Michigan State Grants Mine Safety Training Newsletter 98-2 Text Program Updates Proposal for Next Year's Funding Submitted Program's Web Site Continues to Improve Program Personnel Continue to Expand Services to Mines Winter Workshops Attended by 233 People Changes in MSHA that May Affect You Managers - The Key to Workplace Safety and Health? Old vs. New Respirator Standards Safe Forklift Operation What's Happening at OSHA? Manager - Dave Carlson 906/487-2453, Email dcarlson@mtu.edu Mining Engineering Department Mary Ewert - Clerk 906/487-2272 Michigan Technological University Program Director/Department Chair - Francis Otuonye 906/487-2610 Houghton, MI 49931 Contact Dave Carlson at the phone number listed above for assistance with setting up a safety training workshop. Contact Mary Ewert for locating suitable videos and other training materials or handouts for your in-house workshops. If we can't answer your safety-related questions we will find out or put you in touch with someone who can. See our internet home page at the address listed above. Program Updates Proposal for Next Year's Funding Submitted We have submitted our proposal for next year's funding starting October 1, 1998, and at this time there is no reason to believe it won't be funded. Program's Web Site Continues to Improve Phil Eggerding is continually adding information to our web site on the Internet. Some of the information contained in our Program's web site is as follows: 1. Ranking of latest MSHA citations at Michigan's two field offices. 2. A checklist of regulations by topic area. 3. Information on the various services offered by our program. 4. Listing of the various types of part 48 training offered by us. 5. Phone numbers for various MSHA offices. 6. Quarterly Newsletters for the past two years. 7. Descriptions of our CD-ROM and FTP site for training materials. 8. An alphabetized listing of videos available in our lending library and written reviews of recently purchased videos. 9. A section discussing dangers around abandoned mines. 10. Links to other relevant web sites. 11. FTP site containing the following downloadable information: a. Fatal accident descriptions for training purposes. b. Graphics for mine safety trainers c. PowerPoint training programs. Other useful training materials MSHA's web site (http://www.msha.gov/) also contains a lot of valuable information including regu-lations, fatal accident reports, the Holmes Safety Bulletin, MSHA policy manuals, and information on numerous other safety-related topics. Program Personnel Continue to Expand Services to Mines Program personnel are continually working to develop new capabilities to better serve the State's mines and general industry. New services now being offered include: 1) Hazards Assessment Analysis - Determine what personal protective equipment is required, develop confined space work practices, perform respirator fit testing and training, 2) Dust monitoring using personal and continuous samplers to assess compliance with the standards and deter-mine the sources of high readings, 3) Industrial Haulage (forklift operator training to meet State requirements), 4) Hazardous Energy Control - development, evaluation and testing of procedures for isolating machines or equipment from the input of hazardous energy during maintenance operations, and affixing appropriate locks or tags to energy-isolating devices to prevent any unexpected energization, startup, or release of stored energy that could injure workers, 5) Safety Audits and Safety Plan Development - Review of potential workplace hazards and conditions and development of an appropriate written plan to address them. Since these services are not covered by the Program's grant, the entire cost must be invoiced to clients. For help in any of these areas, contact David Carlson at the address or phone number given at the top of page 1. Winter Workshops Attended by 233 People Winter workshops held in Marquette, Gaylord, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids in cooperation with the Michigan Chapter of the Holmes Safety Association and MSHA were attended by a total of 233 people. Marquette had 48, Gaylord 56, Ann Arbor 86, and Grand Rapids 43. Topics ranged from MSHA policies, regulations, and citations to fall protection and dust control. We plan to continue the workshops next winter during the same February - March period. These workshops provide an excellent opportunity for Managers and Supervisors to refresh and update knowledge needed to improve in-house safety programs. Changes in MSHA that May Affect You MSHA will soon argue, in test cases, that any citation is Significant and Substantial so long as it is not "remote or speculative". MSHA assessed 209 cases of Sect. 110 c personal liability during the 1997 fiscal year. Expect MSHA to get tough on seat belt use during 1998. If an inspector finds a truck driver not wearing a seat belt, for example, other miners may be questioned to see how often supervisors check safety-belt use. If MSHA decides only lip service is being given to seat belt use, expect higher "negligence" findings than in the past. Expect MSHA visits on Mondays and Fridays as well as other days this year. 5. Mine operators are being asked to guard against longer hours that may lead to shorter employee attention spans, fatigue and lost-time or disabling injuries. Managers -- the Key to Safety and Health? Most of us will agree that, whether or not an employee works safely, is dependent largely on the following factors: Priority placed on safety Knowledge, experience, and dexterity Training Workplace conditions Employee's day-to-day condition or fitness for duty. It is, however, more difficult to agree who is responsible when an accident that is related to one or more of these factors occurs. For this reason, it is instructive to look at each factor and determine which are in the employee's control and which are in management's control. It is apparent that none of the above factors are entirely in the employee's control, and that management has much more freedom in making decisions with regard to each than the employee. Each of the factors is looked at in detail in the following paragraphs. Factor 1- priority placed on safety is often largely based on the employee's perception of management priorities as well as on his/her knowledge, training and experience. Employees who have personally suffered losses resulting from accidents will view safety much more seriously than those who haven't. However, it doesn't take any employee long to learn whether or not workplace health and safety are management priorities. For example if a foreman instructs a worker to give a conveyor roller a shot of grease while it is running, when the procedure calls for shut down and lockout, the worker will conclude that safety is not a priority. A manager's words and actions which he/she may be unaware of, send employees a message. Thus the wise old saying "to sell something you must believe in it". For safety to be a priority with employees, it is essential that this message always be that safety is a priority with management. All good employees desire to please their supervisors and will attempt to develop the same attitudes as they perceive management has. Factor 2 - employee knowledge, experience, and dexterity - Management must decide whether or not the employee has sufficient knowledge and experience to perform a job correctly. Experience in hazard recognition is also important, but difficult to gain first hand and still remain alive and well. Safety and health training are, therefore, necessary to teach the employee how to avoid taking actions that can cause him/her to get seriously injured and the consequences of such actions. Some people have natural dexterity which leads them to excel in sports. Others may completely lack dexterity, but have excellent memories. Still others may have neither dexterity nor memory, but have the ability to learn from the experiences of others. Managers must select the right persons to perform various job tasks. However, a perfect fit is virtually impossible. This fact along with day-to-day variations in each individual's dexterity, ability to concentrate, attention to detail, level of caution, etc. makes it necessary to compensate by putting in safeguards. Factor 3 - employee training -- Management must decide on the amount, content, and frequency of task training, testing and evaluation. Training includes formal safety and health training classes as well as informal on-the-job instructions from supervisors and from other employees. Once a year job hazard recognition training tends to be a wake-up call, but is probably not a suitable means to significantly impact injury incidence rates. What is needed is a workforce that is motivated to continually look for hazards, to make others aware of them, and to take the steps needed to eliminate them as they occur. Managers and supervisors need to ask: "how can I motivate my employees to this needed level of safety awareness"? Factor 4 - workplace conditions - These include such things as administrative policies which affect safety and health, proper safe-guards, operating procedures, time lapse between recognition of a hazardous procedure or condition and correction. Factor 5 - Employees condition or fitness for duty on a day-to-day basis - This concerns administrative policies about how a supervisor goes about determining employee fitness. For example, if the employee complains about not feeling good, should he be allowed to go home? If the supervisor notices physical impairment, what criteria should he/she use to determine if that level of impairment will affect job safety? The above considerations lead to the conclusion that management plays an extremely important role in workplace safety and health. So what can we offer to help cope with these immense responsibilities. It would be easy to oversimplify the situation and say managers need more training in hazard recognition etc. so they can correct the problems that exist. While hazard recognition training has benefits for managers also, we think managers need to be trained to use the resources they have - namely how best to get experienced workers to participate in the safety process. Managers need to recognize first of all that it is the employees, not the supervisor, who are most knowledgeable about what is safe and what is unsafe in the workplace. This concept might sound foreign at first, but once it is fully understood, the proper foundation to a safe and healthy workplace has been laid. Then it is only necessary for managers to learn how to access this resource. The key word is communication. Managers must consistently communicate that safety is a high management priority and learn how to motivate experienced employees to make use of their knowledge of unsafe workplace practices/conditions. It will never happen if workers are afraid that their safety suggestions will be viewed unfavorably or receive a negative response. On the other hand, if workers sincerely believe that supervisors and managers want their advice and suggestions about unsafe conditions and practices and how to correct them, most will feel good about being able to offer this help. Managers at all levels starting at the top must learn to sincerely seek the help of employees in determining what is unsafe, what improvements are needed and how best to make them. Managers and supervisors need to be taught how to respond negatively to poorly-thought-out suggestions, while still encouraging further employee participation. Ignoring the suggestion is not a fruitful approach. A clear well-thought-out explanation is essential. Supervisors must also understand that taking quick action on good suggestions is one of the most important motivating factors for further employee participation; also that the lack of action discourages further employee participation. The trust and improved communications that will result from a sincere management effort will not only result in marked improvements in workplace safety and health, but will greatly improve employee and management morale and the level of success of the business. A good safety program is, in reality, simply an outcome of a caring relationship between management and employees. When employees are fully convinced that management sincerely cares about what is best for them, they, in turn, will be more willing to contribute their minds and bodies to making the company successful. Old vs. New Respirator Standards The main changes in the new standard for approval of respiratory protective devices (42 CFR Part 84 replaced 30 CFR Part 11) are the elimination of respirator classifications for dust/mist, dust/mist/ fume, paint, and pesticides. Respirators are now classified on their performance in air containing oil mist. Where no oil exists, type N respirators are suitable. Respirators classified R can tolerate some oil in the air being filtered, and those classified P can tolerate more oil in the air. Each of the above classifications is broken down further by how efficient the filter is in removing the hardest-to-filter particle sizes. The three efficiencies (in percent) are 95, 99, and 100. Thus a given respirator would be classified in one of nine different ways -- N95, N99, N100, R95, R99, R100, P95, P99, or P100. Mines which have been cited by MSHA for overexposure to dust are required to have a respiratory protection program which includes training and fit testing those who must wear a respirator. Safe Forklift Operation -Operator to remain seated and secured at all times -Passengers on forklifts should be strictly forbidden, unless there is a separate seat provided with a restraint -Other people should be kept clear when forklift is operating -Sudden stops and starts should be avoided -Load made secure and lowered to safe center of gravity before carrying -No part of the operator's body should protrude beyond the overhead protection -Forklifts should operate within a designated area, separate from pedestrians -Operator should remain in the cabin when a forklift overturns What's Happening at OSHA OSHA regulations are not enforced in the mining industry. It is, however, interesting to know what is happening at OSHA, since many OSHA regulatory policies appear to be modified into MSHA policies at a later date. 1996 ACCIDENT DATA IN -- One fatal work injury occurs every 110 minutes, while one disabling occupational injury occurs every eight seconds, according to the latest edition of the National Safety Council's 1997 edition of Accident Facts. Leading causes of work-related deaths are motor vehicle crashes, homicides, falls to a lower level and being struck by an object. Six thousand American lives were lost and 3.9 million American workers were injured by these occurrences in 1996. Overall, Americans pay an estimated $444.1 billion each year for medical expenses, property damages, employer costs, fire losses and other expenses related to job injuries. WRITTEN PLAN REQUIRED IN REVISED OSHA RESPIRATORY PROTECTION RULE -- Employers will have to develop a written respiratory protection program under a revised respiratory protection standard published January 8. 1998 by OSHA. A written program that covered respirator use and cleaning was mandatory in the previous standard, but "the general elements of the written program have been expanded, reordered and updated," in the new rule, OSHA said. OSHA stressed that "health and safety programs can best be effectively implemented and evaluated when written." The agency said that developing a written program "is the most efficient way of ensuring that the program reflects the unique characteristics of each workplace." OSHA officials believe that a written program will help employers, workers, and compliance officers "gauge the adequacy of a given program." The new respiratory protection final rule becomes effective April 8. The standard is available on the following website: www.safetyonline.net/osha UTILITY PRESIDENT JAILED FOR CPSC VIOLATIONS -- President of Colorado-based Utility Free, John D'Angelo, a distributor of alternative energy products, was sentenced to two years in jail for shipping hazardous waste products in inadequate containers and for not labeling them, says the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). A 15-year-old boy died after drinking a highly corrosive, clear, electrolyte solution out of a plastic milk jug from the company, mistaking it for water because it was not marked toxic. D'Angelo pled guilty to 15 counts of improperly shipping hazardous substances, including the electrolyte solution. His jail time is the longest ever imposed for violations of laws enforced by CPSC. BODY BELTS NOT ACCEPTABLE UNDER OSHA IN 1998 -- Body belts as part of construction workers personal fall arrest systems will no longer be acceptable as of January 1, 1998. Instead, locking snap hooks must now be used according to OSHA's fall protection rule that covers the construction industry. These requirements are part of the 1994 final rule on fall protection safety standards. OSHA has stated that body belts are acceptable in certain limited situations including aerial lift systems where the belt is part of a positioning device body belt system limiting free fall to two feet; use for linemen who work in the electrical industry; and all steel erection activities.