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Note From Jay Jamali: Miller has announced a recall of their shadow beam anchor used for fall protection. Please refer to the Recall Information listed Below. You can also download the Miller recall sheet (PDF Format) for pictures about the items covered in the Miller recall notice. An alternative for the recalled item from another manufacturer can be found by Clicking Here Stop Use and Return Notice Immediate Attention Required Please read, review and follow the instructions in this notice carefully.
The returned product will be inspected and retrofitted or replaced as required. All reasonable efforts will be made to return the retrofitted product or a replacement product to you within three working days. To help compensate for the inconvenience, we will replace any other parts on the beam anchor that are excessively worn due to normal use as well as clean the units for you. |
1.1. DOT requires that by September 25, 2003, each person who offers for transportation in commerce or transports in commerce one or more of the following hazardous materials must develop and adhere to a security plan for hazardous materials: 1.1.1. A highway route-controlled quantity of a Class 7 (radioactive) material, as defined in 49CFR173.403, in a motor vehicle, rail car, or freight container;1.1.2. More than 25 kg (55 pounds) of a Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 (explosive) material in a motor vehicle, rail car, or freight container;1.1.3. More than one L (1.06 qt) per package of a material poisonous by inhalation, as defined in 49CFR171.8, that meets the criteria for Hazard Zone A, as specified in 49CFR173.116(a) or 173.133(a);1.1.4. A shipment of a quantity of hazardous materials in a bulk packaging having a capacity equal to or greater than 13,248 L (3,500 gallons) for liquids or gases or more than 13.24 cubic meters (468 cubic feet) for solids;1.1.5. A shipment in other than a bulk packaging of 2,268 kg (5,000 pounds) gross weight or more of one class of hazardous materials for which placarding of a vehicle, rail car, or freight container is required for that class under the provisions of subpart F.1.1.6. A select agent or toxin regulated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under 42 CFR part 73; or1.1.7. A quantity of hazardous material that requires placarding under the provisions of subpart F.The training requirements are as follows:1.1. By December 22, 2003 DOT requires each hazmat employee to receive In-depth Hazmat Security (IHS) training concerning the security plan and its implementation if a hazmat security plan is required for the employer.1.1.1. New hazmat employees must receive IHS training within 90 days after employment.1.2. The IHS training must include:1.2.1. Company security objectives,1.2.2. Specific security procedures,1.2.3. Employee responsibilities,1.2.4. Actions to take in the event of a security breach,1.2.5. The organizational security structure.1.3. Hazmat employees at facilities that are not required to generate a HSP are required to receive Hazmat Security Awareness Level (HSAL) training:1.3.1. Within 90 days of hire1.3.2. During the first scheduled 3 year refresher training1.3.3. At the latest by March 24, 2006.1.4. The HSAL training must include:1.4.1. Security risks associated with hazardous materials transportation,1.4.2. Methods designed to enhance transportation security and1.4.3. How to recognize and respond to possible security threats1.5. The training shall be conducted in a manner that is understandable to the employee.1.6. Refresher hazmat security training shall be provided every three years, and when the following situations occur:1.7.1. Changes in the HSP render previous training obsolete; 1.7.2. Inadequacies in the employee's knowledge of the HSP indicate that the employee has not retained the requisite understanding or Any other situation arises in which retraining appears necessary to ensure the security of hazardous materials. |
Alert release - July 31, 2003 It has come to our attention that some of our clients may not be aware of the new Department Of Transportation (DOT) regulatory requirements that goes into effect September 25, 2003.49CFR172.800" Each person who offers for transportation or transports one or more of the following hazardous materials must develop and adhere to a security plan for hazardous materials that conforms to the requirements of this subpart:
§ 172.802 At a minimum, a security plan must include the following elements:
The security plan
must be in writing and must be retained for as long as it remains in
effect. Copies of the security
plan, or portions thereof, must be available to the employees who are
responsible for implementing it, consistent with personnel security clearance
or background investigation restrictions and a demonstrated need to know.
The security plan must be revised and updated as necessary to reflect
changing circumstances. When the security plan is updated or revised,
all copies of the plan must be maintained as of the date of the most
recent revision."Enviro Safetech can assist in determining if this
requirement applies to your operation and develop the written security
plan, as well as provide DOT HM-126 or 181 training. T: 408-941-9393 |
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OSHA STEEL ERECTION STANDARD TAKES EFFECT The nation's iron workers have enhanced workplace safety protections as a result of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's new steel erection standard, which goes into effect 1/18/02.This regulation will help prevent many of the 2,300 unnecessary injuries and 35 fatalities that occur in this industry every year. Developed in conjunction with industry and union groups, the new rule is expected to save employers nearly $40 million a year. The new standard improves protection to iron workers by placing special emphasis on the most serious hazards in the steel erection industry. These include hazards associated with working under loads; hoisting, landing and placing decking; column stability; double connections; landing and placing steel joists, and falls to lower levels. Although the new steel erection
requirements are now in effect, OSHA will not conduct general
schedule inspections for 60 days, until March 19, 2002. During
this period, the agency will emphasize outreach and education
to assist the industry in training employees on the new requirements. |
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Highlights of OSHA's Recordkeeping Rule 1-The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to log occupational injuries and illnesses.
2-The above requirement has been revised and takes effect January 1, 2002, except for provisions covering hearing loss and musculoskeletal disorders, which OSHA is delaying for 1 year - until January 1, 2003. 3-The following is a brief summary of key provisions of the rule.
4-States that operate their own job safety and health programs will be adopting comparable recordkeeping rules that will also be effective January 1, 2002.
5-All of the above mentioned forms can be downloaded from WWW.OSHA .GOV or your state OSHA web site.
6-This information has been provided by Jay Jamali, CSP, CHMM, CHCM who is the Environmental Health and Safety Director for Enviro Safetech Incorporated. Mr. Jamali is considered to be an expert in OSHA compliance and a lecturer for the University of California safety management certificate program. |
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MSA ANNOUNCES Stop Use & Recall Notice for Sure-Stop Shock Absorbers Concerning MSA Surety Sure-Stop Shock Absorbers and fall protection systems using the Sure -Stop shock absorber Manufactured from May through October of 2001/MSA is currently investigating a reported incident involving an MSA Surety Sure-Stop lanyard. Their initial findings revealed that the lanyard was improperly manufactured. Although it appeared to be functional, it provided no fall arrest protection to the user. This notice is directed to all purchasers of products that potentially could also contain this manufacturing error.MSA asks that you carefully review this notice and immediately remove from service all affected fall protection components such as:MSA Surety Sure-Stop lanyardsMSA Surety Gravity harnesses with integral Sure-Stop shock absorbersMSA Surety Sure-Grab rope grab/fall arresterCertain kits containing the MSA Surety Sure-Stop shock absorberFor more info Click to Visit the MSA Website. To download a PDF document of the Recall Click Here |
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New OSHA, Joint Commission Agreement Expected to Enhance Healthcare Compliance An education partnership agreement renewed OSHA and JCAHO will help healthcare organizations meet JCAHO accreditation expectations and comply with OSHA regulations. The educational aspect of the partnership is expected to improve efficiency and reduce duplication in oversight activities.The JCAHO-OSHA partnership was first established in 1996. The not-for-profit independent commission evaluates and accredits nearly 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the U.S.
The goals of the partnership are to minimize duplications in compliance activities between the two organizations and to foster improvement in the management of safety and health issues in the health care industry, the release said. |
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Jeffress Labels NASA as "Best of Best" For Worker Safety, Health in Federal Sector OSHA Administrator Charles Jeffress praised the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for its safety approach in the workplace, labeling the agency as the "best of the best" in workplace safety and health in the federal sector.NASA has established a collection of actions that will enable the agency to reach the goal of being the nation's leader in safety and occupational health and in the safety of the products and services it provides. Zero mishaps in the NASA workplace are expected and achievable according to James Lloyd of NASA's safety and risk management division.NASA's safety policy stresses prevention, the review of hazards, a careful approach to waivers and deviations, encouraging the workforce to report hazards and management response, and learning from mishaps. NASA's mentor is DuPont, an organization known for its strong safety culture. NASA was the first federal government work site approved for membership in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program, in October 1999. |
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State Plan States Decline Jurisdiction; OSHA Will Continue to Cover USPS Workers OSHA will continue to cover U.S. Postal Service facilities in the 23 states that operate their own job safety enforcement programs because all of those states decline to assert jurisdiction over the USPS sites. OSHA offered the state-plan states the opportunity to amend their plans to extend their jurisdiction to USPS or to decline such jurisdiction.Postal Service facilities and nearly 1 million USPS employees were brought under OSHA jurisdiction in September 1998 when President Clinton signed the Postal Employees Safety Enhancement Act. Under the act, Congress allowed states to either assert jurisdiction over USPS sites or allow OSHA to cover the facilities. The final rule modifies each state's regulations to document that coverage of USPS workplaces and employees remains a federal OSHA responsibility.OSHA now regulates the working conditions of USPS employees as well as contract workers in official USPS mail operations, such as contract mail carriers and truck drivers transporting and unloading mail. However, agency standards do not apply to working conditions regulated by the DOT. In additional, OSHA said it regulates the working conditions of postal stations located in other public or commercial facilities. The final rule also issued technical corrections to maritime jurisdiction in several of the states; military jurisdiction in Washington State; coverage on Indian Reservations in the State of Oregon; and information on where plan documents may be inspected. |
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House Approves Bill to Place Defibrillators For Employees, Others in Federal Buildings A bill that would require that Department of Health and Human Services to make recommendations and implement guidelines for the placement of defibrillators devices for helping cardiac arrest victims in federal building passed the House by voice vote May 23 statement. The Cardiac Arrest Survival Act is intended to improve the survival rates of individuals who experience cardiac arrest in federal buildings and to establish protections from civil liability for persons who use the devices during emergencies. Automatic external defibrillators are devices that send a jolt of electricity through the heart to restore the organ's natural rhythm.The HHS would also be required to publish recommendations on training in the use of such devices, training oversight, maintenance and testing and coordinating placement and use of AEDs with local emergency medical systems.In addition, the bill would provide "Good Samaritan" immunity to individuals who inadvertently cause harm to another through the use of a defibrillator in an emergency. The immunity from civil liability would not be available if the harm was caused by intentional misconduct or gross negligence, or if the harm was caused by a health professional acting in a professional capacity.According to the bill, more than 700 individuals die each day from sudden cardiac arrest, and two out of three of the deaths occur before the patient reaches the hospital. Estimates show that up to 30 % of these victims could be saved if they had access to immediate medical treatment, including defibrillation, the bill said. A bill requiring the Federal Aviation Administration to make a decision regarding requiring automatic external defibrillators to be carried on commercial aircraft was signed into law in April 1998. |
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NIOSH-UPDATE, Working women face high risks from work stress, musculoskeletal injuries, other disorders Working women compose an increasingly large proportion of the U.S. work force. They also face high risk from job-related stress, musculoskeletal injuries, violence, and other hazards of the modern workplace, new reports by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conclude. In many respects, the risks are higher than those for male workers.NIOSH researchers describe their findings in two articles and an editorial in the Spring 2000 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Women's Association. The editorial provides an overview of occupational health and safety hazards for working women. One of the articles addresses work stress and women. The other article, co-written by authors from NIOSH and two other organizations, examines health and safety concerns for working women in construction."Many factors heighten certain risks of work-related injury, illness, and death for female workers," said NIOSH Director Linda Rosenstock, M.D., M.P.H. "It is important to recognize these hazards and to keep all workers, women and men alike, safe on the job."Women currently make up almost half of the general U.S. work force. In the growing health care industry, where a complex range of hazards exists, including latex allergy, back injuries, and needlestick injuries, about 80 percent of the work force is female.Increasingly, women are moving into occupations once held exclusively by men, such as the construction trades. In such instances, physiological differences between women and men can translate into occupational hazards, as when women operate equipment designed for male workers of larger stature.Women workers are at disproportionately high risk for musculoskeletal injuries on the job, suffering 63 percent of all work-related repetitive motion injuries. Hazards such as radiation, glycol ethers, lead, and strenuous physical labor can affect a woman's reproductive health, including pregnancy outcomes. Violence is also a special concern for women workers. Homicide is the leading cause of job-related death for women, and women also are at increased risk of non-fatal assault.The NIOSH article "Working Women and Stress" finds that:
The article "Women in Construction: Occupational Health and Working Conditions," finds that:
Further information on job-related stress appears in a NIOSH document, "Stress ... At Work," DHHS (NIOSH) Publication 99-101, issued in 1999. Additional information on protecting the health and safety of women in construction appears in another NIOSH document, "Providing Safety and Health Protection for a Diverse Construction Workforce: Issues and Ideas," DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 99-140. For copies of those documents or for other information on the health and safety of working women, call the toll-free NIOSH information number, 1-800-35-NIOSH (1-800-356-4674), or visit NIOSH on the World Wide Web at www.cdc.gov/niosh. |
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Washington State Sets Ergonomics Rule Washington State has adopted an ergonomics rule. The plan to phase the rule in over the next 2 to 5 years. The state will appoint an independent panel to ensure the rule requirements and the proposed enforcement policies are fair and consistent. In Washington State, ergonomic injuries comprise a third of all workers' compensation claims. The important features of the rule are:
For more information, contact the Washington State Department of Labor and Industry (306) 902-5400. |
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A New Resource on Construction Safety and Health Starting in August 2000, a new web site, the Electronic Library of Construction Safety and Health, eLCOSH, will provide a wide range of materials on construction safety and health. The goal is to improve safety and health for construction workers by making such information easier to obtain than in the past. A similar project, the National Agricultural Safety Database since 1997 has been on the Internet at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nasd/nasdhome.htmlDevelopment of eLCOSH is being supported through a grant to the Center to Protect Workers' Rights (CPWR) from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CPWR is the research arm of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, which consists of 15 affiliate unions. Workers, contractors, researchers, and others will be able to download information from a broad range of sources - in English, Spanish, and other languages.The materials will include:
Postings will be limited, with rare exceptions, to items that apply directly to construction safety and health. eLCOSH will provide links to related web sites. |
In an
on-going effort to ensure that Miller offers the safest fall protection
products in the industry, we thoroughly investigated an issue reported
by one end-user involving the Miller 8814-12 Shadow Beam Anchor.
It is important to note that no fall or injury was involved with
this report. Our findings reveal that the plunger pin assembly can
be damaged under certain conditions. As a result,
the service-life of the product could be compromised and the problem
could be difficult to find through an end-user inspection. Although
there have not been any injuries or accidents related to this product,
our highest priority is the safety of our customers. Given that,
we have decided that all Miller 8814-12 and 8814-24 Beam Anchors with
the dates of manufacture specified below must be brought into our facility
to be evaluated and retrofitted or replaced as necessary.Products Included in this Notice: Miller
8814-12, 8814-24 and 040114 Shadow Beam AnchorsManufacture Dates: November
14, 2002 – December 10, 2004 As indicated
above, this notice only affects the model numbers listed above manufactured
within the specified dates. All other models
including the 8811, 8812, 8813, 8815 and 8816 Series are not affected
by this notice. Please take the following steps immediately: