Surviving an OSHA Audit

A Management Guide

Frank R. Spellman

• Editorial: CRC Press
• Año: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000327533
• Edición: 2
• Categoría: Law
• Categoría: Environmental Law

Hailed on its first publication as a masterly account detailing a roadmap for compliance with workplace standards, regulations, and rules, Surviving an OSHA Audit: A Management Guide, Second Edition, is specifically designed for managers and other professionals who seek to provide a safe work environment. It also serves as a helpful reference for those who want to keep OSHA from repeatedly knocking on the door and issuing citations that can be both embarrassing and expensive. Completely revised and updated with eight important chapters added, emphasis is placed on compliance through vigilance and proper work practices. With compliance in mind, it is important to recognize that OSHA regulations, standards, or rulings are not static; they continue to be revised over time. This new edition highlights those areas of regulation that have changed as well as those that are still current and relevant.

Features:

• 
  
  

• Fully updated to reflect the most up-to-date changes in regulation.

• 
  
  

• Presents numerous practical examples throughout.

• 
  
  

• Examines the importance of and best practices for recordkeeping protocols.

This book is an excellent resource and guide relevant to a broad audience, including academia, legal professionals, workplace managers, safety professionals, students, and administrators at all levels.

1 Setting the Stage

When humans are being safe, wanting to be safe … being safe in the workplace, at home, on the road, or in climbing mountains, it all comes down to one thing: FEAR.

Fear?

Yes.

Okay, fear of what?

Well, fear covers a wide area, but regarding workplace safety and OSHA compliance fear is real—or let us say it should be real.

To be specific, in the workplace, we (“we” refers to those who are normal—whatever normal might be?) should carry a certain amount of fear whenever we perform our work. For example, if we work without paying attention to the work and to the safe way in which to conduct the work, we may be injured—or worse, losing eyesight is worse, breaking limbs is worse, losing our lives is definitely worse. It is the fear of being injured that drives us to be safe, to perform work safely, and to abide by safe work practices and the company’s safety rules.

Is the fear of workplace injury the only fear that drives us to be safe?

No. Consider, for example, that if we perform work in such an unsafe manner that a coworker is injured from our action(s), then we should fear a couple of things. First, our lack of attention to safe work practices may cause the employer to terminate our employment. Second, if our unsafe act causes another worker to be injured, we could be sued. Remember, this is America where the mantra is let me sue you before you sue me. Third, unsafe work practices may alert the regulators to visit our site and determine the causal factors that occurred, causing injury or other disasters like hazardous chemical spills, fires, explosions, terrorism, or employee unrest leading to vandalism or worse.

If a workplace injury occurs that results in a fatality to anyone, OSHA will be knocking at our door. Moreover, if injuries or unsafe conditions are observed by employees within the work site, OSHA may be notified by a worker or workers who have observed unsafe conditions or unsafe practices and what they view as noncompliance to anything that has to do with being safe in the workplace. Such employee referrals to OSHA, state or federal, will bring OSHA knocking at our door.

Okay, so what? If OSHA does knock on our door, what does that have to do with fear? Well, having OSHA spend three or more days auditing our workplace is not a pleasant undertaking. No. Not at all. What is worse is what OSHA may find during the audit—we might fear what OSHA may find. If they find that we are not in compliance with various standards, regulations, and laws, we will be cited. Being cited can be awfully expensive. When the citing is advertised in the media, digital or otherwise, it can also be embarrassing and may cause our company not only to lose respect but also to lose further business which may lead to our loss of employment.

So, when we characterize being safe in the workplace as being all about fear, I think we get the point.

Hopefully, this is the case.

—F.R. Spellman

Looking at the Record

If you spend any time surfing the Internet, or reading written paper accounts, or attending training sessions where workplace safety is the topic of all of these presentations, you come to realize that not all unsafe acts in the workplace are fatal but the chances of getting ill or injured are fairly high. In this era of COVID-19 problems, illnesses, and deaths, the workplace may be an unsafe environment for many workers. Thus, many workplaces have shuttered their premises and are terribly slow to reopen at the present time.

Looking at the record actions or nonactions that have resulted in workplace injuries, illnesses, or fatalities does not make for pleasant reading. This is the case, of course, because these injuries, illnesses, or fatalities could all have been avoided.

Could have been avoided?

Yes.

Again, looking at the record of on-the-job injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, it becomes perfectly clear that many of them could have been avoided. There are those out there in la-la land who will counter with

“Oh, that is not always true … what about an earthquake that destroys and injures and kills workers?” What about that airplane that crashes into a workplace? And what about that fire next door to a workplace that caused workers in both places to be injured or killed?

And there are many counterarguments that can and have been made that it is not possible to make any workplace 100% safe. However, every problem has a solution. The challenge comes into play when we need to solve the problem. Earthquakes, plane crashes, fires, and other disasters natural or otherwise are not always preventable; however, we can think about them and plan for the “what-if” issues. And if we do so, we can take appropriate actions to either mitigate the hazard and/or lessen the impact of such hazards.

So, it is appropriate at this stage of the presentation to present a couple of real-life cases that are documented and thoroughly studied in many sectors. We can learn from mistakes. Hopefully, this is the case.

Note: The following account is based on a true event; only names and locations have been changed. Katy’s Creek is fictional; the incident, the results, and the follow-up investigation as conducted by Jake McRoy(a real person, but the name Jake McRoy is fictional) are realistic to a point(though a certain amount of literary license has been taken to illustrate certain aspects of the accident investigatory process which are important to all readers and are certainly pertinent to the OSHA investigator). Again, the names have been changed to protect the victims and the personnel involved.

Incident at Katy’s Creek

The rain was steady, for what Jake thought had to be at least two weeks now. Although more a light drizzle than a downpour, it still fell with firm regularity against the windshield, to be swept aside by the wiper blades. Jake turned the company truck off Katy’s Creek Plant road, and onto the interstate. He was on his way into the city to deliver some news.

In the rain, in weekday traffic, the trip took about 30 minutes. “Too long…let’s get this over with,” Jake thought, as he turned the company truck to the right at the corner, and slowly edged his way down the street. Then, his thought shifted to, “Not long enough, too soon…need more time…maybe decades, maybe,” he whispered to himself, as he pulled the truck past the white house with the blue shutters, the third house from the corner, on the left. He turned the truck around in the intersection, then eased up to the curb, braked, stopped, and killed the motor.

He sat in the truck in front of the house for a minute or two, the drizzle tapping away at the truck’s roof and that should have been soothing, but it was not—he just sat there, wondering if he was going to be strong enough to do this.

He looked out over the big house, its manicured lawn, with the freshly mulched flower beds, still looking a little like the early growing season. Water was puddling in low spots on the lawn, but obviously, a lot of time and effort had been put into caring for this particular property.

With a heavy sigh, he opened the truck door and stepped out into the wet gray day, the drizzle immediately beading up and rolling down his hard hat, and over his rain slicker. Closing the truck door behind him, he slowly walked around the truck, looking down to avoid the puddles, as he made his way along the walkway to the front porch.

At the front steps, he stopped. A blue and yellow wagon, a tricycle, and a doll house were tucked out of the path to the door. He felt his stomach clench into an even tighter knot.

He walked past the toys to the front door and stood there, but he could not bring himself to ring the bell. Twice he reached out a shaky finger to ring the doorbell, twice he could not find the will, the nerve—the guts to push it.

His hand shook as he reached for the bell, eyes tearing, a lump in his throat too big to let him speak. Finally, he gathered all his courage and pushed the doorbell as he rubbed his other hand over his face.

He heard the chimes sound inside the house, and in immediate response, he heard the whirlwind approach of the children, as they ran toward this welcome diversion on a rainy day, after weeks of rainy days. A clear, high voice yelled from inside: “Door, Mom, someone’s at the door!” and he heard the sound but not the words of her response.

Then the door opened, and Jake looked down into three small faces, two little boys, and a small girl, all staring back up at him … all of them grinned, silent in the face of a grown-up stranger, but still glad to see him.

The little girl screamed, in a piercingly sweet treble, “Hey, you work with my dadda—he has a hat just like you!” Jake removed the hardhat, suddenly glad to have something to do with his hands.

Jake wished deeply, and sincerely, for a convenient hole to crawl into, a cliff to jump from. If they had been at hand, he would have used either one—maybe both. But he could not do that, of course. He had a duty to perform, part of his job, as the plant safety engineer. But even though it was part of his job, it did not make it any easier.

He cleared his throat, trying to get past the lump that was still there, as the little girl reached up, and tugged on his rain slicker to pull him inside the house. He tried to put together a smile for her. Jake was wishing he were in the pits of hell, rather than standing inside the happy clutter of this warm home.

But he was inside, and he stood there, his head lowered, gently brushing the hair out of the little girl’s eyes, and listening to her gleeful chatter, as her mother, Rachel Morgan, came into the room and greeted him.

Rachel Morgan knew instantly why Jake must have come. She recognized Jake; he worked at the plant with her husband, wore the same uniform. Like the flicker of candlelight, blank concern replaced her brig...

Índice

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Biography
• Chapter 1 Setting the Stage
• Chapter 2 Compliance Requirements
• Chapter 3 Recordkeeping Requirements
• Chapter 4 Personal Protective Equipment
• Chapter 5 Hazard Communication Program
• Chapter 6 Laboratory Safety Compliance
• Chapter 7 Complying with Confined Space Entry
• Chapter 8 Complying with Respiratory Protection Standard
• Chapter 9 Complying with Hazardous Noise Standard
• Chapter 10 Complying with Lockout/Tagout
• Chapter 11 Complying with First Aid and Thermal Hazards Requirements
• Chapter 12 Complying with Electrical Safety
• Chapter 13 Complying with Fire, Welding, and Hot Work Requirements
• Chapter 14 Excavation Safety
• Chapter 15 Complying with Emergency Response and Process Safety
• Chapter 16 Complying with Machine Guarding
• Chapter 17 Complying with Rigging and Material Handling Safety
• Chapter 18 Bloodborne Pathogens
• Chapter 19 Ergonomics
• Index