for concrete construction:
- Trench Safety – Provide an OSHA compliant excavation either sloped or shored prior to entering an excavation.
- Fall Protection – All work above 6 ft requires fall protection measures.
- Form Construction/Removal – Wear gloves to protect from pinching and cuts on hands. Wear eye protection when hammering.
- Formwork Shoring – Provide engineered systems to support the load conditions
- Small Tools – Electrical safety. Guards. Noise. Eye protection.
- Rebar Installation – Wear gloves to protect from pinching and cuts on hands.
- Manual Lifting – Know your limits. Follow proper lifting techniques. Ask for help.
- Crane Lifting – Follow standard crane operating protocol. Use proper rigging and signaling.
- Concrete Pumping – Maintain proper clearances of OH utilities. Coordinate with pump operator. Be cautious of “hose whipping”.
- Concrete Pouring/Finishing – Protect from skin contact and wear eye protection. Rubber boots when standing in concrete.
- Rebar – Use rebar caps or other protective systems
- Cement & Dry Mix Products: Protect from skin contact, wear eye and respiratory protection. Review SDS for guidelines.
- Chemical Hazards – Concrete additives and finishing products can be hazardous. Review the SDS for guidelines.
Obviously the number of potential hazards is extensive (far beyond this list) and involves specific considerations for the details of your project. A few useful document and web links are provided below for more information.
OSHA:
OSHA 1926.702 – Requirements for Equipment & Tools
OSHA 1926.703 – Cast-in-Place Concrete Construction
Portland Cement Association:
PCA – Working Safely with Concrete
Lafarge:
Lafarge Portland Cement SDS – NA042315_FINAL
American Concrete Pumping Association:
ACPA Dos & Don’ts for Pump Hose Handler
ACPA Concrete Hose Hip Warning
Blood-borne Pathogens (revisited)
OSHA Definition:
- “Bloodborne pathogens are infectious microorganisms present in blood that can cause disease in humans. These pathogens include, but are not limited to, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS. Workers exposed to bloodborne pathogens are at risk for serious or life-threatening illnesses.”
- The OSHA standard also recognizes Other Potentially Infectious Materials (OPIM) which would definitely include untreated sewer.
- To understand the potential for exposure.
- Wear the proper PPE such as rubber gloves, tyvek suit, rubber boots, other skin protection, etc.
- Don’t eat/drink/smoke without proper cleanup.
- Vaccinations for Hepatitis B must be offered by the employer.
- Follow up medical evaluation/treatment for possible exposures.
If you elect to decline the Hepatitis B vaccination, you must fill out and sign a release form:
For more information, check out the following document from OSHA:
Recent News on Hepititis C
In August 2012, the CDC published new recommendations that Baby Boomers (born 1945 to 1965) should get tested for Hepetitis C. Apparently, that segment of the population is 5 times more likely to have Hepititis C than the average American. The disease is spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants (generally prior to screening practices in 1992), injected drug use, possibly sexual contact with infected people, and body piercings and tattooing with infected instruments. Hepitits C is a “silent killer” that attacks the liver. Alcohol use is known to accelerate the affects of the disease.
Safety Focus of the Week: Confined Space Entry (Revisited)
OSHA’s definition of a Permit-Required Confined space is defined as:
- Is large enough for an employee to enter fully and perform assigned work;
- Is not designed for continuous occupancy by the employee
- Has a limited or restricted means of entry or exit.
- Contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere
- Contains a material with the potential to engulf someone who enters the space
- Has an internal configuration that might cause an entrant to be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls
- A floor that slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section
- Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazards.