14th Biennial Governor's Pacific Rim Safety and Health Conference 2016

I was recently asked by a colleague to create an advertisement for their consulting business, for use in an quarter page ad in a conference program. I'm proud of how it turned out, so I'm sharing the first draft of the ad below. If you want to see the final version of the ad, you'll have to attend the conference in Hawaii!

  

Ad for Apex Environmental Safety and Health Consulting, Inc.

Apex Environmental Safety and Health Consulting is a sponsor for the 14th Biennial Governor's Pacific Rim Safety and Health Conference (2016) in Waikiki from May 2 to 4, 2016. My colleague, Nira Cooray, is presenting on "Measurement of Noise: Tricks & Tips for the Safety Professional." The conference's theme is "E Ho 'o Lokahi I Ke Ola Mau" ("Coming Together to Preserve Life Forever"). The conference is hosted by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Hawaii Chapter. Mahalo to Apex for asking me to draw this spunky ad!

A molasses spill in Hawaii? I hearken back to 1919 in Boston.

I was intrigued to see the following news story from Hawaii about the molasses spill that occurred in Honolulu Harbor (or was first noticed, accounts differ) on Monday. According to the article, approximately 224,000 gallons of molasses spilled into the harbor and the United States Environmental Protection Agency is sending two spill experts to help the state characterize the damage and work towards a sustainable solution.

This article from Hawaii News Now explains that the responsible party, Matson Navigation Company, released more than a ton of molasses into the harbor. An investigation was done by Hawaii Department of Health when dead fish started showing throughout the harbor on Monday, about "three days after a faulty Matson pipe discharged 233,000 gallons of molasses into the water, resulting in a mass kill."

According to Reuters, the release was first noticed on Monday after a ship pulled out to sea, loaded with molasses. On Tuesday, Matson discovered a leak in the pipeline used to fill the ship. The Reuters article contained a statement from the Department of Health that the molasses would likely not harm humans, but it was "polluting the water, causing fish to die and could lead to an increase in predator species such as sharks, barracuda and eels."

CNN already beat me to the punch (or some sort of molasses-based beverage) on making the comparison, but this is not the first time molasses has caused such widespread devastation. Courtesy of Wikipedia, in 1919 Boston, a molasses storage tank burst and approximately 2.3 million gallons of molasses were released from the storage area of the Purity Distilling Company into North End Boston. The "wave" of molasses ranged from 8 to 15 feet high and was estimated to had moved up to 35 miles per hour, sweeping buildings off their foundations, damaging railroad girders, and killing 21 people (150 injured).  

Here's a picture courtesy of the Boston Public Library Flickr account:

Firemen in Boston's North End standing in sometimes knee-deep molasses. (c) Boston Public Library.

The Wikipedia article notes that the "harbor was brown with molasses until summer" (spill happened in January 1919). I couldn't find any information on whether the molasses spill into the Boston harbor also resulted in a large fish and other marine life die-off.

Many news companies ran articles with indirect quotes from a senior executive for Matson stating that Matson had not really planned ahead of time for the possibility of a spill. The Honolulu Star Advertiser ran a story that Matson "did not have a response plan for a molasses spill, even though its vessels export as much as 2,000 tons of the viscous liquid each week to the mainland from a pipeline at Hono�lulu Harbor."

The response plan they're talking about would likely be similar to a Spill Countermeasures and Control Plan (SPCC). An SPCC Plan requires companies with the potential to release oil discharges (and possibly other toxic substances, I am not an SPCC expert) to prepare an SPCC Plan, amend the plan when conditions change, and of course implement the plan, so that prevention of spills is the primary objective. SPCC Plans also cover preparedness activities and response to spills. SPCC is intended to protect navigable waters and their adjoining shorelines. There's probably a maritime equivalent, but the Industrious Hygienist lives in Arizona, so my knowledge of maritime standards is limited.

Safety Violations in Hospitality Industry - Hawaii's latest

Kauai Beach Resort faces $50K in fines for safety violations - Thegardenisland.com: Local

Courtesy of The Garden Island, a Kauai hotel (Kauai Beach Resort) received 14 safety and health violations from the OSHA Honolulu office. Several of the violations were classified as serious, involving storage/handling/labeling of propane tanks, electrical wiring, electrical work practices by untrained maintenance personnel, and training and use of personal respiratory and electrical personal protective equipment (PPE).

The hospitality industry is one of the local emphasis programs in place for the Hawaii OSHA office, and they like to focus on the "behind the scenes" areas of the hotels and resorts. This was a routine inspection, not based on any specific complaint.

In April, the OSHA Honolulu office cited the owner of a Waikiki hotel, giving Halekulani Corp. 17 safety violations, 14 of which were classified as serious. These serious violations involved PPE use and availability, fire extinguisher maintenance and inspection, and the providing protective equipment for electrical work. According to the announcement from OSHA, the hotel owners also "failed to provide training in hazardous waste operations and emergency response standards." There were also issues with labeling, access to electrical panels, and issues with labeling on gas tanks.

A common violation in the hospitality industry is the blood borne pathogens standard - laundry and housekeeping staff may have exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM), and per OSHA, "it is the employer's responsibility to determine which job classifications or specific tasks and procedures involve reasonably anticipated contact with blood or OPIM. "

Courtesy of Curtis Law Construction in Kauai, according to Hawaii OSHA representatives, the following are the top violations in Hawaii construction industry (paraphrased from webpage linked above):

• Fall Protection (lanyards not attached, guardrails and toeboards not sufficient, ladders not secured)
• Trenching (sloping, shoring, and trench boxes not in compliance, no competent person inspections)
• Fork Lifts (no certificates of training, no seat belt or horn in use, load capacity not written on forklift)
• Heavy Equipment (operators not trained properly, no backup alarms, seat belts not being used, brakes not checked, no reflective vests)
• Cranes (operators not certified, no records or maintenance logs, no electrical safety training, rigging issues, swing radius not barricaded)
• Electrical Safety (no grounding pins, unlabeled circuit breakers, no front panel, no open space in front of breaker/area in front of panel blocked, lack of outer insulation)
• General (machine guarding issues, no hazard communication program, insufficient training, PPE not worn or not sufficient)

There is not a Safety/Health Topics page on federal OSHA's website for the hospitality industry, so finding compliance information may be difficult for owners of hotels and other hospitality industry companies. Other locales in the U.S. with a high tourism rate and large number of hospitality industries may notice an uptick in routine inspections at their facilities.