Heat stroke and heat exhaustion are an ever-present danger to people who work outside during the summer, and can lead to loss of life for farmers, football players, firefighters, construction workers, and others who are regularly required to perform significant physical labor in hot conditions. Heat exhaustion’s symptoms are usually most easily recognized by coworkers, who should be vigilant and make sure to drink plenty of fluids and wear light, loose-fitting fabrics. Job sites may be interested in our cooling gear for particularly hot situations – we routinely provide quotes for large orders, so don’t hesitate to stock up in advance!
Archive for: Safety at the Workplace
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Categories : Safety at the Workplace, Safety Topics for Work
Walter Cardin was once a safety manager for the Shaw Group (formerly Stone and Webster Construction) while working at three Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear plants. His company collected safety bonuses worth over $2.5 million for his group’s low injury rates. He was sentenced last week to 78 months in prison for major fraud and his company was forced to pay back over $5 million after a six-year investigation revealed that Cardin had regularly provided false information about injuries by misreporting the number and severity of 80 incidents, including broken bones, torn ligaments, hernias, lacerations, and shoulder, back, and knee injuries. Aside from defrauding the government, Cardin’s actions also resulted in injured employees being denied or delayed medical treatment, reduced the safety of the work environment on job sites, and forcing employees to work through medical conditions that created risks of additional injuries. Cardin denied intentionally misclassifying injuries and knowing that safety bonuses were tied to his classifications of injuries, but emails sent by Cardin to this effect as well as paperwork in his desk were uncovered by investigators, proving his guilt.
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Fontarome Chemical Inc. has been slapped with 17 serious safety violations following a fire at the company’s pharmaceutical manufacturing facility because, according to George Yoksas, OSHA’s Milwaukee area director, “it is clear that Fontarome Chemical failed to create safety procedures, much less train employees or review procedures to ensure their effectiveness, as is necessary for these kinds of operations.” The fire occurred while employees were troubleshooting an electrical component on the hot oil heater. Violations include failure to address hazards related to potential engineering and administrative control failures, failure to implement written operating procedures, failure to review and certify operating procedures annually, failure to train workers on the procedures, failure develop emergency procedures for the shutdown of process equipment or to address deviations from normal operating limits, failure to validate management of change procedures, failure to conduct a compliance audit at least every three years and failure to respond to deficiencies found in compliance audits. Furthermore, serious violations were found in their faiure to develop machine-specific procedures for locking and tagging out energy sources, failure to perform periodic inspections of machinery, failure to guard machines appropriately, failure to require workers to wear insulating gloves and fire-retardant clothing when working on energized circuits, and failure to conduct an arc flash hazard analysis.
In short, it is a very, very fortunate thing that all they are facing is $51,200 in penalties at this juncture, and not deaths or serious physical injury from having employees work on live equipment that handles hazardous and flammable chemicals without any safety procedures or protective equipment at all.
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Categories : Chemical Handling, Chemical Plant Safety, OSHA Safety Topics, Safety at the Workplace, Safety Topics for Work
Tags : chemical safety, OSHA
COLEBROOK, N.H. (AP) — The owner of a New Hampshire gunpowder company that was the site of a 2010 factory explosion that killed two men is scheduled for trial in May.
Craig Sanborn of Maidstone, Vt., was indicted last year on two counts of manslaughter and two counts of negligent homicide for negligently engaging in the manufacture, production, testing and storage of explosive material. The explosion at the Black Mag plant in Colebrook killed Donald Kendall and Jesse Kennett. The trial would be held at Coos Superior Court in Lancaster.
The Caledonian-Record reports thethe case also resulted in two lawsuits alleging wrongful death that were filed by the victims’ families. A civil trial is scheduled in federal court in Concord after the criminal trial is completed, federal court representatives said Monday. The lawsuits name other co-owners of the building that housed the Black Mag plant as defendants.
The explosion happened on the afternoon of May 14, 2010, at the site that manufactured a gunpowder substitute for muzzleloader rifles.
The New Hampshire Fire Marshal’s office said there were possible violations of state statute in the handling, manufacturing and storage of gunpowder at the plant, violations of general fire safety and indications the fatal blast might have happened during the manufacturing process.
In 2011, Black Mag entered into an agreement with the U.S. Labor Department that resolved more than 50 workplace safety and health violations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, with penalties totaling $1.2 million. The agreement required Sanborn to surrender his explosives manufacturing license and permanently refrain from employing workers in explosives-related businesses. Sanborn had declined to comment about the agreement.
OSHA said earlier the company failed to train the workers and chose not to use or install remote starters, isolated operating stations or appropriate shields and barriers. Employees also were not given proper protective gear such as fire resistant clothing and face shields.
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As people brave the streets in search of slightly discounted products to indebt themselves over this Black Friday, it is interesting to note that this year’s Black Friday actually marks a potential improvement in worker safety and health for the associates of Wal-Mart Stores.
Wal-Mart associates have historically been the worst-treated retail associates and have progressively been rewarded with lower pay, worse hours, schedule roulette, shrinking benefits, and shoddy and insufficient safety measures and equipment whenever possible. Understaffing is rampant, management is trained to suppress unionization whenever possible, profit margins are usually in the 30 to 40% range on everything but food, and profits are directed towards foreign shareholders instead of the American work force.
This year, however, Wal-Mart associates have been making themselves known. Despite active retaliation, they have been going on strike, walking off their jobs, and finally beginning to air their concerns regarding their below-average salaries and benefits, poor scheduling, lack of proper arc flash safety equipment when operating electrical equipment for lockout/tagout purposes, lack of proper high-visibility safety vests when working in parking lots, lack of proper leather palm work gloves for unloading trucks, and other grievances regarding unfair and abusive treatment at the hands of their corporate overlords.
Wal-Mart has attempted to stop these protests at the hands of their employees through legal injunctions and threats during daily meetings, while simultaneously claiming during press releases that there are so few employees interested in these protests that they will have no effect, and attempting to use security forces and law enforcement to intimidate anyone who dares even speak up at a meeting, let alone looks as if they may be considering joining a walk-out or may be engaged in a protest. It will be interesting to see whether these strikes finally lead to worker safety improvements at Wal-Mart, or even to a Wal-Mart that is fully staffed, well-run, and safe and pleasant to work and shop at. Perhaps next Black Friday won’t start on Thanksgiving, and the associates will mean it when they say, “Welcome to Wal-Mart!”
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Categories : Safety at the Workplace, Safety Topics for Work
In light of Hurricane Katrina and the damage caused to New Orleans, the reputation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) seemed permanently tarnished, and it seemed impossible for the federal government to handle an emergency on a state-wide scale. And yet…
Seven years later, we on the East Coast (especially those of us in New York and New Jersey) have had the misfortune of being introduced to Hurricane Sandy. Though Katrina was a much stronger Category 4 storm, the reach of Category 1 Sandy was over one thousand miles wide, affecting seventeen states. The New York Stock Exchange was closed for two days in a row for the first time since 1888, though as all affected agencies had several days’ advance notice, no economic disaster unfolded. Subways flooded; the Jersey Shore and its islands were ravaged; power lines fell, trees were shattered, and fires were sparked from North Carolina to Toronto; thousands are still without power; dozens lost their lives.
In seven years, though, it appears that the art of disaster management has taken strong lessons from Hurricane Katrina – on a local level, on a state level, and on a national level.
On a local level, New Jersey communities had established hurricane preparation plans based on last year’s extreme storms, which they quickly put into practice, alerting residents up to a week in advance and preparing shelter, supplies, and bracing where needed. New York City Michael Bloomberg sent uniformed city workers to help evacuate NYU Tisch Hospital after its backup generator failed. Newark Mayor Cory Booker responded to citizen requests for help via Twitter.
On a state level, our governor Chris Christie was already arranging evacuations of the Jersey Shore days before the storm hit, declaring a state of emergency in advance and coordinating the response to the hurricane in the hours before and after it made landfall. While politically, Gov. Christie is often contentious, few can argue that he did exactly what a governor should do in a time of crisis.
On a federal level, when President Obama picked his replacement for head of FEMA, he chose an experienced disaster management expert by the name of Chris Fugate, previously a director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, to reorganize and improve the agency. In addition, FEMA had received high levels of funding in the wake of Katrina, in understanding that preparation for emergencies was not an ‘optional’ expense. When the hurricane was detected, instead of continuing political campaigning, the president decided to focus on actually handling the emergency and coordinating management efforts, focusing FEMA assistance and making contact with Governor Christie (as we’ve heard) on several occasions throughout the storm. Emergency workers are still conducting search and rescue operations as well as providing supplies and assistance to those in need.
As we recover from the biting chill of the hurricane winds, snows, and rain and pick up the pieces, we are glad that our government has learned the lessons harshly taught by previous storms.
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Categories : Safety at the Workplace, Safety Topics for Work
With wintry weather just around the corner (and for those of us in the Northeast, a hurricane on the way), everything seems to get a little colder, wetter, and nastier. As a result, any workplace that has heavy foot traffic from customers, employees, or visitors finds itself dealing with an increased risk of slip hazards and unexpected emergency situations. Here are a few reminders of things you should be addressing in your workplace.
First, proper hazard signs can give advance notice to people of dangerous situations within your workplace that have developed due to the weather – slippery floors due to people trailing in water or snow, for example. Conveying this information directly and promptly as new risks arise, in addition to performing a proper risk assessment of your workplace for permanent signs that may be required, is key to preserving the safety of your workers and guests.
Second, properly positioned safety mats at the entrances and exits of your building can reduce slip hazards dramatically by removing liquid and other material from the shoes of people walking on them, keeping your floors cleaner and your building safer. Over one million Americans suffer a slip, trip, and fall injury every year, and reducing the cause of these incidents can reduce your liability.
Third, for those working outdoors around electrical equipment, make certain that their heavy duty rainwear and cold-weather outerwear is properly arc-rated as well – many inexpensive coats are filled with polyester filling that is extremely flammable and can be a lethal hazard in the event of an arc flash incident, even if the worker is wearing proper arc flash protection underneath! Likewise, ANSI-rated high-visibility outerwear is even more important as weather worsens for those working outdoors in high traffic areas, so make sure your workers are wearing proper gear for their jobs!
Hopefully this has given you a bit of food for thought — we’ve got a hurricane to buckle down for, so stay safe out there!
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When subjected to flames, Nomex fibers expand in order to form a stable and inert barrier between fires and human skin. Nomex work coverallsM are commonly used in industrial environments to meet OSHA requirements for personal protective equipment, such as in the oil and gas well drilling, servicing, and production industries. These are worn to improve the chances of a worker surviving a flash fire incident, as well as to significantly reduce the extent and severity of burn injuries to the body. Employers are responsible for providing flame resistant clothing to their employees in circumstances where hazards such as flash fires are present, as well as for replacing defective or damaged flame resistant clothing and for conducting hazard assessments to identify the potential for burn hazards in the work environment.
Nomex is typically the ideal choice for employers looking for a flame resistant coverall due to its high durability, natural flame resistance, and retention of flame resistant characteristics through launderings. It is less comfortable than treated cotton fabrics, but resists abrasions well and is often worn over treated flame-resistant cotton work pants and work shirts for additional protection.
If you are an employer looking for Nomex flame resistant coveralls to ensure compliance with OSHA 29 CFR 1910.132, or simply have found during yearly inspections that you have flame resistant apparel that needs to be replaced due to damage or defects, contact us at American Work Safety for a 10% discount on your next quantity quote for flame resistant apparel.
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Manning an oil rig while handling flammable substances, maintaining utility lines with electrical power surging through the wires and working in manufacturing facilities with fire-spewing machines are some of the most dangerous jobs in modern history. The threat of risk, however, has not stopped global demand for oil, electricity or manufactured goods. But it has prompted Bulwark Protective Apparel to develop ways to conduct some of the most dangerous work safer.
These jobs come with a lengthy list of procedures to prevent and handle accidents, and anyone in these industries is familiar with the abbreviated term PPE – personal protective equipment. It’s the barrier that keeps workers safe from the harmful elements they come in contact with every day. Of course, everyone hopes that the PPE will never have to actually perform, but in case it does, its reliability is crucial.
Bulwark Protective Apparel, the leading maker of flame-resistant clothing in North America, knows what’s at risk when it comes to PPE, which is why the company keeps nearly all of its manufacturing processes in house.
“We are somewhat unique for an apparel company in that most apparel companies outsource their manufacturing,” explains Stan Jewell, vice president and general manger. “But flame resistant clothing is more than just apparel. It’s protective equipment and it’s safety equipment. We feel it’s critical to have traceability throughout our whole network. If there is a shirt or coverall that an end user at Exxon Mobil is wearing, we can look at their tag and tell you the exact history all the way back to the bale of cotton it came from.”
It’s something that companies in the three sectors Bulwark serves – oil and gas, electrical utilities and manufacturing – are demanding more and more. If an accident occurs, for instance, companies want to know that the PPE performed as its specifications said it would. Jewell says having information regarding the materials and testing used in each product has avoided many a lawsuit.
Having the right PPE is also something that the government is imposing more stringently. Jewell, who monitors industry trends of its customer core, says that during Democratic administrations, such as the one in Washington, D.C., today, OSHA tends to take a more active role in enforcing compliance of its safety procedures. The right PPE is one way companies stay within OSHA’s good graces.
“The responsibility of Bulwark is that flame resistant apparel carrying our label will meet the performance requirements of the specifications and standards as stated on the garment labels and in our product literature,” the company says. “As long as our laundry instructions are followed, the flame resistance of Bulwark garments is guaranteed for the life of the garment.”
Designed for continuous wear, Bulwark’s products meet the requirements specified in American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International Standard F2302-08 for labeling protective clothing as heat and flame resistant. They also meet the performance requirements of National Fire Protection Association Standard 70E; Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces, 2009 Edition; ASTM Standard F1506-02a; and Flame Resistant Materials for Wearing Apparel for Use by Electrical Workers Exposed to Momentary Electric Arc and Related Thermal Hazards. Because these fabrics are flame resistant, they are also acceptable under the OSHA Final Rule 1910.269, which lays out guidelines related to electric power generation, transmission and distribution.
Equipment that protects and meets government standards is what Bulwark’s customers are looking for. Maintaining its strength in meeting the customers’ needs will become even more crucial as Bulwark plans to expand into new markets.
“We have been the market leader in North America for a while, and about 95 percent of our revenue comes from the United States and Canada,” Jewell says. “But we are focused on global expansion, as well. We’ve opened a new office in Dubai and have new distribution there to capitalize on the oil and gas market in the Middle East and in northern Africa. We’re also working to expand in Latin America, as well. Those are two things that will help in our global growth, which is a big part of our plan.”
In order to make sure it delivers on its customer’s expectations in current and new markets, Bulwark maintains autonomy of its manufacturing process but also leverages the resources of its parent company, VF Corp.
The Perfect Parent
VF Corp. defines itself as a lifestyle apparel company. Its portfolio consists of a number of fashion brands such as 7 For All Mankind, Wrangler, Lee and Splendid. It also owns some of the most recognized brands in outdoor clothing and sportswear such as The North Face, Vans, Jansport and Nautica. Bulwark falls within the parent company’s VF Imagewear Inc., which encompasses all of its workforce brands such as Red Kap, the leader in industrial work wear.
Jewell explains that being part of a larger organization comes with advantages that many of its competitors lack. The supply chain, for instance, is one network for the whole organization. Instead of each company keeping individual vendor lists and leveraging buying power as one entity – VF Corp. maintains one network for all of its companies. It also uses one global distribution network. Also, companies typically share manufacturing space with one or two sister companies that require similar processes, machines and capabilities. Employees are cross-trained as much as possible to work for each company.
“It would be hard to have the sourcing, distribution and manufacturing capabilities that we do if we were just Bulwark,” Jewell says. “But because we have the backing of a multi-billion dollar organization, we have access to a much larger network.”
These shared capabilities allows Bulwark total control of most of its processes and the ability to remain flexible to short-term market fluctuations – two things that have been key as Bulwark’s client base grows, especially those in the oil and gas sectors.
“The reason the oil and gas sector is growing so much is because the level of exploration in North America is significantly higher in the last couple of years,” Jewell says. “I track it weekly by looking at the number of oil rigs operating in the United States, a statistic that is readily available. It’s a good leading indication of what the industry is doing.”
As the oil and gas industry has grown, Bulwark has been able to capture the new market share. “We went from about a mid-20 percent share of the market five years ago, to about a high-30s percent of the market share today,” Jewell explains. “Owning our own manufacturing facility has allowed us to capitalize on better than projected market growth and given us the flexibility to meet those demands.” In the past two years, largely spurred by Bulwark’s fast growth, the VF Corp. factories that support Bulwark’s operations have added 600 new jobs. At its manufacturing facilities in Mexico and Honduras, Bulwark manufactures 95 percent of its products.
Quality Is a Must
To get to the finished product, Bulwark has developed innovative flame-resistant technology used in a variety of its trademarked fabrics, such as the Nomex fabric – a lightweight, breathable and inherently flame-resistant fabric that’s durable enough for the petrochemical and refinery workforce. The company’s Excel FR fabric is a 100 percent cotton and 100 percent flame resistant fabric ideal for foundries, flame cutting and welding, as well as electrical utility workers and those in the chemical, oil, gas and petrochemical industries.
Other products, such as the Cool Touch 2 is a hazard risk category 2-compliant fabric that provides flame-resistant protection in a lightweight blended fabric that is both soft and durable. Bulwark’s wide array of fabrics can be manipulated into a variety of forms, such as coveralls, pants, shirts, sweatshirts and vests.
For the few fabrics that it outsources, the company calls on preferred providers such as PyroSafe by antex, which provides Bulwark with flame-resistant fabric, a small but important slice of Bulwark’s business, and one that it couldn’t leave to fate. Bulwark began working with PyroSafe a couple of years ago.
“They are our preferred knit supplier,” Jewell explains. “Their innovative capabilities and their quality product are preferable to our previous supplier.”
In short, PyroSafe, as well as the other suppliers Bulwark works with, must meet the same standards the company sets for itself. Bulwark’s facilities, testing procedures and products are all UL-certified. During peaks, the company calls on its three overflow manufacturers who are also UL-certified. Bulwark also respects the key differences between manufacturing fashion apparel versus safety apparel, such as stamping numbers to all flame-resistant materials so they can be easily identified.
Other factors affecting quality assurance happen outside of the actual manufacturing process. In addition to in-house skills and remaining flexible, Jewell says the third leg to Bulwark’s success is innovation in fabric and finishes, as well as garment construction. The company also provides modifications to standard products, such as clothing marked with an employee’s or company’s name. Thirty-five percent of the company’s products are customized, non-standard products.
To provide the innovation that its customers seek, Bulwark keeps a close ear to what the industries are saying, even getting involved in the standard-setting process. Some of the company’s leaders sit on regulatory boards and the company is a constant presence at conferences and symposiums that discuss PPE. It enables Bulwark to be on the first wave of new standards and keep its customers in compliance as well.
“We put a lot of resources into growing our technical abilities,” Jewell says. “Things don’t change fast in safety procedures, but it is a constant conversation and it’s important for us to know what’s coming down the pipe because there is a lead time to develop our products and we want to have products available when new rules are enacted.”
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OSHA has cited The GEO Group Inc. with six safety and health violations within its Meridian, Mississippi correctional facility, which houses 1,318 inmates in low, medium, and high security environments. Items that were included in the list of citations included failure to maintain training and staffing of correctional officers, failure to fix malfunctioning door locks and door sensors, failure to perform medical evaluations and fit testing for those required to wear full face respirators,
failure to properly store full face respirators to prevent damage from chemical agents or dust; failure to maintain exposure control plans and incident evaluation plans for employees exposed to bloodborne pathogens; failure to ensure personal protective equipment such as exam gloves and gowns were used to reduce employee exposure to bloodborne pathogens; failure to conduct hazard assessments for required personal protective equipment; and failure to maintain a written energy control procedure for workers exposed to electrical shock hazards.
The citations and notifications for penalty are available on OSHA’s website:
American Work Safety encourages employers whose employees regularly incur risk of bloodborne pathogen exposure – particularly in the medical, correctional, and law enforcement industries – to learn from this example and conduct a review of their current policies and procedures to ensure that they are in line with OSHA standards. OSHA compliance doesn’t just prevent hefty fines; it also saves lives and prevents costly injuries on the job. Contact one of our friendly salespeople today for all of your personal protective equipment needs.
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