As the year comes to a close, we’re taking a look back at some of our highlights from 2024. Today, we’re sharing some of our favorite Back to Basics articles from this year.
How’s Your Powered Industrial Truck Compliance?
You need to be mindful of the hazards posed by forklifts and other powered industrial trucks and federal enforcement efforts focused on those hazards.
OSHA’s powered industrial trucks standard (29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §1910.178) is one of the agency’s top 10 most cited standards. In fiscal year 2023, it was the fifth most cited standard, cited 2,561 times.
Do you have forklifts or other powered industrial trucks in your facility? Are your equipment, policy, procedures, and training in compliance?
Read the full article here and view the accompanying infographic here.
DOL Safety Litigation
When the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cites an employer for safety and health violations, the employer may simply document steps taken to abate the workplace hazards and arrange to pay the OSHA penalties. However, an employer may contest OSHA’s citations before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
When that happens, OSHA is represented before the review commission and its administrative law judges (ALJ) by the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of the Solicitor. The solicitor’s office also represents OSHA in cases before ALJs within the DOL.
Read the full article here.
Managing Older Workers
It’s no secret that the aging workforce is having a major impact on workplaces. According to Pew Research Center, the current workforce of 11 million older Americans has nearly quadrupled in the last 40 years. This is partly due to the growth of the 65-and-older population.
There are more older adults working today than 40 years ago. Pew reports that 19% of adults aged 65 and older are employed now, compared to 11% in 1987; meanwhile, 9% of adults aged 75 and older are working today, compared to 4% in 1987.
Read the full article here and view the accompanying infographic here.
How’s Your Hearing Conservation Compliance?
Do you have a hearing conservation program in place to protect your employees from workplace noise exposure? Are you taking the necessary steps to prevent noise-induced hearing loss?
Workplace noise exposures can result in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citations and penalties, and noise-induced hearing loss may result in workers’ compensation costs.
Noise-induced hearing loss is 100% preventable, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The institute’s recommended exposure limit (REL) for occupational noise exposure is 85 A-weighted decibels (dBA) over an eight-hour shift.
You need to provide a hearing loss prevention program with hearing protection for employees who are repeatedly exposed to noise at or above the REL.
Read the full article here and view the accompanying infographic here.
Drug Testing in the Workplace
Could your employees be trying to “cheat” drug tests, substituting someone else’s sample to conceal their cannabis use?
Drug test cheating surged last year among U.S. workers, laboratory chain Quest Diagnostics found in its analysis of nearly 10 million drug tests. The percentage of workers whose drug test showed signs of tampering increased by more than six-fold in 2023 when compared with the prior year—the highest rate in more than 30 years of annual reporting—Quest revealed in its Drug Testing Index this past spring.
Quest reported a 633% increase in substituted urine specimens, and invalid urine specimens increased 45.2%. Along with rising rates of substituted or invalid specimens, Quest noted historically high rates of both general U.S. workforce drug positivity and post-accident marijuana positivity.
According to Quest, overall drug positivity is at the highest level in more than two decades—up more than 30% from an all-time low of 3.5% in 2010–2012. The laboratory chain also noted a sharp increase of 114.3% in post-accident positivity in the general U.S. workforce between 2015 and 2023.
Read the full article here and view the accompanying infographic here.
Measuring the Safety Climate of Your Organization
As we celebrate Safety Culture Week, let’s look at measuring safety climate and how it impacts safety culture. Whereas safety culture broadly covers an organization’s safety values and actions, safety climate focuses on workers’ current perceptions of safety.
According to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland in Australia, safety climate is the mood of an organization based on what workers are experiencing at a specific time. That snapshot of safety can change quickly, depending on whether a new procedure has been implemented or if an incident has occurred.
To measure safety climate, organizations can hold team discussions or conduct an employee survey, according to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland. Consider the following when administering a safety climate survey:
- Is a survey the best way to consult with workers given your company size?
- How will you encourage employees to take the survey?
- Will employees feel comfortable expressing themselves honestly?
- How will you deliver the survey to employees?
- Are there privacy and confidentiality provisions you need to comply with?
- Who will coordinate and support the survey process?
- What response rate is acceptable for your business?
- What data safety requirements are you following?
Read the full article here and view the accompanying infographic here.