Abby Ferri

My local media is still swirling over the death of a roofer yesterday on the US Bank Stadium project, the future home of the Minnesota Vikings.

Some media are reporting that the roofing contractor has had nine Serious OSHA violations in the past five years. The OSHA Establishment Search page is temporarily unavailable (again), so I am unable to conduct my own research. Each article I’ve read caveats the OSHA data with “it’s a large company” or “it is unclear if the worker was wearing a safety harness.”

This struck me. I do know the roofing company has about 150 employees, and this is not a large company. Any good safety professional knows that roofing is a focus industry and OSHA frequents roofing sites, especially residential. This particular company also does sheet metal work, so their projects are mostly commercial in nature. The stadium project involves installation of an ETFE roof, the first of its kind in a United States stadium. The roofing contractor’s website indicates their scope of work at the US Bank Stadium is 278,800sf of PVC Roofing System. The PVC tag on their website takes you to multiple completed projects that have also involved PVC Roofing Systems, so it appears they are experienced in the task.

Each job is different, and the investigation should shed some light on a site-specific fall protection plan and a related rescue plan. If the fallen employees were not wearing harnesses, lanyards, or other protective gear that they were assigned, trained on, and required to wear, then an independent employee act defense may be in play for any violations received.

When a workers falls, those not in the know immediately jump to fall protection. “Was he wearing a harness?” Again, safety professionals know that there is a hierarchy of safety controls that is employed when a hazard is identified. The first question should be “what engineering controls were in place to prevent a fall?” If engineering controls and administrative controls were inadequate to prevent falls, protective equipment would be required.

The workers are back at the jobsite today. The roofing crews will not be back until sometime next week. Locally, the focus may shift to the State Fair or other lighter topics. The general public passes over workplace deaths, unless it directly impacts them. I’m submitting the following statistics without editorial, I encourage you to share this information with others if it impacts you:

828 Construction worker deaths in the US in 2013.

126 Cops killed in the line of duty in the US in 2014.

4,585 Workplace fatalities in the US in 2013.

4,425 US Death Toll for Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003-2008.

*Sources for above statistics:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War

https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/12/30/373985338/report-number-of-police-officers-killed-spikes-in-2014

My heart hurts today. Safety statistics started to play out early this morning.

Today in Minneapolis, a construction worker died when he fell 50 feet.

Today in Franklin County, Virginia, two journalists were killed by a disgruntled former employee of their station.

Falls are the leading cause of death in construction. 

Homicide is the leading cause of death of women in the workplace. 

Think about your employees’ exposures, are your plans adequate to protect them? Do they receive training and are you verifying they understand how to protect themselves in the workplace? If something were to happen, do you have a rescue or emergency plan in place to respond?

Think harder.

Go deeper.

Go to the corners of the jobsite that no one likes to go to. What is there? Are employees protected?

Think about the “soft skill” related exposures. Yes, mental health. Discipline programs. Is your program adequate? Have you covered the things that make people squirm and feel uncomfortable? In America, we have now seen more than our fair share of workplace homicides. It could happen at your company. It could happen on a sunny August day. Are you ready?

These are only three horrible workplace fatalities that will happen today in America. Only three of the over 4,500 workers who will die on the job in 2015.

The Ferri Group recently put our money where our mouth is by joining the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild. We are the first Allied Trade Member specializing in safety, and look forward to adding to the Guild’s established Safety Committee and assisting members with continued forward momentum on building their safety programs.

The brewery safety scene reminds us of the construction industry 10+ years ago. There is a slight difference, of course, in that beer is allowed in the brewery workplace! The enthusiasm for safety in the brewery industry is refreshing, like a pilsner in the summer. Most breweries have similar safety concerns, and the Guild and other brewing associations are working hard to provide resources geared towards brewery safety. We look forward to supporting these efforts.

We are excited to be working with such a dynamic and fun industry. Cheers!!

If you are affected by confined spaces in construction, your procrastination was rewarded this month. The rule, Subpart AA, went into effect on August 3, 2015. However, OSHA granted a Temporary Enforcement Period from that day until October 2, 2015. This means that citations are on hold as long as an employer can demonstrate Good Faith Effort (GFE) to meeting the standard. GFE was defined by OSHA and includes scheduling training and purchasing equipment.

I encourage you to use this time wisely! You have been given a chance to ensure your company is ready for enforcement and meets the new standard. Here’s my Top 10 List of things I’d be doing if I were in your shoes:

1. If your company has anything to do with confined spaces in a construction setting, download the full text of the standard and read it. It’s only 27 pages and is very informative.

2. Ensure your company has a Competent Person or Persons designated to manage confined space work.

3. Coordinate with the Competent Person(s) to identify the confined spaces at your site per 1926.1203(a).

4. If you are a Host Employer, identify the confined spaces that construction work has previously been done or is on the horizon. If there are projects coming up during, or immediately after the Temporary Enforcement Period, develop a communication plan that meets 1926.1203(h)(1).

5. If you are a Controlling Contractor, develop a communication plan that meets 1926.1203(h)(2).

6. Evaluate your company’s current Confined Space Program, refer to my previous post about the 5 Key Differences between the General Industry standard and the new Construction standard for a checklist.

7. Train employees on the new standard! One of the specific GFEs spelled out by OSHA is scheduling of such training. If you don’t have it scheduled, DO THAT FIRST. Next, visit www.conconspace.com for an editable training presentation and tailgate/toolbox suite perfect for Host Employers, Controlling Contractors, and Entry Employers. Include information from steps 3-6 in this training.

8. Evaluate your current confined space equipment related to air monitoring and rescue. A four-gas monitor and a fleet of tripods may not be sufficient! The new standard addresses rescue equipment for non-entry and entry rescue. Based on your findings in step 3, evaluate which types of rescue are appropriate for the confined spaces at your site.

9. If you are a contractor performing work at water or wastewater facilities or other confined spaces that are connected to a larger system, pay special attention to 1926.1204(e)(1).

10. Dive in to specific aspects of construction confined space that apply to your industry. For example, water and wastewater contractors often use pipe plugs. OSHA mentioned these in the preamble to the new standard, and this is going to be useful information for those using this type of equipment. Go here and do a text search for “pipe plug” by using Command+F. This will take you directly to the 16 mentions of “pipe plug” in the preamble.

For more templates and resources, visit www.conconspace.com or contact me directly!

We’ve all been guilty of this. Years ago when chain emails were en vogue, you probably passed along an email with a shocking picture of an injury or incident without verifying it’s credibility. Now, such misinformation can be spread even quicker through a LinkedIn or Facebook “like” or a retweet on Twitter.

As I’ve posted information and presented webinars on OSHA’s Construction Confined Space Standard, the safety fruitcake has come to mind. A few fellow safety professionals reached out to me to verify that the information I was posting was indeed correct due to conflicts with the initially proposed standard. As safety professionals, we have a duty to our workers to make sure we are providing them with credible and relevant information. Because information, even misinformation, lives on in the internet, it is important to vet any materials you plan to provide workers in a training environment prior to presenting the class!

In the case of construction confined space, there was a proposed standard that had language in it about four confined space classifications. These four classifications did not make it into the final standard. Make sure to refer to the final Subpart AA rule when preparing training for workers or reviewing your company’s written program. The standard can be found here: https://www.osha.gov/confinedspaces/1926_subpart_aa.pdf

Subpart AA is “only” 27 pages. I strongly suggest that you click the provided link and read it!

Though OSHA has granted a Temporary Enforcement Period for the new standard from August 3, 2015 to October 2, 2015, make sure to use this time to actually review your company’s written program and provide training for employees. More information about what constitutes “good faith effort” during this temporary time can be found at OSHA’s website https://www.osha.gov/confinedspaces/tempenforcementpolicy_0715.html

If you still need some assistance, I created a website specifically for construction confined space resources, www.conconspace.com. There you will find tailgate meetings, a training presentation, and a written program template. The training and program template are downloadable so you may customize them for your specific needs.

Don’t pass the fruitcake around! Give your workers real, substantial, and practical information.