SAFETY AUDITS
The OSHA general duty clause requires that the "employer supply a workplace free of recognized hazards." A safety audit is an investigation of the workplace to identify and measure workplace hazards or stressors that can cause sickness, impaired health, or significant discomfort in workers through chemical, physical, ergonomic or biological exposure. DeLisle professionals can provide technical assistance and support to correct any safety or health issues identified in an audit.
A General Industry (OSHA 29 CFR 1910) audit typically includes a walkthrough of the facility and records check to assess:
- Recordkeeping and reporting required by OSHA
- Walking-working surfaces
- Means of egress
- Powered platforms, manlifts, and vehicle-mounted work platforms
- Ventilation and noise
- Hazardous materials
- Personal protective equipment
- General environmental controls
- Medical and first aid
- Fire protection
- Compressed gas and compressed air equipment
- Materials handling and storage
- Machinery and machine guarding
- Hand and portable powered tools
- Welding, cutting and brazing
- Electrical
A Construction Industry (OSHA 29 CFR 1926) audit typically includes a jobsite walkthrough and records check to assess:
- General safety and health provisions
- Recordkeeping and reporting required by OSHA
- Occupational health and environmental controls
- Personal protection and life saving equipment
- Fire protection and prevention
- Signs, signals and barricades
- Materials handling and storage
- Hand and power tools
- Welding and cutting
- Electrical
- Scaffolding
- Fall protection
- Cranes, derricks, hoists, elevators and conveyors
- Motor vehicles and mechanized equipment
- Excavations
- Concrete and masonry
- Steel erection
- Underground construction
- Demolition
- Rollover protection
- Stairways and ladders
- Toxic and hazardous substances
With our staff of experienced construction safety professionals, DeLisle can also provide Site Safety Officers to any construction site to oversee safety compliance.
To check your compliance status, the OSHA Field Inspection Reference Manual is available at the OSHA web site at www.osha.gov.
EXPOSURE ASSESSMENTS
The OSHA general duty clause indicates that employers have a requirement to provide a safe and healthy workplace for all their employees. In most cases, they must provide either risk assessments with exposure monitoring to support their OSHA requirements. This assessment is performed to identify if these employees have been, or are expected to be, exposed to chemical gases and vapors or particulates above established permissible exposure limits. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1000 Subpart Z-Toxic and Hazardous Substances regulation contains exposure limits of many chemicals used in society today.
Liability for long term health effects would support the need for exposure monitoring as well as other industrial hygiene practices including engineering control modifications, personal protective equipment usage, and employee training.
DeLisle routinely conducts a variety of industrial hygiene monitoring and OSHA exposure assessments for contaminants including volatile organic compounds, acids, bases, elementals, and other types of particulate matter. Upon completion of the assessments, technical reports detailing findings and including recommendations are presented. These reports, depending upon client need, may contain photo documentation, computer aided design mapping, methodologies used, and other pertinent project information.
NOISE ASSESSMENTS
Statement: Excessive noise exposure over time can cause hearing loss.
Historically, the effects of noise on an individual has been documented for centuries. Despite the fact that knowledge of hearing loss was growing during the industrial revolution, little was done to protect workers from the latent, and in some cases, immediate affects of excessive noise exposure.
This is still true today. Many areas of industrial manufacturing are in a state of constant fluctuation where new processes are being added, others deleted, walls and other sound attenuation materials are being removed, or noise just simply is not an issue as it relates to production.
As a result, the need for noise assessments and the determination for the need of sound reduction protection is ever present. OSHA has outlined a process to determine the need for hearing conservation programs. This includes dosimetry on potentially affected employees, the establishment of engineering controls or point source reduction on equipment. These are all ways to “harness” rogue noise levels and prevent temporary or permanent hearing loss. DeLisle can assess, administer and engineer your hearing conservation programs.
ERGONOMICS
Work related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) result when there is a mismatch between the physical capacity of workers and the physical demands of their jobs. Each year 1.8 million workers in the United States report work-related MSDs such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, and back injuries. The solution to these injuries lies with ergonomics, the science of fitting the job to the worker. A full workplace investigation to look for actions that typically trigger MSDS would cover items such as:
- Repetition-e.g., repeating the same motion every few seconds for two hours at a time, or using a device (such as a keyboard and/or mouse) steadily for more than 4 hours a day.
- Force-e.g., lifting more than 75 pounds at any one time, or pushing/pulling with more than 20 pounds of initial force (such as pushing a 65 pound box across a tile floor for more than two hours total per day.
- Awkward Postures-e.g., repeatedly raising or working with the hands above the head for more than two hours a day, or working with the back, neck or wrists bent for more than two hours total per day.
- Contact Stress-e.g., using the hand or knee as a hammer more than ten times an hour for more than two hours total per day.
- Vibration-e.g., using tools or equipment that typically have a high vibration levels (such as chainsaws, jack hammers, percussive tools) for more than 30 minutes a day or tools with moderate vibration levels (such as jig saws, grinders, etc.) for more than two hours a day.
DeLisle can provide trained professionals to assess and make recommendations that reduce the chance of MSDs in your workforce. |
