Federal Law Requires Employers to Protect Against Dangerous Falls

Fall protection at construction sites is an increasingly necessary component to protect workers dealing with dangerous equipment and those working at heights.

Fall Protection Safety Gear and the Kossuth County Grain Elevator Fall

Two people, can’t be sure if they were workers, fell 35 feet from a ladder at a site where grain elevators were apparently being constructed. The news blurb is pretty brief and doesn’t contain a lot of facts but here it is - Link.

How can construction boots contribute to safety and lead to death of a worker?

Injured Iowans with legal claims can learn more about their rights at the Lombardi Law Firm website or call 515-222-1110 or email: sdlombardi@aol.com.

Does the Volunteer Protection Program under OSHA work?

Why do we have OSHA? Why do we have regulation of industry where workers die from a lack of safety? In Iowa we have a pretty good program, so leave it alone.

OSHA Goes Postal on the US Bulk Mail Centers

What this article from The Columbus Dispatch reports is what can only be described as the final straw. So frustrated and dangerous are the defects that the DOL ordered all US Postal bulk facilities across the U.S. to fix the electrical defects. It’s unusual because some plants haven’t even had reportable problems.

Yet another confined space work accident!

And earlier this month a man was buried alive while working in a trench in Ankeny, Iowa. The trench collapsed at around 11:45 a.m. near 909 Northeast Chambers Parkway and he wasn’t freed until around 12:56 p.m. Juan Hernandez was the construction worker who had been laying pipe for new home construction.

Welding in a Confined Space can be deadly.

Construction site welding requires special safety concerns. Does your supervisor follow OSHA rules? If not what should you do and still get to keep working? Read the Lombardi Law Firm blog and contact Steve if you have questions.

Construction Site Trench Collapses - Lack of Support

Construction sites are dangerous places and people get killed when safety rules and procedures are ignored. In this instance the man died because the trench was not supported and the walls caved in.

Let's Look At The Top Ten OSHA Fines

Running a small business can be a daunting task. Tough, but rewarding if done with attention to the details that make safety a top concern in the building trades. So where do small business employers seem to get into the most trouble with OSHA. Today let's look at the top ten OSHA fines. All data is as of April 23rd, 2008.

Construction Site Safety - Crushed worker dies from a lack of the right safety culture

A 28-year old construction worker was crushed and killed while attempting to change a piece of equipment on the job in Prior Lake.  OSHA is inspecting.

The man, whose name was not released, was trying to change the bucket on a skid loader around 2:30 p.m. when he somehow got pinned between the bucket and the cab of the machine, according to the Scott County Sheriff's Office. He was working at Applied Ecological Services Inc. in the 21000 block of Mushtown Road.

There is no time-out from employing the right safety rules at the job site. Construction work is extremely unforgiving and dangerous.

 

 "Four" Safety - Implement OSHA's Four-Step Safety Program – requires a culture of safety.

Manganese In Welding Fumes Causes Brain Damage

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, in 2006 there were approximately 462,000 welding, soldiering, and brazing workers. The occupation was expected to grow only about five percent between the years 2006 and 2016. Aside from the fact that employment for welders is expected to "grow more slowly than average," job availability for welders remains optimistic due to employers' reports of inability to find qualified welders. But, while welders can rest easy that there are still jobs available in this tough market, there remains a dark side to the trade.

Manganese, a toxic metal, is contained in welding fumes, which can cause parkinsonism. Parkinsonism is a neurological syndrome that is characterized by tremors (involuntary muscle movement), hypokinesia (diminished movement of body muscles), rigidity (muscles tighten), and postural instability (sensation of instability).

Manganese is a naturally occurring element that is required for animals and humans to function normally, and exposure to low levels of manganese in the diet is essential to maintaining good health in humans. The average daily intake of manganese through food is between 1 and 5 milligrams per day.

Those welders affected have trouble completing everyday tasks such as driving, eating, and brushing their teeth. What were once mundane tasks have now become the most mentally taxing.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) state that there is evidence that the brain damage caused by manganese in welding fumes can result in a greater incidence of speech impairment, tremors, and gait disturbances among welders when compared to non-welders.

Due to welders' exposure to toxic fumes, this makes the welding industry a prime target for litigation. Lawsuits, which began in the late 1970s, hardly put a dent in the $5 billion welding-products industry due to the fact that there was no reliable scientific data proving that welding fumes, or manganese in the fumes, caused parkinsonism.

In December of 2007, a U.S. District Court Judge, Kathleen O'Malley, ordered the disclosure of welding industry payments to researchers studying the effects of manganese on welders. The order resulted in the revelation that welding companies had paid $12.5 million to 25 organizations and 33 researches. Nearly all of these researchers and organizations published findings dismissing connections between welding fumes and welder complaints. In a 2003case, and Illinois jury awarded a $1 million verdict to a welder, which resulted in a large influx of lawsuits targeted at welding companies. Again in 2005, a case stemming from a Shipyard in Mississippi settled for seven figures.

According to an article published in November, welding fumes could be the next asbestos.

Construction Site Safety - A trench box would have saved the Georgian tunnel worker

Bartow County, Georgia – The construction site in Bartow County off I-75 exit 296 experienced a trench collapse; then a worker fell 20 feet and was buried. Firefighters worked furiously to save the man’s life, but couldn’t get to him. The job was making way for a new sewer line. The incident was thirty feet down and forty feet under the roadway, where the man was trapped.

This isn’t rocket science, its dirt work. You follow the safety rules and no one gets hurt, you don’t and someone can die. It’s really that simple. So why are the rules for safety not followed when it involves trench work?

Follow the link to see the video with Stacy Elgin reporting for Fox 5 News.

While we are talking about tunnels and how easily they can collapse let me draw your attention to tunnels in the Middle East. While researching this story I ran across a truly fascinating story about underground tunnels as a way to survive. There is an entire commercial enterprise on digging, running goods through and in owning the underground tunneling system in the Palestinian territories.

“Since Israel imposed its siege on Gaza after Hamas won democratic legislative elections in January 2006, the number of Palestinians tied to some segment of the tunnel industry has grown in direct proportion to the increasing lack of availability of raw materials and basic necessities, including food, fuel and medicine. Palestinian sources estimate that some 6,000 people are employed as diggers in the hundreds of tunnels crisscrossing the Gaza-Egyptian border.

But tunnels are not the romantic passageways portrayed in Hollywood films about World War II or Vietnam. You can die simply upon entering one—as a result of the tunnel collapsing, of suffocation from the tear gas lobbed in by Egyptian authorities, or from electrocution caused by the willy-nilly wiring jerry-rigged to provide lighting and ventilation. You can die simply by getting lost in the maze, or from breathing in the unstable sand. If you’re lucky, your body will be found and given a proper burial.

Like the toll houses of a bygone era, Gaza’s tunnels are owned by individuals who collect fees for their use. One such owner is Abu Khaled, a father of seven. Although he doesn’t dare traverse the 30- to 45-foot tunnel himself for fear it might collapse, Abu Khaled is among a growing number of tunnel entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia corridor, Rafah’s no-man’s-land between Gaza and Egypt. Others involved in the industry include diggers, runners, smugglers and merchants.

Tunnel owners earn $300 for each 100 pounds of goods smuggled in. (Smuggling animals for Gaza’s zoo can net up to $3,000 each!) With this revenue Abu Khaled supports 20 workers: diggers who do the dirty work, and runners who transport the goods. “

Hard to believe this can be the way people are living in this world. What is harder to believe is that the United States spent $28 Million coming up with a tunnel detection system. We can’t get contractors to spend the money for renting tunnel wall supports but we can spend $28 Million on equipment to locate them in the Middle East.

“Under pressure from Washington, Egypt recently escalated its efforts to shut down the tunnels, destroying scores in the past months and fast-tracking the acquisition and implementation of a new $28 million U.S.-made tunnel detection system. Israeli sources confirm that U.S. experts are working with the Egyptians to find and expose the tunnels along the Philadelphia corridor.

Providing the means for Gaza’s businesses to remain operating is a most lucrative form of smuggling. One tunnel owner who just a few months ago could afford nothing and used donkey carts for transportation now has enough money to afford luxury jeeps and merchandise for his wife.

The tunnels are not only used to supply Gazans with food, clothing, medicine, fuel and spare parts, however. They also make it possible to reunite families who have become separated when their non-Palestinian spouses find themselves prevented from reaching their husbands, wives or children as a result of the Israeli-imposed border closures. In desperation, they pay handsomely to be smuggled in or out of Gaza. One smuggler admits to having received $1,000 to reunite a European wife with her Palestinian husband and children living in Gaza.”

Is it only me or do other people see a failure of logic and sound economic policy in all of this?

Back to trench safety in America. Look at this video clip about trench safety. It will help you understand the concept.

Construction Safety - Excavator trench servicing and backfilling


OSHA has plenty of information available on trench and excavation safety.

Trenching and Excavation – by OSHA

Hazards and Solutions

The primary hazard of trenching and excavation is employee injury from collapse. Soil analysis is important in order to determine appropriate sloping, benching, and shoring. Additional hazards include working with heavy machinery; manual handling of materials; working in proximity to traffic; electrical hazards from overhead and underground power-lines; and underground utilities, such as natural gas. The following references aid in recognizing and controlling some of the hazards associated with trenching and excavation.

Special Emphasis: Trenching and Excavation. OSHA Directive CPL 02-00-069 [CPL 2.69], (1985, September 19). Establishes a National Emphasis Program (NEP) for the programmed safety inspection of trenching and excavation operations.

Working Outdoors in Warm Climates. OSHA Fact Sheet, (2005, September), 26 KB PDF, 2 pages.

OSHA offers a pamphlet on trench and excavation safety. Here are the warnings.

Protect Yourself

Trench Safety - OSHA 3197-04N-04

• Do not enter an unprotected trench!

• Trench collapses cause dozens of fatalities and hundreds of injuries each year.

• Trenches 5 feet deep or greater require a protective system.

• Trenches 20 feet deep or greater require that the protective system be designed by a registered professional engineer.

Protective Systems for Trenches

• Sloping protects workers by cutting back the trench wall at an angle inclined away from the excavation.

• Shoring protects workers by installing aluminum hydraulic or other types of supports to prevent soil movement.

• Shielding protects workers by using trench boxes or other types of supports to prevent soil cave-ins.

Competent Person OSHA standards require that trenches be inspected daily and as conditions change by a competent person prior to worker entry to ensure elimination of excavation hazards.

Safety Tips

• Inspect trenches at the start of each shift, following a rainstorm or after any other hazardous event.

• Test for low oxygen, hazardous fumes and toxic gases before entering a trench.

• Keep heavy equipment and excavation spoils at least two feet away from the trench edge.

• Provide stairways, ladders, ramps or other safe means of access in all trenches 4 feet or deeper.

Like I said it’s not rocket science. Construction workers, be smart, be safe and don’t risk your life for a boss and company that are too stupid and greedy to take the right safety measures. Know how to do the job the right way and if the boss or company asks you to do it wrong, call OSHA. If they fire you call a lawyer. Better to make the OSHA call then your wife calling the morgue.

Construction Site Safety - Crushed worker dies from a lack of the right safety culture2

A 28-year old construction worker was crushed and killed while attempting to change a piece of equipment on the job in Prior Lake.  OSHA is inspecting.

The man, whose name was not released, was trying to change the bucket on a skid loader around 2:30 p.m. when he somehow got pinned between the bucket and the cab of the machine, according to the Scott County Sheriff's Office. He was working at Applied Ecological Services Inc. in the 21000 block of Mushtown Road.

There is no time-out from employing the right safety rules at the job site. Construction work is extremely unforgiving and dangerous.

 "Four" Safety - Implement OSHA's Four-Step Safety Program – requires a culture of safety.

 

Construction Site Safety - Six deaths and a number of injuries led to OSHA investigation and fines

Alexamdra Berzon from the Las Vegas Sun Newspaper further explores the 6 deaths and numerous safety violations that have plagued the Perini Building Co. construction sites on the strip in Las Vegas. In June of 2008 when Dustin Tarter, a crane operator died the entire construction crew walked off the site to protest safety conditions.

Violations that OSHA found included “a pattern of improper fall protection systems, flammable materials stored incorrectly, risks of electrical shock, faulty equipment and problematic record-keeping. The conditions prevailed at various parts of the site and in projects run by subcontractors as well as general contractor Perini Building Co.”

Alexandra Berzon does a nice job of exploring safety issues at those constructin sites. Read her latest article, After 6 die, OSHA finds violations, Summer sweep by federal, state agencies uncovered dozens of serious problems at the Las Vegas Sun Newspaper.

The comments I find pretty interesting. Here are three that show the level of frustration the iron workers feel with the lack of serious safety enforcement they see being applied.

COMMENT: Emmitt Nelson, a former construction manager for Shell Oil who has conducted research for the Construction Industry Institute, said he's troubled that the 34 safety inspectors employed by Perini and others employed by subcontractors didn't spot and fix the safety problems before OSHA inspectors got to them.

I believe the issue at hand is that the 34 safety inspector's perini has employed,just aren't that good,to say the least.When i was both an ironworker and a safety Rep at the city center project,perini's people were never seen,unless there was an accident,they were less than versed in their own safety policy,let alone knowing the standards,bringing up any issue's with them was like pulling teeth,it was the "not in my yard so i'm not worried about it" scenario,even though it's their jobsite.They lacked in leadership skills all the way around from the top to the bottom,and the biggest thing i found were their basic disdain for the worker's,and, wanting to create animosity in the field for the worker's.

COMMENT: Did OSHA go through the site with a seeing eye dog? 42 companies on site and only 42 violations! And even then, they were either dismissed or the fines reduced. On a multi-billion dollar project, who cares about $66k?

If workers are waiting to be protected by Nevada OSHA, they will be waiting one long, long time. When you have 6 fatalities and then are still allowed to negotiate a $6800 fine down to $2200, why should Perini change anything?

And the unions are not without blame here either. Just try taking some disciplinary action like sending a guy home or banning him from the jobsite for safety violations and see how fast they are at the front door complaining!!

COMMONET: This is par for the course for the federal government - find problems only when they obviously exist and after the harm has been done. Same thing with the $50 billion pyramid scheme just uncovered. Finding it when they guy was starting it up is apparently too much to ask. Just be happy they didn't let it grow to $500 billion.

For more on this subject see, Is the Republican Party Dead? No, but the Wizard of Oz is alive and well.  November 30, 2008 - 08:54 AM

Construction Site Safety: OSHA violations, another construction site backing over injury December 16, 2008 - 10:19 AM

Construction Site Safety: Preventing Falls July 03, 2008 - 11:33 AM by Brooks Schuelke.

Falls Prevalent At Construction Sites Posted by Jane Akre Friday, November 21, 2008 12:07 PM EST

Construction Site Safety – Trench boxes stop collapsing trenches from trapping workers November 22, 2008 - 08:59 AM

Construction Site Safety - Falling brick kills worker

A 31-year old construction worker from Boston was killed yesterday when a large piece of the foundation, described as a “2-foot piece of brick fell on him.” The site is in the Financial District at Russia Wharf at the corner of Congress Street and Atlantic Avenue. OSHA is inspecting.

Construction Safety: The risk of being electrocuted

A construction worker on a site in Europe was electrocuted when he came into contact with a live wire/cable on which he was working. It killed him and the general contractor was fined 300,000 Euros. You might wonder why the fine?

Electrical workers on a construction site must follow an established set of rules for protecting each other. They are not supposed to be working on energized lines. The rules are known as the “lockout/tagout” procedure rules.  (LOTO) The purpose of the rule is to protect workers from energized wires, cables and lines. What most people don’t understand is that workers can be a long ways away from the fuse box where energy to the plant wiring system is controlled. If a worker were to turn on the juice without notifying other workers who had turned it off, those other workers could be killed by electrocution. To prevent a worker who turns off the juice locks the fuse box and attaches his tag to the lock. This system if used properly will prevent electrocutions.

Now if another worker comes along and he too is going to work on the wiring system and needs it to be turned off, or de-energized, he will lock his lock with tag to the first electricians lockout-tagout. That way if the first worker comes back to the fuse box he will see the second electrician’s LOTO warning him that some other worker is working on the electrical system. Before the first electrician can turn the juice back on he first must locate the second LOTO electrician and get his approval.

It’s not unusual to have many LOTO’s on the fuse box. That protects everyone in line so they are not mistakenly electrocuted.

So why then is the General Contractor (the GC) in this case fined? In most construction contracts the GC is the ultimate authority that controls safety on the construction site. The GC has the right and responsibility to enforce safety practices. If workers are ignoring established safety practices it is the GC that must discipline the offender. In the case of busy job sites, it’s not unusual for the GC to look the other way in order to speed up the work. Deadlines looming can cause GC’s to ignore their duty to enforce safety rules. And when this happens it can be deadly.

On this job the GC was probably ignoring its duty to enforce the rules and the labor commission came down hard on them. Reputation does follow us.

With so many electrical workers in so many different jobs OSHA has a general rule for LOTO procedures. LOTO is so vitally important that schools exist that can teach the proper procedures that have to be followed.

There is even an online Hazmat OSHA LOTO Instructional Course. I’ll include the course curriculum outline below. Considering the benefits the $45.00 course fee is minimal.  The photographs on this site clearly show what you should expect to see with LOTO at the fuse box.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Upon successful completion of this course the student shall have satisfied the requirements for training in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.147 and other similar state OSHA regulations and will demonstrate competency and have an understanding of:

1.      Define what is meant by Lock Out Tag Out (LOTO or Lockout/Tagout) and when it is used.

2.      Identify the importance of LOTO.

3.      Understand the roles and responsibilities of those involved with LOTO including LOTO users, those who may come across LOTO, and employers.

4.      Know the requirements of the LOTO regulations and where to find them in 29 CFR1910.147.

5.      Know the different types of LOTO training and how they apply to the job.

6.      List the three parts of a LOTO program including the development of a written program, the training of employees and how and when to implement the LOTO program.

7.      Understand how and when LOTO “refresher” training is to be conducted.

8.      Understand and define the different types of energy that might be encountered using LOTO. This includes potential energy, kinetic energy, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, and water/gas energy.

9.      List the requirements of an Energy Control Program.

10.  Know how and when to properly apply locks and other devises as part of a LOTO program.

11.  Understand the advantages, disadvantages and limitations of locks and tags as part of a LOTO program.

12.  Be able to list the steps of applying LOTO on the job. This includes proper notification, awareness of energy hazards, controlling the hazards (including blanking and bleeding off energy), applying LOTO, performing the work, removing equipment used and LOTO equipment, restarting the equipment and making proper notifications.

13.  Understand considerations when working with outside contractors and LOTO.

 

For GC’s laminated posters explaining LOTO can be purchased for $25 to $30.00.

Construction Site Safety – Trench boxes stop collapsing trenches from trapping workers

On October 22, 2008 a 20-year-old man from Lenox, Mass. was working at a construction site occupying an excavated trench.  No trench box was being used and the 8 foot deep, 2 to 3 foot wide trench he was standing in collapsed onto him, burying him and causing him to suffocate to death. The side of the trench that caved in on him was sand and clay. The trench was designed to be where drain pipes would be laid for someone's home. Although the construction owner had a good safety record and cared very much for his workers, his caring mattered little when this 20-year-old died on that job site.

Question: So how could this tragedy have been avoided?  

Answer: A trench box.

A trench box would have prevented this accident. OSHA requires use of a trench box in this instance. Here is what 29 CFR 1926.652 states regarding protecting workers in excavations.

Regulations (Standards - 29 CFR) - Table of Contents

 

• Part Number:	1926
• Part Title:	Safety and Health Regulations for Construction
• Subpart:	P
• Subpart Title:	Excavations
• Standard Number:	1926.652
• Title:	Requirements for protective systems.

 

1926.652(a) Protection of employees in excavations. 1926.652(a)(1) Each employee in an excavation shall be protected from cave-ins by an adequate protective system designed in accordance with paragraph (b) or (c) of this section except when: 1926.652(a)(1)(i) Excavations are made entirely in stable rock; or 1926.652(a)(1)(ii) Excavations are less than 5 feet (1.52 m) in depth and examination of the ground by a competent person provides no indication of a potential cave-in. 1926.652(a)(2) Protective systems shall have the capacity to resist without failure all loads that are intended or could reasonably be expected to be applied or transmitted to the system.

 

Simply put any employee working five feet or more below grade in an excavated area must be protected by a shielding system that prevents exactly what occurred in this case; a cave in that traps the construction worker.