So, what do you think, an incident waiting to happen?

Recently, 2 articles appeared in the news about trenching incidents.  The first was about a death in Kansas City and the second was about an incident in the Chicago area.  In December 2006, I wrote an article OSHA Saves Lives, in which some quick action by an OSHA official kept an employee from getting injured in a confined space and a trenching hazard.   What is happening out there with regards to trenching/confined spaces? 

OSHA 1926.650 is the standard for excavations.  The first thing you need is a COMPETENT PERSON.  Someone who understands everything it takes to be in compliance with the standard. 

Below are some points to be aware of, but this article does NOT make you a competent person, and does not include all aspects of the Excavation standard and the Appendixes.

• Awareness of utilities
• Means of Access and Egress
• Emergency equipment on-site
• Employee protection
• Support and protective systems
• Soil classification
• Sloping & benching
• Shoring

Like the picture above, the most common reason for a problem is the failure to use the proper support or protection, if any is used at all.  Also the failure to use and have emergency equipment on-site, such as a safety harness or breathing apparatus is also a problem.  Proper training and proper use of the RIGHT equipment can create a safe environment for your employees. 

So what do you think will happen to the guys above?  Let us know.

I was recently asked to do Hazmat training by 2 different companies.  The interesting thing was each company wanted totally different training.  One company ships hazardous materials “in commerce” and they want 49 CFR training.  The other company has a “Hazmat Response team” and wanted Hazmat training in relationship to OSHA 29CFR part 1910.120, dealing with a hazardous waste spill.  In news broadcasts we often hear “they called out the Hazmat team.” 

To help distinguish the 2 meanings of this term I want to refer back to a previous article I wrote To Haz or Haz Not.  This article defines each use of Hazmat and which federal agency is responsible for compliance.  Remember, whichever way you use the term Hazmat, the lack of training is the most often fined part of compliance.

The electricity industry is changing. At least 50 percent of customers have the option to purchase renewable electricity directly from their power supplier. Such power is sometimes referred to as “green power” or “clean power.”

In most states, you can buy clean power through one or more of the following programs:

Green pricing — Some power companies are now providing an optional service, called green pricing, that allows customers to pay a small premium in exchange for electricity generated from clean, renewable (”green”) energy sources. The premium covers the increased costs incurred by the power provider (i.e. electric utility) when adding renewable energy to its power generation mix.

Competitive electricity markets — In some parts of the country, consumers can choose not only how their electricity is generated, but also who generates it. Just as the long-distance telephone industry was restructured, certain states have restructured their electricity industry in order to allow competition among electricity generators. In some of these states, clean power generators, who specialize in producing electricity using renewable sources, are taking advantage of the restructured market to sell clean power products to residential, commercial, and wholesale customers.

Some default suppliers are also teaming with these competitive marketers to offer more green power options. Efforts to sell clean power are aimed at consumers who will choose to pay slightly more for renewable energy products and services that reflect their environmental values. The small premium you pay offsets the additional costs power companies incur in purchasing and/or generating electricity from renewable sources.

Green certificates — Buying green certificates allows you to contribute to the generation of clean, renewable power even if you can’t buy clean power from your power provider (i.e. electric utility) or from a clean power generator on the competitive market.

An increasing number of clean power generators are now separating the power that they sell to power providers from the environmental attributes associated with that power. These environmental attributes, called green certificates (also known as “green tags,” “renewable energy certificates,” or “tradable renewable certificates”), are then sold to companies and individuals who want to help increase the amount of clean power entering the nation’s electricity supply.

By separating the environmental attributes from the power, clean power generators are able to sell the electricity they produce to power providers at a competitive market value. The additional revenue generated by the sale of the green certificates covers the above-market costs associated with producing power made from renewable energy sources. This extra revenue also encourages the development of additional renewable energy projects.

Several organizations offer green energy or renewable energy certificates that can be purchased separate from your current electricity service.

For more information on buying green power, go to http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/index.shtml (a Web page of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy). To find out which organizations offer green power in your state, go to http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/buying_power.shtml.

The tips are from the U.S. Department of Energy.

OSHA Issues Final Rule on Electrical Installation Standard
 
Washington, DC — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a final rule in today’s Federal Register for an updated electrical installation standard.
“These are the first changes to the electrical installation requirements in 25 years, so it is important the standard reflects the most current practices and technologies in the industry,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Edwin G. Foulke Jr.
“The revised standard strengthens employee protections and adds consistency between OSHA’s requirements and many state and local building codes, which have adopted updated National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and National Electrical Code provisions.”
Changes to OSHA’s general industry electrical installation standard focus on safety in the design and installation of electric equipment in the workplace.
The updated standard includes a new alternative method for classifying and installing equipment in Class I hazardous locations; new requirements for ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs); and new provisions on wiring for carnivals and similar installations.
The final rule updates the general industry electrical installation requirements to the 2000 edition of the NFPA 70E, which was used as the foundation of the revised standard.
The final rule also replaces the reference to the 1971 National Electrical Code in the mandatory appendix to the powered platform standard, with a reference to OSHA’s electrical installation standard.
 

 What’s wrong with this picture from both a safety and EPA concern?  Find out about the EPA concerns.

EPA Sets Limits for Hazardous Air Pollutants from Gasoline, Vehicles and Portable Fuel Containers

On Feb. 9, EPA announced the finalization of new standards that would establish stringent new controls on gasoline, passenger vehicles and gas cans to further reduce emissions of benzene and other mobile source air toxics.

By 2030, EPA’s new Mobile Source Air Toxic (MSAT) regulations, as well as fuel and vehicle standards already in place, will reduce toxic emissions from cars to 80 percent below 1999 emissions, officials said. (more…)

I was recently made of aware of this article published on a website Personal Finance Advice by the editor of Techlife. Thanks for your contribution.

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One of the problems that we have had to solve at our house is the quality of the air during the winter months when the windows are rarely opened. My wife suffers terribly from poor air quality (not to mention the cost of trying to treat the conditions which result from it) so we needed to make some moves to improve the conditions. I’m sure that with winter now in full force that there are many others with their windows shut tight and the air inside their houses and apartments not circulating near as much as it does at other times of the year. Some studies have shown that air quality during the winter months is 1000% worse in homes than during other times of the year. For those seeking relief, here are the ten 10 steps that we made to improve the air quality of our home: (more…)

Back in Oct. scubaology.com published an article on Great Lakes Conservation.  Recently, The International Joint Commission (IJC) called on the governments of Canada and the United States to create and apply an uncommonly strong Accountability Framework for Great Lakes restoration and protection under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

In its Thirteenth Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality, released on Feb. 7, IJC urges the governments to present a preliminary framework by June 2008.

“We chose to focus this biennial report on a single theme — accountability — because accountability is absolutely indispensable if the governments are serious about their commitments to improve water quality under this agreement,” said Commissioner Allen Olson.

The report sets out the following elements for such a framework:

• Developing a rigorous, coordinated plan that identifies and prioritizes the actions needed to realize the goals of the agreement, includes measurable targets and sets timelines for completion — such targets and timelines are generally not in the current agreement.
• Whether it be an existing or a new organization, some binational entity needs to be fully and clearly charged with the responsibility to gather information that can be used to assess progress toward the agreement’s purpose and goals.
• Providing substantive and meaningful progress reports on a triennial basis.
• Using the reports to review and adjust action plans.

“Experts and concerned citizens across the Great Lakes basin have told us that accountability needs to be the cornerstone for Great Lakes’ restoration and protection programs,” said Commissioner Jack Blaney.

The governments of the United States and Canada are currently leading a comprehensive review of the agreement for the first time since 1987. The commission also recommended that the governments accelerate their review so that the results coincide with the release of the draft Accountability Framework.

For its part, the commission committed to forming a task force to assist it in consulting with the governments on a practical and effective Accountability Framework as well as convening, in collaboration with governments and others, a Great Lakes Accountability Summit in summer 2008.

For additional information or a copy of the report visit the commission’s Web site: http://www.ijc.org/.

This is a great move to help keep the Great Lakes a important ecological part of North America.  The more we work to improve our environment the more when are helping our future.  Tell me what you think about this topic.

If you get into an accident or have an emergency situation, who do you contact?  What if someone else had to find that contact?  Today many people are programming the word ICE into their cell phones. ICE stands for “In Case of Emergency call….”

This is the new acronym (ICE) paramedics and emergency personnel are checking on your cell phone if they are treating you, and you are unresponsive. A British paramedic develop this concept in 2005. 

So how does it work?  Simply program a contact into your cell phone with the term ICE (I use ICE-Wife and ICE-Son) and add their phone numbers.  I have both work and cell phone numbers included.  That’s all you have to do. So don’t worry about the cold.  Get some ICE and be safe out there.

Workers who lift for a living need to take longer or more frequent breaks than they now do to avoid back injury, a new study from Ohio State University recommends.

The study also suggests that people who are new on the job need to take breaks even more often than experienced workers, and that the risk of injury is higher at the end of a work shift.

People who participated in the study lifted boxes onto conveyor belts for eight hours, while researchers measured the amount of oxygen that was reaching the muscles in their lower back.

The oxygen level indicated how hard the muscles were working and whether they were becoming fatigued, explained William Marras, professor of industrial welding and systems engineering at Ohio State. His research and others’ has found that muscle fatigue is linked to back injury.

The study, which appeared in a recent issue of the journal Clinical Biomechanics, is the first to examine what happens to muscle oxygenation over a full workday, the researchers said. (more…)

OSHA has introduced a new publication on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic.  To help employers determine appropriate workplace practices and precautions, the guidance divides workplaces and work operations into four risk zones, according to the likelihood of employees’ occupational exposure to pandemic influenza.

Recommendations for employee protection are presented for each of the four levels of anticipated risk and include engineering controls, work practices and use of personal protective equipment such as respirators and surgical masks and their relative value in protecting employees. 

Up-to-date information and guidance is available to employers, employees and the general public through www.pandemicflu.gov, the federal government’s Web site for information regarding pandemic flu.