Participate in the National Utility Contractors Association’s Trench Safety Stand Down Week or get all the great training materials that are provided at: https://www.nuca.com/tssd and use them whenever you have your Trench Safety training.
On May 13, 2019, a 59-year-old supervisor with 40 years of experience was fatally injured when the stationary crane he was operating fell 85 feet into the quarry.
Best Practices:
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
As someone who used the old system often I’ll hold judgement on the new until I’ve used it awhile or at least until it works. That’s assuming it’s not doing what it’s supposed to now because when I enter my own ID I get someone else’s information or none at all depending on what report I ask for. Either way, if you use this information you may want to study the manual, yes unlike most software that you just intuitively click on what you’d like to see, you better study this one. It’s here.
I’m continually surprised by how many workers in my class don’t know the GHS pictograms. Why is that an issue?
National Safety Council has an interactive game to test their knowledge. You can have them play it online. You can see their score. Even though the program gets complimentary of any decent score, 100% is the only one that actually counts. You can refresh the page and do it over and over. Try it out here.
Whether you are involved in construction or another industry you can use the materials that OSHA has available to focus on fall prevention this week (and beyond of course). The OSHA page is here and features publications, posters, and more.
This is a friendly reminder to report your hours for January – March. If you don’t report them by today some inspector is bound to ask to see them and will issue you a fine. It’s easy to report them online… BUT WAIT! The MSHA site is down AGAIN for maintenance! It was down 5 days in February. Why can’t these guys keep the lights on. I have NEVER discovered any other site down for maintenance. I hope you don’t have to look up a number to report a serious accident or anything. If you do and they say you took too long to call or your quarterlies were filed late just show them this..
On Thursday, March 7, 2019, a 38-year-old miner with 10 years of mining experience received fatal injuries while he was working on the pad of a highwall mining machine (HWM). The miner was contacted in a pinch point between a post and a section of the HWM (i.e. push beam) that was being removed as part of the normal mining cycle.
Best Practices:
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
On March 7, 2019, a 46-year-contractor with three years of experience was fatally injured when he lost his balance and fell backwards through a narrow gap between two log washers and landed on a cable tray approximately 12 feet below. The victim was changing drive belts on a log washer motor when his wrench slipped off of a bolt he was tightening, causing the loss of balance.
Best Practices:
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
On March 6, 2019, a 35-year-old contractor with 35 weeks of experience was fatally injured when he was struck by a relief valve that was ejected from a 500-ton hydraulic jack. The hydraulic jack was being engaged to make contact with the frame of a P&H 4100A shovel when the relief valve was ejected.
Best Practices:
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), Final Report (pdf).
I look forward to seeing members of the ICCA for Safety Day on March 13 where I will be speaking on the dangers of silica and how to use OSHA’s Table 1 from the Construction Silica Standard to protect workers.