WITHDRAWN
A. Finkel, UMDNJ, Pennington, NJ; R. Neff, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
The toll of fatal industrial accidents in the United States has begun to stabilize at roughly 5500 victims per year. Further reductions will require a “balanced portfolio” of new standard-setting, enforcement of existing regulations, and various other approaches — notably the provision of information and the development of public-private partnerships to improve workplace conditions. The appropriate balance among these initiatives depends crucially on what proportion of fatal accidents involve hazardous conditions that are not governed by existing or reasonably foreseeable OSHA standards. By examining several thousand reports of recent fatal accidents available from OSHA, supplemented by examination of media accounts of fatalities not contained in OSHA’s database, we will estimate the fraction of fatalities in recent years for which dissemination of information would arguably be the most effective way to prevent recurrences of the same kinds of tragedy elsewhere. We will also search these reports to identify a manageable number (roughly 10-20) of recurrent patterns for which information about a particular product design or use or human-factor issues might be most useful in preventing multiple recurrences. Finally, we will assess whether OSHA’s current approach to information dissemination of this type — publishing a select number of hazard information bulletins on the Internet — is effective both in informing the appropriate populations of employers and employees of the potential for recurrent fatalities and in actually reducing or reversing particular trends.
C. Marlowe, Camp Dresser & McKee, Scotch Plains, NJ; J. Skrabak, Camp Dresser & McKee, Cambridge, MA.
We were unsatisfied with traditional accident statistics, particularly because severity is, most often, strictly a matter of chance. We developed a preventability/severity matrix. Each accident and incident in our company is scored once for severity (first aids are a 1; lost times are a 5; death is above the scale), and once for preventability. (Cases caused solely by external factors are a 1. Cases in which the employee should have known are a 3. Cases in which the employee ignored a prior warning are a 5.) The chairman of our board of directors likes this report but is displeased when the preventability score is a 4 or 5. His focus on preventability helps focus the attention of division managers on the degree to which the employees in their groups work safely. That in turn has resulted in more attention to safety among the middle managers.
P. Spielholz, R. Clark, T. Sjostrom, SHARP Program, Olympia, WA.
The Washington Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program conducted an analysis of fatal construction falls from elevation from 1998-2005. These incidents accounted for 40 out of 114 (35%) of construction fatalities during this period. Falls from ladders was the most frequent incident location (33%), followed by scaffolding, roof, and roof/floor/skylight openings, with 18% each. Over half (53%) of fatal falls occurred from a height of less than 20 ft, and five incidents were from a height of less than 10 ft. New residential construction contractors had the highest number of incidents, followed by commercial building contractors and roofing contractors. The identified cases were reviewed to evaluate external and root causes. Recommendations were developed for dissemination to contractors for prevention of falls in high-risk areas of construction. Five areas of interventions were identified: (1) eliminate fall hazard through design and work organization; (2) substitute safer work methods or surfaces; (3) isolate the hazard with engineering controls; (4) institute administrative controls; and (5) require personal protective equipment (PPE). Eliminating the hazard through design can be accomplished by working with the architect or by using construction methods such as building wall frames on the ground and then tilting-up. Safer work surfaces such as personnel lifts can often be used in place of ladders, which present an inherent fall risk even when used correctly. Physical barriers such as guardrails need to be appropriately used and constructed to adequately protect and isolate the hazard. Administrative controls and PPE can be helpful but must be documented, supervised, and enforced to show they are effective in practice. Recommendations were developed for the top four construction fall locations. Each of the analyzed incidents was preventable with appropriate work practices. It is hoped that wider knowledge and application of these recommendations will help prevent fatal falls in construction.
M. McCann, The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights, Silver Spring, MD.
This paper discusses fire and explosion deaths among construction workers. A total of 361 deaths involving 313 incidents were identified from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) research file for the years 1992-2003 — about 30 deaths per year. Over half of the incidents occurred in industrial plants employing contract workers. Ten percent of the fire and explosion incidents caused 22% of the total deaths, especially for chemical explosions. Major causes of death were chemical explosions (45%), fires (27%), explosions of pressurized containers (17%), and arc flashes/blasts (11%). Overall, repair and maintenance activities accounted for one-quarter of the fire and explosion deaths. Welding and electrical sparks caused 46% of the chemical explosions and 35% of the fires. Thirty percent of pressurized container explosions involved vehicle tires, and 23% involved pipes or pipelines. Overpressurization caused 25% of these explosions. Contact with overhead power lines or other energized wires and electrical malfunctions and shorts caused 48% of arc flashes and blasts.
Recommendations include (1) adequate training of contract employees in industrial plants; (2) institution of a hot work permit system for welding; (3) maintenance of rim wheel tires according to OSHA 1910.177 (servicing multipiece and single piece rim wheels); (4) de-energizing of live equipment or isolation or insulation of live parts; and (5) for working on or near energized parts, institution of a live-work permit and following NFPA 70E Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, 2004 ed. Following these recommendations could substantially decrease the number of fire and explosion deaths and injuries in construction.
J. Palassis, NIOSH, Cincinnati, OH.
Occupational safety and health (OSH) management systems improve cost-effectiveness, help to integrate quality environmental and health and safety systems, and enhance U.S. input to the international process. Before September 2005, the United States did not have a voluntary consensus standard in OSH management systems that was compatible with and comparable to national and international standards. ANSI Z10 was developed in response to that need by a 40-member committee representing U.S. industry, organized labor, federal and state governments, and various other public interest organizations, with AIHA as its secretariat. ANSI Z10 is intended to address and establish systems for effective management in OSH and environmental safety programs. It adapted principles from the most relevant approaches into a standard compatible with principal international and national standards. ANSI Z10 is a voluntary standard that offers continual improvement, has layers of implementation, and includes a health and safety review cycle. It is characterized by emphasis on continual improvement and systematic elimination of underlying or root causes of deficiencies. It is not just another OSH program or an OSHA regulation but an OSH management system that integrates programs and features evaluation, corrective action, and management review. ANSI Z10 was not designed as an audit tool. It consists of five major elements: management leadership and employee participation; planning; implementation of the OSH management system; evaluation and corrective action; and management review. It contains 17 annexes as practical examples. ANSI Z10 compares favorably against all the management system standards and shares all their 16 major variable elements and subelements. The ANSI Z10 standard could fill the gap of an OSH management regulation by OSHA. Moreover, it could open the way to possible registrations in OSH by U.S. businesses, since this standard is similar to the internationally recognized ISO standards. The author participated as ANSI Z10 committee member.