2018 OSHA 300A Form

It is time again to post your OSHA 300A form!  This should be posted in the area where all your Associates can see it every day.  Is that your company bulletin board or on one of many job sites?  It must be posted from February 1st through April 30th each year for the previous year. 

Top Ten Cited Regulations in 2013

1926.501 – Fall Protection 8,241 violations

1910.1200 – Hazard Communication 6,156

1926.451 – Scaffolding 5,423

1910.134 – Respiratory Protection 3,879

1910.305 – Electrical, Wiring Methods 3,452

1910.178 – Powered Industrial Trucks 3,340

1926.1053 – Ladders 3,311

1910.147 – Lockout/Tagout 3,254

1910.303 – Electrical, General Requirements 2,745

1910.212 – Machine Guarding 2,701

Welcome to OSHA Issues

The list above is posted from the OSHA.gov web-site and gives us an idea of what they are looking at.  This year they have stated that they will have increased emphasis on Whistle-blowing and Fall Protection.  Fall protection is no surprise as it has made the list for many years at number one!  Why?  It can't happen to me.  We have to get the job done, now, today, if you don't do it I'll find someone who will......  Sound all too familiar?  Hence the Whistle-blowing emphasis.  "If you see something say something" has been a safety montra from many years and is appropiate, but how about, it is just the right thing to do?  Fall protection helps our friends, family, and co-workers to go home to their families tonite.  Can we really live with ourselves if we don't at least do the best we can?   Do we really need this list over and over again to tell us these are critical things to pay attention to?  Note: it hasn't changed much in the last ten years. 

Myth Busting Lightning!

"If there's lightning, lay down flat on the ground! Seek shelter under a tree! And don't touch someone who's been struck or you'll get shocked!" How many lightning myths have you heard?

The truth is if you lay down on the ground, you're more exposed to electrical currents running underground! Never seek shelter from lightning under a tree. It is actually the second leading cause of lightning fatalities! And if someone is struck by lightning, don't be scared to assist him or her immediately. The human body does not store electricity, and helping them immediately could be essential to their survival!

Before you go out in the rain, it is crucial to know your facts.

• Lightning often strikes the same place repeatedly, especially if it’s a tall, pointy, isolated object. 

• Most cars are safe from lightning, but it is the metal roof and metal sides that protect you, NOT the rubber tires.

• A house is a safe place to be during a thunderstorm as long as you avoid anything that conducts electricity.

• Height, pointy shape, and isolation are the dominant factors controlling where a lightning bolt will strike. The presence of metal makes absolutely no difference on where lightning strikes.

Keep yourself and others safe by being lighting aware. Lightning Safety Week begins June 22! For more information on lightning, visit the NOAA lightning page. And for thunderstorm safety tips visit the http://www.ready.gov/thunderstorms-lightning.

NOAA lightning page. And for thunderstorm safety tips visit the http://www.ready.gov/thunderstorms-lightning.

BE Aware!!

OSHA is changing the way that MSDS sheets are written and YOU have to be ready!  The law requires employers to train their employees on how to read the new placards and this training must take place by December 1,2013.  The remaining portions of the law are to be in place by 2015.  Please call us to find out more information on this training .

The Virginia Register for Construction Industry standards has a provision that you should be aware of/prepared for.  It is already in place, and the law requires that:

"The employer shall comply with the manufacturer's specifications and limitations applicable to the operations, traning, use, installation, inspection, testing, repair and maintenance of all machinery, vehicles, tools, materials and equipment, unless specifically superseded by a more stringent coresponding requirement in 29 CFR Part 1926.  The use of any machinery, vehicle, tool, material or equipment that is not in compliance with any applicable requirement of the manufacturer is prohibited, and shall either be identified by the employer as unsafe by tagging by tagging or locking the controls to render them inoperable or be physically removed from its place of use or operation." [16VAC25-60-130] 

Basically, we need to keep the manufacturer's literature for every piece of equipment we use and follow everything written in that literature.  A good practice, so it is up to us to figure out how best to communicate and inform our personnel. 

We are Trainers for Rigging and Signaling certifications which is one of the newest OSHA recommendations that will be enforced in the later part of 2014.  We are making this trainig available to you in mid-January. 

Planning for Disaster Response during the up-coming hurricane season is on going.  Being prepared is not just for the Boy Scouts! 

Howard Hopson, former President of Construction Safety Consultants, Inc., has joined Cornerstone Safety Management as a new consulting partner. His extensive consulting expertise makes him an excellent resource to the company.

Cornerstone Safety Management will be offering regular Red Cross AED / CPR / First Aid training classes.  The workshop is open to anyone, but seating is limited so please RSVP as soon as possible.

The OSHA Code is ready to be implemented later this year that requires anyone who does rigging or signalling to be certificed.  It is approximately a 16 hour class and currently the target date is November 1, 2014.  Please consider getting ahead of the rush and get this certification prior to the deadline.  It will help with your lifting and site safety programs!

If you are on the road doing work, you are aware that you have certain requirements to protect your worers and the motorists and pedistrians.  We are able to provide VDOT class for Basic Traffic Control SUpervisors and Flagmen cards.  Working with the Virginia Department of Transportation and the ATSSA, these courses are critical to the safety of all when we have to work i the road.