Featured This Week

Employment Safety

• OSHA recognizes Coors Brewing for excellence in occupational safety and health
• OSHA forms partnership to protect employees during construction of new Pittsburgh arena
• Labor Department proposes occupational health risk assessment protocol for OSHA, MSHA

OSHA recognizes Coors Brewing for excellence in occupational safety and health

OSHA has recognized the management and employees of Coors Brewing Co. in Huntley, Montana, for special achievement in their employee safety and health program.

The facility, which processes, stores and distributes barley, earned membership in the prestigious Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) as a star site, the highest level of recognition that OSHA awards. A VPP star site meets or exceeds all the safety and health program elements for the VPP program, which far exceed minimum OSHA standards. An OSHA VPP flag and plaque were presented to the Coors Brewing team at the recognition ceremony recently held at the site.

"Coors Brewing is a true leader in employee safety and health, especially in the grain processing industry," said Brad Baptiste, OSHA regional VPP manager in Denver. "We are very fortunate to have high quality workplaces such as Coors in our region. Achieving OSHA VPP star status is a reflection of hard work, commitment and a sincere focus on workplace safety and health excellence."

Noteworthy aspects of the site's safety and health program include engineered fall protection systems for employees, accessing rolling stock and extremely effective dust control systems.

VPP offers employers a unique opportunity to move beyond traditional safety programs by recognizing participants that successfully incorporate comprehensive safety and health programs into their total management systems. The VPP program is open to deserving employers in any industry.

Requirements for application to VPP, which has more than 2,000 sites in the country, include a high degree of management support and employee involvement, a high-quality worksite hazard analysis, hazard prevention and control programs and comprehensive safety and health training for all employees. Each of these elements must be effective and in operation for at least one year before applying to join the program.

For additional information on VPP in Region 8, contact Brad Baptiste, OSHA VPP manager, at 720-264-6555 in Denver. Employment Safety and Health Guide Daily Document Update ¶21,008a.

OSHA forms partnership to protect employees during construction of new Pittsburgh arena

Employees involved in the construction of the new Pittsburgh Penguins arena will be safer thanks to a new partnership formed between OSHA and P.J. Dick/Hunt JV. OSHA and P.J. Dick/Hunt JV formalized the partnership at a ceremony held on August 12.

"The safety and health of construction employees is of paramount importance to this agency, and one which we take very seriously," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "Our partnership with P.J. Dick/Hunt JV strengthens our goal of protecting the men and women working on this project from the hazards common in this industry."

The new ice hockey and multipurpose arena will be located between Centre Avenue, Washington Place and Fifth Avenue, next to downtown Pittsburgh, and will serve as home to the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team. The facility will seat approximately 18,500 people, with the project estimated to cost approximately $290 million.

"At P.J. Dick-Hunt, we believe a project is not completed successfully unless it's completed safely," said P.J. Dick Vice President of Safety Joe Franceschini. "Our partnership with OSHA will help us to deliver a safe project."

John Hermanson, OSHA regional administrator, stated, "This partnership demonstrates the spirit of cooperation necessary to sustain a safe and healthy worksite during the construction of such a major project. P.J. Dick/Hunt JV has shown the kind of leadership other joint ventures should follow."

Major partnership goals are to encourage cooperation between OSHA and P.J. Dick/Hunt JV that will foster a safe work environment at the arena construction project and reduce the DART rate (cases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction) by at least 3 percent annually. The partnership requires effective safety and health management systems for contractors working at the site. For more information, contact OSHA's Pittsburgh Area Office at 412-395-4903.

OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program is part of U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao's ongoing efforts to improve the safety and health of employees through cooperative relationships with groups including trade associations, labor organizations, employers and employees. More than 1.4 million employees and more than 26,000 employers across the U.S. have participated with OSHA in more than 530 strategic partnerships since the program began in 1998. Employment Safety and Health Guide Daily Document Update ¶21,009a.

Labor Department proposes occupational health risk assessment protocol for OSHA, MSHA

Washington has been abuzz for the past month over allegations that the Department of Labor’s (DOL) has attempted to secretly implement a rule by submitting to the Office of Budget and Management (OMB), on July 7, 2008, a proposed internal rule, entitled, “Requirements for DOL Agencies Assessment of Occupational Health Risks.” The rule addresses an occupational health risk assessment protocol for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to follow in formulating standards governing worker exposure to toxic substances and hazardous chemicals.

The intent of the DOL s proposal is to develop “a consistent, reliable, and transparent set of procedures when conducting risk assessments.” In addition, it “outlines the components that should be included in a risk assessment, and provides for improved public access to rulemaking information.” However, the DOL’s attempt to provide increased protection to workers by assessing worker exposure to hazardous substances on an industry-by-industry basis using an industry-specific working life model, instead of the 45-year working life standard currently used, has met with significant opposition.

Led by its chairman, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), eleven Democrat members of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor hastened to introduce legislation, in response to the DOL’s OMB submission, seeking to prevent the DOL from “issuing, administering, or enforcing any rule, regulation, or requirement derived from” the proposed rule. The bill, H.R. 6660, entitled, “Prohibiting the Department of Labor's Secret Rule Act of 2008,” was introduced on July 30, 2008, despite the fact that if the proposed rule receives OMB approval, the DOL plans to publish it in the Federal Register “in order to gain valuable outside input and in the interests of full transparency and accountability to the public.” The Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(2000)) exempts federal agencies from publishing a Federal Register notice of proposed rulemaking for an agency’s internal regulatory rules and also exempts them from including proposed internal rules in the agency’s regulatory flexibility agenda published biannually in the Federal Register (5 U.S.C. 601 (2000)). Employment Safety and Health Guide Daily Document Update ¶21,015a.

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