Greater Illinois OSHA News January 13, 2006
Vol 2. No. 1
Happy New Year!
Taking down Christmas decorations shouldn’t be a hazard to your health. These city workers are very creative in making their version of a homemade aerial lift. Of course, this is in live downtown traffic.
(photo by John Newquist)
Would you use this respirator?
OSHA requires all the respirators to be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. There is leakage at the inhalation valve inside the mask that cannot be seen due to the coating of yellow paint. coated them. (Photo by Larken Akins)
OSHA at 35 years
On Dec 29, 1970, the OSH Act was signed into law. Before that, workers had very little protection in the work place for safety issues. Some of the major events in OSHA in Illinois.:
1975 – Illinois turned over enforcement to Federal OSHA under Governor Dan Walker.
1979 – Rosemont Horizon Collapse. Five Workers Killed
1980 – Whirlpool Decision – Affirmed that workers- Workers can refuse work if they feel reasonable apprehension that death or serious injury or illness might occur as a result of performing the work
1981 – Five ironworkersIronworkers died when rebar broke on their suspended work platform at the State of Illinois Building in Chicago.
1983 - Film Recovery – Death of an immigrant workerImmigrant worked in a cyanide tank cleaning incident leads to first criminal prosecution of the OSH Act by Cook County State’s Attorney.
1984 – Refinery explosion in Lemont IL kills 17 workers
1985 – Special Chemical Emphasis Program initiatedon chemical starts due to Bhopal Disaster
1985 – First egregious citation for recordkeeping at Belvidere autoBelevidere Auto plant.
1985 – Mobil Oil receives first VPP in Illinois.
1986 - Hazard communication standard ordered by Congress
1987 – DOT/OSHA stop payment to I-39 bridge Contractor who refused to wear fall protection during Steel Erection
1986 – Swing Scaffold Emphasis Programs started.
1989 – Lockout tagout becomes law
1989 – OSHA fines ordered raised by Congress
1991 – Felony conviction of an Illinois safety director for coercion during an OSHA trenching inspection
1991 – First DIOSH Safety Day held
1992 – Confined Space for General Industry becomesIndusty become law.
1992 – Process Safety Standard for Chemicals is ordered by Congress.
1995 - Fall Protection Standard for Constructionconstruction is released
1995 – Largest fine issued (over $1 million) to an Illinois employerEmployer at a Blue Island Refinery following deaths of 2 workers. (over one million)
1996 – Criminal Prosecution for falsifying confined space permits at a Winnebago grain fatality.
1999 – First egregious Silica citation upheld in Rockford.
1999 – Forklift training standard is released
2002 – Soldier Field Partner established for construction
2003 – Illinois fatality study used to target high hazard areas such as Forklifts and Power lines as Local Emphasis Programs.
2005 – OSHA wins lockout tagout decision against in power plants in IL
Grain and Feed Association of Illinois
Alliance Signing Ceremony, December 27, 2005
The Grain and Feed Association of Illinois (GFAI) signed an Alliance with the Illinois Area Offices of OSHA and Onsite Safety and Health Consultation, IL DCEO, on December 27, 2005 in OSHA’sthe Peoria OSHA Area Office. Present were: John Newquist, Area Director, Peoria OSHA Area Office; Jeffrey Adkisson, GFAI Executive Vice President and Treasurer; David Kramer, Program Manager, On-site Safety and Health Consultation, IL Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO); John Lee, GFAI Director of Safety, Health and Environmental Services; and, Peggy Zweber, Compliance Assistance Specialist, Peoria OSHA Area Office.
The Grain and Feed Association of Illinois is the statewide trade association for the agri-business side of the grain and feed industry in Illinois. The association is made up of 330 companies representing over 1,000 facilities in the state of Illinois and the neighboring states of Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri and Iowa. Over 92% of the commercial grain storage space in the state of Illinois is represented by members of the Association. In addition, there are over 200 associate members from across the nation that supply goods and services to the industry.
GFAI has a long safety and health working relationship with OSHA, including a 3 year partnership which ended just last year. As part of this alliance, OSHA will be contributing articles on safety and health issues to newsletters which go out to their membership. In addition to an article on emergency evacuation plans, exits and fire extinguishers, which has already has been included in a GFAI newsletter, plans are in the works to cover machine guarding, and fall protection, along with other industry related topics. The alliance is also important because it provides OSHA and Onsite Consultation an opportunity to reach many small businesses throughout the State of Illinois.
Upcoming Z Project Conference
Safety and Health Hazard Control Submissions for 2005 Due by April 7th !!!
As we are nearing the end of another year, this is a reminder to those participants in the Z Project to prepare your 2005 safety and health hazard control submissions for the May, 2006 conference. Although the due date of April 7th seems far away, it always sneaks up on you, as contributors from past years know. This is the 4th year of our customer service project and we have received some excellent examples of hazard controls in the last three years.
For those of you not familiar with the project, throughout the year, companies collect fixes to hazards and share them with us. OSHA, in turn, shares them at the conference. Also, we recognize some of the best controls with awards: Aveoli Award (for a health hazard control); Lifesaver Award (for a control that could have saved a life); Pluto Award (for the most innovative control); and, the Area Director’s Choice Award (the AD’s choice of all submissions). I will also send reminders to the 150+ employers on my mailing list with the forms for submissions. Surprisingly, several companies/associations from Iowa and Indiana
have contacted me, so the word of our program is spreading. If you want to be included in the Z Project mailing and learn more about the program, just email Peggy Zweber, Compliance Assistance Specialist, at zweber.peggy@dol.gov or call me at the Peoria OSHA office, 309/589-7033.
Also, as a result of our Alliance with Richland Community College, they are assisting us in creating a website for the Z Project participants with information on the past control submissions, past award recipients, current submission forms, past press releases and, hopefully, an interactive page where employers can help each other solve their safety and health challenges. It should be up and running soon. It will be announced in our Area Office newsletter and I will email the participants.
The conference will be held at the Richland Community College, Shilling Center, Decatur, on May 2, 2006 from 8:30 a.m. until noon. We hope to see you there. Remember – Safety and Health adds value, to your work, to your life, and to your community.
Peggy Zweber, Compliance Assistance Specialist
Peoria OSHA Area Office
Serving the 81 counties of Central and Southern Illinois
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