OSHA said its Site-Specific Targeting 2009 program will focus enforcement efforts on nearly 4,000 high-hazard worksites on the agency’s list for comprehensive safety inspections. The agency said the SST program helps it direct enforcement resources to workplaces such as manufacturing and nursing homes where the highest rate of injuries and illnesses occur.

Changes to this year’s program include dividing the primary list of establishments slated for inspection into three sectors–manufacturing, non-manufacturing, and nursing homes. Rather than using one rate for all establishments, OSHA established minimum injury and illness rates for each group, allowing the agency to inspect even more establishments that exceed the minimum rates specific to that sector. Additionally, some facilities that did not answer an OSHA Data Initiative survey will be added to the inspection list. The agency said its intent is to deter employers from not responding to avoid inspection.

“These inspections examine all aspects of a workplace’s operations and the effectiveness of its safety and health efforts,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “The SST program emphasizes to employers the importance of ensuring safe working conditions for workers.”

The SST-09 inspection program is based on injury and illness data from the agency’s 2008 Data Initiative survey of 80,000 employers, with 40 or more workers, in industries with historically high occupational injury and illness rates. The primary and secondary lists show case rates calculated from the number of days away from work, restricted work activity or job transfer (DART), or a “days away from work injury and illness” (DAFWII) rate.

The secondary list shows establishments in manufacturing with a DART rate between 6 and 8, or a DAFWII rate between 4 and 13; non-manufacturing with a DART rate between 6 and 15, or a DAFWII rate between 4 and 13; and nursing homes and personal care facilities with DART or DAFWII rates between 15 and 17 or between 11 and 14, respectively.

Just a couple of years ago the only people putting solar panels on their houses wore Birkenstocks and preferred tofu to T-bones. But now that energy bills are skyrocketing and it has become downright fashionable to reduce your carbon footprint, the idea of adding solar electricity to your home doesn’t sound all that far-fetched to the rest of us.

Green technology has also become more cost-effective, thanks to the economic stimulus package, which offers a 30% tax credit for extreme green projects completed before 2017.

That said, even with the tax credit, these projects aren’t cheap. They make the most sense if you are planning to shell out thousands to replace your aging heating and cooling system anyway and are a resident of one of the 20 states and a few cities offering additional tax incentives.

In Montgomery County, Md., for example, you can get $5,000 in local credits toward solar panels. Here’s what three of the most promising green tech projects will cost you (after the feds’ tax credit) and how long they would take to pay off, assuming your energy bills are in the medium to high range, compared with the national average of $2,200 a year.

The least expensive way to harness the power of El Sol is to heat your water with it. Antifreeze circulates through black tubes up on the roof, where the liquid absorbs heat, and then through your hot-water supply, where it releases that warmth. Since that’s not enough to get the water fully hot, the system pre-warms the water for your conventional heater, lowering your water heating costs, which are about 14% of your energy bill, by 50% to 70%.

Cost: $4,000 to $6,000

Payback time: five to nine years

These units, which can knock 40% to 70% off your total energy bills, make use of the energy stored deep in the earth. In the summer they expel indoor heat - except instead of releasing it into the air, they discharge it hundreds of feet underground. In the winter the pump works in reverse, concentrating underground warmth and using it to heat your house (you’ll need to keep your old heating system as a booster for very cold days).

Cost: $15,000 to $30,000

Payback time: three to 10 years

The problem with solar panels has always been what to do when the sun isn’t shining. With today’s systems your house stays on the electrical grid, which supplies whatever power you need at night and on cloudy days. But when the sun is out, the solar cells produce more electricity than you can use, and the excess goes out to the grid through a two-way meter. The juice you supply is usually credited against what you draw from the utility and should result in a 70% to 100% savings on your electric bills.

Cost: $20,000 to $30,000

Payback time: five to 10 years

EHS Manager at Ecolab .  See job board

Musculoskeletal disorders are caused or aggravated by repetitive motions, forceful exertions, vibration, mechanical compression (hard and sharp edges), and sustained or awkward postures that occur over extended periods of time. MSDs can affect nearly all tissues, the nerves, tendons, tendon sheaths, and muscles, with the upper extremities being the most frequently affected. These injuries range from disorders of the back, the neck, the arms and legs, or the shoulders and involve strains, sprains, or tissue inflammation, and dislocation.

Workers suffering from MSDs may experience less strength for gripping, less range of motion, loss of muscle function, and inability to do everyday tasks. These painful and sometimes crippling injuries develop gradually over periods of weeks, months, and years as the result of the repeated actions required to perform their jobs.

Awareness is the key to preventing serious MSD injuries. It is important for employers and employees alike to know the signs and symptoms of MSDs. These signs and symptoms are often ignored, because they seem slight at first and go away when the employee is not at work. However, as time goes on, the symptoms increase and last longer until finally it’s impossible to perform simple tasks such as holding a drinking glass or keyboarding. Early intervention is essential to recovery.

That’s why it’s important to train employees about MSD signs and symptoms and encourage them to report symptoms as soon as they become aware of them. They also need to understand what may happen if they continue to perform their regular job and don’t report the symptoms. Early reporting is essential to lessen the severity of the injury. The longer warning signs are ignored, the more damage is done, the longer recovery takes, and in some cases, the damage can’t be repaired.

Signs and Symptoms

The presence of MSD signs and/or symptoms is usually the first indication that an employee may be developing an MSD. The signs are objective physical findings that an MSD may be developing. The symptoms, on the other hand, are physical indications that an employee may be developing an MSD.

Symptoms can vary in severity, depending on the amount of exposure to MSD hazards and often appear gradually, for example, as muscle fatigue or pain at work that disappears during rest. Usually symptoms become more severe as exposure continues. If the employee continues to be exposed, symptoms may increase to the point that they interfere with performing the job. Finally, pain may become so severe that the employee is unable to perform physical work activities).

Signs that may indicate an MSD include deformity, decreased grip strength, decreased range of motion, and loss of function. Common symptoms of MSDs include:

• Painful joints,
• Pain, tingling, or numbness in the hands or feet,
• Shooting or stabbing pains in the arms or legs,
• Swelling or inflammation,
• Burning sensation,
• Pain in wrists, shoulders, forearms, or knees,
• Fingers or toes turning white,
• Back or neck pain, and
• Stiffness

The ASSE recently launched a new interactive online safety game designed to help young workers learn how to protect themselves against the many dangers that face them in the service industry.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released a new report titled Personal Preparedness in America: Findings from the 2009 Citizen Corps National Survey that offers data on the public’s thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors related to preparedness and community safety for multiple types of hazards. FEMA says the report’s findings are particularly relevant as the nation prepares for a possible pandemic flu outbreak, hurricane season, and other hazards.

Results from the national survey have important implications for the development of more effective communication and outreach strategies to achieve greater levels of preparedness and participation, the agency says. For example, the results indicate that 30 percent of Americans have not prepared because they think that emergency responders will help them and that more than 60 percent expect to rely on emergency responders in the first 72 hours following a disaster. While government will execute its functions, communications to the public should convey a more realistic understanding of emergency response capacity and emphasize the importance of self-reliance. FEMA concludes that messaging should thus speak to a shared responsibility and stress that everyone has a role to play in preparedness and response.

The survey also found that many people who report being prepared have not completed important preparedness activities or do not have a sound understanding of community plans. Of those who perceived themselves to be prepared, 36 percent did not have a household plan, 78 percent had not conducted a home evacuation drill, and 58 percent did not know their community’s evacuation routes.

Fourteen percent of respondents reported having a physical or other disability that would affect their capacity to respond to an emergency situation. Alarmingly, however, few individuals with disabilities had taken specific actions to help them respond safely in the event of an emergency, the study found. Only 27 percent had taken a CPR or first aid training and less than half (47 percent) had a household plan. Another 14 percent of survey participants indicated they lived with and/or cared for someone with a physical or other disability. Of these individuals, less than 40 percent reported taking a CPR or first aid training (36 percent and 39 percent respectively) and 53 had supplies set aside in their home.

The report notes that practicing response protocols is critical for effective execution; this is true for emergency responders and true for the public. Fewer than half the surveyed individuals (41 percent) had practiced a workplace evacuation drill, only 14 percent had participated in a home evacuation drill, and of those in school and/or with children in school, only 23 percent had participated in a school evacuation drill. And the numbers are much lower for shelter in place drills (27 percent, 10 percent, and 13 percent respectively). Drills and exercises for multiple hazards and multiple locations need to be conducted through social networks, the study found. In addition, community members need to be included more effectively in government-sponsored community exercises.

The survey results indicate that individuals’ perceived utility of preparing and their confidence in their ability to respond varies significantly by disaster type. Only 7 percent of individuals felt that nothing they did would help them handle a natural disaster, whereas 35 percent felt nothing they did would help them in an act of terrorism, such as a biological, chemical, radiological, or explosive attack. All-hazards terminology may mask important nuances relative to conveying personal preparedness guidance for specific hazards. The report thus says it is important to emphasize the survivability of manmade disasters and the relevant protective measures for these hazards.

The report notes that national leaders must be strong advocates for personal preparedness, but adds it is clear that messages specific to individual preparedness must include critical local information, such as information on local hazards, local alerts and warnings, and local community response protocols. Local social networks must also be used to support outreach and education on personal preparedness, such as neighborhoods, the workplace, schools, and faith communities. And the concepts of mutual support at the local, neighborhood level should be emphasized.

To read the survey report, go to www.citizencorps.gov/ready/2009findings.shtm.