Industrial Safety Test 1 Study set
OSHA's Record Keeping and Reporting: All occupational illnesses and injuries must be reported if they result in one or more of the following:
- (a) death to one or more workers; - (b) one or more days away from work for the employee; - (c) restricted motion or restrictions to the work an employee can do - (d) loss of consciousness to one or more workers; - (e) transfer of an employee to another job; - (f) medical treatment needed beyond in-house first aid; - (g) appear in Appendix B of the OSH Act.
Costs of Accidents
- 4th leading cause of death in the United States - $150 billion a year
Chemical Burn Injuries
- Acids and alkalis (Soaps, detergents, cleaning compounds) - Solvents and degreasers - Calcium hydroxide (Used in cement and plaster) - Potassium hydroxide (Drain cleaners, etc.) - Sulfuric acid (Battery acid) - Many occur in spite of personal protective equipment, safety instruction, and available treatment facilities.
When to investigate
- All accidents, no matter how small, should be investigated, and a near-miss should be treated like an accident. - Immediate investigations are more likely to produce accurate information. - An immediate investigation is evidence of management's commitment to preventing future accidents
Workers Compensation
- Allows injured employees to be compensated appropriately without having to take their employer to court - Can include medical care, rehabilitation expenses, and disability coverage.
Heat Burn Injuries
- Almost 40% of annual heat burn injuries occur in the manufacturing Factors contributing to heat burn injuries in the workplace: - Employer has no health and safety policy regarding heat hazards. - Employer fails to enforce safety procedures and practices. - Employees are not familiar with the employer's safety policy and procedures concerning heat hazards. - Employees fail to use or improperly use personal protection equipment. - Employees have inadequate or worn personal protection equipment. - Employees work in a limited space. - Employees attempt to work too fast. - Employees are careless. - Employees have poorly maintained tools and equipment.
What is an "Accident"?
- An unexpected and unintentional event - Disrupts work procedures - Has the potential to cause damage to property and injury or death to workers.
Heinrich's Domino Theory
- Ancestry and social environment - Fault of person - Unsafe act/mechanical or physical hazard - Accident - Injury
Accident/Incident Theory of Causation
- Management does not establish a comprehensive safety policy. - Responsibility and authority with regard to safety are not clearly defined. - Safety procedures are ignored or given insufficient attention. ▪ Such as measurement, inspection, correction, and investigation - Employees do not receive a proper orientation. - Employees are not given sufficient safety training
Employer Rights
- Seek advice and consultation as needed by contacting or visiting the nearest OSHA office - Request proper identification of the OSHA compliance officer prior to an inspection - Be advised by the compliance officer of the reason for an inspection
Cost Reduction Strategies
- Simplicity: medical professionals who treat injured employees should work closely with safety professionals - Proximity: keeping the injured employee as close to the job as possible. - Immediacy: the faster an employee's injury claims can be handled - Centrality: getting the employee, his or her family, the medical professionals handling the case, insurance personnel, and the employer to agree on a common vision - Expectancy: creating the expectation that getting the employee well and back to work
standard vs code
- Standard: An operational principle, criterion, or requirement — or a combination of these - Code: A set of standards, rules, or regulations relating to a specific area
Standard vs Regulation
- Standards: Address specific hazards such as working in confined spaces, handling hazardous waste, or working with dangerous chemicals. - Regulations: Are more generic in some cases than standards and more specific in others. Do not have to go through the same rigorous process as standards go through.
OSHA's Record Keeping and Reporting: Exempt and nonexempt employers must report within 8 hours
- Those that result in death - Those that result in the hospitalization of three or more employees
OSH Act Coverage: 3 key Features
- Training - Records Maintenance - Accident reporting
Systems Theory of Accident Causation
- Views a situation in which an accident may occur as a system comprised of the following components: person (host), machine (agency), and environment. - Changes in the patterns of interaction can increase or reduce the probability of an accident.
Event-Chain Accident Causation Theories
❖ Event Chain theories explain accident causation in terms of: - Multiple events that occur in a sequence - Events that are linked by direct relationships between and among causal factors but ignore indirect relationships - Events that involve human error, component failure, and/or energy-related factors
Interviewing Witnesses: When
❖ Interviews should begin as soon as the witness list has been compiled and, once begun, should proceed expeditiously because: - A witness's recollections will be best right after the accident. - Second, immediacy avoids the possibility of witnesses comparing notes and, as a result, changing their stories.
Conducting the Investigation
❖ Isolate the accident scene ❖ Record all evidence ❖ Photograph or videotape the scene ❖ Identify witnesses - Primary: eyewitnesses to the accident - Secondary: who did not actually see the accident happen arrived on the scene immediately - Tertiary: witnesses who were not present at the time of the accident nor afterward but may still have relevant evidence ❖ Interview witnesses ❖ Following up on an accident investigation - Write the report - Develop, implement, monitor, and adjust plans for corrective action
Interviewing Witnesses: How
❖ Key to getting at the facts is to put the witness at ease and to listen. - Listen to what is said, how it is said, and what is not said. - Ask questions that will get at the information listed earlier, but phrase them in an open-ended format.
Role of Specific Health Problems
❖ Lung Disease (Great Britain, United States) - Coal Mining ❖ Silicosis (United States) - Many industries ❖ Mercury (Japan) - Minamata, a chemical plant releases mercury into the water, poisoning villagers who ate fish ❖ Asbestos (United States) - In many everyday products, over time they broke down, releasing fibers into the air ❖ Blood-borne pathogens
Bhopal (Union Carbide) Disaster
History's worst industrial accident
The underlying rationale for workers' compensation had two aspects:
- (1) fairness to injured employees, - (2) reduction of costs to employers associated with workplace injuries
Safety vs. Health
- Safety: is concerned with injury-causing situations - Health is concerned with disease-causing conditions.
Citations and Penaties
- Citation: Informs the employer of OSHA violations. - Penalties: typically fines assessed — result of citations.
Developments Before the Industrial Revolution
- Code of Hammurabi: Clauses dealing with injuries, Allowable fees for physicians, Monetary damages - 18 Century - Bernardino Ramazzini: Drew conclusive parallels between diseases suffered by workers and their occupations
Systems Theory of Accident Causation: Person Interacts with Machine
- Collects information by observing and noting current circumstances - Weighs risks - Decides whether to perform the task
Employee Rights
- Complain to an employer, union, OSHA, or any other government agency about job safety and health hazards File safety or health grievances - Participate in a workplace safety and health committee or in union activities concerning job safety and health - Participate in OSHA inspections, conferences, hearings, or other OSHA-related activities
Epidemiological Theory of Causation
- Current safety theories/programs trend to a broad perspective encompassing industrial hygiene. - Epidemiology: the study of causal relationships between environmental factors and disease.
Accident-analysis Reports: Required
- Death, loss of consciousness, professional medical treatment beyond first aid occurs; - One or more days of lost work over and above any time lost beyond the day of the accident; or - Any modifications to the injured employee's work duties beyond those that might occur on the day of the injury.
Three E's of Safety
- Engineering: both product and process - Education: worker's know what to do, when, why, and how to be safe - Enforcement: Making sure employees abide by safety policies, rules, regulations, practices, and procedures
OSH Act Coverage: Who is Covered
- Federal government employees - Industry employees
OSHA Whistleblower Program
- If you don't feel comfortable reporting an unsafe situation to your supervisor, call your OSHA regional office
Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)
- Improved engineering could prevent accidents. - Employees were willing to learn and accept safety rules. - Safety rules could be established and enforced. - Financial savings from safety improvement could be reaped by savings in compensation and medical bills.
OSHA Form 301
- Injury and illness incident report - Use this to report what happened when an employee experiences a work-related injury or illness - Must complete a form or an acceptable substitute such as state workers' compensation form within 7 calendar days after notification of injury or illness
Cost Estimation Methods
- Insured (accounting records) and Uninsured (estimated) Costs - To determine an average uninsured cost for each class specific to the particular company: • Compute the total of these costs by class of accident • Divide by the total number of accidents in that class.
Developments during the Industrial Revolution
- Introduction of inanimate power - Substitution of machines for people - Introduction of new methods for converting raw materials - Organization and specialization of work, resulting in a division of labor
carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)
- Is the most widely known - CTS is typically caused by repeated and cumulative stress on the median nerve. - Symptoms of CTS include: • Numbness • Tingling sensation • Pain in the fingers, hand, and/ or wrist
Employer Responsibilities
- Meet the general duty responsibility to provide a workplace free from hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees and to comply with standards, rules, and regulations issued under the OSH Act - Be knowledgeable of mandatory standards and make copies available to employees for review upon request - Keep employees informed about OSHA
Occupations with the highest rate of fatalities (Highest to Lowest)
- Mining/quarrying (Including oil and gas drilling/extraction) - Agriculture (including farming, forestry, and fishing) - Construction, transportation/ public utilities - Federal state and local governments - Manufacturing - Services (Finance, insurance, and real estate) - Trade (Wholesale and Retail)
Accidental Deaths in the United States
- Motor vehicle accidents ~47,000/year - Falls (non transport) ~13,000/year - Poisoning by solids/liquids ~6,000/year - Poisoning by gas/vapor ~1,000/year - Drowning ~5,000/year - Fire-related Injuries ~4,000/year - Suffocation ~4,000/year - Firearms ~2,000/year - Other ~14,000/year
Event-Chain Accident Causation Theories: Shortcomings
- Neglect broader social and organizational factors. - Do not adequately account for physical context, social context, personal values, or the dynamics of work processes when assessing human error. - Neglect human adaptation (the tendency of more experienced workers to behave in ways that involve higher levels of risk).
Who Should Investigate?
- No simple answer, lots of disagreement - Options are: - Supervisor of the injured worker - A safety and health professional - An investigative team - Outside specialists
All records required of OSHA can be maintained using the following forms:
- OSHA Form 300 - OSHA Form 301 - OSHA Form 300A
Required material posted at location where employee information is normally displayed
- OSHA Poster 2203: explains employee rights and responsibilities as prescribed in the OSH Act. - Summaries of variance requests of all types - Copies of all OSHA citations received for failure to meet standards - The summary page of OSHA Form 300.
OSHA Policies
- OSHA's Enhanced Enforcement Polices - Severe Violator Enforcement Program - Follow up Inspections - Programmed Inspections - Public Awareness - Settlements - Section (11)b Summary Enforcement Orders (contempt of court)
Safety vs. Health for our Purposes
- Occupational Safety: Concerned with avoidance of situations in the workplace with the potential to cause physical injury or death. - Occupational Health: concerned with avoiding diseases and disorders induced by exposure to materials or conditions in the workplace.
Administration and Case Management
- Once a worker's compensation claim is filed, an appropriate settlement must be reached. - Three approaches can be used to settle a claim. The first two are used in uncontested cases, and the third in contested cases: - Direct settlement: The employer or its insurance company begins making what it thinks are the prescribed payments - Agreement settlement: The injured employee and the employer or insurance company agrees on how much compensation will be paid, and for how long - Public hearing: If an injured worker feels he/she has been inadequately compensated or unfairly treated, a hearing can be requested.
Work Injuries by Type of Accident
- Overexertion (31%) - Impact accidents - Falls - Bodily reaction (to chemicals) - Compression - Motor vehicle accidents - Exposure to radiation or caustics - Rubbing or abrasions - Exposure to extreme temperatures
OSH Act Coverage: Exempted Employees
- Persons who are self-employed. - Family farms that employ only immediate family members. - Federal agencies covered by other federal statutes. - State and local governments. - Coal mines: regulated by mining-specific laws.
Improvements of Safety
- Pressure for legislation - Increasing costs of accidents and injuries - Professionalization of safety as an occupation
Employee Responsibilities
- Read the OSHA poster at the job site and be familiar with its contents Comply with all applicable OSHA standards - Follow safety and health rules and regulations prescribed by the employer and promptly use PPE while engaged in work - Report hazardous conditions to the supervisor
Objectives of Workers Compensation
- Replacement of income - Rehabilitation of the injured employee - Prevention of accidents - Cost allocation
Milestones in the Safety Movement
- Roots in England - 1802: the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act was passed; Marking the beginning of governmental involvement in workplace safety - 1867: Factory inspection was introduced in Massachusetts - 1868: The first barrier safeguard was patented - 1869: The Pennsylvania legislature passed a mine safety law requiring two exits from all mines. - The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was established in 1869 to study industrial accidents and report pertinent information about those accidents.
OSHA form 300A
- Summary of work-related injuries and illnesses - Must complete the form even if no work-related injuries or illnesses occurred during the year - Must pass this information publicly in the facility for 1-3 months - Company executive must examine the document and certify that it's accurate
Disabilities and Workers' Comp
- Temporary partial disability: The injured worker is capable of light or part-time duties -Temporary total disability: The injured worker is incapable of any work for a period of time, but is expected to recover fully. - Permanent Partial Disabilities: The condition that exists when an injured employee is not expected to recover fully. - Permanent Total Disability: Inability to compete reasonably - Award depends on state laws
Accident Causation
- The domino theory - The human factors theory - The accident/incident theory - The epidemiological theory - The systems theory - The combination theory - The behavioral theory
How OSHA standards are developed
- The first step is to publish a request for information (RFI) or advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register. - To ensure that all stakeholders are aware and have opportunities to provide input - All responses to an RFI or ANPRM are made public - Hold meetings with stakeholder organizations that have specific interests in the area covered by the proposed the new or revised standard - If proceeding with issuing a new or revised standard: must publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register and solicit input from stakeholders and the public in general
Reporting Accidents
- The purpose of the report is to record the: - Findings of the accident investigation; cause or causes of the accident; and recommendations for corrective action - Reporting locally within an organization for insurance, legal, prevention, and management purposes, and reporting for OSHA purposes can be two different tasks
What did we learn and what did we do?
- There is a definite connection between quality and safety. - Off-the-job accidents have a negative impact on productivity. - OSHA is passed in 1970
What to Investigate: Purpose
- collect facts, not find fault; Fault finding causes problems among witnesses - Causes of accidents should be the primary focus
Accident-analysis Reports
- more serious should answer the "why" - Attempts to determine the root cause of the accident - Good to bring in an outside consultant to try and avoid or prepare for litigation
OSHA form 300
- work-related injuries and illnesses - documents work-related deaths and every work-related illness that involves loss of consciousness, restricted work activity or job transfer, days away from work, or medical treatment beyond first-aid - Need to complete OSHA form 301 for each entry in the log
Death Rates By Industry
-Approximately 3.5 fatalities per year per 100,000 workers
What to Investigate
-Primary focus: causes of accidents: Who, what, when, where, why, and how? -The purpose of an accident investigation is to collect facts — not to find fault.
Heinrich's 10 Axioms of Industrial Safety
1. Injuries result from a completed series of factors, one of which is the accident itself. 2. An accident can occur only as the result of an unsafe act by a person and/or a physical or mechanical hazard. 3. Most accidents are the result of unsafe behavior by people. 4. An unsafe act by a person or an unsafe condition does not always immediately result in an accident/injury. 5. Reasons, why people commit unsafe acts, can serve as helpful guides in selecting corrective actions. 6. Severity of an accident is largely fortuitous, and the accident that caused it is largely preventable. 7. The best accident prevention techniques are analogous to the best quality and production techniques. 8. Management should assume responsibility for safety because it is in the best position to get results. 9. The supervisor is the key person in the prevention of industrial accidents. 10. In addition to the direct costs of an accident, there are also hidden or indirect costs. - Compensation, liability claims, medical costs, and hospital expenses • Any accident prevention program that takes all ten axioms into account is more likely to be effective than a program that leaves out one or more
What is an accident?
An accident is any unplanned event that interrupts the completion of activity and that may or may not involve human injury or property damage. The term incident refers to that which did not cause injury or property damage but had the potential to. There are accident reports, and there are accident-analysis reports.
Requesting a Variance
An employer may be unable to comply with a new standard by the effective date of enforcement. - Temporary Variance": When an employer is unable to comply with a new standard immediately - Permanent Variance: When an employer feels they already provide a workplace that exceeds - Experimental Variance: May be awarded to companies that participate in OSHA-sponsored experiments to test the effectiveness of new health and safety procedures. Variances also may be awarded in cases where the secretary of labor determines that a variance is in the best interest of the country's national defense.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Annual List of Toxic Substances
OSH Act Coverage
Applies to pretty much everybody - all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all other territories that fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government
Time Lost Because of Work Injuries
Approximately 35 million hours annually
Asbestos Menace
Dr. Irving Selikoff (1964) "asbestos causes cancer"; One of the most widely used materials in the United States at the time
Four groups of OSHA standards
General Industry, Construction, Maritime, and Agriculture
Accidents that cause death of an employee or hospitalization of 5 or more employees:
Have to be reported to OSHA in 48 Hours
Class 4 accidents
Injuries that are so minor that they do not require the attention of a physician, result in property damage of $100 or more, or cause eight or more work hours to be lost
Repetitive Strain/Soft Tissue Injuries (RSI)
Is a broad generic term that encompasses a variety of injuries resulting from cumulative trauma to soft tissues of the body - Soft tissues of hands - Arms - Neck - Shoulders
Class 3 accidents
Locally provided first aid, property damage of less than $100, or the loss of less than eight hours of work time.
Class 1 accidents
Lost workdays, permanent partial disabilities and temporary total disabilities
Parts of the Body Injured on the Job
Most common workplace injuries to least: 1. Back 2. Legs and fingers 3. Arms and multiple parts of the body 4. Trunk 5. Hands 6. Eyes, head, and feet 7. Neck, toes, and body systems
OSHA standards
OSHA can take three different types of action on standards: a standard may be adopted, amended, or revoked.
OSHA's Record Keeping and Reporting
OSHA provides for the centralization and systemization of record-keeping and requirements for the OSH Act to employers of 11 or more workers
Construction
Out of 4,693 worker fatalities 991 or 21.1% were in construction: - Falls — 384 out of 991 total deaths in construction in CY 2016 (38.7%) - Struck by Object - 93 (9.4%) - Electrocutions - 82 (8.3%) - Caught-in/between* - 72 (7.3%) - Are considered the Fatal Four
The Safety Movement
Started in the early 1900s, The chance of being killed in an industrial accident is less than 1/2 of what it was 60 years ago; Injures are less than 1/3 the rate of 50 years ago
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
The government administrative arm for the OSH Act - Sets and revokes safety and health standards - Conducts inspections - investigates problems - Issues citations - Assesses penalties, - Petitions the courts to take appropriate action against unsafe employers - Provides safety training - Provides injury prevention consultation - Maintains a database of health and safety statistics
Workers' Compensation Insurance
There are three types: state funds, private insurance, and self-insurance. Rates are affected by a number of different factors including the following: - Number of employees - Types of work performed (risk involved) - Accident experience of the employer - Potential future losses - Overhead and profits of the employer - Quality of the employer's safety program - Estimates by actuaries
Class 2 accidents
Treatment by a physician outside the company's facility
Hawk's Nest Tragedy - West Virginia
Tunnel contract through a mountain made of silica; Worker's began dying after only one year of work; Silicosis
Domino Theory of Accident Causation
Used to predict and prevent accidents - 88 percent of industrial accidents are caused by unsafe acts committed by fellow workers - 10 percent of industrial accidents are caused by unsafe conditions - 2 percent of industrial accidents are unavoidable - Work well with 3 E's
Drugs and Accident Causation
❖ Drugs and alcohol are the root cause or contributing cause of many accidents on the job every year. - This is why companies implement drug-free workplace programs. - Since 1989 federal contractors have been required to do so. - Programs typically include the drug-free workplace policy, supervisory training, employee education, employee assistance programs (EAPs), and alcohol and drug testing.
Accident Reports
completed when the accident in question represents only a minor incident..
National Safety Council (NSC)
is the largest organization in the United States devoted solely to safety and health practices and procedures. Its purpose is to prevent the losses, both direct and indirect, arising out of accidents or from exposure to unhealthy environments.
Systems Theory of Accident Causation: Five Factors
should be considered before beginning the process of collecting information, weighing risks, and making a decision: - Job Requirements - Workers' abilities and limitations - The gain if the task is successfully accomplished - The loss if the task is attempted but fails - The loss if the task is not attempted
Warning Signs: Depression
• Safety and health professionals should be alert to the warning signs of clinical depression in employees. - Persistent dreary moods (Sadness, anxiety, nervousness) - Sleeping on the job or persistent drowsiness - Sudden weight loss or gain - Chronic physical problems - General loss of interest, restlessness - Inability to concentrate - Irritability - Forgetfulness or an inability to make simple decisions - Persistent feelings of guilt, feelings of low self-worth. - Focus on death or talk of suicide
Five-Component Approach to Accident Investigation
•Ask task-related questions. • Ask material-related questions • Ask environment-related questions • Ask personnel-related questions. • Ask management-related questions.
Interviewing Witnesses: Where
❖ Best place to interview is at the accident scene. If this is not possible: - Interviews should take place in a private setting elsewhere. - No distractions, interruptions, or more than one witness at a time. - Select a neutral location in which witnesses will feel comfortable.
Systems Theory of Accident Causation: Stressors
❖ Can cloud the judgment of that collecting information, weighing risks, and making the decision: - A machine operator working in an unusually hectic environment - Intense pressure to complete an order already behind schedule
Other Costs - Estimated Method
❖ Costs associated with workplace accidents, injuries, and incidents fall into broad categories such as: - Lost work hours (Medical costs) - Property damage (Fire losses) - Insurance premiums and administration (Indirect costs) - Formula: EmployeeHoursLost 4th quarter × AverageLoadedLaborRate = Cost
Behavioral Theory of Accident Causation
❖ Often referred to as behavior-based safety (BBS) - Positive reinforcement in the form of incentives and rewards are used to promote the desired (safe) behaviors and to discourage undesirable (unsafe) behaviors. ❖ According to Scott Geller, there are seven basic principles of BBS: - (1) intervention that is focused on employee behavior; - (2) identification of external factors that will help understand and improve employee behavior (from the perspective of safety in the workplace); - (3) direct behavior with activators or events antecedent to the desired behavior, and motivation of the employee to behave as desired with incentives and rewards that will follow the desired behavior; - (4) focus on the positive consequences that will result from the desired behavior as a way to motivate employees; - (5) application of the scientific method to improve attempts at behavioral interventions; - (6) use of theory to integrate information rather than to limit possibilities; - (7) planned interventions with the feelings and attitudes of the individual employee in mind.
Depression and Accident Causation
❖ Studies suggest that depressed workers may be more prone to accidents. - Lack of concentration - Fatigue - Failing memory - Slow reaction time
Management Failures and Accident Causation
❖The level of management with the most direct, hands-on, day-to-day responsibility for workplace safety and health is the supervisory level. ❖ Safety and health professionals cannot do their jobs effectively without full cooperation and day-to-day assistance of first-line supervisors. ❖ Typical management failures that cause accidents - Poor housekeeping or improper use of tools, equipment, or facilities. - Pressure to meet deadlines.
