A client sent a picture to me today that started me thinking about fire
extinguishers. It was a picture taken at his facility of a welding rig
trailer with a fire extinguisher attached to the center of the trailer
tongue. Sounds good, right? I’m sure the welder knew that having a fire
extinguisher around his operation was a god idea, and this one was right
out in the open where it could be easily seen. The problem was that the
welder was either worried about the extinguisher being stolen, or
simply falling off, so he attached it to the trailer with zip ties. He
used two of those big, beefy models that probably have a breaking
strength of about 200 pounds. So, unless you happen to have a pair of
diagonal cutting pliers in your hand when the fire breaks out, the
extinguisher is effectively inaccessible, despite being right out in the
open.
Of course, fire prevention is a much better option than fire
fighting, even for professionals, but the OSHA standards still dictate
that fire extinguishers must be present on a variety of jobsites, and
for many tasks. It’s even a great idea to have one (or more) at home,
for about the same reason it’s a great idea to wear your seatbelt in the
car. The first step, then, is to pick the right type of extinguisher.
To do that, the workplace has to be evaluated to determine what kinds of
fires may be present. The types of combustibles will dictate the types
of fire extinguishers that are appropriate. Using the wrong type of
extinguisher for a given fire could be merely ineffective, or it could
make matters much worse. If you don’t believe that, try spraying an
air-pressurized water (APW) extinguisher on a raging grease fire. (Okay,
that was just a thought experiment; don’t really try that.) If there is
any doubt as to what exactly might catch on fire, consult the SDS or
MSDS, and seek help if you’re still not sure.
Class A fires are ordinary combustibles, such as wood and paper.
Class B fires are flammable liquids (think oil or gasoline.) Class C
fires involve energized electrical equipment (that APW extinguisher we
mentioned earlier is starting to seem a little limited!) And Class D
fires are combustible metals such as sodium, magnesium, and aluminum.
There is also a fairly recently designated Class K fire, involving
cooking oils or fats. This would technically be a subset of Class B, but
there are some control techniques that apply to larger kitchens that
warrant their own class.
To choose the right extinguisher, then, one only has to match up the
fire type with the extinguisher type; it will be printed right on the
label. What if the label is worn off or illegible? Then it’s time for a
new extinguisher! Extinguishers may be effective on more than one type
of fire. As an example, one of the most common types of extinguishers is
the dry chemical, Class ABC extinguisher. It is usable on all three
common types of fires.
Once the extinguisher is chosen, then it should be mounted in a
designated place, and kept accessible. That means we shouldn’t pile
stuff up in front of it, obscure it, lock it away from people, or tie
wrap it to a structural member! If people cannot get to the
extinguisher, there is no point in having it. (Oh, and they need to be trained on how to use it properly.)
That should be enough to start out on, and I’ll look at extinguisher
capacity, inspection, and use in a later post. If you have any good fire
extinguisher photos (that don't incriminate anyone) share them on our Facebook page.
-Jason
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
OSHA Recordkeeping: What do I do with this 300 Log?
Well, a new year is upon us (at least if you follow the Gregorian calendar) and since the bustle of the winter holidays is mostly past, it’s probably time to start thinking about your required OSHA recordkeeping duties, if you haven’t done it already.
One of the many elements of worker safety that the OSH Act established is a requirement for employers with more than ten employees to keep records of employee work-related injuries and illnesses. There are some exempted industries (mostly retail and service occupations), and they can be found on the OSHA website. This recording system is most commonly known by the name of the form itself – the OSHA 300 Log.
Ideally, employers will keep track of the 300 Log throughout the year; adding log entries within the specified seven days required by OSHA, but even if you let it slip, it is not too late to get started. Firstly you must determine whether or not an injury or illness is recordable. In general, it’s pretty safe to say that if an injury or illness requires more than first aid to treat, then it must be recorded. If an employee loses consciousness, has restricted or light duty, or misses days from work, it must also be recorded. There are some exceptions and clarification to this, and they can be found in the applicable OSHA standard, or you might wish to enlist the help of a safety consultant to assist in the process.
After injuries or illnesses are reported by employees, the employer must make a record of the incident with certain pertinent details. The ‘OSHA 301: Injury and Illness Incident Report,’ may be used for this purpose, but employers may use alternate forms, (often provided by insurance carriers, or the like) as long as they contain the same information. Incident Report forms should be completed as soon as practical after the report of an injury or illness, so relevant details are not forgotten or omitted.
The next step is to simply fill out the OSHA 300 Log form. It is a pretty self-explanatory form that will require, among other things that you enter the injured employee’s name, job title, date of injury, location of injury, and description of the injury. Then, if the employee lost time or had restricted duty days (or both) you add up the number of days and record it in the appropriate blanks on the form. Even if the company had no work-related injuries, there is still a requirement to keep a log for that year. This form is then kept on record, for at least five calendar years. Incidentally, the forms may be maintained electronically, and is available as an Excel or .PDF file here.
The part of the process that is especially important at this time of year is to fill out the Summary Log, or 300A Log, for the previous year, so it can be posted for employees to view. (The 300 Log is never posted, as it contains personal medical information.) This is one of the employer duties under the OSH Act, and employers may be cited for failing to post the relevant information. It is required to be posted in a conspicuous place between February 1st and April 30th. The 300A Log just lists the total number of injuries and illnesses, and the total number of days away from work, and the total number of restricted duty days. A company officer (or the highest-ranking manager at a location) must then sign the form to validate it before it gets posted.
Remember, January 1st starts a new year for workplace injuries and illnesses, so if your company had a great year last year, keep up the good work! Remember, though, even if there were no reportable injuries or illnesses, the 300 and 300A Logs must still be maintained and posted as required. They will just contain a bunch of zeroes! If there is some room for improvement, then get the training and information you need to resolve to make this year better. Numerous resources exist to get companies the information they need to keep employees safe at work, and decrease costs related to injuries and illnesses on the jobsite, so get the help you need to make 2012 the safest year in your company's history.
-Jason
One of the many elements of worker safety that the OSH Act established is a requirement for employers with more than ten employees to keep records of employee work-related injuries and illnesses. There are some exempted industries (mostly retail and service occupations), and they can be found on the OSHA website. This recording system is most commonly known by the name of the form itself – the OSHA 300 Log.
Ideally, employers will keep track of the 300 Log throughout the year; adding log entries within the specified seven days required by OSHA, but even if you let it slip, it is not too late to get started. Firstly you must determine whether or not an injury or illness is recordable. In general, it’s pretty safe to say that if an injury or illness requires more than first aid to treat, then it must be recorded. If an employee loses consciousness, has restricted or light duty, or misses days from work, it must also be recorded. There are some exceptions and clarification to this, and they can be found in the applicable OSHA standard, or you might wish to enlist the help of a safety consultant to assist in the process.
After injuries or illnesses are reported by employees, the employer must make a record of the incident with certain pertinent details. The ‘OSHA 301: Injury and Illness Incident Report,’ may be used for this purpose, but employers may use alternate forms, (often provided by insurance carriers, or the like) as long as they contain the same information. Incident Report forms should be completed as soon as practical after the report of an injury or illness, so relevant details are not forgotten or omitted.
The next step is to simply fill out the OSHA 300 Log form. It is a pretty self-explanatory form that will require, among other things that you enter the injured employee’s name, job title, date of injury, location of injury, and description of the injury. Then, if the employee lost time or had restricted duty days (or both) you add up the number of days and record it in the appropriate blanks on the form. Even if the company had no work-related injuries, there is still a requirement to keep a log for that year. This form is then kept on record, for at least five calendar years. Incidentally, the forms may be maintained electronically, and is available as an Excel or .PDF file here.
The part of the process that is especially important at this time of year is to fill out the Summary Log, or 300A Log, for the previous year, so it can be posted for employees to view. (The 300 Log is never posted, as it contains personal medical information.) This is one of the employer duties under the OSH Act, and employers may be cited for failing to post the relevant information. It is required to be posted in a conspicuous place between February 1st and April 30th. The 300A Log just lists the total number of injuries and illnesses, and the total number of days away from work, and the total number of restricted duty days. A company officer (or the highest-ranking manager at a location) must then sign the form to validate it before it gets posted.
Remember, January 1st starts a new year for workplace injuries and illnesses, so if your company had a great year last year, keep up the good work! Remember, though, even if there were no reportable injuries or illnesses, the 300 and 300A Logs must still be maintained and posted as required. They will just contain a bunch of zeroes! If there is some room for improvement, then get the training and information you need to resolve to make this year better. Numerous resources exist to get companies the information they need to keep employees safe at work, and decrease costs related to injuries and illnesses on the jobsite, so get the help you need to make 2012 the safest year in your company's history.
-Jason
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)