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Thanksgiving is here and it’s time to reflect on all of the great things that happened throughout the year.  We are thankful for all of the wonderful people that we get to work with day-in and day-out!

We are also thankful for these National Fire Protection Association personal safety tips that will help make sure your Thanksgiving is worry free!

Top 10 safety tips

• Stay in the kitchen when you are cooking on the stove top so you can keep an eye on the food.
• Stay in the home when cooking your turkey, and check on it frequently.
• Keep children away from the stove. The stove will be hot and kids should stay three feet away.
• Make sure kids stay away from hot food and liquids. The steam or splash from vegetables, gravy or coffee could cause serious burns.
• Keep knives out of the reach of children.
• Be sure electric cords from an electric knife, coffee […]
  

Are you prepared for complying with OSHA’s revised injury and illness reporting requirements?  OSHA issued a final rule in 2019 to amend its injury and illness record keeping regulation (29 CFR 1904).   The changes eliminate the requirement for covered establishments with 250 or more employees to electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report).

Establishments are still required to electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses). In addition, the requirement to electronically submit Form 300A for all covered employers with 20 or more employees remains in place. The requirement to keep and maintain OSHA Forms 300, 300A, and 301 for five years has also not changed.

The electronic reporting changes went into effect with the goal of protecting worker privacy. By preventing routine government collection of information that may be sensitive, including descriptions of workers’ injuries, […]

Are you required to generate a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for your newly synthesized chemical, investigational new drug, or drug intermediate?  If you will be shipping any of these materials, or otherwise distributing them to another workplace, the answer is yes. Even if only small quantities are being shipped, an SDS is required if the material meets OSHA’s definition of hazardous. Activities that might require this include shipments to CMOs for scale-up or CROs for sample testing, analysis, or other services. There is no exemption based on sample size!

OSHA has also clarified that there is no exemption from SDS requirements for newly synthesized and uncharacterized chemicals, drugs products, and intermediates. That said, OSHA does not specifically require the testing of new materials to determine physical and health effects. However, any relevant information which is known about the chemical or the mixture must be conveyed on the SDS. While much of the specific information for […]

OSHA acknowledges that computer-based training can be a useful component of an overall safety training program. However, OSHA does not consider the use of online training alone to be sufficient to satisfy safety training requirements unless that training contains interactive components. Their position is that to be effective, training must result in a certain level of  mastery of the training material and that online training without an interactive component would not meet this goal.

In a recent July 2019 interpretation letter on this topic, OSHA stated that an opportunity for employees to be able to ask questions of, and receive responses from, a qualified trainer in a timely manner is critical for effective training. Online training that does not provide this opportunity would not comply with OSHA’s training requirements. Their position is that training with no interaction, or delayed or limited interaction, between the trainer and trainee may halt or negatively affect a trainee’s ability […]