scholarly journals A Preliminary Analysis of Immigrant Cattle Feedyard Worker Perspectives on Job-Related Safety Training

Safety ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athena Ramos ◽  
Gustavo Carlo ◽  
Kathleen Grant ◽  
Casper Bendixsen ◽  
Axel Fuentes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Safety Information ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Agricultural Labor ◽  
Equipment Safety ◽  
Injury Reporting ◽  
Job Site

Immigrants comprise a large percentage of the agricultural labor force in the United States. They are a vulnerable worker population and often have fewer occupational and social protections. Latino immigrant cattle feedyard workers (N = 68; 59 men; mean age = 38.7 years) in the central Midwest reported on their perceptions and preferences for job-related safety training and practices. Preliminary findings indicate that approximately 40% of workers reported that they had not received any health or safety training from their current employer, and only about 13% had ever participated in any Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety training program. In-person training, videos, or shadowing another worker were the most frequent methods of safety training reported by those who had received training. More than 90% were interested in receiving more information about health and safety related to their job. Workers preferred that safety information be provided through in-person training at the job site, videos (particularly those accessible through media sources such as YouTube), and written materials. Specific topics that workers were interested in obtaining more information about included zoonoses, low-stress cattle handling, injury prevention, hazard and injury reporting, chemical and equipment safety, and teamwork. Furthermore, a majority of participants preferred to receive information in Spanish. Results may help guide the development of future materials and training strategies to better suit the needs of the growing immigrant workforce in production agriculture.

scholarly journals Analysis of COVID-19 Concerns Raised by the Construction Workforce and Development of Mitigation Practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makram Bou Hatoum ◽  
Ali Faisal ◽  
Hala Nassereddine ◽  
Hadi Sarvari
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Health Trends ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
The Impact

The coronavirus outbreak has created a global health crisis that has disrupted all industries, including the construction industry. Following the onset of the pandemic, construction workers faced and continue to face unprecedented safety and health challenges. Therefore, construction employers established new safety precautions to protect the health and safety of the workforce and minimize the spread of the virus. The new precautions followed the advice and guidelines offered by different health and safety agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). With construction projects resuming operations, it becomes important to analyze the coronavirus-related health and safety concerns of construction workforce and understand how the new safety procedures can assist on jobsites. Existing studies mostly focused on interviews and surveys with construction companies to understand the impact on project performance and supply chains. However, no study has yet to analyze the United States construction workforce. This paper fills the gap by providing a qualitative descriptive analysis of the COVID-19 complaints data gathered by OSHA from construction jobsites. Information gathered by OSHA includes the jobsite location, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) of the construction company, the type of the complaint (i.e., formal or non-formal), and a thorough description of the complaint. N-grams were employed to analyze the complaints, detect trends, and compile a list of the most frequent concerns reported by the workforce. The analysis of the complaints data identifies safety practices that were most violated, highlights major safety and health concerns for construction workers, and pinpoints geographical areas that have seen a surge in complaints. The study also synthesized the existing research corpus and compiled a list of 100 best practices that construction employers can adopt to mitigate the concerns of the workforce. The findings of this study provide insights into the safety and health trends on construction sites, lay the foundation for future work of academicians and practitioners to address the concerns faced by construction workers, and serve as lessons learned for the industry in the case of any future pandemic.

A Review of United States Arboricultural Operation Fatal and Nonfatal Incidents (2001–2017): Implications for Safety Training

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-83
Author(s):  
John Ball ◽  
Shane Vosberg ◽  
Timothy Walsh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
National Standards ◽  
National Standard ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Indirect Contact ◽  
Safety Requirements ◽  
Hazard Sources

The objective of this study was to identify and quantify the hazards present during arboricultural operations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration Fatality and Catastrophe incident database and other Bureau of Labor Statistic sources were analyzed for arboricultural operation incidents within the 17-year period from 2001 through 2017. There were 865 fatal and 441 nonfatal incidents reviewed from this period. The leading four fatal incidents, from the largest to the smallest number of fatalities, were climber falls, workers struck by a falling tree, workers making indirect contact with an electric current, and workers struck by a falling branch. Climber falls were also the leading incident for severe nonfatal injuries, followed by ground workers struck by a falling branch, workers struck by a chain saw, and falls by aerial device operators. The American National Standards Institute Z133 American National Standard for Arboricultural Operations—Safety Requirements establishes safety requirements and recommendations for arboricultural operations in the United States. It addresses common hazard sources and has guidelines to avoid, eliminate, or reduce them. Safety training programs should emphasize the most common hazard sources for fatal and nonfatal incidents and follow the ANSI Z.

META ANALYSIS METHOD OVERVIEW OF MODELS USED IN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY TRAININGS

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (15) ◽  
pp. 482-490
Author(s):  
Filiz ARICAK ◽  
Evren ÇAĞLARER
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Training Models ◽  
Safety Procedures

In this study, an analysis of independent studies dealing with occupational safety training in different learning environments, in which various learning materials are used, was carried out. As a method, meta-analysis method was used. For this purpose, databases were used to collect national and international articles and papers suitable for the purpose of the study. Studies that did not mention the tools, equipment and environment used in education in the collected studies were excluded from the research, and 18 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The data obtained studies are categorized according to the education models, the sectors in which the education is applied and the characteristics of the participants in the education. As it is known, occupational health and safety procedures aim at a healthy and reliable working environment for its employees. However, the ultimate goal is to raise not only employees but also future generations with this awareness. The most important instrument of this is undoubtedly education. For this reason, it is necessary to develop training models suitable for the work environment, age, gender and every conceivable situation.

scholarly journals Ergonomic Evaluation of Current Advancements in Blueberry Harvesting

Agronomy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunsik Kim ◽  
Andris Freivalds ◽  
Fumiomi Takeda ◽  
Changying Li
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Component Ratio ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Private Industry ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Trauma Disorders

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) accounted for 32% of days-away-from-work cases in private industry in 2016. Several factors have been associated with MSDs, such as repetitive motion, excessive force, awkward and/or sustained postures, and prolonged sitting and standing, all of which are required in farm workers’ labor. While numerous epidemiological studies on the prevention of MSDs in agriculture have been conducted, an ergonomics evaluation of blueberry harvesting has not yet been systematically performed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk factors of MSDs for several types of blueberry harvesting (hand harvesting, semi-mechanical harvesting with hand-held shakers, and over-the-row machines) in terms of workers’ postural loads and self-reported discomfort using ergonomics intervention techniques. Five field studies in the western region of the United States between 2017 and 2018 were conducted using the Borg CR10 scale, electromyography (EMG), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), the Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTD) index, and the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) lifting equation. In evaluating the workloads of picking and moving blueberries by hand, semi-mechanical harvesting with hand-held shakers, and completely mechanized harvesting, only EMG and the NIOSH lifting equation were used, as labor for this system is limited to loading empty lugs and unloading full lugs. Based on the results, we conclude that working on the fully mechanized harvester would be the best approach to minimizing worker loading and fatigue. This is because the total component ratio of postures in hand harvesting with a RULA score equal to or greater than 5 was 69%, indicating that more than half of the postures were high risk for shoulder pain. For the semi-mechanical harvesting, the biggest problem with the shakers is the vibration, which can cause fatigue and various risks to workers, especially in the upper limbs. However, it would be challenging for small- and medium-sized blueberry farms to purchase automated harvesters due to their high cost. Thus, collaborative efforts among health and safety professionals, engineers, social scientists, and ergonomists are needed to provide effective ergonomic interventions.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

1972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore F. Schoenborn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Coal Mine ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Health Programs ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Health Laws ◽  
Mine Health And Safety

It is a pleasure to be here today to speak to you about the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which is landmark legislation by any measure applied to it. The Act applies to every employer affecting commerce in the United States and its territories which was not covered by other Federal occupational safety and health laws, such as the Metal and Non-metallic Mine Act, the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act and the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. By 1973 a study is to be completed containing recommendations for combining all Federal occupational safety and health programs. Paper published with permission.

scholarly journals COVID-19: US federal accountability for entry, spread, and inequities—lessons for the future

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (11) ◽  
pp. 995-1006 ◽  
Author(s):  
William P. Hanage ◽  
Christian Testa ◽  
Jarvis T. Chen ◽  
Letitia Davis ◽  
Elise Pechter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Worldwide Population ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
The Us ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe United States (US) has been among those nations most severely affected by the first—and subsequent—phases of the pandemic of COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. With only 4% of the worldwide population, the US has seen about 22% of COVID-19 deaths. Despite formidable advantages in resources and expertise, presently the per capita mortality rate is over 585/million, respectively 2.4 and 5 times higher compared to Canada and Germany. As we enter Fall 2020, the US is enduring ongoing outbreaks across large regions of the country. Moreover, within the US, an early and persistent feature of the pandemic has been the disproportionate impact on populations already made vulnerable by racism and dangerous jobs, inadequate wages, and unaffordable housing, and this is true for both the headline public health threat and the additional disastrous economic impacts. In this article we assess the impact of missteps by the Federal Government in three specific areas: the introduction of the virus to the US and the establishment of community transmission; the lack of national COVID-19 workplace standards and enforcement, and lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for workplaces as represented by complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which we find are correlated with deaths 16 days later (ρ = 0.83); and the total excess deaths in 2020 to date already total more than 230,000, while COVID-19 mortality rates exhibit severe—and rising—inequities in race/ethnicity, including among working age adults.

An analysis of workplace exposures to asbestos at three steel mills located in the United States (1972-1982)

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 726-737
Author(s):  
Dana Hollins ◽  
Amanda Burns ◽  
Ken Unice ◽  
Dennis J Paustenbach
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Open Hearth ◽  
The United States ◽  
Blast Furnaces ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Steel Mill ◽  
Exposure Limits ◽  
Steel Mills ◽  
Safety And Health

The objective is to present historical asbestos airborne concentrations associated with activities involving presumably asbestos-containing materials in steel mills. A total of 138 historical industrial hygiene air samples collected in three US steel mills from 1972 to 1982 were analyzed. The majority of samples were collected during relining of open hearth furnaces, stoves, and blast furnaces by steel mill bricklayers and bricklayer helpers. Over 75% of the samples ( n = 106) were collected for 50 min or less, four samples were collected for 227 to 306 min, and sample durations were not reported for the remaining 28 samples. Average airborne fiber concentrations measured during relining activities of open hearth furnaces, stoves, and blast furnaces were 0.21 f/cc, 0.72 f/cc and 0.13 f/cc phase-contrast microscopy (PCM), respectively. Measured airborne fiber concentrations of four time-weighted average (TWA) samples (>227 min) averaged 0.045 f/cc. Estimated 8-h TWAs concentrations averaged 0.34 f/cc for bricklayers and 0.2 f/cc bricklayer helpers. While 8-h TWA concentration estimates for monitored tasks/jobs may often have exceeded current Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs), they did not exceed relevant contemporaneous occupational exposure standards. This analysis provides a better understanding of historical airborne asbestos exposures that bricklayers and other tradesmen experienced during furnace and stove work in the US steel mills.

Are we Failing Vulnerable Workers? the Case of Black Women in Poultry Processing in Rural North Carolina

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-40
Author(s):  
H. J. Lipscomb ◽  
J. M. Dement ◽  
C. A. Epling ◽  
M. A. Mcdonald ◽  
A. L. Schoenfisch
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Musculoskeletal Symptoms ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Poultry Processing

In 1989, North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors cited two poultry processing plants in northeastern North Carolina for serious repetitive motion problems. In 1990, investigators from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health confirmed significant upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders among workers. We now report on analyses of baseline data collected from a cohort of women employed in one of these plants. The plant, which is the largest employer of women in the area, is located in a sparsely populated area with a black majority where nearly one-third of the population lives below the poverty level. Conditions we report suggest failure of existing health and safety systems, both regulatory and consultative, to prevent morbidity among vulnerable women in this industry, as well as social and economic conditions that influence availability of work and use of benefits to which they are entitled.

Commercial Diving Operations During Salvage and Pollution Response Operations1

2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Hazardous Substance ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Standards And Regulations

ABSTRACT Oil spill response personnel encounter commercial diving operations during salvage and pollution response operations. During an oil spill or hazardous substance release, the National Contingency Plan requires that response operations, including commercial diving operations, be conducted in accordance with the requirements, standards, and regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Additionally, the Coast Guard requires that commercial diving contractors meet their own commercial diving regulations (46 CFR 197) during response operations. Incident commanders and safety officers should ensure that an inspection of the on-site diving operation is conducted to confirm that commercial diving personnel, operations, and equipment meet the applicable regulations. This technical paper provides guidance to response personnel on the inspection of commercial diving operations during marine response operations and an overview of the equipment used to protect divers in contaminated waters. Additionally, this guidance provides checklists to facilitate the inspection of commercial diving operations to protect the health and safety of commercial divers.

scholarly journals Doing it Old School: Peer-led occupational safety training in the U.S. construction Industry

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clayton Sinyai ◽  
Pete Stafford ◽  
Chris Trahan
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
Peer Training ◽  
Building Trades ◽  
Apprenticeship Model ◽  
The U.S

Many labour organizations that sponsor occupational health and safety training champion “peer training,” preferring instructors drawn from the shopfloor over academically credentialed experts. But peer training is hardly new: in the skilled trades, master craftsmen have instructed apprentices since the Middle Ages. Building on the apprenticeship model of education, the U.S.-based construction unions have created a network of more than 4,000 peer trainers who provide occupational health and safety training to up to 100,000 men and women in the building trades each year.

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