May 2006 OSHA News

Greater Illinois OSHA News             May 31, 2006

Vol. 2. No. 5 

Z Project Conference, May 2, 2006, Area Director’s Choice

The Z Project Conference on May 2nd was a great success and for those of you who weren’t able to attend, we will be doing a series of highlights of the presentations of hazard controls from that conference, starting with the Area Director’s Choice Award recipient, Monsanto Company, Stonington, Illinois.

Monsanto had repetitive motion and potential knife injury challenges in their bagging operation. End of season bags had to be opened, and contents spilled in a pit, exposing employees to lifting, bending and stretching ergo hazards, not to mention the potential of knife cuts in slicing open the bags.  Their hazard control result involved a conveyor, a guarded roto-zip tool, a hopper and a baler, which saved the company 25% in time and a 33% reduction of labor, all for a cost of approximately $100!  Here is their story:

Congratulations to Monsanto/Stonington!

Nervous?

Photo by Ken Koroll

This photo taken in Springfield shows that keeping balanced on a steep roof requires concentration. No slide or fall protection was provided to the workers. 

New 2005 Emergency Cardiovascular Care Guidelines

Every five years, the Guidelines for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care are reviewed and updated.  New guidelines were released last November and are being implemented throughout our training network.  New programs and products are currently being developed based on these guidelines.  For highlights of these changes, visit http://www.americanheart.org/eccguidelines.  The most significant changes in these guidelines were made to simplify CPR instruction by increasing the number of chest compressions delivered per minute and reducing ventilations during CPR.  

Dr. Gary Erisman Retires from Illinois State University

On May 12th, 2006, an end of an era arrived as Dr. Gary Erisman, Instructional Assistant Professor of the Health Sciences Department of Illinois State University retired.  The Peoria OSHA Office has had a long standing relationship with Dr. Erisman’s Health and Safety classes, providing them with insight into OSHA with updates and classes on recordkeeping and inspection activity.  Our office has had a number of interns from ISU, some of whom became permanent fixtures in our offices (Peoria and Fairview Heights).  Dr. Erisman was a major proponent in assisting in the development of those interns and in referring prospective candidates to our program.  We will miss him and hope his successor will continue the tradition.

Our ISU alumni include:  Brian Bothast, Karl Armstrong, Rob Bonack, Becky Styron, Larken Akins, Paula Lethiot, and Trish Rankin.

We wish Dr. Erisman the best in his retirement.

CAS Peggy Zweber and Dr. Gary Erisman on 

May 1st, 2006, at his Health and Safety Class 

During the “OSHA Update”

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General Electric Receives 5 Year Plaque for STAR

General Electric of Mattoon IL successfully passed their OSHA recertification audit this spring. OSHA honored them with a 5 year certification plaque and a new STAR flag. Well done! 

GE Lamp Plant teams with their VPP STAR flag – Celebrating 5 years!!!

Ammonia Release

We just settled a case where a company had required people to use their  noses to detect outdoor ammonia leaks. They have agreed to use monitoring equipment and wear respirators until the level of ammonia can be determined. 

3 Burned in Fire

Fulton county - Three employees were burned when attempting to light a pilot light to a propane gas heater with a grill lighter. Apparently 10 psig was coming out of the propane tank instead of the usual 0.5 psig.

Discrimination Case Settled

Pekin – We settled a case where a worker was laid off for getting an injury. The company didn’t  want an OSHA lost time accident so they admitted to laying off an injured employee to avoid this. The employee will receive back pay and full right to return to work when recovered. 

Struck By Accident

Columbia – A worker at a landscaping retail yard was killed when accidentally run over by an employee using a Bobcat loader. 

Confined Space Double Fatality

Havana – Two workers died in a well pit that was 9 feet deep at a residential location. We are awaiting the coroner’s report to determine cause of death. 

Innovators of the Year

Rob Bonack and Karl Armstrong recently won the National OSHA Innovator of the Year Award for the work on creating a wallet size card for Roofing. On this card are the requirements for shingling and roof sheathing. 

Peoria Changes

I have accepted an offer to transfer to the Chicago Regional Office as Assistant Regional Administrator for Cooperative and State Programs effective June 19th. I would like to thank all the people from the Peoria and Fairview Heights office that made my job easier which gave me time to work on this newsletter. I hope to continue a form of this newsletter at the Regional Office. In 15 months,  I have seen the office go from the bottom to the top of most efficiency measures and complete a thorough audit by the Regional Office with no major deficiencies. The office received an Honorable Mention as it well deserved for Area  Office of the Year because it really now runs itself with very little direction. I think the people have done quite well and should finish up the year in good shape. I would like thank all the people I have met in the course of speeches and meetings. I really appreciated the hospitality and warm reception that I received. Thank you all. 

. Comments

If you would like to receive this newsletter via e-mail, contact "newquist.john@dol.gov". Due to costs, we cannot mail to individual companies. 

Comments on the newsletter should be addressed to John Newquist c/o OSHA, 2918 West Willow Knolls Rd., Peoria, IL 61614 

Peoria office - Phone (309) 589-7033. 

Fairview Heights office - Phone (618) 632-8612

The information contained herein has been compiled and reported with the intent that it is

both reliable and up-to-date, and is offered for general guidance only. Additional safety

measures may be required by your facility under certain conditions or circumstances.

Please seek professional advice for your specific situations.  The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (IL DCEO) can be contacted at 1-800-972-4216.