OSHA news September 2020
OSHA News for September
2020
Hello,
September was of
the busiest months for 2020. The new
class on how to do a respirator fit test using bitrex and irritant smoke has
been very popular. Contact the Construction Safety Council if interest. I an
finding most were just given a respirator. Medical evaluations were also not
done. Grainger said global shortage on Bitrex fit testing kits.
10
most frequently cited written OSHA programs for industry?
This
my list. What would be yours?
1)
Hazard communication program
2)
Lockout and Energy Control Procedures
3)
Respirators
4)
Bloodborne pathogen exposure program
5)
OSHA Recordkeeping
6)
Confined space
7)
Written PPE hazardous assessment
8)
Electrical safety-related work practices program
9)
Emergency action plan
10)
Hearing Conservation Program
This month’s
powerpoint is Hearing Conservation. I was surprised to see I never passed this
out in the years. Hearing loss is trending up each year for adults and there is
not much that is said about it.
The colder
weather is coming and I hope you got a good set of gloves for the frosty
weather.
John
OSHA News.
1) VA issues first COVID rules
2) OSHA Silica
enforcement directive is out.
3) DOL lawyer
assigned to lead OSHA Region. Chicago?
4) NJ OSHA inspection charged for extortion.
5) OSHA cited Smithfield for COVIS.
6) OSHA announces
Harwood training grants.
https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/national/09182020
7) The
U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule Sept. 22 to clarify when
a worker is an “employee” covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) versus
an independent contractor.
8) OSHA is hiring in the midwest.
here is the link to the Peoria Area Office Safety Technician job
announcement: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/579545400
It opened today, September 24, 2020, and will close on October
7. The announcement is open to the public with no language requirement. Please
feel free to pass this along. Thank you.
Naperville and Cincinnati, open from 9/22/2020 to 10/5/2020:
Open to the public, Spanish required: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/579542900
Open to the public, no language requirement: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/579543600
Chicago South and Columbus, open from 9/23/2020 to 10/6/2020:
Open to the public, no language requirement: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/579544500
9) Iowa OSHA issues $950
penalty to meatpacker for covid.
Iowa
Premium Beef has been ordered to pay a $957 fine after hundreds of workers fell
ill to COVID-19. The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued
the citation – the first to a meat plant – for a minor record-keeping
violation.
The
coronavirus outbreak in April at the Iowa Premium Beef plant in Tama, IA,
resulted in 338 of its 850 workers testing positive. That’s 80 more than the
state had previously reported, according to inspection records released this
week.
OSHA’s
Iowa division announced in June it had launched inspections at the Tama plant
and four other meatpacking plants where COVID-19 outbreaks had occurred. The
inspections did not lead to any citations at the other four meat plants - Tyson
Foods plants in Waterloo, Columbus Junction and Perry and the JBS plant in
Marshalltown.
The
agency cited Iowa Premium Beef in August for failing to keep a required log of
workplace-related injuries and illnesses, and for failing to provide the
document within four hours after inspectors requested it. Both violations were
labeled “other-than-serious.”
In a
settlement approved on Sept. 2, OSHA reduced the proposed fine from $1,914 to
$957 and the company also agreed to correct the violations.
10) A Texas oilfield services company is suing the
Labor Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for
allegedly withholding recordings and documents of worker interviews from an
OSHA investigation of a workplace accident that occurred in Galveston, Texas.
https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/SchlumbergerTechnologyCoporationvUnitedStatesDepartmentofLaborOcc?1601417185
11) OSHA's withholding of the details of the violation could
damage law enforcement
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/coronavirus/osha-withholding-of-violation-details-likely-to-hurt-enforcement-1?fbclid=IwAR2lGW-PCD5XYj7SzIEp4ryEAeLU_FpBKe8lFLS_jqeXzFYCD2TL82BypUA
12) Oregon OSHA new covid rule for workplaces
Other Major News
Stories.
1) COVID-19 deaths ( I did not count the
presumptive cases.
Presumptive cases not
counted
Friday September 25,
2020 – 190338 deaths, 6,980,351 infectied
Friday September 18,
2020 - 185002 deaths, 6,670,496 infected
Friday September 11,
2020, - 180080 deaths,
6,397,547
Friday, September 4
2020 – 175656 deaths, 6,183,405
2) The Role of leading and lagging indicators
https://www.onepetro.org/journal-paper/ASSE-20-08-29
3) Global harmonization of safety regulations for the use of
industrial robots
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4667039/
4) Two cases of Legionnaire’s disease at Pontiac
prison.
https://www.wjbc.com/2020/09/11/2-cases-of-legionnaires-disease-reported-at-pontiac-correctional-center/?fbclid=IwAR10I8d558W_HfsD2guRRC2CWU4H4LOvZRedrsZF1M9TjKgB2_X1_Wn2HQI
5) Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Law:
Public Act 101-0221 amended the Illinois Human Rights Act ("IHRA")
requiring: Illinois employers to provide annual sexual harassment prevention
training by December 31, 2020 and annually thereafter;
6) Two managers charged in nursing home’s 76
deaths.
https://skillednursingnews.com/2020/09/two-former-nursing-home-leaders-charged-with-criminal-neglect-in-wake-of-76-covid-19-deaths/?fbclid=IwAR1AGvzhH2aD2mioqEUjR3zX0A81rePJXcIAXw9UopbXmXjW5GkQmdmTyy8
OSHA Citations
for September
ZERO!!!! Over $40
K – Two months in a row.
Safety Training
at Non-Profits (Check Sites for Starting Dates)
OSHA 510 CSC Oct 5-8
NIU 7300
Confined Space Oct
8
OSHA 511 Oct 19-22 NIU
Rockford
NIU is Northern
Illinois University OSHA Education Center http://www.nsec.niu.edu
FREE machine
Guarding https://www.nsec.niu.edu/nsec/course-schedules/free-courses/free-machinery-courses/index.shtml
CSC is the
Construction Safety Council in Hillside. Www.Buildsafe.org
TRMA is Three
Rivers Manufacturers Association
www.trma.org
NSC is National
Safety Council http://www.nsec.niu.edu/nsec/
I usually teach
only part of the 30 hour and the 500 series. I have been teaching many 10/30
hour class for private companies. I have
taught 2142 people this year. I teach evenings, weekends, early mornings too. I
teach in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Indiana.
All presentations
are put on slideshare.net for free downloading. I put this presentation at this
link. https://www.slideshare.net/JohnNewquist/noise-and-hearing-conservation-2020
I use your
feedback to make changes to make corrections.
