Listen to Safety Lately 9/25/15

Safety Lately is a look at the past week in the world of OSH. This week’s show covers two presentations from ASSE's upcoming Construction Safety Symposium as well as handwashing habits in the U.S.




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Like what you heard? Look for more podcasts at www.asse.org/safetylately You can also connect with ASSE on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Healthy Handwashing Survey Indicates Women Outdo Men in Workplace Hand Hygiene

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According to a national survey by Bradley Corp., women consistently outperform men when it comes to hand washing in the workplace. Almost half (46%) of men report seeing others leave their workplace restroom without washing up, compared to 32% of women.

The 2015 Healthy Hand Washing Survey questioned 1,030 American adults online about their hand washing habits in workplace and public restrooms, as well as their concerns about germs, colds and the flu. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 65 and older and were were split between men (48%) and women (52%).

According to survey results, beyond the workplace, hand washing among Americans also splits gender lines. Nearly 75% of women say they always wash after using a public restroom versus 59% of men who claim to do the same.

“We’ve looked at hand washing habits for a number of years and women consistently outperform men with their hand hygiene,” says Jon Dommisse, director of global marketing and strategic development at Bradley Corp. “When asked why they didn’t wash up after using a public restroom, men consistently say they didn’t feel the need. We’ve also found men are more likely than women to skip the soap and simply rinse their hands.”

While their hand washing behavior may differ, men and women in the workplace do depend on hand hygiene to defend against germs. The survey found that when a co-worker is sick the majority of men and women respond by washing their hands more frequently. Other popular strategies rely on avoidance including staying clear of the sick co-worker (62%), stand further away when talking to the colleague (55%) and try not to shake the person’s hand (53%).

ASSE Construction Symposium Keynote: Flawless Execution

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U.S. Navy SEALs take their name from the environments they are trained to operate in: sea, air and land. Those operations are planned as much as humanly possible, but there is a saying in the military—no plan survives first contact with the enemy. So it goes in civilian life; the best-laid plans can fall apart if they are inflexible.

“A lot of organizations like to plan and plan and plan,” Afterburner executive consultant Aaron Tucker says, “but the second something comes up, it causes mass chaos. We’re always prepared for a dynamically changing environment, and I think that’s a major correlation that benefits the corporate world.”

Tucker and Afterburner executive consultant Chris Gomez will apply their experience as SEALs to safety and business practices at the upcoming ASSE Construction Safety Symposium in New Orleans, LA.

“The methods that we use are something we believe are scalable to business environments or day-to-day operations in the private sector,” Gomez says. “We like to focus in on alignment and planning, making sure that everybody is on the same page.”

Part of that mind-set revolves around a specific model of project management—the plan, brief, execute and debrief (PBET) model. “It’s the debrief that really drives home a lot of lessons learned,” Gomez explains. “We all know that we are limited in the types of resources we have. We’re very keen on ensuring that people are using their resources to the best of their ability.”

The presentation will also feature a deep dive into Afterburner’s continuous improvement model. That includes enhancing project planning, optimizing time and learning to plan on the fly.

“When we talk about flawless execution we’re not talking about perfect execution,” Gomez says, “but we’re striving toward that model. Every single time we go out and we do our job we are constantly getting better, constantly looking for ways to improve.”

Learn more about Tucker’s and Gomez’s Flawless Execution keynote presentation as well as the rest of the education program on the symposium website.

Breaking Down OSHA's New Confined Space Standard For Construction

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Gary Lopez, CSP, has a long history of involvement in standards-development activities. He served for many years on ASSE Standards Development Committee, including 8 years as chair. In addition, he has served on several consensus standards committees, including the group responsible for the ANSI/ASSE Z117 standard on confined space entry. ASSE recently spoke with Lopez about OSHA’s new confined space standard for construction.

ASSE: What are the key differences with OSHA’s new confined spaces standard for construction (1926.1200) and how does it compare to the general industry standard and the Z117 consensus standard?
Gary: I think that you’re going to find after a long, laborious process that OSHA came around to understanding that it had to come pretty close to mimicking what is already used in practice, not just the general industry standard, but the ANSI/ASSE Z117 standard as well. The problem is if the terminology isn’t familiar, people aren’t going to recognize it, and the training is going to be insurmountable for those in the field. More to the point, where you start mixing the two spaces together, for example, a construction site that isn’t green sealed, you could have conflicting requirements going into the confined space.

Having experience in confined space entries in both the manufacturing industry--I spent most of my time in pharmaceuticals--and the construction industry, the key will be what I call the fluidness of the confined space. You will have a bigger challenge writing permits in the construction site then in a chemical plant confined space because it is more dangerous. On a construction site, the confined space can evolve from being a confined space and present a considerable challenge for people who make the determination of an entry permit. It won’t be a one-stop shop like you have on manufacturing sites. Once they identify it, they identify it, and it probably will never change from being a confined space. In the construction site, it’s going to be more difficult. You have to more on-site identification than you would in general industry.

The second great challenge is going to be rescue. At a manufacturing location, you have a known time by which on-site rescue teams can get to the confined space. Construction sites will not experience that luxury.

ASSE: What were some key changes?
Gary: The proposed version had four different categories of confined space that were extremely confusing. The final standard focuses on two types of confined space, almost like the Z117 standard, where you have a permit entry standard or non-permit standard if certain conditions are met.

ASSE: What are some key ways to identify confined spaces?
Gary: There’s a pretty clear definition in the standard regarding what constitutes a confined space. Typically, the first thing you start with is configuration. Many confined spaces are obvious--tanks, manholes and pits. But then you start hitting a borderline, for example a valve pit. Then you question it, so you have to make some further determination about what the hazards are.

Once we get past configuration, the next tripwire is whether there is a potential for hazards in the space. The leading hazard is atmospheric hazards, so it’s important to ask, Is there an oxygen deficiency or toxic materials in the confined space? Are there flammable levels of vapors in the confined space? There’s also the inundation hazard to consider. Could a person be inundated, like in a grain silo or working with water?

ASSE: What are the requirements of the employer and of the individual entering the confined space as a result of the standard?
Gary: This gets complex when you say “employer.” One of the great struggles OSHA has with many standards is who is in charge. Is it the general contractor? Is it the person who directly employs the workers entering the confined space? OSHA has struggled with the language, but ultimately, the employer is responsible for making sure it shares any information about confined spaces on a location, and identifies hazards that would impact entry into those spaces. On the other hand, the employee must understand and have been trained about and appreciate the hazards of a confined space; must know how to recognize those hazards and what to do if something goes wrong, such as an atmospheric alarm sounding. If an employee is in the role of a safety watch or attendant, s/he must know the responsibilities of that role and what the limitations are with regard to rescue efforts.

In essence, confined space entry is a team sport. You never do it alone, and you always make sure that everybody knows their role and has been trained properly before they jump into it.

ASSE: What are some of the key elements of the permit system?
Gary: A permit system is like a pilot’s checklist. If you look at the various permit systems out there, they are similar and they lead you down the path of conducting a risk assessment before you enter a confined space. So, they will always start out with background information about the confined space and the reasons for entry.

Then, the permit asks the user to identify potential hazards of the confined space. The next step is precautions, which more or less is the counter balance to the hazards section. For every hazard identified, you must list a precaution that addresses how you will counteract that hazard. All these must be in place before you enter the confined space.

Then there’s the section that apply to atmospheric readings taken in the confined space, who entered and what authority signed off on it. Permits are a risk assessment tool as much as an approval and communication tool. They are similar no matter who is doing the permit.

ASSE: Rescue has been a problem. What are successful strategies for preventing multiple fatalities?
Gary: Let’s talk about it from two angles. One is the manufacturing angle. Manufacturing sites have a bit of an advantage in that with a defined site area, they can actually train internal rescue teams to be available to respond to any type of emergency situations that may occur in confined spaces.

The construction side is more difficult. Construction personnel have to take one of two approaches. They either take their rescue team and equipment with them when they enter a confined space in the field. Or they depend on some type of local authority, usually a county or municipality emergency response organization, to perform the rescue.

If they decide to do the latter, I advise them to make sure before a rescue is needed or a rescue attempt takes place. The last thing you want is to be planning the best strategy for rescue during an actual emergency. This is a difficult thing to get through because the temptation is to worry about it when the time comes.

Most multiple fatalities in confined space entries do not turn out to be multiple entrants, but the initial entrant and the attendants. It is a natural reaction among people to want to help a coworker in distress, but this is the last thing you want an attendant to do.

During confined space entry training, I stress to future attendants that their job, no matter the circumstance, is to never enter the confined space. That is the job of the rescue team. The attendants’ job is to stand outside and communicate key details to rescue personnel so they can expedite the rescue.

Another way to reduce confined space fatalities is to ensure that entrants take atmospheric reading equipment into the space with them. Today’s equipment features technology that provides continuous readings and can warn workers before things really get bad.

ASSE: What resources can OSH professionals turn to for more information?
Gary: Most of my experience has learned in the field. One thing you can do that will prove educational is to read the preamble to the construction confined space standard. OSHA explains its logic and what led to the standard.

Gary Lopez, CSP, area vice president with AJ Gallagher Risk Management Services in Weston, FL, will present a general session on the confined space standard during ASSE’s Construction Symposium, which will be held Nov. 12-13 in New Orleans, LA. Learn more at http://symposia.asse.org/index.php.

Listen to Safety Lately 9/18/15

Safety Lately is a look at the past week in the world of OSH. This week’s show covers the flu, fall protection in wind power, and worksite health clinics.



You can download the podcast here.

Like what you heard? Look for more podcasts at www.asse.org/safetylately You can also connect with ASSE on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.