OSHA and NIOSH Collaborate in Developing Guidance Documents to Help Reduce Worker Exposure to Respiratory Hazards
     The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed two guidance documents, one for workers and one for employers, which describe the use of spirometry testing to help reduce and prevent worker exposure to respiratory hazards. Spirometry is a common pulmonary function test that measures how well a person moves air in and out of the lungs. Workers who inhale some types of dusts, gases or other air contaminants can, over time, experience lung damage. The spirometry test may detect breathing problems or significant changes in a worker's lung function at an early stage. The information in these new guidance documents assists employers with identifying and eliminating hazardous workplace exposures and helping reduce or prevent the chances of workers developing lung disease.
     The new OSHA-NIOSH-produced Infosheet for employers clarifies what spirometry is, when it is needed, and critical elements that employers can use to evaluate the quality of spirometry services provided to their workers. The Infosheet also describes how monitoring workers' lung function over time can help individuals by identifying problems early and make the workplace safer by identifying when workplace respiratory hazards are causing problems that must be corrected. The companion document, OSHA-NIOSH Worker Info, explains to workers the importance of taking a spirometry test, what to do during the test, and their right to receive an explanation and copy of test results.

For more information and to download the Infosheet and Worker Information documents.

OSHA Schedules Teleconferences for Small Business Input Regarding Musculoskeletal Disorder Reporting
     OSHA, in partnership with the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, today announced a series of three teleconferences to reach out to the small business community for input on OSHA's proposal to add a column for work-related musculoskeletal disorders on employer injury and illness logs. This proposal would require those employers already mandated to keep injury and illness records to add the step of checking a column when recording work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
     Small businesses from around the country are encouraged to participate in the teleconferences. The first will be held on Monday, April 11 at 1:30 p.m. EDT. The second and third will be held Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at 9 a.m. EDT and 1:30 p.m. EDT. Participants may provide input about their experiences in recording work-related MSDs and how they believe the proposed rule would impact them.

For more information and to participate in the teleconferences.

NIOSH Workplace Safety Messages on Spanish-Language TV
     NIOSH developed content for a series of short Spanish-language videos on occupational safety and health for the Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network (HITN). The videos, narrated by Maria Sofia Lioce of NIOSH, aired on a live national Spanish-language talk show on HITN. The videos featured topics on

• silicosis
• tobacco disease
• construction and fall prevention
• preventing infections due to hepatitis B, HIV, and other bloodborne pathogens
• working teens
• and occupational cancer

NIOSH Updates Resources for Construction Safety
     Construction workers and employers build our roads, houses, and workplaces and repair and maintain our nation's physical infrastructure. Construction includes building new structures, renovations involving additions, alterations, or maintenance, and repair of buildings or engineering projects such as highways or utility systems. The NIOSH Construction Program provides national and world leadership to prevent work-related illness, injury, disability, and death by systematically gathering information, conducting targeted scientific research, and translating the knowledge gained into products, solutions and services tailored to meet construction needs. In collaboration with industry and labor partners and stakeholders, including OSHA, NIOSH is dedicated to improving safety and health conditions for all construction workers. In 2009, there were 816 fatal on-the-job injuries to construction workers – more than in any other single industry sector and nearly one out of every five work-related deaths in the U.S. that year (19%).

For more information.

     OSHA's "$afety Pays" program is an interactive expert system to assist employers in estimating the costs of occupational injuries and illnesses and the impact on a company's profitability. This system uses a company's profit margin, the AVERAGE costs of an injury or illness, and an indirect cost multiplier to project the amount of sales a company would need to generate in order to cover those costs. Businesses can use this information to predict the direct and indirect impact of injuries and illnesses and the estimated sales needed to compensate for these losses.
    
     The "$afety Pays" program will:

• Offer choices from a set of Lost Work Day injuries and illnesses
• Prompt users for information to do the analysis
• Allow users to input the actual loss figures or workers' compensation costs
• Generate a report of the costs and the sales needed to cover those costs

Click here for more information and to run the $afety Pays Program.

From Voltgard, One of the Most Trusted Names in Electrical Safety, Comes the FIELD AIR INFLATION TOOL (FAIT)

This new product will make the daily visual inspection of your rubber insulating gloves easier. No more escaping air when you try to roll up your gloves for a visual inspection. Simply slide the end of the cuff of the glove into the “mouth” of the FAIT. Roll the glove over and around the FAIT to create a tight seal for better inflation and superior visual inspection of your rubber gloves.

For immediate shipment. 

News You Can Use

Report Focuses on Lessons Learned to Improve Worker Safety and Health
     The University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Sustainable Production, has released the report Lessons Learned: Solutions for Workplace Safety and Health.  The report's six case studies illustrate systemic failures to protect workers, communities, and the environment such as:

• Immigrant workers killed and severely burned in house fires caused by the chemicals used to refinish wood floors.
• Health care workers, hotel housekeepers, as well as meat and poultry workers disabled by back injuries and other musculoskeletal strain from long hours of awkward postures and repetitive movements.
• Long and avoidable delays in the scientific and legal proceedings used to set health standards protecting workers from cancer-causing chemicals.

     The publication also outlines some paths that can more effectively protect workers, the communities in which they live, consumers, and the environment, while stimulating innovation in safer forms of production.

For the full report.

Tinnitus and Hearing Protection: Fiction and Fact
     Misinformation and misconceptions about tinnitus and hearing protection are plentiful, so an overview of fiction and fact is a good place to start our discussion. First, a definition: tinnitus is a generic word for the perception of sound that is not associated with actual physical acoustic energy. It seems to come from inside the head and lasts for at least a few minutes at a time. It is commonly described as ringing, chirping, roaring, buzzing, whooshing, hissing, frying bacon, peeping or something similar.
     Actually, tinnitus is more common than you might think. Estimates suggest that from 6-17% of the population, or perhaps as many as 50 million Americans, have tinnitus. A much smaller percentage (about 3-7% of the general population) is bothered by tinnitus enough to seek medical attention. An even smaller percentage of people consider their tinnitus so debilitating that it keeps them from leading a “normal” life. Chances are good that if you start asking your family members and friends, you will discover someone who has tinnitus and who can relate to your experience. People who have hearing loss, particularly noise-induced hearing loss, and the elderly population, are more likely to have tinnitus.
     Tinnitus is an indicator of abnormal function, but it is not a disease in and of itself. In this way it is similar to headache, elevated blood pressure, or dizziness, each of which signals something is wrong with the body, but none is a disease. Although tinnitus has been studied extensively, the cause and mechanics of tinnitus are not well understood. Because the ear detects sound and the brain processes it, it is generally accepted that both the hearing mechanism and the brain are involved with the origination of tinnitus. Some believe tinnitus is extra activity of the auditory neurons – in the nerve pathways of hearing. Tinnitus is often associated with certain medications, but interestingly having tinnitus is not more common among people who consume caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol. Things like the condition of one’s health, noise exposure, and the degree of hearing loss are all correlated with the presence and the severity of tinnitus.

For more information.

Source: 3M Occupational Health & Environmental Safety Division
 

The Respiratory Protection Solution for Welding Fume Exposures
     Increasing knowledge about the health hazards associated with breathing harmful levels of welding fume and gases and the serious illnesses that can result emphasizes the need for welders to be informed, trained and equipped with appropriate protection. Welding fume is composed of very fine, solid particles of metal oxides that form during the welding process. The makeup of welding fume is dependent on many factors, including the composition of the material being welded, the welding method and the type of shielding. The amount of each substance a welder inhales is dependant on several additional variables, including welding amperage, welding position, area ventilation (or weather conditions if outdoors) and local ventilation. Accurate exposure assessment usually requires air sampling by an industrial hygienist or trained individual. Exposures to certain components of welding fume above the occupational exposure limits negatively can affect many parts of the body, including the lungs, heart, kidneys, reproductive system and central nervous system.

For the full report.

Source: EHS Today Magazine

DOT Issues Tougher Hazmat Shipping Rule
     The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced that Department inspectors will now have greater authority when it comes to ensuring the safety of hazardous materials in the stream of transportation. The new rule, which implements authority granted by Congress, allows inspectors to investigate shipments of hazardous materials during transport and take tougher enforcement action against companies shipping in an unsafe manner. The new authority allows Department inspectors to close down shipping companies with poor safety records. It also specifically authorizes inspectors to take immediate action when there is a significant safety problem with a package in transit. This includes ordering restrictions, bans, or immediate recalls of faulty packages. With these new provisions, inspectors will be able to temporarily detain and inspect packages that may pose a serious threat to life, property, or the environment.
     Department inspectors will also be able to immediately open packages even if the request to open them is refused. However, if a particular package is detained, the rest of the shipment may continue in transit.

For the full report.

For the final rule and related internal operations manual.

Source: Occupational Health & Safety Magazine

1. HEADS UP SAFETY - Keep cool under your safety cap with sweatbands, cooling pads, and cooling bandana caps that can be worn under protective headgear.
2. HEADS UP SAFETY - Our safety caps and full-brim safety hats include universal accessory slots for attaching earmuffs and faceshields.
3. HEADS UP SAFETY - Protective headgear can be ordered in a wide variety of stock colors for such applications as matching company colors, identifying departments, or identifying supervisors
4. HEADS UP SAFETY - Adding your company logo and/or safety slogans to safety caps and hats are low-cost options that can promote corporate identify.
5. HEADS UP SAFETY - And don't forget about cool, comfortable disposable hairnets and bouffant caps for food preparation, food service, and controlled environment workers.

Want more information on any of this month's Saf-T-Tips?  E-mail us for a prompt reply.

Arc Flash Protective Faceshield Features Superior Color Definition

• Provides low level arc flash hazard protection for NFPA 70E-2009 PPE Category Level 0 and 1 (9.9 cal/cm2 arc rating).
• Meets ANSI Z87.1+ High Impact Standards and ASTM F-2178-06 Standards.
• Molded polycarbonate window provides complete panoramic vision with the best possible clarity with absolutely no distortion.
• Specially formulated anti-fog window is impact and splash resistant.
• Excellent color definition - the best in the industry.
• Shipped complete with white safety cap and comfortable, durable ratchet headgear.
• Satisfaction guaranteed - see fact sheet for details.

For a complete fact sheet and to order for immediate shipment.

Mary Parsley is a member of the Saf-T-Gard Sales Team and joined Saf-T-Gard about 1 year ago.

• What Mary likes about Saf-T-Gard: "We have a great mix of people with various levels of knowledge within the industry - so you learn something new every day.  Everyone is very helpful."
• What makes Mary's day: "Taking care of the customer and knowing we provide products and services that help to keep them safe."
• Mary's outside interests are: "Spending time with family and friends - reading, walking, bike riding."
• Anything else: "Looking forward to being a first time grandparent in May!!"