Employee Rescue Efforts - Do You Have What It Takes? February 15, 2012 Over the last 25 years I have met a group of the some of the greatest folks – those employees designated for chemical emergency response and confined space rescue. I have been amazed by some of the “tough” places industry expects these men and women to go.OSHA has printed several interpretive letters on the matter of safety for these responders and has promulgated several standards to follow when organizing and training a team. OSHA states that “no citation may be issued to an employer because of a rescue activity undertaken by an employee of that employer with respect to an individual in imminent dangerunless:”The employee is designated or assigned by the employer to have responsibility to perform or assist in rescue operation, andThe employer fails to provide protection of the safety and health of such employee, including failing to provide appropriate training and rescue equipment; orThe employer failed to instruct employees not designated or assigned to perform or assist in rescue operations of the arrangement for rescue, not to attempt rescue, and of the hazards of attempting to rescue without adequate training or equipment.On the face of things this seems easy, but for those of us who are part of emergency and rescue teamsWe know this is a GREAT amount of time and energy kind of thing to do. An effective emergency team must have at least these 10 items:Someone in chargeWritten feedback loop for team comments and responses/actions to these commentsWritten procedures that change based on team and management inputAdequate equipmentEquipment inspectionsEquipment upgrades, as neededTraining guidelines that build on each year’s trainingUnderstanding the levels of training you must haveAdequate and consistent trainingUnderstanding of the ICS by all managementRedundancy built in via team roles and communication systemsOSHA does not tell you what you must have for your responders – they simply say it must be adequate and enough to let your responders do the job you ask them to do! ...read more
By Safety Training & Environmental Protection LLC February 21, 2012
…notes from Sara Fineman January 18, 2012 Emergency Preparedness - The Costa Concordia Cruise Tragedy How curious things sometimes are! I have been doing, teaching, reading, and discussing emergency preparedness/response for over 25 years. Some folks call me paranoid when I ask what the back-up to the back-up is... obviously, they haven’t seen panic. And then yesterday I was struck with the same feeling I have had before. When will we learn that preparing for an emergency is crucial, because that emergency we believe will never happen because of all the technology we have in place, may just happen? It may only happen once every 10 years, but when the time comes, folks need to be ready! So why did I start thinking about the parallels of a capsized cruise liner and industrial emergency preparedness? Yesterday, I heard a news reporter interview a survivor of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, and I couldn’t help but draw some parallels between this cruise ship's emergency preparedness program and emergency preparedness I see in industry and communities. The interviewee stated that they were at dinner when the liner ran aground, and they heard a loud noise. For the next hour they were told that there were engine problems. This interviewee knew that with this huge 4,200 passenger cruise ship listing from side to side, dishes flying everywhere, wine and water on the floor that the issue at hand had to be more than engine problems. As she stated, “we had not had our muster station drill, but I knew I had to get out of my dinner gown and high heels.” Good for her! Don’t get me wrong, I am not condemning anyone on the cruise ship; I believe we all do the best we can with what we have at the time it happens. But, we must learn from the past, in order to improve future outcomes. What are we hearing now? The life boats on the half-submerged side were not accessible; people were aggressively all trying to get the boats that were accessible (creating other hazards); crew members had no control (or very little from the first accounts); passengers did not get correct information that may have saved lives; and the person who should have been in charge, the captain or master, was already gone. You can see the parallels. Emergency preparedness is a process – one that must be drilled over and over. If you want folks to act and react, then hands-on drills must be part of it. Carving out the time to accomplish good practice drills for what may happen only once in 10 years becomes more important when it is your loved ones caught up in the emergency. The things that you think will never happen – will! At some point, they will! Safety Training&Environmental Protection, LLC Murray KY 270-753-6529 www.stepky.com ...read more
By Safety Training & Environmental Protection LLC January 24, 2012
What do I have to do to get into compliance with the new GHS addition to HazCom? Major changes to the Hazard Communication Standard Effective date for when all items must be changed should be published this month Train employees on the new signal words, pictograms, and hazard statements.Looks like employees will need to be trained within two years of the publication of the final rule. If you have developed MSDS, they will now need to be in the specified 16-section format Chemical manufacturers will need to use labels that now have the “harmonized” signal words, pictograms, precautionary statements and hazard statements for each hazard class. http://www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom/global.html ...read more
By Safety Training & Environmental Protection LLC January 20, 2012
If you have ever been an automobile accident, you have experienced the benefits that safety glass offers. While glass has been used for centuries in various cultures around the world, safety glass is just over 100 years old. With its many uses and superb safety benefits, safety glass has made much of ... ...read more
Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforces health and safety regulations for the US. Violation of OSHA standards carry heavy fines and can close a business. Avoiding OSHA violations not only keep employees safe, but will save your company money and legal entanglements. ...read more