Safety Tidbit 4.22 - Penalties Get a Raise

Safety Tidbit 4.22 – Penalties Get a Raise

Reference: https://www.osha.gov/penalties/

In the midst of the longest Federal government shutdown OSHA’s penalties get a cost of living increase. There’s something to be said for automating regulatory processes. Patrick Kapust, the new acting Director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, sent the OSHA Regional Directors a memo Wednesday outlining the new penalty values effective immediately.

The cost-of-living adjustment multiplier for 2019, based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the month of October 2018, not seasonally adjusted, is 1.02522. To compute the 2019 annual adjustment, the Department multiplied the most recent penalty amount for each applicable penalty by the multiplier, 1.02522, and rounded to the nearest dollar.

The adjustment factor of 1.02552 will remain consistent across the minimum and maximum penalties set forth in the OSH Act and FOM. For example, OSHA's current maximum penalty for a Serious violation is $12,934.00; following the application of the adjustment factor ($12,934.00 x 1.02522), the new maximum penalty for a Serious violation will be $13,260.00.

On November 2, 2015, Congress enacted the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, Public Law 114-74, sec. 701 (Inflation Adjustment Act), which further amended the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 as previously amended by the 1996 Debt Collection Improvement Act (collectively, the "Prior Inflation Adjustment Act"), to improve the effectiveness of civil monetary penalties and to maintain their deterrent effect. The Inflation Adjustment Act required agencies to: (1) Adjust the level of civil monetary penalties with an initial "catch-up" adjustment through an interim final rule (IFR); and (2) make subsequent annual adjustments for inflation, no later than January 15 of each year.

Bottomline, if you wish to work without the guard on the machine or are missing a guardrail it may cost you a lot more than their replacement costs.  Be diligent and tour your workspaces to ensure your controls, practices, or personal equipment are installed, followed, or used appropriately.

Hope this was helpful and thank you for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

P.S. If you have a new safety or health question, please let me know.

Safety Tidbit 4.21 - Obsolete Fire Extinguishers

Safety Tidbit 4.21 – Obsolete Fire Extinguishers

Reference: NFPA 10 Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers 2018

A colleague asked me which fire extinguishers are no longer permitted to be serviced. He understood there had been a recent change but wasn’t sure about the change. The NFPA updated its standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers and is available for purchase via their website.

Driven by inconsistencies in piping sizing and sprinkler spacing requirements for the installation of sprinkler systems, a group of fire insurance representatives met in Boston to attempt to resolve these issues.  Now the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a nonprofit organization, which was established in 1896, devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards.

The NFPA has several types of fire extinguishers it considers obsolete and recommends they be removed from service. A few, listed below, have been obsolete for some time:

1. Soda Acid

2. Chemical foam

3. Cartridge-operated water

4. Cartridge-operated loaded stream

However, to answer my colleague’s question there was a subtle change made to the dry chemical stored-pressure extinguishers (paragraph 4.4.1). Previously, if these extinguishers were “manufactured prior to October 1984, they were be removed from service at the next 6-year maintenance interval for the next hydrotest whichever came first.”

The newest edition of the standard states “ Dry chemical stored-pressure extinguishers with an indicated manufacturing date of 1984 or prior  shall be removed from service.”  Therefore, all of 1984 is included and they are to be removed from service immediately instead of the next service date.

I recommend if you have these types of extinguishers at your facility that you review their manufacturing date and remove the ones that are older than 1984.

Hope this was helpful and thank you for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

P.S. If you have a new safety or health question, please let me know.

Safety Tidbit 4.20 – Cold Weather Safety – Weather Terms

Safety Tidbit 4.20 – Cold Weather Safety – Weather Terms

Reference: OSHA Cold Weather Safety Webpage

The holidays are finishing up, the kids are all back in school, and we’re all back to the grind. It’s January and winter here in Pennsylvania is just getting started. About this same time last year, I published a Safety Tidbit on Cold Weather Safety geared mainly for workers working outdoors. This time, I’d like to take a step back and look at the weather in general. I want to give the terms used by weather stations as published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Blizzard Warning: Issued for sustained or gusty winds of 35 mph or more, and falling or blowing snow creating visibilities at or below 1/4 mile; these conditions should persist for at least 3 hours.

Wind Chill Advisory: Issued when wind chill temperatures are expected to be a significant inconvenience to life with prolonged exposure, and, if caution is not exercised, could lead to hazardous exposure.

Wind Chill Warning: Issued when wind chill temperatures are expected to be hazardous to life within several minutes of exposure.

Winter Storm Warning: Issued when hazardous winter weather in the form of heavy snow, blizzard conditions, heavy freezing rain, or heavy sleet is imminent or occurring. Winter Storm Warnings are usually issued 12 to 24 hours before the event is expected to begin.

Winter Storm Watch: Alerts the public to the possibility of a blizzard, heavy snow, heavy freezing rain, or heavy sleet. Winter Storm Watches are usually issued 12 to 48 hours before the beginning of a Winter Storm.

Winter Weather Advisories: Issued for accumulations of snow, freezing rain, freezing drizzle, and sleet which will cause significant inconveniences and, if caution is not exercised, could lead to life-threatening situations.

By giving you the terms used by the weather folks, you can better decide how to prepare and protect yourself and your workers. Whether you’re playing, driving, or working in it knowing the environmental condition outside is an excellent first step towards safety.

Hope this was helpful and thank you for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

P.S. If you have a new safety or health question, please let me know.