February 2023 IVES Update e-Newsletter

Check out our latest news: Feature Article: OHSA makes changes to enforcement guidance, Product Feature: Operator Compliance Packages, Incident Report: Worker dies after being struck by forklift, OHSA cites Texas company, a question about Operator Certifications, interesting articles, and testimonials from our wonderful customers!

In this issue, we will be covering:

Feature Article: OHSA makes changes to enforcement guidance.
Product Feature: Operator Compliance Packages.
Upcoming Program Calendar.
Incident Report: Worker dies after being struck by forklift, OHSA cites Texas company.
Ask Bob: Our tech guru answers a question about Operator Certifications.
A selection of interesting articles.
New testimonials from our wonderful clients.

But first, check out all the places we are delivering training this month...

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued new enforcement guidance to make its penalties more effective in stopping employers from repeatedly exposing workers to life-threatening hazards or failing to comply with certain workplace safety and health requirements.

OSHA Regional Administrators and Area Office Directors now have the authority to cite certain types of violations as “instance-by-instance citations” for cases where the agency identifies “high-gravity” serious violations of OSHA standards specific to certain conditions where the language of the rule supports a citation for each instance of non-compliance.

These conditions include lockout/tagout, machine guarding, permit-required confined space, respiratory protection, falls, trenching and for cases with other-than-serious violations specific to recordkeeping.

The change is intended to ensure OSHA personnel are applying the full authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act where increased citations are needed to discourage non-compliance.

The new guidance covers enforcement activity in general industry, agriculture, maritime and construction industries, and becomes effective 60 days from Jan. 26, 2023.

The current policy has been in place since 1990 and applies only to egregious willful citations.

In a second action, OSHA is reminding its Regional Administrators and Area Directors of their authority not to group violations, and instead cite them separately to more effectively encourage employers to comply with the intent of the OSH Act.

“Smart, impactful enforcement means using all the tools available to us when an employer ‘doesn’t get it’ and will respond to only additional deterrence in the form of increased citations and penalties,” explained Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker.

“This is intended to be a targeted strategy for those employers who repeatedly choose to put profits before their employees’ safety, health and wellbeing.

Employers who callously view injured or sickened workers simply as a cost of doing business will face more serious consequences.”

These changes in enforcement guidance are important enforcement tools to help deter employers from disregarding their responsibilities to protect workers and ensure compliance with OSHA standards and regulations.

Existing guidance on instance-by-instance citations are outlined in the OSHA Field Operations Manual, and CPL 02-00-080, “Handling of Cases to be Proposed for Violation-by-Violation Penalties.”

Source: ISHN Jan 2023

Our Operator Training Packages contain equipment-specific operator material designed for you to administer in-house training for your employees or customers.

This material is available for standard forklifts, narrow aisle forklifts, powered pallet trucks, rough terrain telehandlers, aerial boomlifts, scissor lifts, front-end loaders, loader backhoes, skid-steer loaders and excavators.

¿Hablas español? Select packages are also available in Spanish.

Click to browse or purchase Operator Compliance Packages.

A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has determined a Carrollton, Texas, lumber supplier and retailer could have prevented the death of an 18-year-old worker who was struck by a forklift at a Rison, Arkansas, worksite in July 2022 by following federal safety requirements.

The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened an investigation on July 23, 2022, and determined Hixson Lumber Company LLC allowed the teen to operate a forklift when they were not certified to do so.

Inspectors learned that the young worker had dropped the forklift’s key after parking the motorized device.

As the worker searched for the key, the forklift rolled and struck the teenager who was assigned to pull and count lumber, and unsupervised at the time of the incident.

Investigators determined the forklift’s original parking brake had been removed and replaced with a makeshift brake which failed to hold the machine in place.

Following its investigation, OSHA cited the company for one willful and four serious violations alleging that Hixson Lumber Company failed to train the teen worker, left keys inside unsecured forklifts, and did not make sure the forklift used by the teenager had a proper parking brake, working horn and backup alarm as required.

OSHA has proposed $218,759 in penalties.

“A family, his friends and co-workers are left to mourn a young man whose life was cut short because his employer failed to follow safety requirements that would have prevented this tragedy,” said OSHA Area Director Kia McCullough in Little Rock, Arkansas.

“Hixson Lumber Company did not meet its legal responsibility to ensure that hazardous equipment was maintained, and that only trained and certified workers are allowed operate forklifts.”

Founded in 1959, the Carrollton-based lumber company has about 750 workers, with 19 sawmills and retail locations in eight states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just over 9,000 workers were injured from forklifts in 2017. That same year, 74 workers died from injuries involving forklifts.

Source: Dept of Labour

Free technical support for all IVES Certified Trainers!

Question:

Hi Bob,

Is there a timeline between Forklift exam and their final evaluation?

The reason for asking is, I have a few workers that passed their exam a few months ago, but have not yet completed their practical evaluation.

I am currently going through past records.and wanted to know to how to proceed.

Answer:

Thanks for checking in with us.

I’ll assume that this is for initial operator qualifications and not requalifications and I’ll also assume that they are not using the equipment since their evaluations were never finished.

Time between theory and evaluations can be little subjective on how to handle but I think the best answer would be to train them all over again since many months have passed.

If it was a requalification, I would suggest conducting the evaluations as soon as possible and move forward.

Bob

Company fined $10k after workers fail to wear safety harnesses..more.
Forklift operator arrested after deadly crash [VIDEO]..more.
Fines levied after worker dies from fall off Boomlift..more.
Repeat Fall Protections violations result in $687K fine...more.
Man goes on rampage with Excavator...more.
Polar bear taken to the vet with the help of a forklift [VIDEO]...more.
Horse gets a helping hand from a Front-End Loader...more.

"It was above and beyond what I was hoping for. Loved the program, feel more ready for my position than I have before. Really feel like I gained a lot of knowledge and confidence." Brittany, Premium Combo Train the Trainer Program.

"Our trainer was professional, knowledgeable and kept things going. He made good use of the online training platform including videos and tools." Mark, Online Trainer Recertification.

"Informative program, I would recommend this to my fellow coworkers or other companies looking for training programs." Beverley, Premium Forklift Trainer Program.

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