Steel Erection Standard Amendment Announced
OSHA has added a note to its Steel Erection standard informing employers of certain Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requirements, with a goal of better protecting workers and motorists during highway bridge construction.
The amendment stems from a 2004 incident in which a 100-foot-long, 40-ton steel bridge girder fell from an overpass under construction in Golden, CO. The girder slammed into a vehicle, killing three members of a family.
OSHA says the girder could just as easily have crushed bridge construction workers at the site. The amendment to the Steel Erection standard notifies employers that FHWA regulations often require that a registered engineer prepare plans for any temporary braces or supports used to stabilize structures such as bridges during highway construction.
The National Transportation Safety Board noted that the company erecting the bridge contributed to the triple fatality by failing to follow the engineering requirement.
Read MoreSafe Work Practices Needed to Prevent Saw Kickback Incidents
Editor’s note: The following hazard alert was issued by WorkSafeBC following a worker’s death in British Columbia.
A wood-processing plant worker was feeding rough lumber into a strip saw. Each board was two inches thick, eight inches wide and five feet long.
The employer had instructed workers to feed lumber into the strip saw from the side and the company’s written job safety analysis also required workers to load lumber from the side.
However, the victim, who was not much taller than the infeed table, had to work in an awkward position with her arms outstretched at nearly shoulder height, according to WorkSafeBC investigator Daniel Marcoux.
The boards were not only difficult to feed through, but they needed to be fed quickly, at a rate of about six to seven boards per minute. In order to push the boards into the saw with enough force, the worker stood at the end of the infeed table. Unfortunately, there was no barrier or guard in place to prevent this unsafe practice.
One board kicked back out of the strip saw, breaking into three pieces. One wood piece hit another board on the table and it shot back and struck the worker, causing fatal injuries.
Marcoux notes that in order to make feeding the boards easier, the boards could have been pre-sorted into batches of similar thickness and the infeed rollers adjusted to accommodate each batch.
WorkSafeBC suggests these additional safe work practices to prevent such incidents:
A risk assessment needs to be undertaken for each machine, with a goal of reducing injury risk through safeguarding. The hierarchy of safeguarding, from most effective to least effective, is as follows:
- Elimination or substitution, for example, eliminating human interaction with machinery.
- Engineering controls, such as effective kickback fingers, barrier guards, two-hand controls or pressure-sensing devices.
- Awareness, including warning signs and labels and computer warnings.
- Training and procedures, such as such work procedures and lockout.
- Personal protective equipment, such as safety eyewear or hearing protection.
Always start at the top of the hierarchy and choose a less effective safeguard only when the more effective solution is impractical. However, the type of safeguarding chosen must always be appropriate for the level of risk.
Here are some additional tips from WorkSafeBC:
- Always provide workers with the supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety when operating machines.
- Instruct workers to report any unsafe acts or conditions. Take corrective action without delay.
Follow the employer’s established safe work procedures.
Read MoreFord Canada Fined $850,000 for Worker Fatalities
In the aftermath of two unrelated worker fatalities at two plants, Ford Canada is paying the price—$850,000 plus a $212,500 victim fine surcharge—one of the largest penalties ever meted out for violations of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Ford Canada pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to take all reasonable precautions in the circumstances to protect the safety of workers.
On Jan 31, 2008, a worker at Ford’s Oakville assembly plant was fatally injured after being crushed between two forklifts. The worker had been standing beside a forklift when a co-worker reversed another forklift into the worker’s path.
An Ontario Ministry of Labour investigation found that the forklift operator did not keep a clear view of the vehicle’s path of travel while reversing.
On Jan. 14, 2009, a worker driving a lift truck carrying an unsecured pallet was killed at Ford’s Bramalea parts distribution centre. While the worker was driving the lift truck down a narrow aisle, the pallet struck a storage rack, crushing the worker between the pallet and the vehicle.
An investigation found that Ford’s material movement policies and procedures were not adequate.
Read MoreIdentifying Hazardous Substances Can be a Tricky Business
It’s not always possible to tell if a substance is hazardous just by looking at it.
A hazard alert issued by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada says that cautionary notes provided by manufacturers need to be taken seriously, even if a product, material or substance appears harmless. Failure to do so may lead to a worker’s death.
The alert tells the story of how polyethylene foam normally used as a packaging material exploded, blowing a truck driver out of a trailer and killing him.
Investigators determined that the polyethylene foam, made with a flammable hydrocarbon blowing agent, had been stored in an unventilated trailer during a warm weekend.
Normally by the time polyethylene foam gets to consumers, the product is harmless. However, when produced with a flammable hydrocarbon blowing agent and fresh from the manufacturer, the product may harbor unexpected hazards.
In this case, isobutane was used as the blowing agent to produce the polyethylene foam. Although most of the blowing agent is removed prior to shipping, it continues to be released at a slower rate for an undetermined period of time.
The foam manufacturer had informed the purchaser and the shipper that because of the off-gassing, it was preferable to use a ventilated trailer. The truck driver who picked up the load was also required to sign a caution advising him of the potential presence of the flammable blowing agent.
Unfortunately, this information did not get to the driver who was killed. He was told the trailer was empty. The lack of ventilation and the warm weather increased the off-gassing of isobutane until it accumulated to an explosive level within the trailer.
When the employee entered the trailer, a source of ignition such as a spark, match or lit cigarette, caused the fatal explosion.
The hazard alert stresses that where there is a possibility that the safety or health of an employee in a workplace may be endangered by a hazardous substance, the employer must:
- Appoint a qualified person to carry out an investigation of potential exposure hazards,
- Ensure that all employees are made aware of every known and foreseeable health or safety hazard in the area where the employee works, and
- Develop and implement an employee education program with respect to hazard prevention and control at the workplace.
In the case outlined above, the employer was issued seventeen charges. After pleading guilty to three charges, the company was fined $95,000.
Read MoreGrocery Chain Fined for Worker’s Injury
Improper installation of a dock bridge (a metal plate used to span the distance between a loading dock and a trailer) and a lack of maintenance have been named as factors in an injury incident at a Toronto supermarket.
A worker was using a small forklift to unload skids of ice cream from a truck trailer parked at the store’s loading dock on Oct. 10, 2008. When the worker drove the forklift over the dock bridge, the bridge bounced and came to rest 15 centimeters (six inches) above the trailer bed.
The employee raised a skid of ice cream and while reversing out of the trailer, the worker’s leg became jammed between the forklift and the raised dock plate. A broken leg was the result.
Sobeys Capital Incorporated pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice to failing to ensure that its dock bridge was maintained in good condition. Sobeys was fined $80,000, plus a $20,000 victim fine surcharge.
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