“An unguarded excavation is only seconds away from becoming a grave”
July 14, 2011
A Massachusetts contractor with a long history of violating workplace safety standards faces a total of $354,000 in new proposed fines from OSHA, chiefly for exposing its employees to cave-in hazards at work sites in Cambridge and Framingham.
Are practices and procedures regarding confined spaces in the construction industry different than those in general industry? They shouldn’t be, but with a different OSHA standard and at different knowledge levels, they are.
Employers are required to provide safety training when employees are, or could be, exposed to hazards on the jobsite. But exactly what are the OSHA requirements for that training? What about the format and the language used to train?
In any industry where employees are required to work from an elevated height, the risks of falling must be taken into careful consideration. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, “Falls are one of the leading causes of traumatic occupational death, accounting for eight percent of all occupational fatalities from trauma.”
When OSHA published its proposed rule for Walking-Working Surfaces and Fall Protection last year, it was the culmination of a regulatory project that’s been brewing for decades. For the members of the Fall Protection Group of the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA), it was a mark of success in efforts to get the agency to focus on protecting workers from falls.
Between a 911 call and the arrival of paramedics and an ambulance, a crucial difference to an accident victim’s recovery on a construction site can be made by the immediate onsite availability of trained employee-responders with the right first-aid equipment and supplies.
Because a number of safety standards are available for fall protection equipment manufacture and use, it can be difficult to determine which standard should be followed, depending on the work being performed and the type of structure involved.
To make sure it is safe for you to wear a respirator, your employer must pay for you to have a medical evaluation (unless you’re using a disposable dust respirator that is not required). You may be asked to fill out a questionnaire for a doctor or health care practitioner to check.
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