As anyone who has done this type of exposure monitoring could tell you, many times this type of monitoring will indeed produce “negative exposure” data.  In other words all sampling results will be less than applicable exposure limits.  At this point you usually have to have a conversation with the client that includes the phrase “ air sampling results were OK but….

The “buts’ can include a wide variety of things, but many times they will include bad work practices, or poor general housekeeping issues.  For example, we have done a lot of testing for airborne metals in welding operations, and although laboratory results often show no airborne exposure problem, the work place is so dirty that all the nearby surfaces are covered with dust/debris/films from the process.  In other cases we have done air testing for a whole slew of solvents involved in a process (all of which came back below limits), but noticed during the sampling employees doing work without the proper PPE such as gloves.  In all of these cases, the “real” exposure issue is not from airborne “Methyl ethyl bad-stuff”, but from improper use of PPE or from bad housekeeping, that has increased the potential exposures (and the potential adverse health effects) to employees through skin contact.

Employers must look beyond just air monitoring results to include employee behavior and work practices to obtain a true idea of workplace hazards.  So many times the client does “have to do something else” (clean, enforce proper PPE use), even though air sampling results are acceptable.

The Scott Lawson Companies, a leading Worker Health and Safety, Workers’ Comp Third Party Administrator and Employee Wellness firm in New England, is pleased to announce its recent hire of Miranda Yeaton, who will join the Scott Lawson team as the Marketing & Communications Coordinator.  This new position was created in response to current economic challenges and the increased need to develop the brand as well as focus marketing strategies and activities.

“As the company has grown, and especially in this very turbulent economic time, we felt the need to execute a more focused marketing effort and it made good sense to bring portions of it in-house,” said Scott Lawson, President and Founder of The Scott Lawson Companies. “The outcome will hopefully be a more consistent marketing approach based on relationship development with clients and a more coordinated effort between our three companies, better delineation of account ownership and an ultimate increase in leads, prospects and sales.”

As a graduate of Newbury College, Yeaton studied Business Administration with concentrations in Marketing and Finance.  She comes to us with over seven years of marketing and sales experience.  Yeaton will be filling a critical role in support of sales efforts.  Marketing campaigns and strategies will be a primary objective.  Other responsibilities include social media management and all communication and public relations, including press releases, quarterly newsletters, and advertising placements.

“Miranda’s experience and creativity make her a great fit for the company.  We are delighted to welcome this talented young woman to our team,” said Scott. 

About The Scott Lawson Companies

Scott Lawson Group, Ltd. (SLGL), Comp-SIGMA, Ltd., and Workforce Wellness are subsidiaries of The Scott Lawson Companies.  Scott Lawson Group, Ltd. is one of the leading worker health and safety, and laboratory services firms in New England; Comp-SIGMA, Ltd. is a third party administrator for two of the Self Insured Trusts for workers’ compensation in N.H.; and Workforce Wellness provides on-site wellness programs and health risk assessments that work to improve the health of employees and lower the cost of group health insurance.

Located in Concord, New Hampshire, The Scott Lawson Companies were founded by Scott Lawson in 1978 and have served nearly 5,000 customers nationwide.  The Scott Lawson Companies are on the web at www.scottlawsoncompanies.com.

Contact

The Scott Lawson Companies

603/228-3610, sales@slgl.com

SLC is celebrating Commute Green NH by launching their own challenge to their employees. Themes for each day of the week have been created to encourage employee participation.  “Our office is very team oriented,” said Stephanie Ceccherini, Wellness Coordinator, Workforce Wellness, a Scott Lawson Company.  “Our wellness team was excited to come up with creative ideas for Commute Green NH.  We felt the themes would allow for our employees to be on the same track and work together towards a common goal.”

The schedule is as follows:

Monday, May 16^th: Stay Put Day; Tuesday, May 17^th: Telecommute Day; Wednesday, May 18^th: Carpool Day; Thursday, May 19^th: Be Green Your Own Way Day; Friday, May 20: Bike To Work Day

“I’m really excited to be participating in Commute Green NH this year.  Aside from the environmental message and benefits, it’s an excellent employee wellness exercise, promoting physically and socially healthy alternatives for commuting to work,” said Zach Lawson, Vice President, The Scott Lawson Companies. “We have several team members that are already signed up for group bike rides to work, and many others that are coordinating carpooling. I am anxious to see the miles that our team saves, but even more so to experience the relationships that it bolsters.”

With all the opportunities for the employees to become involved, the wellness team anticipates a 100% employee participation rate.  “This is a hefty goal, but our employees value teamwork and service, and truly understand the positive effect their participation will have in the community,” said Ceccherini.  “As a company, we believe that providing workforces around the world with creative ways to improve the environment, boost team morale, and get people overall healthier is beneficial for everyone.”

About Commute Green New Hampshire

This year, the Commute Green New Hampshire is challenging employers, municipalities and schools to reduce 50,000 vehicle miles traveled from May 16-20 as part of the Statewide Challenge.  To participate in this exciting challenge, you simply need to live or work in New Hampshire. For more information, visit http://www.commutegreennh.org.

About The Scott Lawson Companies

Scott Lawson Group, Ltd. (SLGL), Comp-SIGMA, Ltd., and Workforce Wellness are subsidiaries of The Scott Lawson Companies.  Scott Lawson Group, Ltd. is one of the leading worker health and safety, and laboratory services firms in New England; Comp-SIGMA, Ltd. is a third party administrator for two of the Self Insured Trusts for workers’ compensation in N.H.; and Workforce Wellness provides on-site wellness programs and health risk assessments that work to improve the health of employees and lower the cost of group health insurance.

Located in Concord, New Hampshire, The Scott Lawson Companies were founded by Scott Lawson in 1978 and have served nearly 5,000 customers nationwide.  The Scott Lawson Companies are on the web at http://www.scottlawsoncompanies.com/

Contact

The Scott Lawson Companies

Miranda Yeaton, 603/228.3610

myeaton@slgl.com

There are many ways you can participate in NEHF with your company. Don’t be afraid to add other initiatives along with a walking or other exercise campaign. Here are some ideas to get you started with brainstorming:

• Declare a casual day and promote “wear your sneakers to work.” Organize a 30-minute walk during lunch, or ask management whether they would allow work time to be used for this occasion. If a casual day won’t work in your workplace, you can still encourage employees to bring their sneakers and get out walking during lunch.
• If your facility is not already smoke free, organize a smoke free day. Provide resources for smokers who are interested in quitting.
• Do you have an onsite cafeteria? Offer a healthy lunch, and provide nutrition information. If you don’t have a cafeteria, ask management whether they would be willing to purchase fruit to be left in the break room for the day.
• Invite a wellness company provide a lunch and learn lecture, onsite wellness challenge, blood pressure screening clinic, or wellness fair.
• There may be 5K walks or other local events in honor of NEHF.  Research what is going on near you, and see about getting your company involved.

Regardless of how you celebrate it,  Employee Health and Fitness Day is a great way to promote employee wellness in your organization.

Prior to 1971, 14,000 Americans died on the job every year, and workers were not even afforded the right to know what kind of toxic chemicals or serious hazards they were working with on a daily basis.  Today, OSHA is backed by close to $560 million in government funding and has decreased work-related deaths by nearly 67 percent.  The evidence is clear: OSHA initiatives to emphasize workplace safety and health has made an impact, and workers’ rights are being protected.  But, how much is too much?  Is OSHA something the US can no longer afford?

In Washington, congressional Republicans are focused on riding the government of what they say are job-killing regulations.  As part of their drive to push the pendulum back, House Republicans have passed a 2012 budget that reduces federal spending by $61 billion.  OSHA is their primary target; they will seek to cut $99 million from its budget.  Some members believe this cut will benefit employers by eliminating the creation of expensive and burdensome rules and regulations implemented by OSHA, and allowing them to focus their budget on job creation.

At the liberal Center for American Progress, OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels said, “OSHA doesn’t kill jobs, it stops jobs from killing workers.”  Michaels continued, “But despite this evidence, and despite the progress we’ve made, we are today engaged in a great debate over worker protections, over the benefits and costs of regulations, over the taxpayer dollars that this society is willing to invest to ensure that our nation’s workers will be able to come home safely after a hard day’s work.”

Michaels recently spoke with NPR’s Brian Naylor about the long history of OSHA being on the front edge of divide between labor and management, Democrats and Republicans.  Michaels said, “The Republicans have proposed a 20 percent cut and given half the year’s over, that really means a 40 percent cut.  It would really have a devastating effect on all of our activities.”  Michaels closed his conversation with Naylor by saying, “When employers embrace safety, they actually save money.”

Would a diminished role for OSHA realistically free up cash so employers can focus on job creation? Or would it only make the problem worse and the frequency of injury rise?  Frequency of injury would increase workers’ compensation claims and employees requiring days away from work.

“A cut of that magnitude to OSHA’s budget would be devastating to workers,” Tom O’Conner, the Executive Director for the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health remarked just days after House Republicans unveiled their package of budget cuts.

“What the Republican leadership doesn’t seem to get is that job safety and job creation must go hand in hand.  They can’t be separated,” O’Conner said.  “After all, what good is a job created to the family of the worker who was killed after taking it?  Good jobs are safe jobs, and right now, America needs to create good jobs.”

The National COSH is a federation of local and statewide “COSH” groups–Committees/Coalitions on Occupational Safety and Health. COSH groups are private, non-profit coalitions of labor unions, health and technical professionals, and others interested in promoting and advocating for worker health and safety.

So, tie up your laces, grab a pedometer and start walking.

Clip a pedometer to your waistband and wear it from the time you get out of bed until you go to sleep at night. Keep track for several days, then take the highest number of steps and use this number as your baseline and initial daily goal. Proceed to walk the that amount of steps every day for a couple of weeks.

At the end of the two-week period, review how many steps you walked each day and determine if you are ready add another 500 steps to your goal.  Now, walk the new number of steps over a two-week period. Then re-evaluate and increase by another 500 steps. Set a goal to reach 10,000 steps per day.

Ways to increase your steps:

• Take 100 steps around your office or home about every hour. Program your computer to remind you when it’s time to take a break.
• At the office, don’t e-mail or call anyone within 400 feet of you. Instead, walk to that person and talk.
• Host “walking” meetings.
• Avoid elevators and escalators – use the stairs instead.
• Park farther away from the entrance at stores and the office.
• Take a couple of quick laps around the mall before you start shopping.
• Walk one block; about 200 steps.
• Make an after-dinner walk a family tradition.
• Walk to your neighbor or friend’s house instead of calling.
• Walk while you talk on the phone.
• Take a brisk 20-minute walk during your lunch break; about 2,000 steps.
• Walk four laps around the high school track; 2,000 steps.

What are some of the creative ways you  are able to increase your daily number of steps? We’d love to hear what they are.

“So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed).”  Dr. Seuss

In a memo issued on April 22, 2010 to the OSHA Regional Administrators from the new Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. David Michaels, he laid out the basics of a plan for increasing the penalty structure that OSHA will use. The reason for the increase is that a panel determined that “penalties are too low to have an adequate deterrent effect”. No surprise here. There are a number of changes that will be made in the manner by which penalties are calculated, the way in which discounts may be used, the value of the discounts and the degree to which “bad” experience with OSHA will impact the size of a penalty, generally to the up side.

Two of the most significant announcements pertain to what can happen at the Area Office level when someone requests an informal conference as the result of an inspection. Up until now, the Area Director has always had the ability to “discount” penalties at that meeting, mostly in the interest of getting the company that was cited to “accept” the citation and go about fixing the violations included in it. It was routine that the Area Director could, and would, offer up discounts as high as 50% to strike a deal right there and then. Under the new guidelines, the Area Director will be authorized to offer only up to a 30% discount and any additional discount will need to be authorized by the Regional Administrator. The Area Director will also be authorized to offer up to an additional 20% discount to employers with less than 250 employees if “that employer agrees to retain an outside safety and health consultant”. If an Expedited Informal Settlement Agreement is being sought, the Area Director can offer up to a 30% discount with an additional 20% if the employer commits to hiring an outside safety and health consultant.

The memo is available at OSHA’s website www.osha.gov in the “Latest News” section in the upper right corner.

The key to a successful wellness program is to engage as many participants as possible. As programs emerge, the question becomes, which approach is most effective at inspiring behavior change; the carrot or stick?

Economic incentives can increase participation and prompt healthy behavior change. In order for incentives to work, they need to be designed and administered effectively. They need to be significant enough to promote habit change and designed to be fair, convenient and realistic.

Voluntary, incentive-based programs produce positive results. The support from management along with an opportunity for employees to participate in the decision-making process benefits the employer and the employee.

Mandatory participation is not recommended. Studies show that mandatory participation may result in resentment and retaliation, primarily in the form of increased absence and reduced productivity. Penalties or disincentives for a lack of participation can also lead to charges of discrimination and violation of personal health information.

The employer can provide the tools and resources to educate and identify health risk factors. The motivation to change those unhealthy lifestyles habits is derived from encouragement, support and incentive for wellness participation.

One news release reported a penalty of $233,500 against a Long Island, New York retailer for blocked exits and other exit hazards. The company had been cited for similar violations at other retail locations in 2006 and 2007 hence the increased severity of the penalty for these repeated violations.

The obvious hazard here is the lack of accessible exits in the case of an emergency and this was the cause of the 146 fatalities in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in New York City in 1911. There have been other such fire related tragedies since.

There have been numerous penalties issued for inspections in the last several months that are well in excess of $100,000 and are indicative of what appears to be an increasing use of significant penalties to get employers to pay more attention to the requirements of OSHA. Many of the penalties are for issues that were cited and never fixed. One noteworthy lumber company on OSHA’s web site was penalized almost $300,000 for repeated violations including noise exposure and lockout tagout violations that were never corrected. This is one of the largest penalties I have seen in almost 40 years for this type of violation and is a strong indication of OSHA’s intent to be taken seriously.

Say that five times fast!

OSHA has ben busy conducting inspections in the last year and also increasing the dollar amount of the penalties they assess. The word is they also are less forgiving in negotiating reductions in penalties. One of their inspections we were notified of that bears significant interest is a sawmill where the total penalty the company was assessed was $293,000. Of that amount, $202,500 was for a handful of violations that the company had been cited for previously and either failed to correct or correct properly. There were a few machine guards removed but the bulk of the penalties were for lack of proper lockout tagout procedures and for NOT conducting audiograms (hearing tests) on workers exposed to noise. To avoid serious penalties for noise exposure not properly dealt with read on.

OSHA reissued their noise standard around 1980 and it became known as the “Hearing Conservation Standard”. The objective is to determine what levels of noise employees are exposed to and then to develop a Hearing Conservation Program around them to train and educate them, provide them with proper types of hearing protection and test their hearing on an annual basis to make sure it is not being affected. The OSHA standard is more comprehensive than this but these are the key points of the standard (law).

A huge point of contention centers around how people get placed into a Hearing Conservation program in the first place. Many companies rely on, in some cases, decades old tests to determine areas where employees are exposed to “too much noise”. Other companies use the provider of their audiometric testing to tell them who needs to be included in the program. Still others just designate areas of their company where it “sounds too loud” as areas where people need to be included in the program. There can be problems with all of these that can get you in a bind with OSHA.

Unless a worker is exposed to the exact same level of noise for a significant part of their work day, it is almost impossible for an untrained person to determine by using a sound level meter how much noise that person is exposed to. For people with varied tasks, who are in and out of different noisy areas during their workday, the only good way to get an accurate assessment of their noise exposure is throughout he use of a noise dosimeter. Here is the basic difference between a sound level meter and a noise dosimeter.

A sound level meter will measure what the noise level is right now, at this moment, in this place. If the person you want to assess moves around, the measurement that the sound level meter takes will go up and down as that person moves from quiet to noisy area and since the meter does not record the measurements it takes (in most cases), when you turn the meter off, there is no data saved. Determining exposure with a sound level meter can be done but it takes a mathemetician with a stop watch and a scientific calculator to get an accurate number. Many people will walk past a worker and take a reading that is over 90 decibels and assume, in many cases incorrectly, that worker to be exposed to enough noise that hey must be included in a Hearing Conservation program.

In almost 40 years of performing noise assessments, I have found that the only consistently reliable method for collecting noise exposure data is a use noise dosimeter worn for as close to a full work shift as possible to get an accurate determination of worker exposure to noise. In addition, the OSHA noise standard (1910.95(d)(1)(ii)) states that “When circumstances such as high worker mobility, significant variations in sound level, or a significant component of impulse noise make area monitoring generally inappropriate, the employer shall use representative personal sampling to comply with the monitoring requirements of this paragraph unless the employer can show that area sampling produces equivalent results (call the matemetician).

Dosimeters cost in excess of $1,000 and more like $1,5000 compared to sound level meters that can be bought for under $500. It takes a full 8 hours to measure one person with one noise dosimeter whereas someone can walk through a plant in a much shorter time with a sound level meter. Clearly it can be a lot less expensive to take noise readings with a sound level meter but unless that person is highly trained at interpreting the data it could be way off. Typically, sound levels miss some people who should be included in a program and significantly overestimate the number of people that need to be included, costing a lot more in the long run to conduct audiograms every year.

In addition, if you can not prove the actual exposure to noise while in your employ and a worker suffers a hearing loss from hunting or racing motorcycles, it is much harder to defend yourself in the face of a workers’ comp claim.

Lastly, the OSHA Hearing Conservation Standard calls for retesting every time there is a change in noise levels due to job assignment or equipment changes that may affect the overall exposure and the only way to accurately measure that is through the use of noise dosimeters. The standard says “Monitoring shall be repeated whenever a change in production, process, equipment or controls increases noise exposure to the extent that: Additional employees may be exposed at or above the action level or the attenuation provided by hearing protectors being used by employees may be rendered inadequate to meet the requirements of the standard”.

The point is, companies are required to determine who is exposed to noise above 85 dBa averaged over their workday, include them in a proper Hearing Conservation program which includes, among many other things, accurate exposure monitoring, conducted to determine who must participate in the program and that testing needs to be conducted regularly when conditions have changed (one Appendix to the standard suggests yearly or every other year) to determine who else needs to be included in the program and who also may be removed.