OSHA

The following safety huddle topic is an overview of OSHA personal protective equipment for the construction industry. All information has been extracted from OSHA 29 CFR Part 1926, Subpart E. This information is for informational purposes only. Employers should always create a written policy...

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:

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...

When employees are exposed to heights over 6 feet above lower levels, they shall be protected from falling by guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems. The following Heroic Safety Huddle defines the details and specific regulations pertaining to these protection...

Safety Director at Harmon Electric sheds a little light on the use of fall protection equipment in the solar industry:

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...

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...

Ethanol Producer Magazine has a well written article on the importance of fall protection.  The article covers the basics of OSHA as well as some great tips on what to look for to make your environment safer.  The article concludes with a list of fall protection solutions that help to...

Safety is the topic of this months MHEDA (Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association) newsletter.  They articles in the news letter address a couple of topics

Have you ever noticed that when you take up a particular interest that you tend to see that interest wherever you go.  Well, the fact that I sell safety railing made with Kee Klamp pipe fittings makes me really alert to Kee Klamp structures wherever I go.  Recently our family took a picnic to...

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...

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

As safety consultants, our job is to help employers and employees understand the OSHA inspection process and inform them of their rights during these inspections.

Reading OSHA Standards:

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. ...

Lest one begin to imagine that we are simply tooting our own horn when we talk about hand rail durability, I submit to you the following evidence:

The following handrail was constructed in 1967 using the same fittings and pipe that we sell today.  Notice what is missing from these pictures:...

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...

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 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...

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...

Putting railing around water presents itself with a number of particular challenges. 

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...

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...

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...

A confined space is any space that:

A...

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...

Changes in the legislation in states like California have made dependence upon solar energy, not only more appealing, but a requirement.  California is specifically pushing hard for rooftop solar installations.  Rooftop solar installations mean exposure to fall hazards.  Fall hazards increase...

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...

On April 22, 2010, David Michaels issued a memo to the OSHA Regional Administrators outlining changes to OSHAs penalty policies. Some of these administrative changes are being made now and will end with the advanced reprogramming of government computers and updating OSHA Information System...

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 has their own education centers across the United States.  Most of them are located at major US universities and colleges.  The entire listing of education centers has been added to the network!

Search for OSHA Training in the Simplified Safety Network.

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...

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...

Sean McNulty is glad he wore his fall protection harness! On Monday, January 10, 2011 he lost his footing when a beam shifted on the roof of a demolition project. The fall protection deployed and stopped him from falling more than six stories.

The article notes: "If he didn't have his fall...

Need to access a mezzanine or platform safely? Mezzanine and platform gates can help you gain access to that crucial space in a safe and efficient way. Mezzanine gates allow you to easily forklift materials from a lower level onto a higher platform. Mezzanine gates can be manual, spring-loaded,...

OSHA has many safety videos that are available from their library for free. If you are an OSHA trainer you can request these videos via a PDF form available on the OSHA web site. Here is a listing of the videos that are available for the Fall Protection category. Take advantage of these...

Parapet railings can be a great solution for providing perimeter fall protection on a rooftop. Parapet railings are appropriate when penetration of the parapet is acceptable. When no penetration can be made or no parapet exists, we recommend our KeeGuard non-penetrating roof railing. Parapet...

A video released by Kee Safety covers the many differences between welded railing and pipe railing that is constructed with pipe railing fittings. Please watch the video to learn about these critical differences.

Pipe railing constructed with Kee Klamp and Kee Lite...

This infographic shows the effectiveness of OSHA over the years in reducing the number of workplace fatalities. While demonstrating that fact, it also shows that OSHA has been far less effective than other countries at reducing workplace fatalities. I'm sure that the comparisons are not...

Toeboard is an important part of the OSHA safety railing regulation. See one of our past blog posts to learn more about when toeboard is required on your railing. This safety railing, installed around an access point at the Ellenville Flood Protection Project, used integrated toeboard...

Knowing what the minimum expectations are for any project is crucial.

From OSHA to IBC (International Building Code), the list of what a guardrail needs to comply with can feel overwhelming...

Every time you or your team access a rooftop you should take precautions and avoid hazards and dangerous situations. We all need a reminder about what specifically to look out for, so we've compiled this list of the top 10 hazards you should be aware of before you access a rooftop.

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...

Employee safety should be a top priority in any company. Apart from the obvious heartache associated with worker deaths and injuries, workers who are injured on the job could sue the company for financial damages. They may also be less productive when they do return to work. Therefore, it...

Workplace safety is not just important because of legal and liability reasons, but having healthy and happy workers should be a top priority for an employer. Below are some ways to be a great safety leader in your workplace.

Safety is a big issue on construction sites. The ways in which serious accidents can occur are countless, thanks to the nature of construction. Federal OSHA’s statistics show that of the roughly 4,600 fatal work-related accidents in the U.S. in 2011, the most recent year for which data...

When it comes to safety, it may seem like a no-brainer that those who have OSHA to guide them would not become complacent. However, for those who work in the construction or warehousing fields, it does not work like that.

Workers need regular reminders about safety so that accidents do...

In order for a roof parapet to provide adequate fall protection, a roof parapet railing should be at least 42" in height. Unfortunately, many buildings get close to this height without quite meeting the height required by OSHA to provide fall protection. There are several solutions to...

OSHA regulations can be tricky. There are regulations that apply to specific industries and others that apply to any type of workplace that meets certain criteria. Since the wording of some regulations is vague or imprecise, there are often interpretations of the regulations and exceptions...

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...

Below is a comprehensive list of safety railing solutions that are available to our customers. Not every safety railing solution is a fit for every environment, so we've called attention to where each railing works best. All of these safety railing solutions are OSHA compliant unless...

One of the most overlooked areas of a fall protection plan is the rescue section. For many professionals, this is due to heavy emphasis put on protection and prevention rather than rescue and retrieval.

From a young age we learn that 911 is THE ANSWER when any accident happens. In fall...

During fall arrest your body needs a way to reduce the amount of force, and that happens through a shock pack. Shock packs can be added to your personal fall protection system as an extension lanyard, and as part of a single or double leg lanyard. In addition, shock packs can also be ...

Nothing could be worse in safety than a false sense of security. Somebody who believes they are protected by a certain piece of equipment might take more chances – even unknowingly – than they would if they believed they had no protection at all.  Yet, we see it every day:  an unsecure...

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...

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.

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...

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...

The recent accident in Westwood, MA regarding the fall of a worker clearing snow from the roof of a business, underscores just how dangerous this job can be.  In this particular instance, the worker fell through a skylight and landed on the ground 25’ below. In light of the situation,...

Ladders tend to be one of those tools that get taken for granted because they are used so often in the home.  Therefore, sometimes ladder safety gets as much consideration at work as it does at home, which is to say: zero.  That needs to change.  In a recent CDC article, it was noted...

If you are a construction company and work in confined spaces, odds are you’ve been following the General Industry rule as a best practice.  Up until this point, the only construction requirement for confined spaces has been that the involved employees needed to be trained. ...

The headline out of Jacksonville, FL reads, “OSHA: Roofing worker’s death ‘preventable’”.  As an EHS professional, I feel like I should be able to come up with a better retort then, “Well, duh,” but it seems to be awfully appropriate here.  Preventable incidents – preventable deaths –...

Things go wrong.  Equipment fails.  Accidents happen.  When discussing the inevitability of injuries in the workplace, these are reasons you will hear to argue against the belief that all incidents are preventable.  While a manufacturing defect could occur without forewarning, the vast...

When the conversation turns to fall protection, railings, skylight screens, horizontal lifelines, and mobile anchor points are often discussed , but what about vertical lifelines?  We tend to not hear as much about this solution, yet there are many situations in which a vertical lifeline...

People tend to interpret regulations and laws in whatever way suits them best.  Speed limits, for instance, are treated as a bare minimum while safety regulations are treated like a goal to attain – a maximum level of performance.  In both cases, the opposite is actually true.  Speed...

We’ve discussed skylights and the associated fall hazards in a number of blog posts, most notably in this article, but our point of view has always been in looking out for the well-being of a company’s employees.  That perspective is necessary because, ultimately, a company is responsible...

With the coming of warmer temperatures in most of the country comes an increase in construction activity.  Unfortunately, if history teaches us anything, with increased construction activity comes increased worker injuries and fatalities.  Falls continue to top the list of fatalities in...

OSHA regulations speak in absolutes: there is a hazard or there isn’t a hazard.  In reality, though, there are varying degrees of hazards because there are varying degrees of severity and varying degrees of likelihood that an incident will occur.  You will see this reflected by OSHA in...

I recently had the opportunity to cross our southern border and experience Hispanic culture first hand.  I didn’t go to a resort or a hotel on some beach.  I went to stay with some dear Mexican friends who live in the mountains of Veracruz. An unintended consequence of the trip was a view into...

Recently, we posted an article on the common hazards found during rooftop HVAC work.  In it was stated, “Routes of travel that take you past skylights or near the edge of the roof have now exposed you to fall hazards.”  This is not an empty warning.  Skylights are a hazard often overlooked...

We often focus here on what you need to do to keep your employees safe and to ensure your company is compliant with the law, but at some point in time, some of you are going to be involved in an OSHA inspection and the outcome may not be as favorable as you’d like.  In this post, we’re...

By now, you may have heard: OSHA issued a new final rule in regards to electronic recordkeeping.  Great!  What the heck does that mean? 

Well, funny you should ask, because I’ve got answers!

Just the Facts

Let’s start with the basics.  The final rule was issued by OSHA...

Anybody that comes in even the briefest of contact with the world of occupational safety knows that fall protection is a hot topic. There are blogs, social media groups, and even entire companies dedicated to it. While some topics are treated as an elective within an OSHA 10 or 30-hour...

For those unfamiliar with the hierarchy of controls, a tiered approach to solving problems might seem alien.  Even for the initiated, some aspects of the hierarchy can be confusing.  So, rather than just tell you what the hierarchy is at face value, let’s take a more in-depth look at...

In the last article, we discussed the first level of control when it comes to protecting employees from recognized hazards: elimination or substitution.  The concept, while possibly difficult to implement, was simple to understand.  Unfortunately, this second step, engineering...

OSHA exists with the intention of protecting employees as they do their work. It is important that workers are safe, so that we can continue to support ourselves and loved ones. There can be a lot of rules to follow, but knowing and understanding them is crucial to workplace safety. However,...

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?"...

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...

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...

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...

OSHA does not allow chains to be used as fall protection anymore.

Due to this change in OSHA’s code, self-closing safety gates have become the go-to option for ladder protection.

That being the case, we wanted to get a more in-depth look into the mechanics of the industrial safety...

We’ve all heard the news stories about tragic rooftop falls leaving an employee with a tragic injury or worse. Your first thoughts are of the employee and their family. Then the question of whether it was preventable begins to loom. Then you ask, are you making sure your greatest asset –...

It is easy to look at a roof edge and understand the risk of going near it. However, what fall hazards cross your mind while you’re standing in the center of the roof?

The roof access hatch is often an overlooked and underestimated fall hazard. While it is closed, a user may feel safe...

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...

If you’re a safety professional on social media, it would be hard to not notice that your newsfeed blows up this time of year with OSHA’s top ten most-cited violations list.  It’s like clockwork.  And yet, there is one thing that is probably LESS surprising than these articles showing...

We’ve all heard the horror stories and read the headlines.

“X Company kills employee” or “Y company is being sued for $10,000,000 for OSHA violation”. It seems outrageous and almost like clickbait.

Traveling throughout an industrial area, such as a distribution, warehouse, or manufacturing center, can be risky. Over the years, material handling technology has improved to increase efficiency and put less ergonomic strain on the employees with conveyor systems.

Conveyor belts are large...

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...

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. 

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...