Environmental Health and Safety Blog | EHSWire

Sarah Damaskos with Paula Kaufmann, CIH

When recalling our onsite environmental, health and safety work following 9/11, Emilcott’s health and safety staff often discuss that respirators were either not worn or improperly worn by many first responders and subsequent waves of workers and construction crew members at Ground Zero. Not surprisingly, ten years later the news media are churning out plenty of stories detailing the life-threatening health effects developing in many of these people -- possibly linked to their exposure to airborne dust and chemicals present at the World Trade Center site.

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Topics: Personal Protective Equipment, General Industry H&S, General EHS, Emergency Response, H&S Training, worker safety, 9/11, preparedness, respiratory protection, Exposure, respirators

Daniel Senatus

According to the CDC, poison ivy is a common poisonous plant found throughout the United States. It can be found in forests, swamplands, roadsides, backyards and even in urban environments. That means, wherever you are, poison ivy could be right there!  And, it’s not always easy to spot.  When trying to identify this plant, consider the species, the season and your geographical location as the physical characteristics can vary. Being able to recognize local varieties, especially at a work site, is your key to avoiding exposure.

Poison ivy produces a liquid called urushiol, this is the so called “active ingredient” that causes the itching, blisters and rashes in most people who touch it. Outdoor workers can be exposed to poison ivy in multiple ways:

• Physical contact with the plant (including the roots!)


• Touching tools, equipment or livestock that have been in contact with the plant


• Inhaled aerosolized particles from burning the plant.

Recognition

Your ability to recognize poison ivy is the first step in preventing exposure. Depending upon where you live and the season, the plant can vary widely. It always has three leaves (like many other plants) but the size, shape and coloring may fool you. The following links provide some pictures and other useful information to help you identify the poison ivy lurking in your work place:

• USDA Invasive and Noxious Plants Guide


• Poison Ivy Guide


• USDA Federal and State Noxious Weed Guide


• Great Plains Nature Center

Prevention

When working in areas infested with this wicked plant, personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves and boots, long sleeve shirts and long pants tucked into boots will help. Be extra careful to not touch the exposed clothing when removing it and wash it in the hottest water possible using copious amounts of soap and water with lots of room to agitate. If you’re not sure – wash it again as you can get a rash from clothing or tools that have the urushiol resin from even years back!

Always wash your skin with plenty of soap and cold water after exposure. (Hot water opens your pores and lets the resin absorb into your skin.) If you can get scrubbing within ten minutes of contact, you may have dodged the poison ivy bullet! And, always clean all tools and equipment that come in contact with the plant with soap, water and a bleach solution to avoid re-exposure.

Follow comprehensive decontamination methods – treat the urushiol resin as a chemical contaminant!

First Aid

How do you know you have poison ivy? Advice from the Mayo Clinic includes

Signs and symptoms of a poison ivy rash include:

• Redness


• Itching


• Swelling


• Blisters

Often, the rash looks like a straight line because of the way the plant brushes against the skin. But if you come into contact with a piece of clothing or pet fur that has urushiol on it, the rash may be more spread out.  The reaction usually develops 12 to 48 hours after exposure and can last up to eight weeks. The severity of the rash is dependent on the amount of urushiol that gets on your skin.

Once you know you’re exposed, wash exposed skin with plenty of soap and cold water to break down and encapsulate the oil. Web MD advises these additional steps:

An alternative is rubbing alcohol, which can dissolve and remove the oils from your skin. If you can remove the oil within 10 minutes, you are unlikely to develop the rash. Symptoms from a mild rash can sometimes be relieved by the following:

• Cool compresses with water or milk


• Calamine - A nonprescription lotion


• Aveeno oatmeal bath - A product you put in the bath to relieve itching

And, of course, if the reaction seems to be severe, is spreading or lasting longer than a few weeks, ask for immediate professional medical attention.

Three leaves? Be cautious!

At Emilcott, we frequently run into job sites with high potential for poison ivy exposure…think about the uncleared, overgrown or unkempt places that surveyers, highway workers, laborers, HazWOPER workers, engineers, inspectors,  construction workers, and landscapers, often find themselves! And don’t think that you’re immune either. My coworker, Paula Kaufmann, CIH, wrote about her overconfidence that she had not been sensitized to urushiol (and thought she was “immune” and her inevitable reaction to repeated exposure. Maybe she should have paid attention to Emilcott’s poison ivy awareness and other outdoor hazards that is a part of many of our health and safety training courses!

Have you had an experience with poison ivy on the job? Were you prepared ahead of time? If not, what happened?

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Topics: Personal Protective Equipment, General Industry H&S, General EHS, Construction H&S, worker safety, Occupational Safety, Exposure, poison ivy, Occupational Training

by Paula Kaufmann

What’s the job of a Respiratory Protection Program (RPP) Administrator? 

This individual is officially listed in the site’s written Respiratory Protection Program and is accountable and responsible for the day-to-day operation of the program. Some of those “day-to-day” tasks include

• Maintaining the site Respiratory Protection Program


• Assessing the workplace for potential respiratory hazards


• Defining worker exposure for these hazards


• Selecting appropriate respirators to provide protection from defined hazards


• Ensuring
  
  
  
  • Medical evaluations are conducted of employees required to wear respirators PRIOR to fit testing
  
  
  • Respirators are fit tested for all required users
  
  
  • Proper use of respirators during routine and emergency operations
  
  
  • Respirators are appropriately cleaned, disinfected, stored, inspected, repaired, discarded, and maintained
  
  
  • Adequate air quality air is supplied if supplied air respirators are used.
  
  
  • Respirator users are trained in respiratory hazards, and the proper use and maintenance of respirators
  
  
  • Periodical evaluation of the Respiratory Protection Program implementation
  
  
  • Workers who voluntarily wear respirators (excluding filtering facepieces) comply with the medical evaluation, and cleaning, storing and maintenance requirements of the standard
  
  
  • All voluntary-use respirator users understand Appendix D of the standard
  
  
  
  

Yes, these incessant and critical health and safety tasks can be quite overwhelming!  What’s the big deal? For the company or job site or administrator who does not understand why a qualified and empowered RPP Administrator is a big deal, here is a triple-play of Top 5 facts that illustrate the importance of qualified training for Respiratory Protection Program Administrators!

Top 5 OSHA Violation!

Did you know that the Respiratory Protection Standard was in the Top 5 most frequently cited standards by OSHA compliance officers last year?  Why be a part of that statistic?  More about 2010’s Top 10 cited violations can be found in a recent EHSwire blog by Emilcott’s Sarah Damaskos.

Top 5 Reasons YOU need to be “Qualified”

1. Workers at your site are required to wear respirators for protection from respiratory hazards – and you selected these respirators.


2. You train respirator users on how to put on and take off their respirator – along with the limitations on their use, and their maintenance.


3. Implementation of the site respiratory protection program (which you wrote) is just another one of your jobs!


4. Airline (atmosphere-supplying) respirators are used at your site – and you make sure that an adequate air supply, quantity, and flow of breathing air is available.


5. You coordinate the medical evaluation of employees who must use respirators.

Top 5 OSHA Compliance Indicators!

If you get a visit from an OSHA Compliance Safety and Health Officer, they review these essential factors to help determine if the Respiratory Protection Program Administrator is “Qualified”:

1. The written Respiratory Protection Program and interviews with the program administrator reveal an understanding of the familiarity with the respirator standard, site respiratory hazards, and the use of the respirators in the workplace.


2. Respiratory fit testing is conducting annually or at assignment and the program administrator maintains.


3. Hazardous airborne contaminants that employees may inhale have been identified.  Reasonable estimates of employee exposures were used in determining the appropriate respirator for employees to use.


4. Recent changes in the workplace such as new processes have been evaluated for necessary respiratory program changes


5. The program administrator keeps a written assessment of the program operations and implements changes that may be considered as efforts toward improvement.

How to Become a Qualified RPP Administrator

Focused, hands-on training with experienced health and safety instructors can make the difference for a Respiratory Protection Program Administrator – clarifying the waters by understanding the objectives of the law and how it applies to each work site!

As Health and Safety consultants to many types of companies, Emilcott staff are on job sites each day and see health and safety violations such respirators perched on foreheads or tissues jammed in the sides to ensure a bitter fit. Are these problems an employee violation or a company-wide result of not understanding the importance of a competent Administrator who can develop, maintain and enforce a respirator protection program that reduces occupation risk?

In these cases, we conduct urgent and immediate on-site RPP Administrator training that often includes high level managers to ensure that there is a top to bottom understanding of the importance of proper respirator usage. In addition to our private training, the Emilcott Training Institute offers public enrollment Respiratory Protection Program Administrator training courses in two formats:  an intense 3-hour course with a small class size and an in-depth two-day course.  In both classes, students learn the level of information required for their sites and are taught by an experienced H&S instructor that can answer questions. 

So if you are unfamiliar with your required duties as an RPP Administrator or you want a better understanding of how to encourage better respirator usage by your site personnel, look around for an effective RPP Administrator training class. Once complete and in practice, you should dicover aTop 5 list that looks more like this:

1. OSHA respirator inspection passed without any problems, fines or additional action.


2. Site personnel actively wear their respirators – the way that they are supposed to!


3. Site workers reinforce the importance of respirator use to their colleagues (even when you’re not around)!


4. Managers understand the need for respirator use and support related site activities such as testing of hazardous airborne contaminants.


5. Written assessments of program changes are treated as a necessity for business to move forward rather than resented.

You ARE a Qualified Respiratory Protection Program Administrator!

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Topics: Emilcott, OSHA, Personal Protective Equipment, health and safety, General Industry H&S, OSHA Compliance, General EHS, Construction H&S, Emergency Response, H&S Training, Compliance, worker safety, Occupational Health, Occupational Safety, Lab Safety & Electrical, emergency response training, Fire Safety, Exposure, Respiratory, Occupational Training, RPP, respirator protection program, administrator

Laurie de Laski

Having spent a large part of the last 25 years as an EHS professional developing and implementing Health and Safety Plans in a wide variety of industries, I was pleased to see that companies are requesting contractors and service providers to be prequalified for safety during the bidding process.  Conceptually, prequalification for safety should “raise the safety bar” and, companies with a well-developed safety plan should be rewarded for their proactive ethos with a competitive edge in the marketplace.  At Emilcott we have seen this really happen! Highly competitive project opportunities open up for clients that have genuinely adopted a top to bottom buy-in on the importance and value of safety. And, of course, they also experience measurable drops in both injury and insurance rates based on their safety performance.

Is the safety prequalification process good?

To have the “win-win”, the safety programs required for the project must be appropriate for the bidding contractor’s scope of work.  And, these safety programs need to be adopted, implemented and enforced. So, in order to make the prequalification process manageable for the companies writing the scope of work and the bidding contractors, an industry of on-line safety verification companies has evolved. While helping the contracting companies organize their bid processes, this on-line verification is very one-size fits all and focuses heavily on written programs, which may not be applicable to the scope of work.  This all or nothing approach leaves me wondering if on-line verification actually does raise the bar or just rubber-stamps paper safety programs.

Here’s the process “in theory”…

Contractors must have written safety programs that meet the requirements of the client.  The programs are submitted on-line and reviewed by the verification company.  Programs meeting the specifications are passed; those that don’t pass are requested to be updated.  This practice sounds likes a good idea, however,

• Many times contractors are required to write safety plans for equipment and operations outside the scope of their operations.


• The contractors spend a significant amount of time inputting the information to the website with no guarantee of being accepted. 


• Many of the bidding contractors are small businesses without the support or money to handle the overhead costs associated with maintaining their entries in the safety verification website.

For a quick safety program, click here!

Don't have the time to develop a safety plan? Don’t know what you’re missing? Under the gun to qualify for a lucrative project?  Don’t worry!

A large number of on-line “safety” specialists are available to help contractors meet the prequalification safety requirements! They advertise the development of company-specific safety programs that will meet the verification requirements at a very low cost, and some will include on-line input on behalf of the contractor and guarantee that they will pass.  One organization guaranteed approval in 72 hours!

Wait a minute…what problem does this solve? These companies offer to “customize” the safety plan by including the contractor’s company name and logo.  These cookie-cutter programs may meet verification requirements, but don’t appear to be customized for the contractor operations or the protection of the workers.  My sense is that there is no effort to actually develop a program that would be implemented by the contractor.  In conclusion, this “click here” approach does not raise the safety bar – it merely creates the illusion of a safety culture.

So, does safety prequalification work?

While health and safety program verification using this broad, sweeping approach may reduce the client’s liability, it doesn’t automatically improve safety performance.  In addition, the contractor may not be aware that they are creating a huge liability if they don’t implement their own safety program. In fact, OSHA will fine heavily for injuries that occur due to the lack of compliance with their stated safety plan.  Criminal penalties are also a possibility since the contractor could be considered negligent in not implementing or enforcing the procedures.

Where should we go from here?

The Requirements - Companies should require contractors to maintain only the safety programs that apply to the scope of work.  Requiring extensive safety programs for hazards the contractor is not likely to encounter devalues the safety culture for both the site and the contractor.

The Contractor Safety Programs - Contractors need to honestly implement programs that apply to their scope of work; understand the intent of the specific safety programs by learning the requirements of the regulations, provide employee training, and foster a culture of safety awareness with their employees.

The Verification Process – Be clear about the REAL goal of the process. If the objectives are truly to reduce accidents, improve safety, and make sure that everyone goes home at night, then old fashioned site health and safety inspections are what should be required.  Seeing how people work is the best way to make improvements in safety!

Do you think that the on-line safety verification process actually make a difference or is worth the time and expense?  Have you worked on a project where the on-line verification process develop and promoted a safe work environment, or like me, do you doubt they make a positive impact at all?

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Topics: Personal Protective Equipment, health and safety, General Industry H&S, General EHS, Construction H&S, H&S Training, Compliance, worker safety, Occupational Health, Occupational Safety, Occupational Training, safety plan, health and safety plan, safety prequalification, on-line verification

by: Capt. John DeFillippo, CHMP, EMT-B

When some of us head to the “office” the decisions we make about what to wear go way beyond fashion…our very lives could depend on our wardrobe choices. For many workers, Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, protects them from slight and serious workplace injuries or illnesses resulting from contact with chemical, radiological, physical, electrical, mechanical, or other hazards. Here’s a rough guide to occupational “Dress for Success” (and survival!).

Let’s start with the head.

A properly fitting, ANSI-rated hard hat will do more than protect you from falling stuff. They’re rated to provide protection against electric and chemical hazards as well. By the way, you have to wear your hard hat correctly if you want it to protect your noggin:  Do not wear it backwards. Do not wear another hat underneath (except a proper hardhat liner).  Any stickers have to be removable so that the hard hat can be inspected for integrity.

Next, Move Down to the Eyes

According to OSHA, Not all eye protection is the same. Start by looking at the ANSI-89 rating on the specs. Does the rating match your job function?  And, don’t let style issues affect your decision whether or not to wear them. Safety glasses used to be big, unattractive, and were often uncomfortable. Not anymore! There are styles and sizes for everybody and most “well-dressed” workers have at least two pair:  sunglasses and clear. Keep in mind that eye injuries, including permanent blindness, occur on the job every day. According to OSHA, “ eye injuries alone cost more than $300 million per year in lost production time, medical expenses, and worker compensation”. Don’t let it happen to you.

Face Protection

OSHA considers face protection separate from eye protection - one is never a substitute for the other. This OSHA powerpoint is a great overview of eye and face protection requirements. Find out if your job (grinding and pressure washing for example) requires a face shield.

Don’t Forget Your Ears!

Your hearing is a delicate tool that, once damaged, cannot be repaired. Did you know that most cases of hearing loss in the US are the result of occupational exposure? Hearing protection, like respiratory protection, can get a little complicated so if you’re confused, ask an expert. EHS experts like Emilcott can perform quantitative noise analysis and provide best recommendations to protect hearing for your worksite. To start, a good rule of thumb is that if you need to raise your voice in normal conversation, you probably should be wearing hearing protection.

Body Protection

Protection for the body varies greatly depending on the hazard(s) encountered. At a minimum,   make sure you can be seen! High visibility garments are required by OSHA and DOT when working around traffic and are a good idea all the time.

Last (But Not Least), Your Feet

Safety footwear is required by OSHA if your feet are subject to injury. They also must be ANSI- approved -- look for the markings on the shoe or boot to be sure. 

The Final Word

Keep these points in mind the next time you get dressed for work:

• While individual PPE items may not go “out of style”, they do go out of date. Check your gear to make sure it’s still within the expiration date.

• Once your PPE has protected you from an injury, replace it.  It did its job and you don’t know how it will hold up a second time.

•  And, finally, get the good stuff. Those cheap boots may seem like a bargain until your feet start hurting.

By the way, the Dress for Survival list above, with the exception of respirators (a blog in itself!), is considered “minimum PPE” on most sites. You need proper protection for each body part just to get in.  Don’t know what to use?  For every job, there are specific OSHA requirements that are designed to keep you safe – your health and safety office or EHS group should be a resource for information as well as monitoring the worksite for safety needs. 

Does your company keep employees protected by dressing them in the appropriate safety PPE?  Have you ever done a self-evaluation, head to toe, of what you are wearing and if it adequately protects you from the job hazards that you may encounter?  Has your safety clothing ever protected you and how?

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Topics: OSHA, indoor air quality, Personal Protective Equipment, health and safety, General Industry H&S, General EHS, Construction H&S, Emergency Response, H&S Training, Hazardous Waste Management, Compliance, worker safety, Occupational Health, Fire Safety

Capt. John DeFillippo, CHMP, EMT-B

The health effects from airborne hazards are a frequent topic in many health and safety courses, especially in hazardous substance and hazardous waste training.  This is because so many of these exposures may not show up as health problems for decades! Consider asbestos. While it’s not harmful to the touch, inhalation can be fatal, but it can take 25-30 years before asbestosis or mesothelioma can develop. Both are chronic and often deadly diseases of the lungs.

The lungs are amazing. It surprises most people to learn that the lungs have the largest surface area of any body organ -- about 80 times more area than the skin, or about the size of a tennis court!  As we breathe, our lungs are in constant contact with the outside world and that is a lot of contact area. They need to be protected.

Over three million American workers are required to wear respirators to protect themselves from hazardous airborne contaminants.  Not surprisingly, OSHA has some pretty strict rules when it comes to protecting our lungs . Despite this , it is estimated that more than half of the respirators worn are not worn in accordance with OSHA Standard 29 CFR 1910.134

Did you know that…

• If workers are wearing respirators, a written program is required?


• A medical evaluation is required for anyone who wears a respirator?


• A fit test of each respirator worn must be conducted initially AND annually?


• The workplace must be evaluated to determine the hazard so that the proper respirator (there are many) can be selected?


• These rules, and others, apply to what many people refer to as “dust masks”?

Proper respirator usage training is also required. Why? Because wearing the wrong type, wrong size, or an improperly fitted respirator can be more dangerous than not wearing one at all. For example:

1. Wearing a filtering respirator in an O₂-deficient atmosphere, or the wrong cartridge, can mislead you to believe that you are protected…when you are not!


2. A mask with even the slightest poor fit allows contaminates in and may actually increase exposure levels.


3. Not everyone can wear a respirator. Because a respirator restricts your breathing, people with certain medical conditions can be seriously harmed by wearing them. This is why being medically cleared prior to use is so important, and required.

Not complying with the rules designed for occupational safety can be costly… and not just in fines and penalties. Too many workers have destroyed their health by failing to protect their delicate, vital lungs. And, it’s not just at work. Working around the home and yard can also present respiratory dangers, too. If you are not sure that you need more than a “dust mask” ask someone who can help.

Have you been properly trained to use your respirator and fit-tested to make sure it is actually stopping hazards from reaching your lungs?Are you confident that you are using your respirator properly and that the respirator that you have selected is the best for the contaminants you are exposed to?  How about the person next to you - are they in compliance?  Hopefully you and your workmates can answerYES! to these questions. If you have any questions about respiratory protection, please ask me!

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Topics: OSHA, indoor air quality, Personal Protective Equipment, General Industry H&S, General EHS, Construction H&S, Emergency Response, Homeland Security, H&S Training, Hazardous Waste Management, Hazardous Materials, Compliance, worker safety, Occupational Health, Occupational Safety, Lab Safety & Electrical, emergency response training, Fire Safety, environmental air monitoring, Respiratory, Occupational Training

Capt. John DeFillippo, CHMP, EMT-B

Every organization develops a “safety culture”, be it good or bad. It is immediately observable to anyone who cares to look, and more people are – particularly prospective clients and business partners.  When evaluating vendors and business partners, companies with strong safety cultures will steer clear of doing business with companies with poor safety records; the risks and exposures are too great.  In addition to the obvious reasons of possible injury or death to workers or the public, there is the potential for serious damage to a company’s image and reputation should their vendor or subcontractor have an incident or accident.  We’ve all heard some of the stories recently in the news; reporters will highlight a major construction accident and all the players are named, regardless of their culpability.

Government agencies also use strong criteria to evaluate potential vendors. The State of New York has severely tightened up its safety and health requirements following the series of construction accidents that have plagued NYC in recent years.

A company can develop a comprehensive health and safety programs. It can post attention-getting signs and posters warning workers of hazards. It can also provide all manner of safety and personal protective equipment and conduct training for employees. These measures are good, but as soon as a supervisor or company owner walks onto a site ignoring the PPE requirements, all this good goes out the window. “Do as I say, not as I do” is not the way lead. The rules must to apply to all, without exception. Even more importantly, owners and managers should set a proper example. Professional experience has shown me that when management creates and “lives” a proactive safety culture, it will get the best results. It’s the front-line managers and supervisors that make the difference.

And it’s a never ending task. Maybe your company has a few workers who constantly violate the safety rules without any real consequences or discipline. The message being sent is pretty clear: the company doesn’t take safety seriously. Most people realize that the rules are there for a reason; their protection and it’s the law.  However, there will always be a small percentage of people that just don’t get it. Without enforcement of the policies, there is not only the risk of worker injury, but an erosion of the “safety culture” of the organization and a negative impact on morale. Plus, it is the employer and management who will be responsible for any fines or penalties handed out as well as increased insurance premiums, particularly workman’s compensation. Often, they are found personally responsible. Why would anyone risk this?

The point is that paying lip service to safety won’t fly anymore -- proactive is best. There are all kinds of resources to help your company succeed. OSHA even offers free services:    http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/consult.html and http://www.osha.gov/dte/outreach/construction_generalindustry/index.html.  You may also get help from a trade or professional association that you belong to. Health and safety consulting services from companies like Emilcott who are experienced in honing in on risk and compliance can be a great investment to shift your company onto the right track.

Have you ever worked for a company that has an ineffective or sham health and safety policy? How did it make you or fellow employees feel? Was there a tipping point event that made them switch to being proactive and how did they implement a new, comprehensive program (that worked)?

Image Credit:  www.lumaxart.com

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Topics: Personal Protective Equipment, health and safety, General Industry H&S, General EHS, Construction H&S, Emergency Response, H&S Training, Compliance, worker safety, Occupational Health, Occupational Safety, Lab Safety & Electrical, emergency response training, Fire Safety, Occupational Training, Safety Culture, Leadership

Tom Carlson, PE, Sr. Project Manager

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Topics: OSHA, indoor air quality, Personal Protective Equipment, health and safety, Construction H&S, EPA, Hazardous Waste Management, Hazardous Materials, Compliance, worker safety, Occupational Health, Occupational Safety, Air Sampling, environmental air monitoring, Respiratory, Public Safety

John Quatermas - EHS Consultant

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Topics: Personal Protective Equipment, health and safety, General Industry H&S, Construction H&S, H&S Training, Respiratory, water safety

Diego Tolosa, CHST

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Topics: DOT, Personal Protective Equipment, Construction H&S, Emergency Response, worker safety, Occupational Safety