Safety Management

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe workplace. Within the guidelines of these safety regulations, all small business are included. Below are a few specific articles that pertain to office furniture installation companies, but may not be inclusive of all.

1926 Subpart A – General

• 3 Inspections – Right of Entry

1926 Subpart C – General Safety and Health Provisions

• 20 General Safety and Health Provisions
• 21 Safety Training and Education
• 22 Recording and reporting of Injuries
• 23 First Aid and Medical Attention
• 28 Personal protective equipment
• 34 Means of Egress
• 35 Emergency Action Plans

1926 Subpart E Personal Protective and Life Saving equipment

• 95 – 1926.107

1926 Subpart G Signs, Signals and Barricades

• 200 – 1926.203

1926 Subpart I Tools (Hand and Power)

• 300 – 1926.307

1926 Subpart J Welding and Cutting

• 350 – 1926.354

1926 Subpart O – Motor Vehicles, Mechanized Equipment and Marine Operations

• 600 Equipment
• 601 Motor Vehicles
• 602 Material Handling Equipment

The OSHA Fact Sheet defines PPE in the following terms.

Personal protective equipment, or PPE, is designed to protect workers from serious workplace injuries or illnesses resulting from contact with chemical, radiological, physical, electrical, mechanical, or other workplace hazards. Besides face shields, safety glasses, hard hats, and safety shoes, protective equipment includes a variety of devices and garments such as goggles, coveralls, gloves, vests, earplugs, and respirators.

In our world of the office furniture industry, we frequently are working in interior building construction environments.  Such areas commonly present the physical, mechanical, and electrical hazards referenced above.

Therefore, InstallNET defines the Standard PPE Requirements as:

• Hard Hat (Class A, B, C)
• Safety Glasses
• Safety Vest
• Safety Shoes/Toe Guards

Please note, crews will be at times be presented with other dangerous environments.  The following Additional PPE should be procured and available to teams as needed:

• Gloves
• Mask
• Ear Plugs

While we recommend having inventories readily available of the PPE referenced above, we expect and encourage all companies to prepare and require their operations to protect their teams from the apparent and possible hazards encountered in the field.

For more information, please reference the OSHA booklet which provides a general overview available at https://www.osha.gov/pls/publications/publication.AthruZ?pType=AthruZ#P

Or review the complete OSHA Publication 3151-12R-2004

Accident Prevention: A set of precautionary measures taken to avoid possible bodily harm.

Audit: An assessment of a safety and health program’s documentation and or a physical location to ensure regulation compliance by a trained safety professional.

ANSI: American National Standards Institute.

Approved: Sanctioned, endorsed, accredited, certified, or accepted as satisfactory by a duly constituted and nationally recognized authority or agency.

Authorized person: A person approved or assigned by the employer to perform a specific type of duty or duties or to be at a specific location or locations at the jobsite. See designated person.

Benchmark: Any standard or reference by which others can be measured or judged.

Certified: Equipment is “certified” if it (a) has been tested and found by a nationally recognized testing laboratory to meet nationally recognized standards or to be safe for use in a specified manner; or (b) is of a kind whose production is periodically inspected by a nationally recognized testing laboratory; and (c) it bears a label, tag, or other record of certification.

Competent person: One who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings, or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.

Compliance: Conforming to mandatory and voluntary regulations and standards; accident and injury histories; the courts; and custom and practice.

Consultation: The act or process of consulting, a conference at which advice is given or views exchanged.

Corrective Actions: A change implemented to address a weakness identified in a management system. Normally corrective actions are instigated in repose to a customer complaint.

C.S.P.: Certified Safety Professional – is a certification offered in the United States by the “Board of Certified Safety Professionals” (BCSP). The CSP has been accredited in the United States by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies and the “Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards”.

The requirements for CSP are:

• an associate’s degree in safety and health, or an accredited bachelor’s degree in any field
• four or more years of professional safety experience
• passing the Safety Fundamentals and/or Comprehensive Practice examinations

Dangerous Goods: Also referred to as hazardous materials. Any solid, liquid, or gas that can harm people, other living organisms, property or the environment.

D.O.T.: Department of Transportation – The United States federal department that institutes and coordinates national transportation programs, created in 1966.

Due Diligence: A term used for a number of concepts involving either the performance of an investigation of a business or person, or the performance of an act with a certain standard of care. The process through which a potential acquirer evaluates a target company or its assets for acquisition.

Employee: Every laborer or mechanic, regardless of the contractual relationship which may be alleged to exist between the laborer and mechanic and the contractor or subcontractor who engaged him. “Laborer” generally means one who performs manual labor or who labors at an occupation requiring physical strength; “mechanic” generally means a worker skilled with tools.

Employer: Contractor or subcontractor.

Equivalent: Alternative designs, materials, or methods to protect against a hazard which the employer can demonstrate will provide an equal or greater degree of safety for employees than the methods, materials or designs specified in the standard.

Ergonomics: The applied science of equipment design, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort.

Hazard: A chance, an accident, a chance of being injured or harmed, danger, a possible source of danger to life, to health, property, or environment.

Hazard Elimination: To get rid of, remove, a chance, an accident, and a chance of being injured or harmed.

Hazard Recognition: The act of recognizing or condition of being recognized, a chance of being injured or harmed -acceptance or acknowledgement.

Hazardous Substance: A substance which, by reason of being explosive, flammable, poisonous, corrosive, oxidizing, irritating, or otherwise harmful, is likely to cause death or injury.

Hazmat: Abbreviation for Hazardous Material. Also referred to as dangerous goods. Any solid, liquid, or gas that can harm people, other living organisms, property, or the environment.

Housekeeping Audit: An assessment of a physical location to ensure regulation compliance by a trained safety professional.

Informal Hearing: Not being in accord with prescribed regulations or forms, unofficial not formal or ceremonious, opportunity to be heard, a session as of a investigatory committee or a grand jury, at which testimony is taken form witnesses, a legal proceeding before a court or other decision making body or officer.

Inspection: The act of inspecting, official examination or review, an organized examination, or formal evaluation excise.

Internal Investigation: Of, relating to, or located within the limits or surface, inner detailed inquiry or systematic examination.

Job Safety Analysis (See JHA): Breaks down a job into its components and identifies hazards and risks of each component.

JHA – Job Hazard Analysis: Breaks down a job into its components and identifies hazards and risks of each component.

Litigation: The process of bringing or contesting a lawsuit.

Loss Control: The act or an instance of loosing, the disadvantage or deprivation resulting from losing, excise authoritative or dominating influence over direct, to adjust to a requirement, regulate.

Mock Audits: A method for assessing the quality of a company’s existing safety compliance efforts. Following each mock audit, an in-depth written report is prepared and submitted to the client in a timely manner. This is performed to identify and correct potential safety compliance issues.

MSDS (OSHA): The MSDS, or material safety data sheet, has been replaced by the SDS, or safety data sheet, in accordance with OSHA’s 2012 revisions to its Hazard Communication Standard.

NAICS Codes: North American Industry Classification System codes. NAICS codes use a six-digit hierarchical coding system to classify all economic activity into twenty industry sectors and 1,170 industries. OSHA began using NAICS codes in its data in 2003. ALSO SEE: SIC CODES.

On-site audits: To examine, verify, or correct the safety practices and records on the work site utilizing OSHA standards specific to that site.

OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Administration: A government agency in the Department of Labor to maintain a safe and health work environment.

OSHA 300 Forms: Mandatory OSHA forms for recording work-related injuries and illnesses.

Policy development: A course of action, in a significant event occurrence, or change an event or incident that changes a situation.

Powered Industrial Trucks: Commonly called forklifts, or lift trucks, are used in many industries. Primarily to move materials.

PPE (Personal Protective Equipment): Protective clothing, helmets, reflective vests, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer’s body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, electrical, heat, chemicals, biohazards, and airborne particulate matter.

Program Development: System analysis involves creating a formal model of the problem to be solved.

Qualified Person: One who, by possession of a recognized degree, certificate, or professional standing, or who by extensive knowledge, training, and experience, has successfully demonstrated his ability to solve or resolve problems relating to the subject matter, the work, or the project.

Regulatory compliance: To adjust to a particular specification or requirement

Safety Manager: Provides cost savings and staffing flexibility while ensuring you’re in compliance with safety regulations.

Safety Strategy: The act of being safe, understand how strategy affects structure and how the choice of structure affects efficiency and effectiveness.

SDS: Written or printed material concerning a hazardous chemical that is prepared in accordance with paragraph (g) of” OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard at 29 CFR 1910.1200. Safety data sheets have a specified 16-section format that chemical manufacturers, importers, and other employers responsible for preparing SDSs must follow as of June 1, 2015.

SIC Codes: Standard Industrial Classification Codes. OSHA has transitioned to the use of the newer 6-digit NAICS Codes for industry identification, but several OSHA data sets are still available with 4-digit SIC-based data. ALSO SEE: NAICS CODES.

Temporary Staffing: Provide short term to long term experienced professionals to companies in an efficient and productive process.

Unsafe Acts: Actions that will lead to potential injury, loss of time, or properly damage.

Workers’ Compensation: (Workers’ Comp) Insurance to cover medical care and compensation for employees who are injured in the course of employment, in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee’s right to sue their employer for the tort of negligence.

Workers’ Compensation Payment: Payments required by law to be made to an employee who is injured or disabled in connection with work.

Workplace: Means an establishment, job site, or project, at one geographical location containing one or more work areas.

Workplace Safety: An OSHA requirement in which employers are required to meet health and safety standards in the workplace.