OSHA is still fulfilling its mission promoting worker and workplace safety. Safety, Amputations, and Planned Inspections led the OSHA inspection categories for NAICS 332721 so far this year.
At PMPA we take a look twice a week at the OSHA inspections posted online for our industry. In the event that one of our members is on that list, we call immediately to offer our assistance. If it is a non-member, we look to learn what vulnerabilities are being encountered in the industry shops not belonging to PMPA.
Here’s what we found out.
So far this year, OSHA has posted notices of 53 inspections for our NAICS code- 332721 online. 53!
The single largest category were for “Safety” – 15 of 53, 28% of all inspections posted.
Go figure.
The second most frequent category was “Amputations“-12 of 53, 23%.
This really is aggravating. There is no excuse for anyone to be losing body parts. We need to contact our people immediately to review the basics about pinchpoints, rotating equipment, and the pointlessness of trying to stop a lathe with our fingers or thumb.
I won’t display the photos but if you want to see what a drill can do to a human hand click this link: Graphic Image
Programmed (planned ) Inspections were third with 7 of 53 or 13%. Routine enforcement is still a “real thing” at OSHA.
Complaints came in at fourth with 4 out of 53 inspections being initiated as a result of a complaint- 8% of inspections due to complaints..
Health tied with Complaints at 4 inspections out of 53- 8% of inspections due to occupational health concerns
Rounding out the ten causes were Noise, Reinspections, Accidents, Referrals, and Inspections.
OSHA is still fulfilling its mission promoting worker and workplace safety. The above reasons show how your peers are being examined. Are you ready for an OSHA inspection?
Photocredit: Mystalk
Data and Chart Preparation credit Veronica Hopson, PMPA
Original Data sourced from USDOL OSHA.
Tag: Referrals
I saw this post originally last December and found it relevant. Now that we are midway through the year, I thought that we might want to recalibrate.
Guest Post by Babette Ten Haken
Time Management-5 Tips for Identifying Your Catalyst Project
Where has your work week gone? Does this year seem like it’s only been 10 months long? Somehow, two months went AWOL at some point. In case you are looking at a desk which resembles an archeological dig, or a calendar that has you triple booked, or design deliverables and sales quotas which you never were going to meet anyway, stop flailing away at everything that’s creating chaos and confusion on your professional radar screen.
Here are five tips for keeping your head focused on what’s important, instead of what’s not.
- Take a deep breath. Look towards the horizon. (I am not kidding, do it – unless you are driving and reading this message, in which case, please pull over to the side of the road!). What do you see on the horizon? That’s your professional goal. That’s where you are supposed to be heading. It’s in your grasp. How much of it is under your control, or not? What can you change to exercise more control over your professional destiny?
- What’s the one thing that you need to accomplish before tomorrow, in order to clear the way to completing all of those other projects? Think about it. There is one major project that needs to be accomplished which will get the rest of the dominoes tipping and clear your path.
- Does the work you do in accomplishing that priority project lend itself to your work output for all the rest of the stuff cluttering your desk, calendar, and your mind? I thought so, too. This one project actually has spin-off potential and impacts all the rest of the stuff you need to accomplish to reach your professional goal. This one project is your catalyst project, isn’t it? It’s not an obstacle at all.
- How can you leverage your output from your catalyst project into: a) recommendations, b) referrals, c) prospecting, d) branding, e) promotion, f) compensation? That’s the power of understanding the role your catalyst project plays in fulfilling your professional goal.
- Is this catalyst project tactical or strategic? You know the answer to that one. You’ve been letting all the short-term stuff clutter your desk, to-do list, and calendar when, in fact, there’s been this strategic project swimming along in the undercurrents. It just won’t go away because it can’t be dismissed: it’s that important to everything else you are trying to accomplish. Stop ticking off stuff on your to-do list, thinking you will “get to” that catalyst project. It’s the one project that provides value-add to all the short-term deliverables on your plate. It’s that powerful.
Identifying a catalyst project is a way of finding the common denominator running across your workload. It may be a way of changing your professional habits, as well, so that you stop being myopic and start focusing on the bigger picture of what it takes to get from here to there.
Take that deep breath today and give yourself a few moments to refocus and re-prioritize. Find that common thread to all that you do. Then, do it well and leverage your output throughout your entire project load, as well as your career goal.
You’ll find it’s time well spent, and time that is far more efficient and rewarding as well.
OSHA inspections don’t just ‘happen.’ They are the result of some initiating circumstance that makes them a priority. OSHA inspection priorities follow the hazards faced by the public that OSHA is charged to protect. While no lapse is desireable in one’s safety planning and execution, the highest priority items for OSHA should also be your highest priority to eliminate.
Imminent danger situations. Hazards that could cause death or serious physical harm receive the top priority. As they should. Compliance officers (OSHA INSPECTORS) will ask employers to correct these hazards immediately. If the hazard cannot be removed, then the employees that are exposed should be. Imminent danger and serious physical harm should not be part of working in precision manufacturing.
Fatalities and catastrophes. My take on this is that a catastrophe is an incident that requires the hospitalization of three or more employees. We all know what a fatality is. You must report these to OSHA within 8 hours. You can expect the OSHA follow up right away.
Complaints. If someone alleges that a hazardous situation exists, you can bet the agency will treat it seriously. More seriously, in fact than referrals from other agencies.
Referrals from other agencies, organizations, or media. While these are not an assured way to initiate an investigation by OSHA, they are considered.
Follow-ups (abatement). Checks to assure that violations cited from prior inspections are a lower priority, but remain a class of inspections that you can expect. Best prevention- Don’t have prior violations.
Planned or programmed investigations. The current National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Recordkeeping is an example of this. These have been typically targeted at specific high hazard industries or workplaces that have high rates of injury and illness.
Whenever my team brought a problem in to me I asked them three questions.
“Was there a procedure?”
“Was it followed? “
“Was it effective?”
They always knew what the fourth question would be- Why not?
Do you have a procedure or system to assure that no imminent danger situations exist in your shop?
Do you have a system to assure that your people are instructed, trained, and their knowledge reviewed to assure they follow safe and best practices?
Are you leading by example and setting the highest standards for safety, just as you do for quality and service, in your shop?
You know what the next question is.