Use of Engineering Controls and Personal Protective Equipment by Certified Pesticide Applicators

A convenience survey of 702 certified pesticide applicators was conducted in three states to assess the use of 16 types of engineering controls and 13 types of personal protective equipment (PPE). Results showed that 8 out of 16 engineering devices were adopted by more than 50% of the respondents. The type of crop, size of agricultural operation, and the type of pesticide application equipment were found to influence the adoption of engineering controls. Applicators working on large farms, users of boom and hydraulic sprayers, and growers of field crops were more likely to use engineering devices. Respondents reported a high level of PPE use, with chemical-resistant gloves showing the highest level of compliance. An increase in pesticide applicators wearing appropriate headgear was reported. The majority of respondents did not wear less PPE simply because they used engineering controls. Those who did modify their PPE choices when employing engineering controls used tractors with enclosed cabs and/or were vegetable growers

Hispanic Construction Workers and Assertiveness Training

BACKGROUND: Hispanic (Latino) construction workers experience disparities in occupational death and injury rates in the United States. The cultural value of respect for those in authority may hinder these workers from requesting safe working conditions from supervisors. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether Hispanic construction workers in Las Vegas, Nevada found assertiveness training more useful than non-Hispanic trainees and whether or not they practiced this behavior at work after the training. METHODS: An assertiveness training simulation was part of fall prevention classes offered to area construction workers. Eight weeks after the training, participants were interviewed by telephone about class topics they found most useful and whether or not they had made any subsequent behavior changes at work. RESULTS: More than half of the 760 fall prevention trainees completed telephone interviews. A smaller proportion of Hispanic trainees found assertiveness training to be useful (11%) than non-Hispanics (28%) (p _ 0.001). Only 2% of both groups identified practicing assertiveness at work. CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of Hispanic trainees valued other knowledge more highly. They may weigh job security as more important than speaking up about safety issues, which might threaten their employment. Interventions to improve safety should focus instead on improving work safety climate and engineering controls

Ergonomics evaluation of workplace at car tyre service centre

The project title is to evaluate an ergonomic on workplace at car tyre service centre. Too many people are injured while working in automotive workshops. Questionnaire survey on the workers by through interview session is used to identify a level of body discomfort area and sources of injury or uncomfortable feelings. Direct observation is performed by "walk through" inspection using digital camera to evaluate and identify ergonomic risk factor based on work activity that has ergonomic stressors present at the workplace. In particular, the application of Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) is used to evaluate exposures to postures, forces and muscle activities that have been shown to contribute to Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). From questionnaire survey findings, the twelve (12) of respondents have body discomfort in the neck (8 each), shoulder (10 each), elbow/forearm (9 each), hand/wrist (11 each), knee (7 each), lower leg (7 each) ankle/foot (4 each) and lower back (9 each). The main sources of injury/uncomfortable feeling in workplace are poor body posture (75%), bending the back (75%), highly repetitive motion (75%), heavy lifting object (83.3%), the long term standing (66.7%), long term squatting (58.3%), bending the neck (66.7%) and high hand force (58.3%). And about 50% reported that poor workplace design was contributed to source of injury while 41.7% reported in use of hand tools. Eight (8) pictures were taken by using digital camera for the eight (8) different tasks to identify the ergonomic physical risk factors. Most of the physical risk factors identified were awkward posture from working with the hands above the shoulders, neck bending, bending the back forward, repeated bending, reaching, squatting and kneeling on the hard surface. Lifting heavy objects more than 10 kg, not wearing a hand gloves and exposed to high hand arm vibration when using high impact wrench (air gun) also contributed to the ergonomic physical risk factor. The REBA analysis showed, mostly in a score of eleven (11), very high risk which require action to be taken immediately. This study also includes controlling, minimizing and eliminating the risks of work-related entire body disorders exposure. There is a two hierarchy of controls that are widely accepted for modifying ergonomic hazards in which are engineering controls and administrative controls. Engineering controls involve changing the workstation layout, selection and use of tools, position of process materials, or work methods used to complete a task. Administrative controls are policies or practices directed by management that can reduce or prevent exposure to ergonomics risk factors. The study will be useful to ergonomists, researchers, consultants, workshop managers, maintenance workers and others concerned with ergonomics design in workplace

Using Peak and Cumulative Spinal Loading to Assess Jobs, Job Rotation and Engineering Controls

Peak and cumulative forces on spinal structures have been identified as significant and statistically independent risk factors for reporting low back pain (LBP). This paper describes a software based approach which utilizes these risk factors to quantitatively predict the reporting of LBP by utilizing a Low Back Pain Reporting Index Score (LBPRI). Two automotive manufacturing jobs were assessed utilizing this approach and these results were utilized in the development of a specific administrative and engineering control. Analysis of the jobs with the controls in place indicated that the administrative control, job rotation, was less effective than assumed and produced an overall increase in the risk of reporting LBP. The engineering control resulted in an overall decrease in the risk of reporting LBP and this beneficial risk reduction would be delivered to any worker that performed this job. The results of this study indicate that both peak and cumulative loading must be considered in order to properly appreciate the risk of injury and the consequences associated with the implementation of administrative and engineering controls

Controlling health hazards when working with nanomaterials : questions to ask before you start

"Listed in the publication are some questions employees should ask themselves before starting work with nanomaterials. The questions are based on these fives criteria: (1) Form; (2) Work Activity; (3) Engineering Controls; (4) Administrative Controls; and (5) Personal Protective Equipment. Questions of concern: (1) What is the physical form of the nanomaterial? (2) How it is going to be used? (3) What engineering controls may be needed to reduce employee exposure? (4) Are administrative controls needed to manage the waste and possible spills of the nanomaterials? and (5) Is personal protective equipment needed when working with certain types of nanomaterials? Also listed are some options they can use to reduce their exposures to nanomaterials in the workplace. These options correspond with the questions. The options presented depend on the form of nanomaterial an employee will be using such as: a) dry powder; b) suspended in liquid; and c) physically bound/encapsulated" - NIOSHTIC-2NIOSHTIC no. 20051103201

SILICA EXPOSURE IN CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

This paper discusses the issues, objectives, methods, results and conclusion of how to control/reduce the respirable crystalline silica exposure to construction workers in the organization hereafter referred to as the “Company.” This evaluation will be achieved by assessing the following occupational exposure tools: literature review, work practices, engineering controls and personal protective equipment (PPE) on exposures to silica during construction activities. The construction activities observed, studied, researched and sampled include concrete sawing, concrete cutting and application, and dry/wet sanding drywall mud. High construction tasks, for example, produce respirable dusts often containing crystalline silica. Such tasks include concrete saw cutting and concrete core drilling. Even in interior construction efforts, such activities as drywall finishing, which involve dry and wet sanding and applying, can increase the rate of exposure to crystalline silica. After reviewing the sampling results and the conclusions of the literary review articles, findings show it is possible for workers to reduce exposures to silica during the construction activities discussed in this study, through work practices, engineering controls and PPE. The long-term benefit of upfront adoption of the work practices, engineering controls and PPE is consistent with the conservative approach the Company embraced regarding the safety and well-being of its workers, and may possibly prevent future cases of over-exposure to silica

Workplace Violence: Why Every State Must Adopt a Comprehensive Workplace Violence Prevention Law

[Excerpt] On August 24, 2012, a fired clothing designer gunned down a former co-worker outside the Empire State Building in New York City. The violent act was the culmination of built up tension between two former co-workers. Their anger towards one another had already resulted in at least one physical confrontation at work that led to both men filing police reports against each other. This case is an extreme example of workplace violence; however, workplace violence takes many forms and occurs with great regularity. Nearly 2 million employees are victims of workplace violence annually. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (“OSH Act”) is not well-enforced and therefore fails to provide protection to employees subjected to workplace violence. This article explores what can be done to better protect workers at the state level. Part I of this article reviews the phenomenon of workplace violence. Part II discusses the lack of enforcement of the OSH Act as it relates to workplace violence. Part III of this article describes how some states choose to supplement the OSH Act with their own workplace violence laws. Finally, Part IV proposes that state legislatures should adopt a law in line with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) promulgated suggestions to provide legal protections for workers against workplace violence. Since Congress has yet to enact federal legislation that provides comprehensive workplace violence prevention, all states must enact legislation beyond the OSH Act to protect their workers

Evaluation of techniques to reduce respirable dust exposure during asphalt-cutting

Includes bibliographical references

Biosafety and Biohazards: Understanding Biosafety Levels and Meeting Safety Requirements of a Biobank.

When it comes to biobanking and working with different types of laboratory specimens, it is important to understand potential biohazards to ensure safety of the operator and laboratory personnel. Biological safety levels (BSL) are a series of designations used to inform laboratory personnel about the level of biohazardous risks in a laboratory setting. There are a total of four levels ranked in order of increasing risk as stipulated by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Biosafety in microbiological and biomedical laboratories, 5th edn. HHS publication no. (CDC) 21-1112. https://www.cdc.gov/biosafety/publications/bmbl5/bmbl.pdf . Accessed 2 Jan 2016, 2009). We will address the main distinctions between these levels including briefly introducing hazards characteristics that classify biohazardous agents, as well as define the essentials in meeting safety requirements