J. Froats, Ontario Power Generation, Toronto, ON, Canada.
A review of the conventional safety risks associated with coal handling operations and maintenance at five large coal-fired generating stations was conducted during 2002–2003. The review focused primarily on the fixed coal conveying systems from both an operation and maintenance perspective to reduce the risk of nip hazards. A multidisciplinary project team consisting of individuals with a safety, industrial hygiene, and operations and maintenance background was formed to conduct the review. A benchmarking study was initiated to determine best practices within the bulk materials handling industry. This benchmarking effort led to the development of an internal Corporate Safety Standard which was reviewed with the operating stations. A station self-assessment was conducted in determining the stations’ compliance with the requirements of the standard, one of which included a risk assessment. This self-assessment was followed up with a project team evaluation of stations’ status in terms of the requirements of the standard and their action plan to bring into compliance. Action plans primarily dealing with upgrades to machine guarding of nip hazards, training, and operating and maintenance procedure improvements were made as a result of this review. The risk of nip hazards in the coal handling system of these five stations has been substantially reduced. The sharing of this case information will assist other facilities involved in bulk material handling to develop programs, procedures, and training to deal with and manage risks associated with fixed bulk material conveying equipment.
J. Pentikis, M. Lopez, U.S. Army CHPPM, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.
The cost of Department of Defense (DoD) injuries and illnesses just in FY2001 is estimated to have ranged from 10 billion dollars to over 21 billion dollars. Civilian workers’ compensation costs alone totaled over 600 million dollars. Sustained financial and human cost burdens of this magnitude dramatically degrade the military’s true measure of merit, its operational readiness. In April 2003, the Secretary of Defense has further challenged all DoD activities to “reduce the number of mishaps and accident rates by at least 50% in the next two years.”
A congressional mandate established a Defense employee Work Safety Demonstration Program (WSDP) whose primary objective is to reduce military and civilian injuries through the application of civilian sector best safety and occupational health practices.
The Army conducted an assessment of private sector best practices in work safety; results indicated that the best-performing commercial companies focus heavily on preventing incidents/injuries from happening at all, with a strong operational discipline in terms of senior leadership involvement, line management/individual accountability, and robust safety communications. The Army concluded that initiating a safety demonstration project following these civilian best practices would greatly help institutionalize cultural and behavioral changes at their installations.
Results of the WSDP effort at the two phase-one locations, Watervliet Arsenal (WVA) and Fort Bragg show that WVA’s total case rates have decreased 22% since FY01 and lost workday case rates have improved 50% in the last fiscal year. Savings are expected to be approximately $580,000 from FY02 to FY03 due to a decrease in lost-time injuries. Fort Bragg Garrison civilian employee population shows a modest trend, lost workday case rate has improved 2% from FY02 to FY03. Savings are expected to be $190,000 from FY02 to FY03 due to decrease in lost-time injuries.
R. Stricoff, D. Groover, Behavioral Science Technology Inc., Ojai, CA.
Behavior-based safety (bbs) has become well-known as an intervention method for improving injury rates. However, most of the results and descriptions of the use of bbs have related to manufacturing in fixed locations.
There are large concentrations of workers who are routinely not in fixed manufacturing locations. These nontraditional work settings often are characterized by people working alone, high turnover, and other factors that deter the “normal” approach to bbs. Understanding the applicability of bbs to these situations, and how it can be adapted for other work environments, allow us to benefit more widely from the use of bbs tools.
This paper describes the results of five successful bbs applications in nontraditional work settings, including dispersed workers, transportation, construction, mines, and R&D locations. Data from the actual bbs implementations are presented showing that bbs can produce significant improvement in injury rates (up to 80% or more) in these environments. The presentation then describes the key factors in successful adaptation of bbs to these unique work settings. These key factors include identifying critical behaviors meaningful to the specific situation, tailoring the data gathering approach to the work situation, and properly preparing employees to give and receive feedback.
J. Michael, PRIMEDIA Workplace Learning, Carrollton, TX.
Behavior-based safety (BBS), a systemized approach to applying behavioral psychology to encourage safety in the workplace, can achieve drastic reductions in workplace injuries—and there are numerous examples to demonstrate this. Yet despite the many success stories, many organizations are discouraged by the time commitment, expense, and potential for employee resistance. This session examines simple, proven techniques companies can implement rapidly to achieve the benefits of BBS while minimizing potential drawbacks.
The session examines the four critical errors common in 80 to 90% of all accidents and the four human conditions (or “states”) that contribute to these errors. The techniques examined focus on making employees aware of these “state to error” patterns and to “self-trigger” on the states so they avoid making a critical error that could lead to injury. The session also explains how a focus on “unintentional” and “habitual” behaviors can help minimize employee concerns about blame and discipline that traditional BBS programs sometimes encounter.
Attendees will learn:
M. Goldberg, Hunter College-CUNY, New York, NY; R. Ruttenberg, Ruth Ruttenberg and Associates Inc., Bethesda, MD; C. Trahan, Center to Protect Workers’ Rights, Silver Spring, MD.
A project is described that is designed to raise the level of awareness of dermal epoxy system hazards and controls to workers laying tile, terrazzo, and other trowel work. The project, which is a joint effort of a labor-management committee of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers and occupational health researchers, also explores the economics of disease prevention. The resins and hardeners that comprise the bulk of epoxy systems are dermal and respiratory irritants and sensitizers. Additives, such as organic solvents and fillers, contribute their own toxicity. In addition, the trowel trades work predominantly in enclosed spaces where airborne concentrations can build up quickly. Although the number of workers at risk as well as the number who experience adverse reaction is not well documented, there is a growing body of anecdotal information that suggests that many will suffer allergic reactions which will exclude further employment in any job involving epoxies. The project explored the range of available control options, including training of workers, employers, and manufacturers about the hazards, changes in work processes and procedures, and use of PPE—especially those designed for dermal protection. Engineering controls were identified and their use evaluated. In particular, the possibility of identifying less hazardous substitute products was explored and the economic considerations in the search for substitutes were evaluated. The partnership of unions, contractors, and researchers was extremely valuable in defining best practices that can be integrated into the industry.
J. Kraus, 3E Company, Carlsbad, CA.
Most organizations do not have a comprehensive EH&S compliance plan in place, leaving them exposed to fines, or worse, not being prepared in the event of a spill or an emergency. Companies need to be able to diagnose their HAZMAT Compliance Information and requirements to determine any shortcomings—and then determine how they will address them. This talk proposes to discuss (A) the challenges companies have when evaluating their HAZMAT compliance issues; (B) the direct and indirect (often hidden) costs associated with compliance-related tasks and omissions; and (C) the marshalling of resources to meet these challenges. The presentation will take the audience through a series of analyses and tasks that need to be performed in order to face the challenges of HAZMAT compliance in a systematic manner. 3E founder and CEO Jess Kraus will review the resources available to help companies become compliant, and will present a framework for looking at these issues across multiple HAZMAT compliance areas including: MSDS, transportation, waste, spill, exposure, training, compliance reporting, and others. Jess will discuss the many options organizations have in order to successfully manage HAZMAT data in the most cost-effective manner.
Posted May 30, 2004