Category: Safety News

Internal Traffic Controls

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published on Aug. 2, 2016

Internal traffic control plans detail how construction traffic should be set up inside the construction area so that vehicles and equipment are separated – as much as possible – from workers on foot. Pedestrian workers are those employees who perform most of their duties outside vehicles and equipment, and they are particularly vulnerable to being struck by equipment.

According to the Work Zone Hazards Workbook published by OSHA in 2008, “the majority of fatalities that occur in road construction work zones in the United States involve a worker being struck by a piece of construction equipment or other vehicle. A worker in this industry is just as likely to be struck by a piece of construction equipment inside the work zone as by passing traffic.”

Workers are at risk when:

  • They are preoccupied by their work and are not paying attention to what is going on around them.
  • They become comfortable in a dangerous environment.
  • They don’t have convenient access to and from their work space for restrooms, food and water, shade or breaks or other local work areas.

The purpose of an internal traffic control plan is the safety of all employees. An effective plan will inform all parties operating within the work site about the location of others, focus on worker safety within the work site, and establish “No On-foot Worker Zones” designed to minimize interaction between workers and vehicles.

Internal traffic control plans should:

  • Designate routes and operating procedures for large trucks delivering materials.
  • Create a traffic pattern to minimize backing.
  • Use temporary traffic control devices to mark traffic paths.
  • Facilitate communication among key work zone parties in advance of their arrival on the construction site.
  • Limit access points to the work zone.
  • Coordinate truck and equipment movements.
  • Provide information on traffic paths and safe/unsafe work areas for employees.
  • Heighten the awareness of pedestrian workers to vehicle traffic in the work zone.
  • Maintain smooth traffic flow.
  • Restrict the use of cell phones while near heavy equipment.

Develop and follow a good internal traffic control plan to ensure the safety of everyone on the construction site.

Download the recording form here.

Job Hazard Analysis

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published July 27, 2016

Construction sites are fertile ground for hazards. Many workers are injured or killed at the workplace every day in the United States. You can help prevent workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities by looking at your workplace operations and identifying possible hazards and eliminating them. A job hazard analysis is an exercise in detective work. Your goal will be to discover what can go wrong, what the consequences could be, how did the hazard arise, what were other contributing factors and how likely is it that exposure to the hazard could actually result in injury.

Hazards exist in four areas:

  • People – Identify improperly trained or poorly supervised individuals, those that seem distracted and are not paying attention to their surroundings, employees not wearing the assigned or appropriate safety equipment and those not following safe work practices.
  • Equipment – Poorly maintained or uninspected equipment, unguarded equipment or improper or worn out equipment for the task at hand.
  • Materials – Flammable materials or those that require special storage and handling, chemicals that are volatile or dangerous when inhaled or that come in contact with skin and materials that are improperly stored.
  • Environment – Insufficient lighting, loud or constant sounds, traffic in and around work zones and inclement weather. Also identify any toxic substance produced by living things such as bacteria, viruses and fungi that can cause illness or disease in humans.

A good safety system will include a hazard assessment process for all of these areas, provide avenues for employees to report injuries and near misses, and be proactive in addressing hazards that are identified.

  • All employees should be involved in the hazard analysis process. Employees at each work level have a unique understanding of the job. A buy-in from employees will help minimize oversights, ensure a quality analysis and help provide solutions to hazards that are discovered.
  • Review your company’s accident history. This would include accidents and occupational illnesses that needed treatment, losses that required repair or replacement and any near misses where loss did not occur, but could have. These events are indicators that the existing hazard controls (if any) may not be adequate and deserve more scrutiny.
  • Conduct a preliminary job review. Discuss your findings with your employees and brainstorm with them for ideas to eliminate or control those hazards. If any hazards exist that pose an immediate danger to an employee’s life or health, take immediate actions to protect the worker. Problems that can be corrected easily, should be corrected as soon as possible.
  • List, rank and set priorities for hazardous jobs. List jobs with hazards that present unacceptable risks, based on those most likely to occur and with the most severe consequences. These jobs should be your first priority.

Hazard assessments should be done on a regular basis. Don’t assume that because you’ve done it once, everything is in order. Worksites are constantly changing, and safety hazards are bound to appear at various times throughout a given job.

Download the recording form here.

Bees Stings and Spider Bites

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published July 5, 2016

Each year, many construction workers experience bee stings and spider bites that are serious enough to make them lose time off the job.

Bees

Each species of bee may have a favorite type of nesting spot including inside hollow trees, or in walls or attics. Some build nests that hang from branches or overhangs. You may find them in shrubs, bushes or hedges, or under logs or rock piles. Before you start any project, check the area for bee hives or nests, and call a pest control professional if you need to remove one.

If stung, most people experience local effects like pain, swelling, itching and redness around the site. In rare cases, a person could have a severe allergic reaction. This situation is serious and can cause anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. Symptoms may take up to 30 minutes to appear and can include:

  • Hives, itching and swelling in areas other than the sting site,
  • Swollen eyes and eyelids,
  • Wheezing,
  • Tightness in the chest and difficulty breathing,
  • Hoarse voice or swelling of the tongue,
  • Dizziness or a sharp drop in blood pressure,
  • Shock, unconsciousness or cardiac arrest.

If you see any signs of a severe allergic reaction – even if you’re not sure – call, or have a co-worker call 911 immediately. Also get medical help if the sting is near the eyes, nose or throat.

Spiders

In construction, we find spiders everywhere – when climbing onto equipment, getting tools from the back of a pickup truck, in storage areas, or even when working beside a road. Although Indiana is home to nearly 400 species of spiders, we really only have two species to worry about – the black widow and the brown recluse. Neither spider will bite unless disturbed, but when a person is bitten by either of them, they should contact a physician immediately. Prompt medical treatment can prevent severe reactions and lessen the long-range effects of the bite.

The adult female black widow is the dangerous one. She is generally ½ to one inch long, and has a distinctive yellow or red hourglass design on the underside of her shiny black body. If she bites you, you may experience dizziness, blurred vision, breathing difficulty, nausea or sever pain around the bite area.

The brown recluse is general ¼ to ¾ inches long, and is a solid brown color with the shape of a violin or fiddle on the front half of its back. If bitten, you may not notice the bite for an hour or more.

The visible sign of recluse spider poisoning is a small, white blister at the site of the bite. The affected area will enlarge, become inflamed, and the tissue will be hard to the touch. A brown recluse spider bite can also cause damage to skin tissue that could result in an ulcer that won’t seem to heal. As with the black widow, if you experience dizziness, blurred vision, difficulty breathing or sever pain, contact a doctor immediately.

Be safe – be aware of your surroundings. Look for signs of spiders. Wear gloves, and be careful anytime you reach into an area to grab something.

Download the recording form here.

 

ICI Provides Member Silica Standard Compliance Assistance

Posted on by admin_ici

On March 26, the new OSHA standard on respirable crystalline silica went into effect in Indiana (here’s a fact sheet for a brief rundown). To help our members comply with the standard’s requirements, ICI is teaming up the Cleveland AGC of America chapter – and many other organizations around the U.S. – to share silica monitoring data through the Construction Employers Association Silica Sampling & Objective Data Program. The program allows participants to upload accredited testing data into a database, creating an exclusive depository of what OSHA describes as objective data for subscribers to share.

You could subscribe to the service on your own for an annual $500 subscription fee, OR you can take advantage of our newest member benefit – a free ICI subscription!

Who should subscribe?

All members with employees engaged in work activities that expose them to respirable crystalline silica.

What are the benefits of the program?

  • Access to a depository of industry-wide data you can use instead of conducting your own air sampling test.
  • Access to data that can assist you in the development of exposure control plans.
  • Access to SGS Galson’s free pump loan program along with customer services when you need to conduct air monitoring.
  • Five-day turnaround on test results.
  • Quarterly silica newsletter.
  • Access to a silica resource page.
  • Programming to help build a written silica program.
  • Programming to help write a written exposure plan.
  • An independent, accredited industrial hygiene laboratory reads the samples.
  • Online training for users, both on documentation and equipment utilization.
  • A “silica written program” template outlining the basics of the requirements for the OSHA Respirable silica standard (1926.1153).

How do you take advantage of this new member benefit?

We encourage you to subscribe to the program through ICI. Use the button below to go to the subscription registration page. Log in to your member profile; select one subscription; and submit your registration. You’ll receive a confirmation email. ICI will forward your subscription to the program. Once your subscription is activated, you’ll be required to submit at least one sample test into the database to gain access to the database.

Subscribe Here

2018 Safety Program Awards Application Instructions

Posted on by Andria Hine

ELIGIBILITY

To be considered for an award, applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • Current ICI membership;
  • No OSHA citable work-related fatalities since January 1, 2017;
  • Must have one or more active jobsites available for visit during August and September 2018;
  • Must allow a random and unannounced jobsite validation and worker interviews;
  • Award recipients must work with ICI’s Safety Committee to participate in a safety roundtable gathering in early 2019.

Awards will be announced at ICI’s Annual Membership Meeting in November.

COMPLETING THE APPLICATION

The ICI application process consists of three parts:

  1. Interactive application form which is filled in and submitted electronically once you have provided all of the requested information. Each section of the application clearly states what is required for that section.
  2. The application form will also request some independent documentation. Please save these documents as a PDF file to upload with the application.
  3. Once you complete the application form, ICI will send you links to electronic supervisor and onsite worker surveys. You will need to provide those links via text or email to your supervisors and onsite workers so they can take the one/two-minute survey.

NOTE: Please contact ICI at ici@indianaconstructors.org, or by phone at (317) 634-7547 if your company is unable to participate electronically.

DEADLINE

Applications are submitted electronically and must be received by June 29, 2018.  At least the minimum number of all supervisor and onsite worker surveys must be submitted by the June 29 deadline (refer to application for minimum number needed).

CONFIDENTIALITY

To ensure fairness in the judging process, ICI will remove all identifying information, such as company name and address, from the applications and supporting documentation before providing information to ICI’s Safety Program Awards Selection Committee.

COMPANY SAFETY PROGRAM

Please provide “yes” or “no” answers to three questions, adding explanations and/or comments as appropriate.

  • Please attach a sample copy of one of your jobsite safety plan, hazard analysis and preventative action.
  • Please attach a sample copy of your written plan to provide task-specific, hands-on training for new hires and employees who transfer to a new task.

SAFETY PROGRAM COMPONENTS

Please attach a copy of the Table of Contents from your company’s safety manual.

TARGETED QUESTIONS – SHORT ANSWER

Please provide brief answers to the two questions. These short answers provide additional insight into a contractors safety efforts that safety numbers may not show; so your written answers to these questions will HELP Judges to better understand a contractor’s safety efforts and programs. Although ICI will remove all identifying information, please refrain from using the company name and/or company-specific acronyms in this section.)

SURVEYS

ICI uses electronic surveys to make it easier for companies to distribute and request anonymous feedback from employees about the company’s safety program. Contractors without the capabilities of doing the surveys electronically should call the ICI office at (317) 634-7547 for paper surveys and instructions.

APPLICATION SUBMITTAL

Completed applications will be automatically sent to ICI via the interactive application form.  Survey forms should be submitted by June 29, 2018.

QUESTIONS

If you have any questions during the application process, contact the ICI office at (317) 634-7547 or ici@indianaconstructors.org.

LEOs in Work Zones

Posted on by admin_ici

The latest improvement in the concerted efforts between INDOT and ICI to make working in highway work zones a safer experience is reflected in INDOT Construction Memo 17-17 and USP 801. The practice of having flashing blue lights in and near work zones (especially those without barrier walls) has proven to be an effective way to slow traffic — creating a safer environment for workers and motorists alike.

This special provision will supplement the use of ISP officers patrolling work zones by allowing contractors in certain situations to hire local Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) who will be paid under a contract pay item.

This is a step in the right direction, and ICI will continue to work with INDOT to improve safety for our contractors and their people, as well as the motoring public.