Standards & Compliance

If your company requires employees to work above 4’ in general industry and above 6’ in construction, it is important that you have a policy in place for working at heights.  While 4’ and 6’ might not seem all that high, people have died or suffered serious injuries when falling from...

When companies determine that their employees need some type of safety training, the knee-jerk reaction is most often, “Well, get them an OSHA 10 or 30.” They say “10 or 30” because they usually don’t know how much training their workers are required to have. The idea that a 10 or 30 hour...

Falls from height are still a primary killer when it comes to workplace fatalities. A business with a Safety First mindset will perform a hazard assessment in every area of their business, and the rooftop is no exception. Read through to explore best practices when it comes to rooftop safety audits.

We have all heard the story. OSHA comes into a factory or onto a construction site and things are such a mess they immediately shutdown all operations.  Work stops.  That steel beam being lifted into place by that crane?  Leave it hanging.  Those trucks full of concrete?  Let them go to...

Whenever I deliver a training class to a group of workers for whom I’m also serving as a safety consultant, I explain that there are two things I need to do: 1) Keep them safe and 2) Keep the company compliant.

Update: This post was updated in June of 2018 to align with the new Walking-Working Surface Rules posted by OSHA.

Warning line has received a bad reputation over time. Should it have? Maybe. Warning line is the equivalent of someone saying, "Hey, don’t go over there!" When I think of...

This is the million dollar question, isn’t it?  For years, many of us in the industry watched as prizes were awarded to workers based on safety performance.  Sometimes this meant a group lunch or a t-shirt, but other times it was something as big as a truck or boat being given away.  This...

Calculating fall clearance is not as simple as some may lead you to believe. If done incorrectly, anyone who uses the system could be at risk of severe injury or death.

Having a basic understanding of how to calculate fall clearance will help you know when to hire a qualified person and when...

If somebody was walking on a construction site and saw a large hole in the roof with nothing around it, they would immediately recognize this as unsafe. It is an opening that leads you to a 30’ drop onto a hard surface.

At what height is fall protection required?

Every safety professional wishes there was a simple answer. One height across all tasks and industries would certainly make enforcement easier, but this is not the case. OSHA’s intent is to keep people safe across most industries, however, keep in...

Homeowners and building managers cannot be expected to be experts in every area of maintenance and repairs that need to be performed on their building.  Day in and day out, contractors around the country are hired to perform such work because they are the experts.  Some of this work takes...

As with most professions, Safety professionals often come into the field in positions where their responsibility is to focus on the day-to-day tasks of a jobsite or facility.  The “big picture” is left to somebody else, whether it’s the Corporate Safety Director or some other member of a...

New York City is in the middle of a huge underground excavation project that has been going on for years. The pictures from the subterranean world are dramatic and have found their way onto websites and news magazines around the world. As a safety professional, you can't help but notice the...

A man named Joe, who worked for the same roofing company for 25 years, fell through the skylight pictured above to his death. He was not wearing any fall protection and the skylight was not protected in any way. On average 16 people die at work every day in the United States. That number is...

Excuses, excuses, excuses, that's what we hear from residential and commercial contractors that fail to comply with fall protection policies and standards. In 2011, 251 out of 721 worker fatalities were the result of falls. It's time to stop making excuses and start making the...

If you are ever driving through a residential construction project take note on how much fall protection equipment is being used. Yes, there might be a safety bucket lying in a corner in case OSHA shows up, but generally it is not used. OSHA recently released a new directive that calls all...

There are many safety and health organizations that a safety professional or the person in charge of the health and safety of a company should be aware of. Making sure you are familiar with and engaged in these organizations ensures that you are up to date on occupational safety and health...

Have you ever stepped onto a roof, been hit by a blast of wind, and realized that your life was at risk?

We recently helped one of our customers with this very problem. They needed a certificate of occupancy, but the inspector could not complete the inspection because they were concerned...

Maintenance is a critical aspect of dealership operations, and one of the most frequent maintenance tasks is the oil change. This task requires getting underneath the vehicle.

One of the most common ways to do that is by using a pit. This allows the mechanic to access the belly of the vehicle...

There are two things I think of first when New York City comes to mind. The bustling streets packed with such a diverse group of people and the gorgeous skyline adorned by skyscrapers. 

What happens when you put these two together? 

A need for safety. 

One vital aspect of NYC’s safety...

Did you know that you don’t always need fall protection?

Of course, you don’t when there is no fall hazard. However, OSHA has included provisions in its code that identify specific circumstances where a fall hazard exists, and no fall protection is required.

It may seem crazy and...

In the world of workplace safety, fall protection gets a lot of attention and for good reason. 

Slips, trips, and falls are consistently a leading cause of workplace injuries. OSHA has established specific regulations and practices to protect against these hazards. 

Efficiency and safety are key factors for a productive workplace. One pivotal component is having safe and secure access to work through industrial safety platforms.

But can you just slap some plywood and 2x4s together to make a safe and compliant platform?

Maybe...

In this article, I’m...

Choosing the right fall protection is like choosing the right smoker for a barbecue. Sure, you could get that tiny electric smoke box that’s cheap and comfortable. But why settle for a subpar smoking experience when you can use charcoal and wood? 

Just like with a smoker, there are cheap...

It’s easy to read the title above and think that you’re going to find a yes or no answer to the question. But the fact that there is a whole article indicates what you were probably afraid of.

The answer isn’t that simple. 

The confusion comes from a few places.  First, OSHA...

No one would want to get on an airplane and hear: "Well folks, we got about half way through the safety inspection and decided that was good enough. Now sit back and enjoy the flight." You need to provide total protection for the sake of the person who is working at heights. Industrial safety...

Changes to OSHA's General Industry skylight screen requirements may have forced you out of compliance.

We have covered in great detail the changes and additions to the Working/Walking Surface rules posed by OSHA back in January of 2017. The focus, however, has been on the specific...

Safety training isn’t just a good idea; OSHA regulations require that your personnel be trained. Often, it is argued that training is unnecessary because the employee in question had many years of experience with the given work. Years of experience will mean that they most likely know how to...

IBC is the law and should not be taken lightly.

International Building Code (IBC) is,

"…a model code that provides minimum requirements to safeguard the public health, safety and general welfare of the occupants of new and existing buildings and structures."

In short, IBC...

Unprotected skylights are dangerous and kill people each year. It’s too often that a worker trips, leans, or backs into one of these glass death traps and plummets to the ground below. For this reason alone, protecting these hazards need to be top of mind. OSHA has listed how to provide a...

California OSHA code (Cal-OSHA) is notorious for being more stringent across the board on their requirements than federal OSHA. Their fall protection requirements are no different. Because of this, we here at Simplified are constantly asked, "This says it meets OSHA, but what about Cal-OSHA?"...

I’ve been in many warehouses.  Many, many warehouses.  The difference in safety culture from one to the next is as varied as the products they store.  Some are in pristine, new buildings with clear lines painted on the floor, have only safe, certified forklift operators driving the...

Falconer, 43, was employed as a seaman on a tugboat operated by maritime company. While carrying an engine part, he fell 14 feet through an open hatch in the engine room causing bodily injury. Falconer sued the maritime company alleging the company was negligent in failing to have safety...

At various times, your company may find itself with a spike in workload or faced with a special project that your existing staff isnt...

An emergency action plan (EAP) should address emergencies that the employer may reasonably expect in the workplace.  Some examples include: fires; hazardous materials spills; tornadoes; floods; and others.  The following text identifies the main components...

The short answer, probably not.

OSHA Standard 29 CFR 1926.152(a)(1) states "Only approved containers and portable tanks shall be used for storage and handling of...

Hand Protection PPE

The selection of appropriate hand PPE is a very important part of workplace safety.  Safety gloves are offered in many different types of protective materials.  Always complete a hazard analysis before selecting PPE.

Look around your workplace--how do you store your chemicals?  During inspections, I notice that usually chemicals are stored (or not stored) randomly all over the workplace.  They are left where they were last used or shoved back onto shelves with newer chemicals placed in front of them. ...

Reading OSHA Standards:

On November 24, 2008, a new federal regulation, 23CFR634, went into effect...

Its not uncommon for a companys safety program to be less thorough than it should be. Or in many cases, business...

Don't wear your personal protective equipment (PPE) and receive a $50 non-compliance ticket from the Yukon Health and Safety Board. Starting July 1, not only will the worker receive a ticket, but also the Supervisor and Employer. Supervisor's ticket is $250 and the employer's is $500.

"We...

The Daily Commercial News and Construction Record has written a great article that addresses fall arrest suspension trauma.

The article deals with several issues concerning suspension trauma.  It starts by describing the basic problem with fall arrest, and that is that stopping the fall is only...

Inhalation is the most common route of exposure for employees to most toxic materials in the workplace.  Selecting and utilizing the appropriate respirator can be quite confusing and difficult.  Employers and employees must get a firm understanding of respirator basic knowledge in order to...

Point of Beginning, a publication for surveyors, has released an article about vehicle safety.  While the article has a section about PPE in a vehicle for a surveyor, the overall thrust of the article is general. Having PPE available in vehicles is important for employees who are on the go.  The...

A couple of days ago we reported that the State of Tennessee was promoting a safety stand down to teach workers across the state about the importance of fall protection.  The event appears too have been very successful.  900 different job sites, representing 120 different companies and 19,000...

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) checklists are used by safety managers and supervisors to help identify tasks that require PPE, ensure staff are using the right equipment and reduce accidents or fatalities. Controlling a hazard at its source is the best way to protect employees. Starting...

The following information is a general overview of major points and standards developed from OSHA 29 CFR Part 1910, Subpart D. Walking and Working Surfaces for General Industry.

Key Terms:

There are three major areas of concern for ADA compliance. Once you have established that your facility needs to be ADA compliant, the three areas of concern are stairs, ramps, and landings/raised walkways.

A confined space is any space that:

A...

Organizations like Habitat for Humanity use volunteer labor for residential roofing projects. The use of volunteer labor can be quite a dilema when it comes to keeping everyone on the worksite safe from injury. One of the most dangerous areas of a volunteer work site is a roof. An innovation...

The business of managing physical assets is getting more complex due to major challenges such as competition, customer expectations, regulations, environmental concerns and aging. This is why it is essential that companies have a handle on what assets they possess, exactly where those assets are...

As if falling were not enough, falling onto exposed rebar can turn a survivable fall into a disaster.  Rebar caps protect the falling worker from impaling themselves on the concrete rebar that is protruding during the construction process. 

Rebar...

Its that time of year again where OSHA published their annual update on what kinds of fines were levied in the previous year.  Kee Safety notes that Fall Protection and Machine Guarding are near the top again.

Unfortunately not a lot changes in these lists from year to year.  Fall protection...

In my experience,  it is not uncommon to hear of self-retracting lifelines and/or lanyards daisy-chained together to create a longer connection to an anchor point.  This typically happens when someone buys a product that is long enough for an application on one job, but finds that they need...

OSHA is raising its penalties. This is the first time that OSHA raised its penalties since 1990. A serious violation, one that may cause death or serious injury is raised from a maximum of $7,000 to $12,000, with the average fine $3,000-4,000, up from $1,000. The maximum penalty for a willful...

OSHA is implementing a new Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) and increasing civil penalty amounts in an effort to address urgent safety and health problems. The SVEP allows OSHA to focus enforcement on recalcitrant employers who endanger workers with indifference to their safety...

Skylight screens are a form of fall protection that prevents workers on the roof top from falling into skylights. We have updated the skylight screens section of our web site. We invite you to see the update pictures, features and technical information that is available about our skylight...

According to the ADA Code of Federal Regulations, anytime your facility falls under one of two categories, ADA compliance is necessary. These categories are as follows:

A fall arrest system is the kind of fall protection which includes the safe stopping of a person already falling. It is one of many forms of fall protection, which also include fall guarding and fall

OSHA specifies under Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations that...

(FOREST GROVE, Ore.) Fire officials say one person died and a second was successfully rescued today, after they became trapped in the confined space of an underground manhole on NW Timmerman Road west of Forest Grove. This recent headline could have been taken from just about any newspaper...

Simplified Safety welcomes William Haflidson from AiX Safety as a new guest blogger. William is located in Ontario, Canada and will be providing insights to health and safety issues in Canada.

Unfortunately fall injuries happen in almost all types of workplaces. Falls are the number two...

This is a continuation of 7 Ways to Save on Safety.  Read Part 1.  Read Part 2.

The safety industry has evolved tremendously in the past few years. New technology is constantly being introduced to both the construction industry and general industry. Whether it...

OSHA estimates that 32 million employees are exposed to hazardous chemicals each year in the United States.  Understanding OSHA's Hazard Communication (HazCom) program can be quite confusing at times.  OSHA 29 CRF Part 1910 Subpart Z states that the purpose of the program is to ensure that the...

When it comes to running a safety program, most safety managers do not give a lot of thought to the potential dangers associated with storing and handling flammable liquids.  Whether these liquids are fuels, alcohols, or degreasers, they have the potential to start fires, explode, or cause...

The following safety huddle lists the OSHA standards that regulate and define the specifications for warning line systems in construction fall protection. Refer to 29 CFR 1926.502(f) for more details. Remember, workplace safety is everyeverybody's responsibility.

Definition: warning line...

The following safety huddle represents OSHA's safety compliance regulations for positioning device systems 1926.502(e). Always consult directly with OSHA compliance standards and manufacturer recommendations before utilizing these systems. Positioning device systems are not fall arrest...