There's an old saying in the safety business that sums it up quite nicely. "If you think OSHA is a small town in Wisconsin, you're in trouble!" There may only be a few words that strike fear in the heart of business owners more than that dreaded Federal agency called OSHA. If you run a business in the United States with one or more employees then you are covered in some way by these regulations. OSHA has been given the power to not only write all of their regulations but to enforce them as well and if they're not happy with the way you're going about your safety program they have to ability to hit you where it hurts.
OSHA 101
Most people have an idea of what OSHA is and what they do but not everyone may know how it exactly works. Back in the 70's the federal government created the Occupational Health and Safety Administration with the mission "to assure the safety and health of America's workers by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach, and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual improvement in workplace safety and health." The federal OSHA program has these overall responsibilities that cover all of the private sector employees in the US. OSHA then decided that it would like to encourage the individual states to pick up these tasks and enforce them in their own state. So far, OSHA has approved 22 states and 2 territories programs including Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. The states in italics do have state programs, but they only cover employees in the public sector, state and local public employees for example. These state regulations do not apply to private employees but they are still covered by Federal OSHA regulations. These states basically follow OSHA regulations but there may be slight differences in some of them. They are still required though, to be as stringent as the Federal OSHA regulations so make sure to check with your state government to understand what the differences are if any.
Why OSHA comes knocking on your door.
OSHA can visit your site for one or all of the following reasons: An imminent danger to employees, Fatalities or catastrophic incidents that include an employee death or 3 or more employees that are sent to the hospital for the same reason; employee (former or current) complaint; and programmed or follow up inspections. If your business falls under just one of these criteria then you may have OSHA knocking on your door.
OSHA's Inspection Process
When it comes to the actual inspection, OSHA is not secretive at all on how it will be conducted. There are rules and procedures that OSHA inspectors must follow in order to conduct a proper inspection. OSHA has provided businesses with a detailed description of the process that can be found on their website here http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha2098.html.
OSHA Inspections and the Fabrication Industry.
The surface fabrication industry is not flying under the radar when it comes to OSHA inspection and citations. With the increase in the number of fabricators over the past decade or two and the recent OSHA National Emphasis Program on Silica exposures, shops are increasingly being put under the microscope as is evident by the following table.
This following table lists the top ten citations issued to industries under Standard Industrial Classification codes where most fabrication shops fall. All information was gathered from data released by OSHA from September 2007 – 2008. Each line details the OSHA standard that was cited, number of citations issued by OSHA, number of inspections that were conducted and the total amount of fines issued for under that standard. Keep in mind though, the total amount of the fines were after companies worked with OSHA regarding the levels of the fines. They may have initially issued a $5,000 dollar fine and worked it down to a $500 dollar fine. You can work with OHSA to reduce penalties under certain circumstances.
|
OSHA Standard Cited
|
No. of Citations Issued
|
No. of Inspections Conducted
|
Total Penalty Assesed
|
Description
|
|
1910.147
|
260
|
131
|
$167,335
|
The Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout)
|
|
1910.134
|
155
|
120
|
$143,134
|
Respiratory Protection
|
|
1910.212
|
151
|
105
|
$147,634
|
General Requirements for All Machines (Machine Guarding)
|
|
1910.305
|
141
|
93
|
$47,760
|
Wiring Methods, Components, and Equipment for General Use
|
|
1910.12
|
129
|
89
|
$51,787
|
Hazard Communication
|
|
1910.303
|
117
|
86
|
$57,307
|
General Requirements. (Electrical)
|
|
1910.178
|
96
|
65
|
$66,414
|
Powered Industrial Trucks.
|
|
1910.95
|
81
|
18
|
$6,348
|
Occupational Noise Exposure.
|
|
1910.157
|
67
|
52
|
$16,126
|
Portable Fire Extinguishers.
|
|
1910.132
|
60
|
47
|
$18,123
|
General Requirements (Personal Protective Equipment)
|
|
Totals
|
1257
|
806
|
$721,968
|
|
What Does This Information Tell Us?
When OSHA releases information like this it gives us an insight as to what OSHA is looking at and what are some of the "hot topics" that inspectors will be looking for when they walk through your shop. This also serves all business owners by reminding them about some of the issues in their shops. The number one citation listed is the Control of Hazardous Energy, aka Lock Out/Tag Out (LOTO). Seeing this should make you think, "Do I have my LOTO plan in writing and up to date?" "Have I analyzed all of my machinery, determined the hazards present in the event that unexpected startup and do I have it in writing to show the OSHA inspector that I am in compliance?" Both of these questions (and many others) can be asked all of the citations listed above and the many, many other standards covered by OHSA. Hazard Communication is also not only a huge issue in fabrication shops; it's a huge issue facing all business in the United States. You may think that you are covered by having all of the most recent Material Safety Data Sheets for all of the products you have in your shop but do you have a plan in writing? If you don't have it in writing then it may as well not exist because in the eye of the inspector, if he can't see a plan laid out in front of him then you are not in compliance with this standard.
The first priority is the health and safety of the workers but as you can see, there is money on the line as well. If an employee is injured there is the cost of medical treatment and the lost production from not having that worker doing their job. There is also a fine associated with that violation. The average fine per citation listed in the above table is $574.36. I'm sure many shop owners are acutely aware of this but in today's economy every penny counts and just one fine can hurt almost anybody. If you take a look at the numbers closely, you'll see that the number of citations issued is greater than the number of inspections conducted. This tells us that OSHA is issuing multiple citations under the same standard. How can this happen? When the inspector notices a violation it will prompt them to look further into that issue and they may find more violations. If the inspector finds that you don't have all of the MSDS for the products in your shop they may ask for your written hazard communication program or documents showing that you've trained your employees in hazard communication. If you can't sufficiently prove to the inspector that you are in compliance you may be looking at 3 citations under the hazard communication standard alone.
Be Prepared
It is important for shop owners to constantly analyze their OSHA compliance policies and plans to ensure your are providing the safest workplace for your employees and to make sure that if and when OSHA comes knocking on your door, you have the answers they are looking for.
About the Author: Brian Dean, a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager and a Professional Member of the American Society of Safety Engineers, is the owner of StoneSafety LLC, has a bachelor's degree in Environmental Health and Safety Management and has nearly 10 years of experience in the industry. He can be reached at info@stonesafety.com, www.stonesafety.com.