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OSHA SUPPORTS "STAY ALERT" CAMPAIGN
TO
PROTECT HIGHWAY WORKERS
The third
annual National Highway Work Zone Safety Week begins April 8, 2002, with an 11
a.m. kickoff event at a work zone site at the I-95/I-495 Interchange at Ritchie
Marlboro Road in Prince George's County, Maryland. Under the banner of
"Roadways Keep America Moving -- Drive Safely in Work Zones," the
event features the unveiling of a memorial wall in honor of those who lost their
lives in highway work zones. Deaths and injuries among highway workers and
others in construction work zones on U.S. highways represent a growing problem,
according to the Federal Highway Administration. In 2000, there were an
estimated 1,093 fatalities in work zones. To prevent crashes, motorists are
urged to remain alert and pay careful attention, minimize distractions, avoid
changing lanes, keep up with the traffic flow, turn on headlights, avoid
tailgating and speeding, expect the unexpected, and be patient. The Work Zone
Safety Awareness Week Program began in December
1999 when a joint cooperative effort was formed to highlight the dangers that both workers and motorists face within highway work zones. Included in that effort is OSHA, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Traffic Safety Services Association, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Association General Contractors, the American Road and Transportation Builders, and more than twenty other groups. A fact sheet and additional materials on the national work zone safety campaign can be accessed from the Federal Highway Administration's safety page at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/fourthlevel/pro_res_wzs_nwzaw.htm?
Reported seat belt use up, NHTSA survey shows
The
percentage of drivers who said they wear their seat belt all the time while
driving rose to 83% in 2000 from 79% in 1998, a recently released National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration survey found. The 2000 Motor Vehicle
Occupant Safety Survey (MVOSS), released in March, showed gains in reported seat
belt use among several groups.
For
example:
88%
of females and 79% of males said they use a seat belt all the time while
driving. That’s up from 84% and 74%, respectively, in 1998.
88%
of Hispanics, 83% of whites and 81% of blacks reported “all the time”·
use, compared with 85%, 79% and 75%, respectively, in 1998.
81%
of drivers aged 16 to 20 reported “all the time” use, as did 76% of·
drivers age 21 to 24. That’s up from 77% and 75%, respectively, in 1998.
Drivers
who said they wore seat belts at least occasionally gave several reasons for
doing so.
95%
of those drivers said they buckled up to avoid serious injury;
86%
said wearing their seat belt was a habit; and
82%
cited seat belt laws.
However, reported seat belt use tends to be higher than observed use. In 2000, drivers’ observed seat belt use was 72%, according to that year’s National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), from which NHTSA draws its official measure of seat belt use. Drivers’ observed seat belt use was 69.6% in the 1998 NOPUS. And according to the MVOSS, some drivers who reported that they use their seat belt all the time later acknowledged that they hadn’t done so at some point while driving during the past day or week. When those drivers are excluded, “all the time” seat belt use dropped to 76.8% in 2000 and to 71.4% in 1998. Drivers who said they wore seat belts part of the time (more often than “rarely” but less than “all the time”) cited several reasons for not buckling up. Sixty-one percent said they didn’t wear the seat belt because they were driving only a short distance; 55% forgot to put the belt on; and 43% said they were in a rush.
Don’t
become a statistic…BUCKLE UP; What’s holding you back!!!!
OSHA advisor wants repeat offenders behind bars
OSHA
chief John Henshaw wants to do something about employers who continually run
afoul of safety and health standards, inspection after inspection. Ron Hayes,
long-time OSHA watchdog and the newest member to the National Advisory Committee
for Occupational Safety and Health, has three ideas:
- Don't
back down from penalties.
- Put
managers of companies constantly in trouble with OSHA behind bars, in prison.
-
Publicize repeat offenders by putting them in a "doghouse" posted on
OSHA's Web site.
OSHA
can't back down, says Hayes. That's the key. Settlement agreements and
negotiations reduce willful penalties from $70,000 to an average of $23,000,
serious violations from $7,000 to $650, and result in an average pay-out of
$2,900 for repeat violations, according to a new book, "A Job To Die
For."
TIDBITS
Six
of the Leaning Tower of Pisa towers eight floors are without safety rails. More
than 250 people have fallen to their deaths since 1174.
Jamie
Lee Curtis' legs are insured.
In
the Middle Ages, Europeans "cured" muscle pains by drinking powdered
gold.
Chemical
plant attack would be devastating
Up to 2.4
million people could be killed or injured in a terrorist attack on a U.S.
manufacturer of toxic chemicals if the plant was located in a densely populated
area, according to a recently released report by the Army surgeon general. The
report, dated October 29, 2001, ranked the threat of attacks against chemical
plants second only to widespread use of biological weapons, such as
contaminating the country's water or food supply, which could result in as many
as 4.18 million casualties. The
study did not address the threat of a nuclear attack. At least 123 U.S. plants
stockpile amounts of toxic chemicals that could endanger more than one million
people, if the chemicals were released and formed lethal vapor clouds, according
to an EPA study last year. The American Chemistry Council recently required
members to complete security studies and correct vulnerabilities, using
guidelines issued by the Justice Department.
A FEW FIRSTS
Parachutes;The
trouble with inventing parachutes is that if you test them yourself, you only
have one chance to get it right. Andre-Jacques Gamerin became the first person
to invent a successful parachute in 1797, when he took a hot-air balloon up to
3,000 feet and then floated back to earth in a basket tethered to a parachute
similar to a large umbrella.
Traffic Lights; The world's first blinking green-and-red traffic light is
believed to be the one erected on the corner of George and Bridge Streets in
London, near Parliament. The manually-operated signal featured a red gaslight
for 'stop" and a green light for "caution." A constable standing
watch for members of Parliament who wanted to cross the busy street operated the
sign. They blew up soon after they were installed, badly injuring the policeman
operating them. The first American traffic light was installed at Euclid Avenue
and 105th St. in Cleveland, Ohio on August 4, 1904. It had red and green lights,
and a warning buzzer to let motorists know when the light was about to change.
Why red and green lights? They're believed to be descended from the practice of
hanging red lights on trains that weren't moving.
Some
things to consider…
3
kinds of people: those who can count & those who can't.
Madness
takes its toll. Please have exact change.
Proofread
carefully to see if you any words out.
KICKING
THE HABIT (PART I)
One of
the hardest habits to break, smoking, is also the most dangerous habit (in terms
of your health) that you can start in the first place. It is the number one
preventable cause of death in the United States, contributing to about 434,000
deaths a year (one in six)-from lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. It
may help to cause Graves' disease, a thyroid gland disorder, and it increases
your risk of getting leukemia. Yet, in spite of all this evidence about 50
million Americans are hooked on tobacco. If you smoke, it will pay you to try to
quit. You can do it. More than 3 million people quit each year. Several programs
exist to help smokers quit. You need to find the one that suits you best. A
program that works for one person may not work for you. And if you quit and
fail, quit again. Sometimes it takes two or three attempts before you achieve
permanent success. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, most methods of quitting have average success rates of 10 to 30
percent. That is, 10 to 30 percent of smokers using them are still not smoking
after a year. The most successful are those methods that combine ways of
combating both the physiological and psychological problems of quitting. Beware
of any commercial program that promises a success rate of more than 30 percent.
Smokers suffer 65 percent more colds, 167 percent more nose and throat
irritations, and have a 300 percent greater incidence of chronic coughs than
nonsmokers. Here's a partial list of contaminants in cigarette smoke:
Toxins: Acetaldehyde, Acetone, Acetonitrile, Ammonia, Argon, Butylamine,
Cadmium, Carbon dioxide, Carbon monoxide, Creosol, Endrin, DDT, Hydrogen
sulfide, Hydrogen cyanide, Lead, Methane, Methyl alcohol, Nickel com-pounds,
Nicotine, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate matter, Phenol, Pyridine and other
gases.
Carcinogens
(and Suspected Carcinogens): Benzene, Chrysene, Formaldehyde, Lead-2 10,
Polonium-210, Benzo (s) pyrene, Dibenzo (a,h) anthracene, Dibenzo (a,h) pyrene,
other hydrocarbons. In part II I'll include some more interesting (and
disturbing) facts about smoking and tips on helping a friend or family member
"kick the habit.
Safety Learning Event from WorkSafe Victoria
28th
February 2002, Greatham Site, Off
the job injury warning
SHELL
has issued a warning about Mobile Phones. They
have reported 3 incidents recently where Mobile Phones have ignited fumes whilst
being answered / ringing during fuelling operations. In the first case, the
phone was placed on the boot lid during fueling, it rang and the ensuing fire
destroyed the car and the pump. In the second, an individual suffered burns to
the face when fumes ignited as he answered a call during fuelling. In the third
case, an individual suffered burns to the thigh and groin as fumes ignited when
the phone, which was in his pocket, rang during fuelling. It is a misconception
that Mobile Phones can’t ignite fuel / fumes. It is believed that the more
modern phones (those that light up when either switched on or when they ring)
have enough energy released to provide the spark for ignition! LEARNING POINTS:
1. Mobile phones should not be used in filling stations. 2. Mobile phones should
be turned off before exiting the vehicle when stopping in a filling station.
OSHA
Announces Comprehensive Plan To Reduce Ergonomic Injuries
Targeted Guidelines and Tough Enforcement Two Key Elements
WASHINGTON
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today unveiled a
comprehensive plan designed to dramatically reduce ergonomic injuries through a
combination of industry-targeted guidelines, tough enforcement measures,
workplace outreach, advanced research, and dedicated efforts to protect Hispanic
and other immigrant workers. "Our goal is to help workers by reducing
ergonomic injuries in the shortest possible time frame," said Labor
Secretary Elaine L. Chao. "This plan is a major improvement over the
rejected old rule because it will prevent ergonomics injuries before they occur
and reach a much larger number of at-risk workers."
Guidelines:
Occupational Safety and Health
Administrator John Henshaw said his agency will immediately begin work on
developing industry and task-specific guidelines to reduce and prevent ergonomic
injuries, often called musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), that occur in the
workplace. OSHA expects to begin releasing guidelines ready for application in
selected industries this year. OSHA will also encourage other businesses and
industries to immediately develop additional guidelines of their own.
Enforcement:
The Department's ergonomics enforcement plan will crack down on bad actors by
coordinating inspections with a legal strategy designed for successful
prosecution. The Department will place special emphasis on industries with the
sorts of serious ergonomics problems that OSHA and DOL attorneys have
successfully addressed in prior 5(a)(1) or General Duty clause cases, including
the Beverly Enterprises and Pepperidge Farm cases. For the first
time, OSHA will have an enforcement plan designed from the start to target
prosecutable ergonomic violations. Also for the first time, inspections will be
coordinated with a legal strategy developed by DOL attorneys that is based on
prior successful ergonomics cases and is designed to maximize successful
prosecutions. And, OSHA will have special ergonomics inspection teams that will,
from the earliest stages, work closely with DOL attorneys and experts to
successfully bring prosecutions under the General Duty clause.
Compliance
Assistance: The new
ergonomics plan also calls for compliance assistance tools to help workplaces
reduce and prevent ergonomic injuries. OSHA will provide specialized training
and information on guidelines and the implementation of successful ergonomics
programs. It will also administer targeted training grants, develop compliance
assistance tools, forge partnerships and create a recognition program to
highlight successful ergonomics injury reduction efforts.
Hispanic
Outreach: As part of the
Department of Labor's cross-agency commitment to protecting immigrant workers,
especially those with limited English proficiency, the new ergonomics plan
includes a specialized focus to help Hispanic and other immigrant workers, many
of whom work in industries with high ergonomic hazard rates.
Ergonomics
Research: The plan also
includes the announcement of a national advisory committee; part of their task
will be to advise OSHA on research gaps. In concert with the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health, OSHA will stimulate and encourage needed
research in this area.
"Bureau
of Labor Statistics' data show that musculoskeletal disorders are already on the
decline. This plan is designed to accelerate that decline as quickly as
possible," said OSHA Administrator John Henshaw. "Thousands of
employers are already working to reduce ergonomic risks without government
mandates. We want to work with them to continuously improve workplace safety and
health. We will go after the bad actors who refuse to take care of their
workers." The new plan was announced barely a year after Republicans and
Democrats in Congress rejected the previous Administration's rule, which was
developed over a period of eight years and was broadly denounced as being
excessively burdensome and complicated. Over the course of the last year, the
Department of Labor conducted three major public forums around the country and
met with scores of stakeholders, collecting hundreds of sets of written comments
and taking testimony from 100 speakers, including organized labor, workers,
medical experts, and businesses.
Safety
Recalls
From
www.SAFETYALERTS.com
Big
Dog Has Recalled the 2002 BMD Apr
2
Reason: Because
a fuel valve's outlet nipple.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Big
Dog Motorcycles Has Recalled the 2002 Boxer, Husky, and Pitbull Apr
2
Reason: Because
the fuel tanks may have been improperly mounted to the motorcycle.
Distribution: Nationwide.
BMW
Has Recalled the 2002 BMW 325XI Apr
2
Reason: Because
of a manufacturing problem with the rear brake rotors.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Lamborghini
Has Recalled the 2002 Lamborghini Murcielago Apr
2
Reason: Because
the lower steering column shaft coupling may have been installed incorrectly.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Honda
Has Recalled the 2000 Acura Accord TL Apr
2
Reason: Because
a component in the inflator of some passenger air bag modules was not welded
properly.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Federated
Merchandising Has Recalled Girl's Capri Pant and Shirt Set Apr
2
Reason: The
buttons in the center of the embroidered flowers on the shirt can detach.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Intercon
Merchandising Has Recalled Mini Beach Chairs Given with "Time Out"
Cosmetics at Sears Apr 2
Reason: The
chairs can collapse.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Lakewood
Has Recalled Electric Heaters
Apr 3
Reason: Poses
a serious electric shock hazard to consumers.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Toyota
Has Recalled the 2003 Toyota Corolla
Apr 2
Reason: Because
the rear axle bolts may loosen.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Subaru
Has Recalled the 2002 Legacy Outback
Apr 2
Reason: Because
the brake master cylinders may not function properly.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Panzer
Motorcycle Has Recalled the 2002 Digger DXF
Apr 2
Reason: Because
the fuel tank seam welds can leak.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Nexl
Sports Has Recalled Motorcycle Helmets
Apr 2
Reason: Because
of incorrect labeling.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Mazda
Has Recalled the 2002 Mazda MVP
Apr 2
Reason: Because
an incorrect gross axle weight rateing was indicated on the label.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Indian
Motorcycle Has Recalled the 2002 Indian Scout and Spirit
Apr 2
Reason: Because
fractures can occur on the left or right side fuel tank.
Distribution: Nationwide.
General
Motors Has Recalled the 2003 Pontiac Vibe
Apr 2
Reason: Because
of potential loose bolts in the rear axle and brake.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Ferrari
Has Recalled the 2001 360 Modena and 360 Spider
Apr 2
Reason: Because
the engine ground strap may not provide the proper electrical ground
Distribution:
Nationwide.
Explorer
Competition Products Has Recalled Explorer Procomp A-Arm Assembly Apr
2
Reason: Because
the A-Arm assembly may crack.
Distribution: Nationwide.
DaimlerChrysler
Has Recalled the 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Apr
2
Reason: Because
the passenger air bag harness was improperly manufactured.
Distribution: Nationwide.
DaimlerChrysler
Has Recalled the 1997 Town and Country, Caravan, and Voyager Apr
2
Reason: Because
the rear seat belt may become inoperative.
Distribution: Nationwide.
DaimlerChrysler
Has Recalled the 2001 Jeep Wrangler Apr
2
Reason: Because
water and impurities can enter into the ignition switch causing a short circuit.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Southern
Welding Has Recalled Oxygen Apr
4
Reason: Good
Manufacturing Practice (GMP's) deviations.
Distribution: GA.
DeWALT
Industrial Tool Has Recalled Circular Saws Apr
4
Reason: The
spindle on the saw may slip.
Distribution: Nationwide.
Crystal
Mountain Water Cooler Has Recalled Water Coolers Apr
4
Reason:
Dispenser's
heater band can short circuit.
Distribution:
Nationwide
and Canada.