OSHA Violations

Types of Violations — There are six types of OSHA violations:

De Minimis, Non-Serious, Serious, Willful, Repeat and Criminal. Each is defined as follows:

• De Minimis Violation — A De Minimis Violation is one in which there is no direct or immediate relationship to safety or health (i.e., an employer complies with the clear intent of the standard, but deviates from its particular requirements in a manner that has no direct relationship to safety or health).

• Non-Serious Violation — A Non-Serious Violation is more severe than a De Minimis Violation, but less severe than a Serious Violation. There must be a direct and immediate relationship between the violation and safety or health, but no substantial risk of death or serious injury.

• Serious Violation — A Serious Violation occurs when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result (probability refers to the degree of injury, not the likelihood that the event should occur). The accident need only be possible, and not a probable consequence of the violation.

• Willful Violation — If an employer has intentionally disregarded or is plainly indifferent to the Act’s requirements (virtually any time a violation is not negligent or accidental), a Willful Violation has occurred.

• Repeat Violation — A Repeat Violation has occurred when a substantially similar violation has previously occurred (usually within the three years prior to the current violation) at the facility or establishment. A Repeat Violation differs from a Willful Violation in that it may result from an inadvertent, accidental or negligent act.

• Criminal Violation — Willful Violations resulting in a death and/or knowingly making false statements, representations or certifications are all Criminal Violations. There is also the Failure to Abate Violation, which is a violation where an employer failed to correct a hazard that was recognized in a previous inspection.

Contesting a Citation Penalty — To contest a citation, a written Notice of Intention to Contest must be filed with the OSHA area director within 15 days of receipt. Unless a citation is properly contested, it will become final within 15working days after receipt.

In virtually all cases where a citation has been issued, whether or not a facility has decided to contest it, it will probably be appropriate to hold an informal conference with OSHA’s assistant regional director to discuss the matter.

This conference should be requested and conducted prior to expiration of the 15-day period. Even if the assistant regional director determines that a violation occurred, the class of violation and/or the penalty may be reduced as a result of the conference. If the assistant regional director agrees to a violation/penalty reduction or any change to the citation, a settlement agreement will be forwarded for completion.

Safety Recognition

Safety Recognition vs. Safety Incentive Programs

Are you opposed to recognizing your employees for a job well done?  Or do you just think that since you pay your employees to perform work for you that there is no need to recognize them for doing the work well?

Here are my thoughts on Recognition.   Recognition is motivation.  Motivated employees perform better than employees who are just there to earn a paycheck

•      What comes to mind when you hear the term “safety incentives”? Pizza parties held after 30 days worked without an injury? Prizes raffled off after six weeks without a lost-time incident?  Major problems with OSHA because they have made their position very clear on "incentive programs based on accident rates". 

•      There are many ways to recognize-reward performance that meets or exceeds our expectations that will enhance our Safety Performance and improve the Safety Culture!

•      So why not have "Safety Reward & Recognition" that Celebrate what you do right!  That will change the employee participation in safety activities that will result in improving your overall Safety Performance!

•      Interestingly, small tokens of appreciation have been shown to be more effective than larger rewards in increasing compliance.   When positive feedback is moderate and personal, employees know that they are not being safe to earn extra cash—they are being safe because they want to be safe.  When the reward is immediate, it causes the behavior to reoccur!!

The intent to cause the safe behavior to occur again!

•      Compliance with standards=non-negotiable, it is required and the bare minimum! 

•      Nobody is interested in paying employees to follow the rules, or even to work safely for that matter.  THAT should already be a condition of employment and is non-negotiable! 

•      However, immediate rewards that will get people involved will help you to change your safety culture!

•      "Safety Recognition" that is based on "leading indicators" of workplace safety, which are recorded and measured before an accident occurs has proven to effectively change the safety culture, thereby reducing work related injury and illness. 

•      Ideas: SAFETY BUCKS program, Bee Safe Recognition (cool safety glasses, cool bandana, cool hard hat, pair of gloves (kills two birds with one stone if you get employees to do something safe and reward them with PPE that you want them to use), Housekeeping contest, Qrtly Safety Quiz=4 gift cards=only $160/year and a Qrtly BBQ or Pizza Party when you achieve successes, Year-end Celebration when achieve the Annual Goals and Objectives

•      So your goals and objectives must be assigned and measurable to know what to reward

What is Incident Investigation?

What exactly is an "incident" investigation and why should I really care?

It is a systematic approach to:

• identify casual factors of incidents including near misses
• identify corrective actions
• implementing corrective actions to prevent re-occurrence

Investigation process identifies “Root Cause”
An Effective incident investigation process is essential to a successful Health & Safety assessment improvement management

Is it an accident or just an incident?
Does it really matter?  One resulted in an injury and one did not but only due to pure luck
 

 

Accidents are usually complex

•An accident is any unplanned event that results in personal injury or property damage

–The failure of people, equipment, supplies, or surroundings to behave or react as expected causes most accidents

•Accident investigations determine HOW and WHY these failures occur

–Conduct accident investigations with accident prevention in mind--investigations are NOT to place blame

•An accident may have 10 or more events that can be causes

•A detailed analysis of an accident will normally reveal three cause levels:

–Basic

–Indirect

–Direct 

 

Attempting to assign BLAME is not productive and does not

prevent recurrence !

 

Worksite Analysis

WORKSITE ANALYSIS 
is just one piece of the puzzle

SH Mgt. System Elements

• Management Leadership and Employee Involvement
• Worksite Analysis
• Hazard Prevention and Control
• Safety and Health Training

SH Elements Interrelated

·         All elements of a safety and health system are interrelated.

·         All pieces are related to all other pieces.

·        A flaw in one piece will probably impact all the other pieces, and therefore the system as a whole.

The Bigger Picture of the Safety & Health Management System

·         Now let's talk about the safety and health management system and its components:

o   A system is an established arrangement of components that work together to attain a certain objective, in this case to prevent injuries and illnesses in the workplace. 

o   Within a system, all parts are interconnected and affect each other.

Overview of System Components

• Management must provide the resources and authority so all personnel can find the hazards in the worksite and, once found, to eliminate or to control those hazards.
• Training is the backbone of this system. For management to lead, for personnel to analyze the worksite for hazards, and for hazards to be eliminated or controlled, everyone involved must be trained.
• No parts of this system exist independently. An effective and functioning program is the sum of all the parts.

Worksite Analysis and Inspections/Observations is Just ONE piece of the puzzle!

Worksite Analysis

·   Worksite analysis involves a variety of worksite examinations to identify not only existing hazards, but also conditions and operations in which changes might create hazards.

• Effective management actively analyzes the work and the worksite, to anticipate and prevent harmful occurrences.

Comprehensive surveys

·      For small businesses, OSHA-funded, state-run consultation services can conduct a comprehensive survey at no cost. Many workers’ compensation carriers and other insurance companies offer expert services to help their clients evaluate safety and health hazards. Numerous private consultants provide a variety of safety and health expert services. Larger businesses may find the needed expertise at the company or corporate level.

·    For the industrial hygiene survey, at a minimum, all chemicals and hazardous materials in the plant should be inventoried, the hazard communication program should be reviewed, and air samples analyzed. For many industries, a survey of noise levels, a review of the respirator program, and a review of ergonomic risk factors are needed.

Here’s a suggested plan to identify all worksite hazards:

• Conduct a comprehensive, baseline survey for safety and health and periodic, comprehensive update surveys.
• Conduct periodic and daily safety and health inspections of the workplace.
• Perform routine job safety hazard analyses. (JSA or JHA)
• Change analysis of planned and new facilities, processes, materials, and equipment.

·        Conduct Self Assessments/Bench Marking

·         In order to get where you want to go, it is essential to know where you are starting from.

·         You can use a variety of self-audit mechanisms to compare your site processes with other recognized models of excellence such as SHARP sites or Star VPP sites.

·         Visiting other sites to gain first hand information is also invaluable.

·         You can use perception surveys to measure the strengths and weaknesses of your site safety culture.

·         These surveys can give you data from various viewpoints within the organization. For instance, you can measure differences in employees' and managers' perceptions on various issues.

·         This is an excellent way to determine whether alignment issues exist and, if so, what they are. One example is the Safety and Health Program Check Up.

·         At this stage, it is important to look at issues that surface as symptoms of larger system failures. For example, ask what major system failed to detect the unguarded machine, or why the system failed to notice that incident investigations are not being performed on time, or if workers are being blamed for the failures. Your greatest level of success will come when these larger system failures are recognized and addressed.

Develop an Inspection Program

• To identify hazardous conditions and employee behavior and determine what actions are required to reduce or eliminate accident potential. 
• Additionally, inspections can help determine the extent to which employees adhere to the company's safety program, operating procedures, rules and regulations.
• Developing a self-inspection program and associated checklists can help to protect company assets from fire, employee injury and injury to the public.  
• Their development will require the attention of someone who has a sound knowledge of the company's operations and as well as knowledge of relevant safety standards and local codes.
• The self-inspection program should be a process of fact finding with an emphasis on identifying potential hazards and developing the necessary corrective actions necessary to eliminate them.
• Routine site safety and health inspections are designed to catch hazards missed at other stages. This type of inspection should be done at regular intervals, generally on a weekly basis. In addition, procedures should be established that provide a daily inspection of the work area
• You can use a checklist already developed or make your own, based on:
• Past problems.
• Standards that apply to your industry.
• Input from everyone involved.
• Your company's safety practices or rules.
• Important things to remember about inspections are:
• Inspections should cover every part of the worksite.
• They should be done at regular intervals.
• In-house inspectors should be trained to recognize and control hazards.
• Identified hazards should be tracked to correction.
• Information from inspections should be used to improve the hazard prevention and control program.

Perform routine job safety hazard analyses (JSA, JHA, or JSHA)

·         Hazard analysis techniques can be quite complex. While this is necessary in some cases, frequently a basic, step-by-step review of the operation is sufficient. One of the most commonly used techniques is the Job Hazard Analysis (JHA). Jobs that were initially designed with safety in mind may now include hazards or improper operations. When done for every job, this analysis periodically puts processes back on the safety track.

·         Other, more sophisticated techniques are called for when there are complex risks involved. These techniques include: WHAT-IF Checklist, Hazard and Operability Study, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis, and Fault Tree Analysis. 

Change Analysis

• Anytime something new is brought into the workplace, whether it be a piece of equipment, different materials, a new process, or an entirely new building, new hazards may unintentionally be introduced. Before considering a change for a worksite, it should be analyzed thoroughly beforehand. Change analysis helps in heading off a problem before it develops.
• You may find change analysis useful when:
• Building or leasing a new facility.
• Installing new equipment.
• Using new materials.
• Starting up new processes.
• Staffing changes occur.

For more information visit OSHA's e-tools

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/safetyhealth/mod2_sample_sh_program.html

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/safetyhealth/comp2.html

Author:  Deborah Grow, Safety Specialist

Kansas Department of Labor-Industrial Safety and Health

(21d) OSHA Consultation Program