Every 7 seconds, a worker is injured on the job. Accidents like these can be prevented through better collaboration between workers and employers.
On September 4, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) published a new a new safety digest discussing the importance of worker participation to avoid chemical mishaps. The report outlines how the shortage of worker engagement was a determinant in various incidents examined by the CSB. It is vital for workers and their employers to collaborate to recognize dangers and reduce hazards.
According to CSB Board Member Rick Engler, “Worker engagement is key to an effective process safety program. After all, it’s employees who are so often in direct contact with the hazards -- and have the experience and knowledge to help prevent them.”
According to CSB news, this "digest discusses four incidents that led to a total of 13 employee deaths, many injuries, and, in one case, 15,000 residents living near the facility seeking medical evaluation. The incidents took place at an explosives manufacturing site, a chemical production facility, and two oil refineries. They occurred in Nevada, Washington, California, and Louisiana."
All of these CSB examinations discovered that worker participation programs were insufficient, despite industry standards and federal regulations.
Want to learn more?
The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health is pleased to present Process Safety Implementation, taking place in Reno, NV on October 24th. This three-hour workshop will explore the Process Safety Implementation Pyramid, a tool for building an OSHA compliant Process Safety Management (PSM) program. Learners will examine Nevada’s worst chemical plant upsets, and apply fundamentals of chemical process safety to evaluate what went wrong, and how to prevent incidents related to highly hazardous chemicals.
Discover how the PSM Pyramid can be used as a flow chart to time-task a multi-professional work group, and to create from scratch, or to evaluate a facility’s safety program.
Click here to learn more and register for the course.
References:
“CSB Releases New Safety Digest on Worker Participation to Help Prevent Catastrophic Chemical Incidents.” CSB, U.S. Chemical Safety Board, 4 Sept. 2019, www.csb.gov/csb-releases-new-safety-digest-on-worker-participation-to-help-prevent-catastrophic-chemical-incidents/.
Gonzales, Gloria. “Worker Participation in Preventing Safety Mishaps Key: CSB.” Business Insurance, 4 Sept. 2019, www.businessinsurance.com/article/20190904/NEWS08/912330477/Worker-participation-in-preventing-safety-mishaps-key-CSB.