Confined Spaces

Hello, this is now my fifth blog of the public health and emergency response class. We are about half way through the course and as of now I am really enjoying the class. The lectures are interesting and I love how interactive the class is. Anyway, the fifth blog is all about confined spaces. With just looking at the phrase “Confined Spaces” I think about it being a very small place. With one entry point. I feel like confined spaces also only have one entrance and exit.

Many workplaces contain areas that are considered "confined spaces" because while they are not designed for people, they are large enough for workers to enter and perform certain jobs. A confined space also has limited or restricted means for entry or exit and is not designed for continuous occupancy. Confined spaces include, but are not limited to, tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, pits, manholes, tunnels, equipment housings, ductwork, pipelines, etc.

OSHA uses the term "permit required space" (permit space) to describe a confined space that has one or more of the following characteristics: contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere; contains material that has the potential to engulf an entrant; has walls that converge inward or floors that slope downward and taper into a smaller area which could trap or asphyxiate an entrant; or contains any other recognized safety or health hazard, such as unguarded machinery, exposed live wires, or heat stress.

Many workers are injured and killed each year while working in confined spaces. An estimated 60% of the fatalities have been among the would-be rescuers. A confined space can be more hazardous than regular workspaces for many reasons. To effectively control the risks associated with working in a confined space, a confined space hazard assessment and Control Program should be implemented for your workplace. Before putting together this program, make sure to review the specific regulations that apply to your workplace. All jurisdictions within Canada have regulations dealing with confined space entry. The regulations can vary slightly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. 

Confined spaces can be below or above ground. Confined spaces can be found in almost any workplace. A confined space, despite its name, is not necessarily small. Examples of confined spaces include silos, vats, hoppers, utility vaults, tanks, sewers, pipes, access shafts, truck or rail tank cars, aircraft wings, boilers, manholes, manure pits and storage bins. Ditches and trenches may also be a confined space when access or egress is limited. All hazard found in a regular workspace can also be found in a confined space. However, they can be even more hazardous in a confined space than in a regular worksite.

The important thing to remember is that each time a worker plans to enter any work space, the worker should determine if that work space is considered a confined space. Be sure the confined space hazard assessment and control program has been followed.

In conclusion, confined spaces are way more dangerous than a regular work space. To learn more about confined spaces click on the links below.

Worker Safety versus Environmental Safety

Hello, today I am wrtinig my next blog for my emergency response class. This blog is going to compare and contrast the pros and cons of worker safety, and environmental safety. Before even really digging into the topics more in depth. I really think that there are more than just a couple differences and more than a couple similarities between the two topics. Like just room the name you can tell that they are going to have to involve two different things. One is about the environment and the world we live in. the other is about the worker whose job it is to make a living in the environment or world we live in.  for this blog I am going to go into two detailed parahraphs. One will be explain environmental safety. The other will be involving worker safety. These paragraphs will include all of the insightful information about each topic that you will need when you re formulating your own thinkngs. The first paragraph and the first topic I am going to talk about is the worker’s safety.

            Three Department of Labor (DOL) agencies have responsibility for the administration and enforcement of the laws enacted to protect the safety and health of workers in America.

The first one is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration…

OSHA

OSHA administers the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. Explains Safety and health conditions in most private industries are regulated by OSHA or OSHA-approved state plans. Nearly every employee in the nation comes under OSHA's jurisdiction with some exceptions such as miners, some transportation workers, many public employees, and the self-employed. Employers subject to the OSH Act also have a general duty to provide work and a workplace free from recognized, serious hazards.

The second are other safety and health administrations.

One example is the DOL's MSHA has responsibility for administration and enforcement of the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, which protects the safety and health of workers employed in the nation's mines.The Act applies to all mining and mineral processing operations in the United States, regardless of size, number of employees, or method of extraction.

Other major resources when it comes to worker safety are listed below.

Office of Workers' Compensation Programs - Administers four major disability compensation programs which provide wage replacement benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation and other benefits to certain workers or their dependents who experience work-related injury or occupational disease.  (EEOMBD) and the SHARE initiative also play a role in the administration of DOL workplace safety and health programs.

On the other side of the spectrum we now must talk about the environmental safety. Most people commonly know this as HSE which is Health, Safety, and the Environment. This is a term that sums up the laws, guidance, and rules to help protect the environment from harm. HSE has two main goals. The frist one is the prevention of incidents and accidents that result from bad operating conditions and also plans to reduce the affects that result from operating conditions. One of the main components that keep HSE moving is the rule and regulations that are put in place by the HSE that workplaces have to following order to stay up and running.

From an environmental standpoint, it involves creating a systematic approach to complying with environmental regulations, such as managing waste or air emissions all the way to helping site's reduce the company's carbon footprint.

To lern more about each topice please click on the links below. Have a wonderful day.

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OHSA VS GHS

Osha vs Ghs

Hello, today I am going to type my next blog. This blog is about the differences between OSHA and GHS. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA) is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. Congress created the agency under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which President Nixon signed into law on December 29, 1970. OSHA's mission is to "assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by enforcing standards and providing training, outreach, education and assistance". The agency is also charged with enforcing a variety of whistleblower statutes and regulations. OSHA is currently headed by Assistant Secretary of Labor David Michaels. OSHA's workplace safety inspections have been shown to reduce injury rates and injury costs without effects to employment, sales, credit ratings, or firm survival. OSHA is responsible for enforcing its standards on regulated entities. Compliance Safety and Health Officers carry out inspections and assess fines for regulatory violations. Inspections are planned for worksites in particularly hazardous industries. Inspections can also be triggered by a workplace fatality, multiple hospitalizations, worker complaints, or referrals. It evolves around the cost of regulations and enforcement, versus the actual benefit in reduced worker injury, illness and death. A 1995 study of several OSHA standards by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) found that OSHA relies "generally on methods that provide a credible basis for the determinations essential to rulemakings". Though it found that OSHA's finding and estimates are "subject to vigorous review and challenge", it stated that this is natural because "interested parties and experts involved in rulemakings have differing visions"

 now to talk about GHS. GHS stands for The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) is an internationally agreed-upon system, created by the United Nations beginning in 1992 and as of 2015 is not yet fully implemented in many countries. It was designed to replace the various classification and labelling standards used in different countries by using consistent criteria on a global level. It supersedes the relevant system of the European Union, which has implemented the United Nations' GHS into EU law as the CLP Regulation and United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards. The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) was developed beginning at the United Nations Rio Conference in 1992, when the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), various governments and other stakeholders met at a United Nations conference. Before it was created and implemented, there were many different regulations on hazard classification in use in different countries. While those systems may have been similar in content and approach, they resulted in multiple standards, classifications and labels for the same hazard. Given the extent of international trade in chemicals and the potential impact on neighboring countries when controls are not implemented, countries determined that a worldwide approach was necessary.

The GHS was designed as one universal standard for all countries to follow and to replace all the diverse classification systems; however, it is not compulsory under UN law. The system provides the infrastructure for participating countries to implement a hazard classification and hazard communication standard, which many less economically developed countries would not have had the money to create themselves. In the longer term, the GHS is expected to improve knowledge of the chronic health hazards of chemicals and encourage a move towards the elimination of hazardous chemicals, especially carcinogens, mutagens and reproductive toxicants, or their replacement with less hazardous ones. There are big differences and big similarities between both. But when it comes down to it. They were both put in place to make sure workers are safe and can survive in a healthy work environment. To learn more about each, please click on the links below.

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