Safety and Health For Small Businesses

Safety and Health Essentials for Small Businesses

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Safety and Health Essentials for Small Businesses William F. Martin James B. Waiters

I Boston

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9O x f o r d

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A

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9J o h a n n e s b u r g

N 9M e l b o u r n e

9N e w D e l h i

9Singapore

Copyright 9 2001 by Butterworth-Heinemann

A member of the Reed Elsevier Group All Rights Reserved No part of this publication my be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Recognizing the importance of preserving what has been written, Butterworth-Heinemann prints its books on acid-free paper whenever possible.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Safety and Health Essentials For Small Businesses William F. Martin; James B. Walters ISBN 0-7506-7127-0

British Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available form the British Library. The publisher offers special discounts on bulk orders of this book. For information, please contact: Manager of Special Sales Butterworth-Heinemann 225 Wildwood Avenue Woburn, MA 01801-2041 Tel: (781) 904-2500 Fax: (781) 904-2620 For information on all Butterworth-Heinemann publications available, contact our World Wide Web home page at: http://www.bh.com 10987654321

Contents Authors .........................................................................................

vii

Preface ..........................................................................................

ix

Acknowledgements .....................................................................

xiv

The Safety and Health Program ..........................................

,

1

Essential Processes in Hazard Control .............................. 13

,

,

,

Hazard Analysis .................................................................

22

Safety Committees .............................................................

35

Accident Investigation Techniques ..................................... 42

,

,

,

,

,

Safety and Health Inspection Techniques .......................... 55 Principles of Good Shop Planning ..................................... 62 Safe Working Surfaces ......................................................

73

Maintaining the Small Business Work Area ....................... 87

10.

Illumination and Color Safety ............................................. 97

11.

Fire Protection ................................................................... 113

12.

Health Hazards ................................................................

13.

Personal Protective Equipment ........................................ 202

14.

Machine Guarding ............................................................

15.

Welding and Cutting Operations ...................................... 268

16.

Electrical Safety ................................................................

292

17.

Controlling Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens ........................................................................

321

152

234

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Safetyand Health Essentials

18.

Lockout/Tagout .................................................................

336

19.

Behavior Change Methods .............................................. 349

20.

Violence in the Workplace ................................................ 366

21.

Asbestos Safety ...............................................................

22.

Construction Safety .......................................................... 413

23.

Hazardous Waste Operations .......................................... 447

24.

Noise and Hearing Conservation ..................................... 462

25.

Confined Spaces ..............................................................

383

472

Appendix A: Model Policy Statements ..................................... 483 Appendix B: Self-Inspection Check Lists ................................. 485 Appendix C: Codes of Safe Practices ...................................... 535 Index .........................................................................................

538

Authors

vii

Authors William E Martin, PE holds a civil engineering degree from the University of Kentucky and a master's degree in environmental health engineering from the University of Texas. He served 22 years as a commissioned ofricer in the U.S. Public Health Service. He held positions with the Indian Health Service, U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. A registered professional engineer in Texas and Kentucky, he has presented and published numerous technical papers both foreign and domestic. He served on the Superfund steering committee made up of EPA, OSHA, NIOSH, and the U. S. Coast Guard. He served as the NIOSH Hazardous Waster Program Director with primary responsibility for coordinating all Institute Superfund activities including research projects and the production of comprehensive health and safety guidelines, worker bulletins, and training materials. Mr. Martin has consulted on environmental engineering and hazardous waste health and safety with Valentec International Corporation, Environmental Systems & Services, Inc., and Greenglobe Engineering, Inc. James B. Waiters, CSP, PE, holds a BS degree from Union College in Kentucky and a Masters degree in Public Health Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to retirement, he occupied the position of Occupational Safety and Health Manager, Office of the Director, Division of Training and Manpower Development, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati, Ohio. His 38 years of federal employment with the U.S. Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission included 32 years in the areas of program development, on-site training and curriculum development aspects of home, recreational institutional, product, and occupational safety. During this time, he was employed at the local, state and national levels. He co-authored and assisted with the development of various types of safety and health training materials directed at the total work force. This included college and university faculty, private industry, trade associations, vocational teachers and administrators, elemen-

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Safety and Health Essentials

tary, high school and college students, prison officials, small business managers, and officials representing the World Health Organization. He conducted courtesy on-site safety and health inspections, presented workshops, and provided specialized safety and health training for small business managers and employees. When requested, utilizing OSHA standards and acceptable safety and health practices, he planned and conducted safety and health inspections of occupational facilities in state prisons, prepared reports and provided expert testimony for the U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Waiters served on the Safety Advisory Committee of the Hand Tool and Power Tool Institute and the NIOSH special work group responsible for developing a national strategy for the prevention of occupational traumatic injuries.

Disclaimer The authors have been diligent in ensuring that the materials and methods addressed in this book reflect prevailing occupational health and safety and industrial hygiene practices. It is possible, however, that certain practices discussed will require modification because of changing federal, state, and local regulations, or heretofore unknown developments in research. As the body of knowledge is expanded, improved solutions to workplace hazards will become available. Readers should consult a broad range of sources of information before developing workplace health and safety programs. The authors disclaim any liability, loss, or risk resulting directly or indirectly from the use of the practices and/or theories discussed in this book. Moreover, it is the reader's responsibility to stay informed of any changing federal, state, or local regulations that might affect the material contained herein, and the policies adopted specifically in the reader's workplace. Specific mention of manufactures and products in this book does not represent an endorsement by the authors.

Preface

ix

Preface This health and safety handbook was developed for the small business with less than 100 employees. Many of the small businesses do not employ a fulltime health and safety professional. They often assign safety and health duties as extra work to an employee that has other primary responsibilities. This handbook is written in straight forward non-technical language assuming the reader does not have extensive training in industrial hygiene, safety, or occupational health. The authors encourage companies to seek professional health and safety input and suggest that in house staff members be trained in health and safety. However, years of experience has lead the authors to develop this handbook for those employees given health and safety responsibilities with little or no training for their new role. This handbook is not a comprehensive compliance and/or regulation document but an aid to small businesses to protect their workers, reduce liability, and provide easily understood guidelines for meeting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. Extensive use has been made of the many publications that OSHA, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) make publicly available. The authors have listed some publications at the end of each chapter that would aid personal development of an employee working in health and safety. More than half (56%) of the U.S. workforce in private industry is employed in business establishments with fewer than 100 employees. Of all U.S. private industry establishments, 98% employ fewer than 100 employees, and more than 87% employ fewer than 20 employees. Prevention of occupational injury and illness is often difficult in these establishments because small businesses generally have few safety and health resources, cannot usually hire staff devoted to safety and health activities, and often lack the ability to identify occupational hazards and conduct surveillance. The NIOSH and OSHA recognize these special challenges to safety and health in small business establishments. In 1994 in the United States, 6.5 million private industry establishments were operating, and they employed more than 96.7 million employees. These private industry establishments represent all major divisions of the economy.

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Safetyand Health Essentials

Table 1 shows the number and percentage of employees in establishments with fewer than 100, 20, and 10 employees in 1994. TABLE 1 Number and percentage of employees in establishments with fewer than 100, 20, and l0 employees, by industry division in 1994". Industry/division No. of