Workplace Safety Awareness Council Blog

Ever been to a post-Thanksgiving sale? One of the really early ones where a crowd of people storm the doors at 6:00am and pick apart a store? I did once, and that was quite enough. . .

Well Walmart is now feeling the pain from their November 28, 2008 sales blitz. During this sales blitz Jdimytai Damour of an employee at a Valley Stream, N.Y. store was trampled to death and about 11 people sustained injuries, according to the DA's office.

Now OSHA doesn’t protect shoppers per se, their mission is to protect workers and in this case an employee died, so OSHA comes on board. Interesting enough, the 11 members of the public are not protected by OSHA but the pressure OSHA put on Walmart to create better crowd control policies and procedures will serve to protect employees and public alike.

OSHA's concluded employees were exposed to being crushed by the crowd of 2,000 because the store failed to implement reasonable and effective crowd management principles. OSHA maintained that the store should have provided its employees training and tools to safely manage that crowd.

"Effective planning and crowd management could have prevented this incident and its grave consequences," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "Wal-Mart must now take steps to ensure that a situation such as this one never happens again."

So the question begs to be asked: What foreseeable hazards exist in your workplace, and more importantly, what will you do to better protect the workforce?

Labels: 10 Hour OSHA Card, Crowd control, Walmart, workplace safety

I just arrived back from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and had a great time. Looks like NASA is going to retire the space shuttle and transition into a new breed of craft, so i figured now would be a great time to see a final liftoff.

One of the concerns for this flight is the space junk floating around near the Hubble telescope where the shuttle is going for repairs.

I found it interesting that NASA has calculated the risk for a catastrophic collision with junk during the mission at 1 in 229. A typical shuttle mission is calculated at a 1 in 300 risk and it appears their threshold for tolerance is 1 in 200.

The crew spent Tuesday checking the outside of the shuttle for any damage from debris during launch, finding four nicks that initially seem minor, but there is some concern. We all remember what happened when Space Shuttle Columbia got hit by a piece of foam during launch and later disintegrated during re-entry.

But the biggest danger on any shuttle flight is getting hit with space junk or tiny space rocks at high speeds during orbit, not during launch. Because objects circle the Earth at high speed, something as small as one-third the width of a dime can penetrate the shuttle's cabin, causing a major—maybe even fatal—problem, according to NASA.

Of course NASA has prepared for this contingency and they even have a backup space shuttle on the launching pad right now ready to rescue the crew should additional damage occur.

So this brings up a great question, whats your contingency plan for workplace emergencies? Hopefully you've conducted your hazard analysis. You've used a hierarchy of control to eliminate or at least reduce the hazards in the workplace. Sometimes things happen. operator error, equipment malfunction, so called acts-of-god. If this happens, do you have a backup plan?

You should and we encourage you to start reviewing or developing those plans this month. Of course should you need assistance, we're here to help. next month we'll talk about contingency plans, so be looking for our e-newsletter. . .

Labels: Contingency Plan, NASA, Safety, Space Shuttle

URGENT: Readers of this blog are invited to a very special free webcast on swine flu and how to keep your employees safe!

The Swine Flu epidemic has spread throughout North America and now threatens to mutate into an even more aggressive influenza. How will you prepare? How will your business be affected?

Have you developed a business continuity plan that addresses influenza epidemics? What proactive steps can you take to protect your employees and your business?

In this 90 minute webcast you'll learn:

:: Proactive steps you can take to protect employees
:: "Urban Myths" related to swine flu and how to determine what’s accurate
:: Key components of an emergency response plan (we'll include a plan template you can download)
:: Resources provided by local, state and federal health agencies
:: How to approach cleaning and maintenance protocols before, during and after an outbreak
:: Security and travel related issues
:: Effective communication with employees, suppliers, clients and contractors.

This timely webcast also includes a question and answer session which allows you to get answers to your most pressing influenza issues.

Title: The Swine Flu Pandemic: Urban Myths and Real Solutions for Preparing Your Business

Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009

Time: 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM EDT

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/298571818

P.S. After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

P.P.S. Sign up for this webcast and you'll be able to download the webcast in its entirety.
Listen when you'd like as many times as you'd like!

Labels: business contuinity, Free OSHA Training, influenza, Safety, swine flu, webcast

We just finished up a great OSHA Bootcamp in Oklahoma City last week. Our thanks go out to the wonderful participants who joined us for two-days. Those who attended came away with a true gameplan for compliance. Each received a copy of the OSHA Navigator PRO software and are well on their way to a safer workplace.

What makes the OSHA Bootcamp unique, is the small number of participants we allow to attend. We find that when our Bootcamps are kept small (12 or fewer attendees) the participants get more from the training event, and that’s our goal.

One problem though. . .

Although we have ten Bootcamps scheduled this year, each are sold out and we can't take on additional registrations. We may be offering additional Bootcamps later this year (after the Fall) but right now the only way you can experience the OSHA Bootcamp is to bring it onsite.

We don't charge per person. Our fee is all inclusive (meaning we pay for all travel arrangements etc) and it’s a very effective way to get your staff trained and OSHA compliant. Many of our clients have found that the savings achieved from conducting an OSHA Bootcamp onsite more than covers the cost of the training!

To find out more about the OSHA Bootcamp and how to bring it onsite visit:
http://www.wpsac.org/bootcamp.html

Labels: 10 Hour OSHA Card, OSHA Bootcamp, OSHA Training, Safety

The Workplace Safety Awareness Council has been awarded a Federal grant to develop and deliver free OSHA training covering this newly updated electrical standard and the half-day classes are filling up quickly - in fact we've averaged 100 people in each class and half of the classes filled up where we had to shut down registrations!

Each attendee will receive a CD-ROM filled with training documents, video and PowerPoint that you can take back and train your employees.

There are only 13 classes left!

June 15 Buffalo, NY
June 16 Syracuse, NY
June 17 Albany, NY
June 18 Springfield, MA
June 19 Boston, MS

July 13 Philadelphia, PA
July 14 Newark, NJ
July 15 Trenton, NJ
July 16 New York, NY
July 17 Providence, RI
July 21 San Juan, PR

August 10 Louisville, KY
August 11 Nashville, TN
August 12 Memphis, TN

To find out more or to reserve your seat at this free class just visit:
http://www.wpsac.org/free.html

Labels: Arc Flash, Free OSHA Training, NFPA 70E, OSHA Training, PPE

It would seem that 250lb linebackers who run a 4.5 second 40 yard time and violently collide into other professionals at equal size and speed would be dangerous enough. . .

Last week in Irving Texas, however the unexpected happened. During a microburst up to 70-mph winds, the Cowboys 85 foot tall practice bubble collapsed. Nearly 70 players, coaches, and members of the media were inside the steel framed structure.

A total of 12 people were injured including a 33-year-old Dallas Cowboys staff member who was
left paralyzed. Scouting assistant Rich Behm suffered a spine fracture that caused permanent paralysis from the waist down, the team confirmed Sunday.

Thankfully, nobody died however the life of Rich Behm has been forever changed. Now, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is onsite.

Representatives of Summit Structure of Allentown, Pa., and Cover-All Building Systems, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, which built the facility, could not be reached Sunday.

In 2007, a Pennsylvania judge, relying on Timbie's expert assessment, found that a structure Summit built for the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority on the Delaware River collapsed because of "failure of the design" to account for snow buildup on the roof, court documents show. That structure had a double roof construction, which is different from the Dallas Cowboys' structure.

Judge Allan Tereshko wrote that the Philadelphia structure collapsed "under the weight of the first significant snowfall" of the year, conditions that "would have been easily tolerated by the building had it been properly designed and constructed."

Based on first impressions it appears that Summit Structure is in hotwater once again for a substandard building.

Questions remain however for the Dallas Cowboys: Did they do their due diligence in selecting a trustworthy vendor?

Did they ensure that all inspections were completed by their local municipality (there is a rumor that final inspections didn't happen)? Did the Cowboys develop a "severe weather policy" which would require personnel to leave the practice bubble and seek more suitable shelter?

No doubt the courts and OSHA will quite busy figuring this one out. . .

The lesson for you? Analyze your workplace for hazards (including severe weather hazards) and create policies and deliver training to protect employees.

Need an incentive? Hurricane season is right around the corner. . . .

Labels: Dallas Cowboys, OSHA, OSHA Compliance, OSHA Training, OSHA Visit, Severe Weather Policy