My (Late) Grown-Up Christmas List

I've been planning this blog post for about a month now, but (of course) couldn't get to it until today. One of my favorite Christmas songs is Amy Grant's rendition of "My Grown-Up Christmas List." (Ignore the fire safety issues in the video if you watch it.) It seemed especially poignant this year, so I decided to make my own list of things I am hoping will occur in the future.

I re-wrote the song to fit my wishes. Yay for creative license! Sort of an open letter to the OSHA and NIOSH Santa or other wish-granting djinn. Since it's by the Industrious Hygienist, there's a slight element of sarcasm mixed with my true wish for all workers to come home safely to their families.

"Grown-Up Christmas List"

Do you remember me 
I worked for you, you see 
I wrote to you on disability


Well I'm all healed-up now 
But still need help somehow 
I'm unemployed
But still so full of dreams


So here's my working wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need


[Chorus:]
No more lives thrown away
That workers have a say
And speak up for their rights
Everyone would be well-trained
And want to do their best
And keep each other safe
This is my grown-up Christmas list


As children we believed
That parents would come home
To happy families
Without injury


Insurance surely sees
That claims and penalties
Can never heal a hurting human soul


[Chorus]


What are these concepts called
Prevention and respect
Maybe if we work together now
We�ll learn who we should protect

[Chorus]


So that's it...my wishes. Education, training, respect, and proactive approaches to health and safety for every worker. By the way, rhyming with safety terms is surprisingly difficult.

Look for the annual Industrious Hygienist end-of-year cartoon tomorrow!

No more weekly inspections of mechanical power presses?

Link to full news release here. Link to Federal Register notice here.

OSHA's most recent national news release discusses outdated or obsolete regulations.

On November 20, 2013, OSHA issued a rule with a notice of proposed rule-making to revise the requirement for weekly inspections of mechanical power presses.

These presses are used to punch holes in and form/assemble metal and other materials. When the presses are not properly maintained or damaged, workers operating the presses can experience injuries on their hands, and arms.

Per the Federal Register notice: "OSHA is revising a provision that requires employers to develop and maintain certification records of periodic inspections performed on the presses by adding a requirement that they develop and maintain certification records of any maintenance and repairs they perform on the presses during the periodic inspections. [...] OSHA is removing the requirement from another provision that employers develop and maintain certification records of weekly inspections and tests performed on the presses." 

OSHA believes that removing the requirement for documented weekly inspection and test certifications will save 613,600 hours of unnecessary paperwork time for businesses. Pending no significantly adverse comments, the final rule will become effective on February 18, 2014.

If this raises your hackles, you may submit comments electronically at www.regulations.gov.

The proposed rule-making would modify the existing standard's maintenance and repair requirements to be in line with the ANSI standard for mechanical power presses. ANSI B11.01-2009 requires that maintenance and repair be completed before the press is operated, and that the entire machine be "certified" as being maintained and repaired properly prior to use.

Thoughts on OSHA's proposed new rule for improved tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses

See the full news release from OSHA here.

After the release of the 2012 Occupational Injuries and Illnesses report was released earlier this month, OSHA posted a news release about a proposed new rule relating to record keeping.

The 2012 Occupational Injuries and Illnesses report estimated that 3 million workers were injured on the job during 2012. 

In the proposed rule, OSHA wants to add a requirement for businesses with more than 250 employees, who already keep records of workplace injuries and illnesses, to electronically submit their injury and illness records to OSHA each quarter.  OSHA also wants to add a requirement for businesses with 20 or more employees in high-hazard industries to submit their summary of work-related injuries and illnesses (OSHA Form 300A) electronically every year.

These efforts to improve the transparency of government are interesting.

From a faculty/educator perspective, if the government is able to publish the injury and illness data more than once per year, it will allow safety and industrial hygiene students and educators to focus their attention and perhaps lead to some interesting research or meta-analyses.