I am a project manager for a restoration firm.
Today we got pinched by the man…there was a complaint by a concerned citizen about possible lead in the window of a church we were restoring.
We are using stripper, and hand scraping, no power tools.
So this guy from OSHA shows up, wont come up the scaffold because he is afraid of heights, says he didnt even know we were there until this call came in. This is my first intro to OSHA, but I heard about a few problems.
Respirators
Hand Wash Station at base of ladder
Foreman must get training in first aid and mouth to mouth
Each employee must fill out forms for the respirators, and get fit tested at a doctors office
I heard there is an online process that you can take to get these fit and physician tests completed.
The osha man took a paint sample which I know will come back hot because the windows are dated around 1903.
Anyone have any tips for me, I am a rookie dealing with a huge burden right now.
Thanks for your help
Replies
"Each employee must fill out forms for the respirators, and get fit tested at a doctors office"
What medical school class teaches how to fit a respirator??
Rich Beckman
Another day, another tool.
I checked the osha site last night, and its true, supposedly the doctor fit test is so that you dont pass out while wearing it.Ridiculous. Big govt. gotten out of hand.
never been visited by osha.. but have heard enough:
make sure your site is in compliance... there will be a revisit.. or assume a revisit
get your on-site safety manual up to date.. you can actually buy a ready-made manual from companies that assist in osha compliance
get a designated person signed up for osha 10... delegate
get a designated person signed up for Lead Renovator / Remodeler ( 8 hours class )
.... again, delegate
talk to your boss about legal advice..
get hopping... these guys are paid to enforce compliance.. the fines are killers
btw.... your insurance carrier will give you huge assistance in all of the training requirements
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Before this turns into a political debate(or worse), the majority of OSHA's funding was cut in the early 1990's and they had to increase fines to make up the difference.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Each employee should have his faced shaved by a doctor on a daily basis to ensure the tightest possible mask fit.
All of this documented of course.
In triplicate. ;)http://www.costofwar.com/
We have had OSHA visit twice - once 'cause we asked them ( I think it's called being under consultation - we invited them up to look around and tell us what to correct) and the second time because they received a complaint from a disgruntled ex employee. The first time we got a list of minor things to take care of, the second time he caught a couple of guys up on the roof with no fall prtection and something else don't remember what. Anyways, we received no fines, partly because we fixed the problems immediately and partly because we were "under consultation". Worked out good.
Now if you want to talk about fines, the DEC are the ones to look out for... gaps at the bottom of your silt fence, diesel spills, my boss was fined about 15 grand for a faulty silt fence and a couple of other really minor things(No spilled diesel). That is probably unique to commercial sites tho.
I've seen the DEQ at work around here too Alan. They are a piece of work.
These government guys are nothing but leeches. For all the good they do, their ignorance sometimes precedes them. As a result, they become the enemy instead of someone we seek for help.
Maybe if they were a little more understanding of the realitys of our situation, they'd be more meaningful in our "culture".
For framers, it's often just as dangerous to set up their compliancy requirements as it is to set up our walls! Our worker comp carrier provided us with the exact words to use on our jobsite paperwork. If we used the correct words, taught them to each worker on every job, had the workers sign the paperwork, post the paperwork, then we were in compliance even though we didn't have fall protection in place.
I'm just glad that I'm closer to the end of my career than at the beginning. I'm sure there will come a time when residential framers will be reduced to working like commercial guys....bring on the donuts!
blue
I couldn't agree more. Way I see it (and obviously to within a reasonable extent) framing is a dangerous job. For an unskilled laborer or new guy, they have two choices. Go work at Burger King for $6 an hour and stay safe and broke. Or come work on a construction site, maybe actually do a little hard work, maybe put themselves at a bit of risk, and make at least twice as much as the guy at BK and put themselves in a position to learn more and earn more. You get out of life what you're willing to put in... minus taxes.
Framing can be dangerous. Always has been, always will be. Go after the GC's for not compensating the framing crews for the endless safety precautions and leave me the he11 alone... I'm trying to build a house here.
Go after the GC's for not compensating the framing crews for the endless safety precautions and leave me the he11 alone... I'm trying to build a house here.
Brian, that's exactly what OSHA's doing here. They've gone after the GC's and the GC's suddenly quit bitchinng about price and start holding safety meetings and asking what they can do to make their site safer for us.
I haven't been nailed recently, so I'm seeing residential inspections as a good thing. I spent $30K+ this year trying to make my sites safer and my GC's have been receptive to paying more for my services in lieu of paying large OSHA fines. Seems to be win-win.
OSHA or not, I've got a fanastic crew and I want to protect them as much as possible. Some days though, the safety rules get ignored unless they get reminded. Birth, school, work, death.....................
http://grantlogan.net/
I've been through that test before. If I remember right they check lung capacity and general psyhical fitness. I think there is a maximum time limit for wearing a mask.
The companies safety guy was the one that did the actual fit test for the mask.
hey guys check this fit test out online, I had my guys fill it out and printed off the results.http://www.conney.com/technical/medicaleval.html
Talk to your company's lawyer - I got nailed years ago and we got the fine taken off since it was a first offense.
Don't take this on yourself - you may be project manager but I'm assuming OSHA compliance isn't in your job description. And I'd check with your comp insurer - see if they offer the 10-Hour Construction Safety course - in addition to all the other stuff, you're supposed to have one person on every site who has had the training.
Good luck, and don't forget to breathe.
Been there done that got the fine...
Here is the way it "worked" for me. They sent me a registered letter stating what the fine for each offense was and a bunch of other paperwork. In that paperwork it said you could either 1) contest the citation(s), 2)just pay the fine or 3) request a conference. For first offence for a specific item, the fines were in the $250 range per item.
Option 1 is not usually a possibility since the OSHA inspector generally takes pictures and gather's evidence in other ways.
Option 2 will definitely be the most expensive route to go.
Option 3 was the one I chose. The conference was scheduled for about 3 weeks out.
In the interim, I made efforts to make things safer, and collected evidence of that: Bought safety equipment and saved the receipts - made a list of what was purchased. Held 10 minute safety meetings, discussed safety items that were most relevant and had all workers sign a sheet saying they attended the safety meeting. The sheet listed a summary of what was discussed. Posted safety signs with, again, specific safety requirements that related to my job site. I got an OSHA handbook and tried to read some of it - It's not "user friendly. ETC.
Then when I had the conference I showed up with my OSHA manual in hand with a bunch of book marks in it - ie, some evidence of use. I politely listened to what the guy had to say (a field supervisor). He showed me the pics of our violations. I did not dispute anything. I told the guy what steps I had taken to make things safer and offered the paperwork I had collected above with a summary on top. He glanced at the top page with minimal interest. I politely asked that the fines be reduced. He responded with a bunch of "policies and procedures" type stuff. Took about 20 minutes. We shook hands, and I thanked him.
The guy reduced my fine from about $1000 to about $250 (via later mailed paperwork)...
All in all I think it was a win-win. I still post the safety rule signs, occasionally tell a framer to wear a hardhat, a (spray) painter that he has to wear his mask, or a roofer that he has to use fall protection, and the fine was fairly minimal to the point were it didn't impact my budget much. Weather the subs follow my instructions is another question. My sites are a bit safer though.
BTW - the sub who was on site and also fined just paid his fine. It was roughly $1000 - first time offenses.
Around here the word is that if OSHA visits your site, you will get fined. They will always find something - even if everyone is on lunch break :-) I think maybe sometimes they might drive by a work site, and if they don's see anything from the car won't even get out.
Matt gives some good advice here and I would follow a similar route.
I am a foreman for a larger drywall company and we have had 2 incidents that I know of, and in both cases the fines were dramatically reduced when we were able to show records of a safety program in place, and that procedures were in place to avoid more similar incidents.
I do not believe lawyers were present at any meetings, but an insurance guy who is involved in our safety program was there.
By the way, our company has a release form for respirator use that everyone signs at hiring/ safety training.
Good luck with this case. Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
Good post . Thanks.
Tim
Thanks everyone, good advice, dont want this to turn into a political thing either, just want to get through this and move on.
My company sends us all to a doc in the box place every year for our OSHA mandated respirator fit test and lung capacity test. One of the guys is a smoker, failed the capacity test. He had to sign a release stating that he understands his lung capacity is not sufficient enough to properly use a respirator.
FWIW signing the form is not a release, but an acknowledgement that he is aware of his condition.
It is like the signing the attendance sheet at a safety meeting. It doesn't mean the employee learned anything or will used what they learned. It is just proof to the courts and OSHA that training and/or information was given to the employee.
Safety and compliance are a culture. Changing that culture is difficult and has a cost associated with it, but the cost is not as high as failing to change the culture. OSHA is just the stick used to help motivate that change.
I use to do OSHA compliance training ever month, and then work beside the guys I trained. I knew they where at the training sessions, had thier signatures to prove it, but it was like I had been talking to a wall in most cases.
OSHA is not the enemy. As Pogo said "I have met the enemy, and he is me," or something lik that.
Dave
That's the very best description I've heard. Safety is a culture.
http://bootliquor.com/
Make the inspector a "milk carton star".....alright WHO said that?
At our work we don't have a "doctor" to fit test, but a qualified guy who does the testing.
Just got retested last week. Consists of a rig that measures the vaccum pressure between the mask and your face as you move your head in all directions. This to make sure of no leaks as you look up/down/sideways.
"Sir! You are drunk!"
"Madam! You are ugly, and tomorrow I shall be sober!!" Winston Churchill
"Today we got pinched by the man..."
Scooleen,
Best advice I can give is STAY UNDER THE RADAR. Too bad you got busted.
Doesn't pay to fight. They know that, which is why thy go after people like you.
I feel for you Bro.
Jon